by Jenny Everett King, Childbirth Educator and Certified Yoga Teacher

1. Independent Childbirth Educators work for you. We are not obligated to support anyone’s procedures, or to ensure that our material agrees with hospital policy. That means you get unbiased, research-based information, not someone else’s agenda.

2. We’re specialists. Independent Childbirth Educators specialize in birth, not medicine. Hospital classes are often taught by medical professionals with secondary training in birth education.

3. You get the tour anyway. Many people choose to take classes at the hospital where they plan to deliver, because the class includes a tour of the maternity ward. However, most hospitals offer these tours apart from a childbirth series as well.

4. We trust your body. The fact that you are pregnant is excellent evidence that your body works, and works well. You deserve to get your information from sources who recognize this simple fact.

5. We have a wide demographic of students. You won’t just get the perspective of parents who have chosen the same care provider, hospital, or birth method that you have. You will have the opportunity to hear about other choices and get information on options you may not have considered. Fellow expectant parents are a great resource!

6. We recognize birth as a whole-person experience. We discuss the emotional and spiritual aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, not just the physical process.

7. We understand natural medicine. We can give you unbiased, well-researched information that you may not get from a mainstream source, including facts about vaccines, attachment parenting, and natural solutions for common pregnancy and birth concerns. (Healing Hands Chiropractic Family Wellness Center has practitioners on-site who treat sciatica, heartburn, breech presentation, and post-dates pregnancy, among other things.)

8. We support conventional medicine when it’s used appropriately. We’ll tell you honestly about situations where there may be a need for it, and when it’s just part of the protocol. Most importantly, we’ll help you know the difference.

9. We know that birth is an experience you help create and not something that just happens. Independent Childbirth Educators give you the tools to make the decisions that are right for your birth, your family, and your baby. We don’t teach you our way, we help you determine your way.

10. We LIKE birth! Independent Childbirth Educators know that giving birth can truly be enjoyable. We didn’t get into this field for the paycheck; we got here because we recognize (and have often experienced) the inherent power, mystery, and beauty of giving birth. Birth is not some arduous, joyless trial to overcome, but a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for ecstasy and empowerment. Wouldn’t you prefer to learn about birth from someone who will teach you how you can enjoy it?

by Jenny Everett King, CYT

Prenatal & Postpartum Yoga Teacher / Pregnancy & Childbirth Educator

It’s a quiet Monday morning, and I’ve returned from a weekend professional workshop absolutely determined to reestablish a consistent yoga practice. After feeding the kids breakfast, I  turn on the least guilt-inducing children’s programming I can find, vacuum the worst of the dog hair out of my practice space, unroll my mat, and promise myself that the next hour is my own time.

Five sun salutations into my practice, my 2-year-old wanders in and announces, in one simple word (which may or may not be in the dictionary), that he needs his diaper changed.

While changing him, I do my best to stay tuned into to my breathing and my body. But really, who takes a full, cleansing, energizing inhalation while handling a dirty diaper? It’s just a bad combination.

Before children, I was the perfect yogini. No, not really. But I had a consistent one-and-a-half to two-hour meditation, asana and pranayama practice five or six days a week, and a dedicated yoga room in the house. Then my morning practice gave way to morning sickness, and the yoga room became the office so that the office could become the baby’s room. While I continued to teach and attend classes, my own personal practice disintegrated.

To my surprise, the event that brought me back to the heart of yoga was the culmination of the factors that had distracted me in the first place: giving birth. At no other time in my life have I felt so completely present, so in tune with my body, so inherently certain of a higher power, as I have in the moments of giving birth to my children. But a regular asana and pranayama practice? I’m still searching for that.

Traditionally, children and household responsibilities have been considered incompatible with the ascetic lifestyle of a yogi – and for good reason. Hours of asana and meditation simply do not mesh with the demands of responsible early parenting. However, I believe that this necessary adaptation is the perfect illustration of what yoga is really about.

Yoga is not about hours of poses and breath work. It is not about sitting to meditate uninterrupted. Are these tools useful and important? Absolutely. But they are just that: tools. Asana, pranayama, and meditation are a means to an end, not an end in themselves. The end goal is absolute presence, mindfulness, complete awareness. Yoga offers everyone the tools to adapt to and cope with stress, adversity, and disappointment. It helps us to keep perspective, to remain conscious of the “big picture” in the midst of daily distractions. The ability to maintain perspective is valuable to every person on the planet, especially parents of young children.

