The midwife will help the woman gain tools to help her work through her birth, relying entirely on her own natural hormone release and in labour the same familiar midwife will help comfort and support the woman, protecting her from situations that can inhibit the release of these hormones.
At times you will have a pregnancy journey that is veering away from the straight forward route and when this happens you can feel that you have very little choice but to go along with the medical interventions even though they were not part of your birth plan. This can lead to feelings of powerlessness and a perception that you are not being heard!
You are unique, fantastic, a perfect human being; as are your baby, your pregnancy and your birth; they matter so much. I became an Independent midwife to ensure I could continue to support women through this amazing journey in the best way possible. Please take time to consider your choices in who attends you during this time. It is one of the most important times of your life.
Now I make no apology to be talking on the subject of relaxation yet again, but it is an important subject when it comes to child birth! Let me explain an adaption your body has that allows us to stop our babies being born until we feel safe and out of danger. When you are fearful and anxious your body immediately activates the nervous system to produce adrenalin. The adrenalin release is to enable you to either fight or to run away from this “threat”.
Here at UK Birth Centres we think you deserve an individual approach for your birth support. We believe whole heartedly that you deserve to have the continued support of a midwife, so that you get to know her and she in turn learns about your hopes and fears and helps you to feel relaxed and cared for throughout your pregnancy and birth, and of course into those special early days with your newborn.
As a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, I have been thinking about how best to advice women who ask about the benefit to them of avoiding a vaginal delivery and having an elective caesarean section instead. Sometimes there are clinical reasons why a Caesarean may be advised. However, sometimes women will request a Caesarean section when there is no obvious reason to indicate this is necessary. Despite some press statements to the contrary this is still a relatively unusual request. I suppose my answer will depend on what the woman is concerned about, what her choices are, her experiences, her physical and psychological well-being.
About half of “mums-to-be” experience feeling nauseous, particularly in the mornings. This is due to three main reasons:
- Hormonal changes
- Low blood sugar
- Sensitivity to environmental factors
The Birth Ball for movement and pain relief in labour is a large inflated exercise ball that has been adopted into maternity care to aid relaxation and movement (Perez .P 2000). The woman can sit on or lean against the ball, which provides soft support. The ball also expands the number of positions the woman can assume for comfort and offers a means for movement (e.g. bouncing, rolling) in these positions, which provides a counter-distraction during contractions. Many hospitals have birth balls in their maternity departments and encourage labouring women to use them for comfort.
Are you expecting an imminent arrival? You may be experiencing all of the typical ‘false alarm’ twinges and cramps that mums-to-be normally have at this point in your pregnancy. So how do you know that labour has started? Each woman is different, but normally one of the following will occur:
Water birth enables women to give birth in the way their bodies were designed. I feel that birth pools have brought a special quality to the environment of birth, helping midwives get back to the roots of being with women.