Speedy Gonzales

I got a phone call this morning at 3am from a second time mom. She has a history of going fast. She told me she got to the hospital and her first daughter was born within the hour.

So, rather than going through my fluffy doula schpeel (walk, eat, drink, pee), I told her I was getting dressed and would meet her at the hospital. I called my doula friend who is working on her CAPPA certification to meet me at the hospital to get credit for the birth. She was two contractions away from missing the birth, I'm glad she made it. The mom was six centimeters at 4am and delivered at 5:25am. The baby literally popped out in one push. So amazing!

I told myself that I was going to retire from hospital births. If there is one thing hospitals are good for, it's ruining normal birth. If only doctors and medwives knew how much easier their jobs would be if they'd just let low risk mothers deliver their babies in their own time. They would almost get paid to do nothing!

And to think they wanted to induce this mom on Tuesday, as if!

Water Baby

I went to my first water birth this morning and it was beautiful!

The midwife called me when the mom was starting to push. I literally got dressed and to the birth in fifteen minutes. Once the mom found her rhythm, she pushed her baby out with such ease. This mom made it look so easy to have a baby, it was amazing to see.

I've always heard great things about water birth but had never seen the benefits first hand. When the midwife asked the mom to get out and try some pushes on the bed, the mom was literally begging to get back into the water after about 10 minutes of land pushing. After the birth, the mom commented that getting back into the water was such a relief, she felt as if the water washed her pain away.

Benefits for Mother:

-Water is soothing, comforting, relaxing.
-In the later stages of labor, the water seems to increase the woman’s energy.
-The buoyancy lessens her body weight, allows free movement and new positioning.
-Buoyancy promotes more efficient uterine contractions and better blood circulation, resulting in better oxygenation of the uterine muscles, less pain for the mother, and more oxygen for the baby.
-Immersion in water often helps lower high blood pressure caused by anxiety.
-Water seems to alleviate stress-related hormones, allowing the mother’s body to produce endorphins, which are pain-inhibitors.
-Water causes the perineum to become more elastic and relaxed, which reduces the incidence and severity of tearing and the need for an episiotomy and stitches.
-As the laboring women relaxes physically she is able to relax mentally, concentrating her efforts inward on the birth process.
-The water provides a sense of privacy, which releases inhibitions, anxiety, and fears.

Benefits for Baby:

-Provides a similar environment as the amniotic sac.
-Eases the stress of the birth, providing reassurance and security.
From: Americanpregnancy.org

I wish more women had the opportunity to have water births if they so desire. They are an amazing, natural and cost effective way to alleviate labor pains so moms can birth their babies naturally, into the water.

Dream Home

I've been taking the long way home from work to scope out places that look suitable for a birth center. I start school in three weeks and I've been thinking a lot about what type of midwife I want to be, a home birth midwife or a midwife with a stable birth center.
Working with the women through The Pregnancy Center and from anecdotal conversations with other midwives, I think the South Saint Pete population would benefit from a birth center. Even though birth center birth is still "out of hospital" I think a lot of women feel more comfortable with a "place to go" for their visits and to have their baby. Sort of a half way point between home and the hospital.
Considering my targeted population, I should establish a center south of Central Avenue. However, I found the most beautiful house the other day on a different route home. It's in downtown Saint Pete, on the cusp of Old North East. A beautiful home situated in the middle of the city. The website that has it listed says that it can easily be used as a home or an office building. I wish for anything to start a birth center in this home but I know that is impossible. I don't have the money nor have I even started school yet!
Dreaming of this home keeps me motivated to succeed in school and eventually open a birth center. I know the road won't be easy but I'm preparing for the adventure...

$4.00 a page

I bought my books today! The five books that it will take me to complete the first semester of midwifery school cost a whopping $218.14. That is easily the amount I would have spent on a single class book list from USF. My books for Anatomy I at USF cost $279.10 and that was for the book and the student guide that went with the book!
Seriously, there is a problem when it cost more to buy the books for a course than it does to pay for the course! Some people would argue that it's a racket when the professor writes the books and then makes the student purchase the books they authored. I can say sometimes I can see the controvery in that, however, two of the best classes I had ever taken were taught by the author of our textbook. Dr. Durand taught abnormal psychology using the book he authored and I honestly think that was the best book for the course. The problem is not professors authoring textbooks on the reading list, the problem is the exorbitant cost of textbooks, the constant publication of new editions, and the assigning of multiple books for a single class. There is also a problem with buy back when the semester is over. I paid over $100.00 for this book and I'm getting $30.00 back so you can re-sell it used for $75.00- FANTASTIC, sign me up!
The latest textbook hubbub is electronic books. For electronic copies of textbooks you pay about half the price of the physical book for the digital copy but when the semester is over your access code to the digital copy is expired and you make no money for a "sell back."
The US government published a report on the cost of textbooks and how to assist in making them affordable to students. Their conculsion for long term change: "a supply-driven, producer-centric market must be transformed into a demand-driven, college- and student-centric market." Hopefully, by the time future generations make to college, it won't cost a semesters worth of tuition to buy a classes worth of textbooks.

Breastmilk is white, breastfeeding is for everyone!

Where are all the breastfeeding support groups for the average women in Saint Pete. Yes, there is La Leche League in Pinellas Park and the breastfeeding support groups at the local birth center in Largo, but what about the women south of Central Avenue? Not everyone uses cloth diapers, has the time or money to meet for lunch and attend "play dates," or the interest in discussing which baby food is organically grown/certified fair trade.
Where are the groups for the women on WIC? The women who take the city bus? The girl still in high school? The women who shop at Walmart and Save-a-lot?
I hope to start a breastfeeding support group for those women, the real women. The women who are often left behind when it comes to breastfeeding support. Only 1 out of 6 black women breastfeed past six months, it's time to change that!
Here's to making breastfeeding for everyone!