Tag Archives: birth

Packing Your Hospital Bag with the Natural Birthing Company

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Did you know that September and early October are the most popular months for births?

 

With more mums-to-be going into labour this month than any other time of the year, Natural Birthing Company have put together a Birthing Essentials Kit to help these new mums prepare for the day. We love the Natural Birthing Company and think their products are fab.

Natural Birthing Company, pregnancy, birth, labour

Packing a hospital bag can feel like an impossible task, so to make it just that little bit easier the Birthing Essentials Kit contains everything that they may need when they go into labour.

The Natural Birthing Company Mama’s Moments Birthing Essentials Kit, £20, naturalbirthingcompany.com, boots.com, next.co.uk, feelunique.com

All designed to relax your body and soothe any soreness, they’re the perfect products to keep handy. Relax and Breathe, and Sleepy Mama have been designed to soothe your body and mind. Along with Bottoms Up which is formulated to provide relief to any soreness down below. Finally, Cool it Mama will be their labour companion, providing coolness whenever they feel they need it.​

 

How I Finally Got My Natural Birth.

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working mother, mother, working, freelance, blogger, mummy blogger, blogger, parenting blogger, blogger, writing,, pregnancy, birth, childbirth, hypnobirthing, Catherine Balavage, trauma, childbirth, women on childbirth As I write this it is my sons fifth birthday. He is happily playing with his new toys and his toddler sister is playing with a train track. The pain of my sons birth has lessened this year. The pain is not as searing. I wanted a natural birth with my son. I had gone to an antenatal class at the hospital and they had skipped over most of the birth part due to time constraints. The one thing they did cover was pain relief, and it all looked awful. Even the epidural which they said was the ‘only thing that actually works’ looked so invasive. A catheter? No thanks. I would have a natural birth. It would hurt, but it would be worth it. 

The birth itself was a series of little mistakes leading up to an emergency C section. I ended up having pethidine and an epidural. I have always been sensitive to drugs. I hate the feeling of being high, but by the third day of labour I could not take anymore. The midwives bullied me for taking drugs saying, ‘how much more pethidine is that baby going to have?’, but at no point did anyone induce me during my over eighty hours of labour until the very end. One midwife shouted and screamed at me at the top of her lungs while my water broke. I was bullied, abused and I thought my child and I were going to die. We both almost did. 

That is not what I want to talk about today. Today I want to talk about what happened two-and-a-half years later: I got my VBAC. Having a natural birth with my daughter was the most healing experience of my life. I was thankful it was at a different hospital with better staff. 

The trauma from my sons birth lead me to research childbirth and talk to as many women as I could about their experiences. This lead to me writing my book Women on Childbirth: Tips and Experiences from Women who Have Done it. I read everything I could about natural birth as I did not want another C section or any drugs. A book I recommend is The Positive Birth Book from Milli Hill. I was humbled when Milli was kind enough to contribute her birth story to my book. I also have to mention the team at St George’s who were so supportive. I cannot thank them enough. 

I decided to try hypnobirthing and I read everything I could about it. I was confident I could breathe the baby out of my vagina as long as I was in the right environment. I knew if I was as calm as possible things would go well. I wanted the room to be as dark as possible. I did not want any drugs as they slow down labour. I refused to have anyone other than my husband there. I was treated terribly by the midwives at the other hospital and I knew that it would be partly luck if I got a good midwife or not. I was not going in on just luck however: I was going in empowered with information and a confidence in the abilities of my body. 

I was in labour for over twenty-four hours but most of that was the early labour part which is not as bad. The pushing part was a few hours but it seemed to go faster. I was so surprised when the amazing midwife Elle told me I was ten centimetres. During my last birth I did not even get to five. The breathing really helped with the pain. 

Did it hurt? Of course it did, but a natural birth is only more painful in the moment. It does not hurt as much afterwards and the recovery is much quicker. The moment I pushed out my daughter and she was on my chest was one of the proudest moments of my life. The female body is an amazing thing and we need to have confidence that our bodies can do what needs to be done, but we also deserve to have the right environment to birth in so our bodies are able to do that. Birth rights are human rights. 

 

Emily Watson: Help Maternity Worldwide continue to save lives in childbirth

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maternal health, charity, Actress Emily Watson (Chernobyl, Apple Tree Yard) explains that not every birth is a time of comfort and joy.