After changing the diaper, I return to my mat. No sooner have I come into Paripurna Navasana than both kids enter. My four-year-old begins playing on the floor next to me, while my two-year-old climbs into my lap. After several admonitions that “Mommy needs some time for herself,” accompanied by creatively incorporating a 25-pound child into several seated asanas, they return to the TV. Eventually, the background music for my Savasana is not devotional chanting but the theme song to Caillou™.

In Mama & Baby Yoga later that day, I found myself explaining to a new student, “Don’t expect to practice all the poses in a single class.” Invariably, at least one mom is sitting on the floor nursing, or changing a diaper. Babies simply take priority over asana. Class does not end with a traditional Savasana (total relaxation), but rather a guided breathing time to promote relaxation and mindfulness.

As a parent and as a yoga teacher, I am not entirely convinced that mothers are meant to “let go completely,” the instruction so commonly heard at the end of yoga class. Mothers of young children, particularly breastfeeding moms, are not wired physically nor emotionally for complete detachment. Understanding and accepting this deviation from traditional yoga guidance is fundamental to offering women a yoga practice relevant to their lives.

All yoga classes at Healing Hands Chiropractic are designed to help you make yoga a part of your everyday life, not just a series of poses you do once or twice a week. Our personalized approach is rooted in our commitment to help you start yoga from where you are (and not from some place you think you “should” be). This applies to women at all stages of life, from pregnancy through menopause and beyond.

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In honor of Mother’s Day, Healing Hands Chiropractic is offering a special discount on yoga class packages during the month of May: Buy one package, get the second at 50% off. This is a great opportunity to share your love of yoga with a mother, sister, or friend. Call 603-434-3456 for details, or stop by the front desk after your next class.

Please join us Saturday, May 22^nd, from 12 to 3 pm, as we honor women of all ages at our Women’s Day of Wellness. This enriching afternoon will include complimentary chair massage, reiki, yoga, and refreshments. We will be accepting donations to benefit Elliot Hospital’s Postpartum Depression Taskforce.

Parents today have more options than ever before when deciding who will provide their prenatal care, who will attend their baby’s birth, and where the birth will take place. Many of these options indicate a positive shift in the way our culture views maternity care: Parents can (and should) be actively involved in selecting the type of birth they want for their family. Unfortunately, the overwhelming number of choices, combined with a lack of cultural familiarity with birth itself, sometimes leads parents to choose a “default” birth (read: OB-attended birth in a hospital with standard medical interventions) rather than thoroughly exploring their options.

The primary goal of Healing Hands Chiropractic’s pregnancy and childbirth workshops is to demystify the process of birth and the choices involved, allowing parents to choose the options that are best for them and for their baby. Understanding the difference between types of care providers is an essential part of planning the birth you want.

In the United States today, the vast majority of births are attended by an obstetrician (OB), a medical doctor who specializes in pregnancy and childbirth. Obstetricians are trained to manage low-risk pregnancies and deliveries, but are especially skilled at handling complications. They can attend vaginal births as well as perform cesareans. Among OBs, there may be a wide variety of attitudes toward pregnancy and birth. If you are considering care with an obstetrician, it is important to make sure that his or her philosophy on birth is similar to your own.

Midwives are extensively trained in providing care for low-risk pregnancies and deliveries. A midwife practicing in a hospital is usually a certified nurse-midwife, or CNM. CNMs are registered nurses who have additional training and experience with maternity care. CNMs in hospitals generally work in conjunction with one or more obstetricians, and can consult with them or even transfer patients to their care should complications arise. Many CNMs tend to have a more hands-off, holistic attitude toward pregnancy and birth, though this is not always the case. A CNM practicing in a hospital is often subject to institution policies, including standard procedures for length of labor after admission to the hospital, eating and drinking in labor, and management of complications.