Emily is encouraging people to donate to maternal health charity Maternity Worldwide this Christmas, after first supporting it as her chosen charity on the BBC Radio 4 Appeal in 2018. This year, you can buy an exclusive donation gift certificate for only £27 and help save a mother’s life. She says:

‘To me, Christmas means catching up with family and making time to enjoy each other’s company. Too many children in low-income countries will be without their mother this Christmas because of needless deaths in childbirth and the inability to access the standard of medical care we take for granted in the UK. Since 2002, Maternity Worldwide has been working to ensure that every woman, regardless of where she lives, can give birth safely and without fear. I would like to encourage you to donate to the Maternity Worldwide Christmas appeal, and help them continue to save lives in childbirth.’

‘As a mother, I am deeply concerned that in countries like Malawi, Ethiopia and Uganda pregnancy and childbirth are putting women’s lives at risk.’

‘There are still so many women who don’t have facilities close at hand. Maternity Worldwide needs your support to help save more lives.’

Every year 287,000 women die in childbirth. 99% of reported deaths are in low-income countries. Many women die after long, dangerous journeys, trying to give birth in makeshift buildings without the help of a midwife, and with no pain relief, antibiotics or proper sanitation. A modern-day stable in the UK may in fact be a warmer, safer and more comfortable place to deliver a baby than some of the facilities in sub-Saharan Africa.

Most deaths can be avoided easily and cheaply through measures which are readily available in the UK. But good quality healthcare for many of the world’s women is unaffordable or inaccessible.

Maternity Worldwide is a charity dedicated to saving lives in childbirth by helping women and girls in low-income countries access the high-quality maternal healthcare they need to be able to give birth safely.

Maternity Worldwide are asking people to donate just £27 to their Christmas 2019 Appeal, less than 1% of what a typical UK family will spend in the run-up to the festive season. Supports can donate online, support the charity by buying their exclusive Christmas cards and range of sustainable presents, or by buying Maternity Worldwide’s new 2019 Christmas Gift Certificate, priced at £27.

Maternity Worldwide works to ensure all women, wherever they live, can give birth safely and without fear. Founded by Dr Adrian Brown in 2002, over the past 17 years the charity has worked in eleven low-income countries and our projects have helped save thousands of women from dying unnecessarily in childbirth.

Your readers can help families like our modern-day Mary and Joseph and their baby Earnest by donating just £27 to Maternity Worldwide’s Christmas 2019 Appeal. A donation of any amount will make a huge different but the suggested donation of £27 is less than 1% of the amount a typical household in the UK spends in the run-up to Christmas. This small sum could make a big difference by:
Covering the cost of a safe birth for a mother at a health centre and follow-up care such as a preventative course of antibiotics
Sponsoring a student midwife’s training for a week
Contributing towards the cost of a caesarean delivery for women experiencing difficulties
Helping cover the cost of a bicycle so healthcare workers can reach mothers in remote villages

Please encourage donations to our Christmas 2019 Appeal via the dedicated JustGiving page: https://justgiving.com/campaign/Maternity-Worldwide-Christmas2019

Maternity Worldwide is working to reduce maternal mortality by training midwives and skilled birth attendants, improving access to health centres and hospitals, providing communities with maternal and newborn health information and empowering women to become financially independent and decision makers about their own sexual and reproductive health.

Our mission is to work with communities and our partners to:
identify and develop appropriate and effective ways to reduce maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity
facilitate communities to access high-quality, skilled maternity care
support the provision of high-quality skilled care

Maternity Worldwide is a registered charity no. 1111504 and our registered address is Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN1 3XG.

My Writing Process – Milli Hill

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What you have written, past and present.

I have written two books, both about childbirth. The first, a ‘how to’ manual called The Positive Birth Book, is a guide for pregnant women on how to approach birth differently, reframe it as a positive experience, and have a positive birth in any circumstance. The most recent, Give Birth Like a Feminist, is a call to arms, exposing the misogyny and power imbalance at play in the modern birth room, and giving women information about their choices and rights so that they can take a more active role in their birth. I also write opinion articles and features for the Telegraph, Guardian, ipaper, Independent, Mother&Baby and more! I started out as a blogger when I was taking a break from my work as a therapist due to having two young children. My blog became really successful and through that I got work as a journalist, and now an author.

What you are promoting now. 

Give Birth Like a Feminist, which came out on August 22nd.

A bit about your process of writing. 

I do a lot of thinking before I start. Maybe over days, or months, or during a dog walk, or in the shower! Then I usually make a spider diagram with the key point at the centre and all the other points coming off it. This sounds terribly organised but it’s normally done on the back of an envelope with a child hanging off my leg with the key aim of preserving the thoughts before they are lost! Then when I get the time to write, the ideas are all there, laid out for me. Getting to my desk is hard with a large family, and I also struggle with my inner critic / imposter syndrome etc, so the whole things becomes like a sort of inner dialogue between the part of me that believes in myself and my ideas and the part of me that says I’ve got nothing of interest to say. Those two parts of me argue for quite a while and then the confident part sort of grabs the reluctant part by the scruff of the metaphorical neck and frogmarches her to the desk. At which point I usually get on with it. I take a long time over what I have to say and am a perfectionist. Someone once described my writing as sounding ‘effortless’ which I took as a great compliment but it really could not be further from the truth!
Do you plan or just write?

I do both. I usually plan the skeleton but then putting on the flesh is the ‘just writing’ part.

What about word count?

I’m used to writing articles with a word count of around 800 to 1000 words and I think that’s a really nice bite size amount to get something across in. Even in a 10000 word book, breaking it down in your mind into chunks of 1000 words is a great way to keep it manageable both for you as a writer, and for your reader. I’m very conscious of how busy the world is now and how you need to get your ideas across quickly and in a way that feels accessible. And if you can just write 100 really great, thousand word pieces, then, bingo, you have a book. Effortless!

How do you do your structure?

I’m a big fan of circular structures by which I mean making a point / telling a story, or a joke etc in paragraph 1 of an article, then taking the reader on a journey through the next 8 paragraphs, and then coming back to the reference you made in paragraph one but somehow showing a development, growth, transformation has been make during the piece. On a larger scale you can do this in a book chapter, and then make an even bigger loop around the book itself. So you can have some nice loops within loops.

What do you find hard about writing?

I find it hard full stop, but also strangely compulsive! It’s like any creative process really, there is always that ‘void’ where it feels impossible, I totally hate that feeling of the blank page, the flashing cursor of doom etc! And as I’ve said, the mental battle of finding my voice is also deeply irritating! I also really miss the time when I was first writing my blog and could be more creative. Now I often feel I’m writing to order with article commissions etc and that kind of sucks the life out of it a bit. One day I really want to write fiction and I’m really looking forward to that!

What do you love about writing? 

I love the moment where creativity springs into life and the ideas start to flow and you know your fingers are knocking out killer sentences! I love reading something back and being surprised that I wrote it – this often happens to me! I think, oh, that’s actually really quite good! Did I write that?! That’s a really nice feeling. And I also like reaching other people through writing. Having my latest book published recently has been really fun in terms of being able to have conversations with people about what I’ve written and hear their feedback. The actual process of writing is quite isolating which I quite enjoy but then it’s nice to come and dance in the sunshine a bit afterwards!

Advice for other writers. 

If you are starting out a blog can be great – I was disciplined with mine and made myself do one post a week for quite a long time. I got better by doing that and I also learned a bit about what people enjoyed and wanted to read because of the instant feedback you get on a blog. Reading other writers you admire can be very inspiring too. But wherever you are up to as a writer, the main thing (and every writer knows this but it’s easier said than done!) is just write. Frogmarch yourself to the desk and just flipping well get on with it!

 

Give Birth Like a Feminist is available now.

Check out the The Positive Birth Movement.

The Doula’s Guide to Empowering Your Birth: A Complete Labor and Childbirth Companion for Parents to Be

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Experienced doula, Linsey Bliss, shows you how to prepare physically and mentally for every element of having a child, from pregnancy to fourth trimester in The Doula's Guide to Empowering Your Birth. Lindsey Bliss, who has assisted as a doula at hundreds of births and is herself a mother of seven, reveals here all the wisdom and advice that doulas share with the new mothers who hire them. The Doula's Guide to Empowering Your Birth covers the period from pregnancy through labor and birth to fourth trimester healing. The focus, however, is on preparing for birth--including topics like how to pick the right childbirth class and the right birthing method. You’ll also see how to assemble the team of professionals, family members, and friends who will support you through labor and birth, and how to approach last-minute decisions about pain medications and cesarean sections. Bliss's tone throughout is at once authoritative and confident as well as warm and encouraging. Her concern in her practice as well as in these pages is to listen to and help secure each new mom's own personal vision of a birthing experience that is safe, fulfilling, and meaningful.

This is a truly wonderful book from a doula who really knows her stuff. Linsey Bliss has seven children. Six of those are biological and she has had two sets of twins. She has also assisted hundreds of births. This book tells you all you need to know about pregnancy, childbirth and even what happens after. This well-written book is enjoyable to read and is like having your own personal doula and best friend in one. Essential. 

Experienced doula, Linsey Bliss, shows you how to prepare physically and mentally for every element of having a child, from pregnancy to fourth trimester in The Doula’s Guide to Empowering Your Birth.

Lindsey Bliss, who has assisted as a doula at hundreds of births and is herself a mother of seven, reveals here all the wisdom and advice that doulas share with the new mothers who hire them.

The Doula’s Guide to Empowering Your Birth covers the period from pregnancy through labor and birth to fourth trimester healing. The focus, however, is on preparing for birth–including topics like how to pick the right childbirth class and the right birthing method. You’ll also see how to assemble the team of professionals, family members, and friends who will support youthrough labor and birth, and how to approach last-minute decisions about pain medications and cesarean sections.

Bliss’s tone throughout is at once authoritative and confident as well as warm and encouraging. Her concern in her practice as well as in these pages is to listen to and help secure each new mom’s own personal vision of a birthing experience that is safe, fulfilling, and meaningful.

The Doula’s Guide to Empowering Your Birth: A Complete Labor and Childbirth Companion for Parents to Be is available here.

 

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes

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mindfulness, pregnancy

This is a great book which gives you the inspiration to go through your pregnancy and birth with a mindful approach. As well as advice it also has meditative exercises and insights. A great, helpful book for mothers-to-be. 

Focusing on the entire journey; from pregnancy through to early parenthood, this guide to living mindfully for expectant mothers helps prepare you for birth and improve your wellbeing with the ancient practice of mindfulness. When we talk about making something, it usually refers to creating, manipulating, or forming a material. In pregnancy, our bodies are wrapped up in doing all of these things at once, and on a grand scale. But in the act of making space in ourselves through mindfulness, none of these things apply. In Mindful Pregnancy & Birth we engage in an act of “not doing”. Of not changing, but of simply “being” in the experience of ourselves. Pregnancy is a phase in which to reconcile what has been, with what will become. It is a process, a time of change, and even more so for a first-time mother. It is a recognition of our dreams for the future being in transit, in gestation, in the making.

Mindful Pregnancy & Birth: Nurturing Love and Awareness By Riga Forbes is available here.

Share Your Experience Of Childbirth For Catherine Balavage’s New Book

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childbirth, birth, labour, labour tips, labor, childbirth book, what to expect, catherine BalavageFrost Editor Catherine Balavage is looking for women- and some men- to share their experience of childbirth with her. This will be for Catherine’s new book Women On Childbirth. Catherine had a traumatic birth experience and wants to write the book to help other women know what to expect, but also how to have a better birth. This will be Catherine’s fourth non-fiction book. She also writes fiction books.

If you would like to be included we would need your experience in 400-1000 words approx (although word count can be flexible), a biography and then some labour tips. Email your experience to frostmagazine@gmail.com

Thank you in advance to contributors.

Deadline is 1st April 2017.

 

Giving Birth – The Real Story

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Giving Birth – The Real Story

  • 72% of mums-to-be are nervous about giving birth
  • Over half of respondents (61%) said their births didn’t go according to plan
  • The biggest fear (27%) about giving birth was medical complications affecting themselves or their baby
  • Almost a quarter (22%) found their birth partners more annoying than helpful

giving birth, birth, childbirth, the truth about giving birth

For most women, experiencing pregnancy and giving birth will be one of the most momentous times of their lives, but this doesn’t come without a certain amount of worries and anxiety. New research from The Baby Show with MadeForMums, which will be returning to Kensington, Olympia from the 21st to 23rd October, revealed that 72% of mums-to-be were nervous about the prospect of giving birth with the biggest worry cited as medical complications (27%)  affecting themselves or their baby. This was followed by 18% saying they were scared of unwanted interventions (e.g. inductions, caesarean section or forceps) and then 17% saying they were anxious about not being able to manage the pain.

The research found that while most mums-to-be will stay close to home the nearer the due date gets, some babies are keen to get things moving in unusual or inconvenient places. Of the mums surveyed, 42% went into labour in their home, with 28% in hospital. These were some of the more unusual findings;

  • Tube station escalator
  • Car showroom
  • Whilst watching a live rugby match
  • On the A1 motorway
  • In IKEA

While the majority of women (92%) chose to have their partners by their side in the birthing room, when it actually came to the labour, almost a quarter (22%) of people admitted they found their birthing partner more annoying than actually helpful, either falling asleep or playing games on their phones whilst mum does all the hard work! Senior midwife, maternity educator and managing director of Marie Louise Maternity, Marie Louise Hurworth says: “Being a birth partner is one of the most important jobs you could have. But it can be challenging and should be taken very seriously. Being there and sensitive to her changing needs will go a long way and set the foundations for your new family. Even if you are unsure of how to help, stand nearby and make eye contact to let her know you are there and willing to help at any opportunity. One of the most important things is that you don’t become disconnected; remember to participate throughout the journey.”

When asked for amusing labour stories The Baby Show were inundated with funny anecdotes from women across the UK including;

  • Nina Motylinski-Davies from East Sussex said: “What kept me going throughout my horrendous labour experience was the fact my husband, who after not getting the opportunity to try the gas the first time round, was determined to have a go this time. Put simply, he got absolutely off his face. He climbed into the birthing pool naked, asked the midwife for a margarita, text my Mum saying he could murder a curry when she was actually asking how I was doing, and then danced around the room to Neil Diamond! I look back and laugh now….”

 

  • Clare Boss from London told The Baby Show: “With my first baby, the fire alarm in the hospital went off which resulted in two firemen coming in to check on the room whilst I was legs akimbo and mid-push!!”

 

  • Laura Jackson from Cheshire explained her dramatic birth story: “I opted for a home birth and hired a birthing pool but sadly never got round to using it! I woke in the middle of the night with a small leak, one week over due, which turned out to be my waters breaking. I woke my husband who immediately started filling up the birthing pool whilst I called the hospital who said the midwives would take around an hour to get to my house. Within moments I had a really strong contraction and suddenly I knew my baby’s head was already out. I was desperate to get into the pool but it wasn’t full and my husband was having problems with the valves. He was in complete disbelief and just said ‘the heads not out’ whilst staring at the front door thinking this would make the midwives appear! Thankfully he snapped into action because with the next contraction he literally had to catch our baby. Such an amazing experience but personally I felt it was a shame for happening so fast…”

 

Wing Yan Lee, Marketing Manager at The Baby Show says: “Birth plans can be a contentious subject and as our results show many births don’t go according to plan. However, most experts would still agree that planning and looking into your birth options is essential, allowing you to prepare and feel in control of your birthing experience, no matter what direction it takes. We have midwives on hand throughout the show who are able to answer any questions or concerns, no matter how big or small, regarding your pregnancy, birth and beyond.”

Marie Louise continues: “Each and every woman is different and has specific individual needs so there is no one rule for all when it comes to labour and birth. As healthcare professionals we focus on women’s individuality and are guided by what women tell us; we then use technology according to the woman’s history and verbal communication to ensure we do our very best to make the entire process as safe, easy and calm as possible. It’s natural to be nervous about your birth and potential intervention but always remember that our aims are reflective of yours to have a happy, healthy mum and baby.”

Once you’ve arrived home and settled into a new routine, another subject you may be thinking about is sex… Am I ready? Will my partner be expecting sex straight away? Will it be hurt? Will it be the same?

The highest number of couples surveyed chose to wait between six weeks to three months before having sex again (42%) whilst one in five (20%) waited just 0 to six weeks. Reassuringly, a quarter of new mums said they didn’t feel self-conscious about their bodies during sex post-baby, and 29% said at first they did but their partners made them feel comfortable and relaxed.

Marie Louise says: “Guidelines suggest that women wait until they “feel ready” to have sex after birth but there isn’t enough discussion about it. Once again, everyone is different and has a unique experience during childbirth. You may have had a home water birth with no complications or you may have had a forceps delivery in hospital. If you have had a C-section, for example, you may feel ready mentally but your wound may need more time to heal. Or maybe you don’t feel ready mentally but your body has healed well. The most important thing is that you do what’s right for you at the right time and always ask a health professional if you are concerned.  If you are experiencing pain during sex postnatally don’t just put up with it, talk about it.”

From the 21st to 23rd October the biggest pregnancy and parenting event of the year, The Baby Show with MadeForMums, will be returning to Olympia, London.  The Show is the must-attend event for mums and dads-to-be and new parents, with over 200 exhibitors showcasing all the latest essentials for your new arrival, plus a stage programme jam packed with fashion shows and informative talks by renowned baby experts.

Advance tickets are available from £12.25, while on-the-door tickets cost £20.  For more information visit www.thebabyshow.co.uk.

Opening times:

Friday 21st, Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd October, open from 10:00am-5:30pm each day.