Midwives who practice outside of the hospital have different credentials depending on licensing regulations in each state. (In New Hampshire, the designation is CPM, or Certified Professional Midwife.) Unlike hospital-based professionals, Direct Entry Midwives are trained in birth first, medicine second. Even more than a CNM, a CPM tends to regard pregnancy and birth as a natural, healthy process that requires little to no intervention. (Midwives have been known to say that they do not “deliver” babies, they just “catch” them.) Direct Entry Midwives attend births in free-standing birth centers and at home. They are trained to watch for and manage complications, and to transport clients to the hospital when necessary. Their labor bags include medical equipment to prevent or manage maternal hemorrhage, to provide sutures in the event of a perineal tear, and to resuscitate a newborn. An out-of-hospital birth for a healthy, low-risk mother is neither dangerous nor irresponsible. In several studies, home birth has actually been shown to be safer than hospital birth, because the mother is not subject to standard procedures that may lead to complications.1

Doulas are labor support professionals. They are not responsible for the medical aspects of birth, but provide emotional and psychological support for the mother and her birth partner. A doula is also trained to interact professionally with hospital staff, and can act as an advocate for the mother should the need arise. A doula generally arrives earlier in labor than other birth attendants, often supporting the mother while she labors at home and then traveling to the hospital with the parents. She can help with the initiation of breastfeeding and may also offer additional postpartum support. (For more information, including the distinction between labor doulas and postpartum doulas, please check out Doulas of North America: http://www.dona.org/mothers/index.php)

Practitioners at Healing Hands Chiropractic regard pregnancy and childbirth as natural processes in which both parents should be involved and educated. For more on birth choices, consider an upcoming childbirth series or early pregnancy workshop. Email jenny@healinghandsnh.com for schedule, rates, and registration information.

by Jenny Everett King- Childbirth Educator and Prenatal & Postpartum Yoga Teacher

Recently I asked a group of mom friends, “What do you wish you had known about parenting before your baby was born?” Here are just a few of their responses:

• That when your child is born, especially first children, the whole world shifts (it’s a bit like the way it shifts when someone dies – only the outcome is more positive) and it’s normal to feel like everything’s tilted, like in those V8 commercials, for awhile until you adjust to the HUGE change that just happened.

• You will scare yourself by how much you worry about your baby, and while you will continue to worry more now than you ever did before you were a parent, the scary-obsessive worrying will subside enough that you feel halfway normal again.

• I wish someone told me how crazy my hormones would make me! Everything made me cry the first few weeks. Commercials, cards in the mail, looking at my baby sleeping, being home alone with the baby for the first time.

A common thread runs through these responses as well as many others I received, namely, a feeling of being completely overwhelmed. Perhaps more than anything else, what characterizes the early weeks (and often months) of parenting is a feeling of being in WAY over your head!

I can remember taking my daughter home from the hospital, amazed that the staff would just let us walk out the door with such a tiny, vulnerable life. When I thought about the fact that my husband and I were the two people in the world ultimately responsible for her, I was terrified. I see this same fear reflected in the face of nearly every new mom I work with. It’s there regardless of age, income, or relationship status. It’s there in women who have had years of experience with small children. It’s there in the families who have spent years trying to conceive as well as those who were shocked to learn they were pregnant. To an outsider, this kind of fear in a new parent may be concerning. New parents often feel like they have no idea what they are doing! However, personal and professional experience alike have shown me that this feeling is a fundamental part of becoming a parent. Just like the intense sensations of childbirth, the majority of the time, the emotions of the early parenting weeks are normal, natural, and healthy.

For the mother, physical recovery from pregnancy and birth are a lengthy process. Her body must literally transition from “pregnant” to “parent.”  The uterus takes weeks to return to its non-pregnant size, the joints of the hips may take weeks to mend, the uterus bleeds daily as the placental site heals. In the meantime, her breasts go through dramatic and amazing changes to provide continued nourishment for her baby. All of these processes are generated by sharp changes in hormone levels, which affect the emotions as well as the body.

Partners also experience their share of strong emotions in the weeks following birth. Many have just witnessed the person they love most endure the difficult, ecstatic, life-changing journey that is birth. But more than the that, the profound responsibility of having a child can weigh heavily on fathers in particular. It is crucial to remember that partners go thought their own transition  to becoming a parent, and like any change, emotions may be mixed. Anatole France writes, “All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.” Many parents experience a sense of loss over their lives prior to having children, and why shouldn’t they? The days of sleeping late (or a full eight hours), of acting spontaneously, of leading a self-determined existence are long gone. If feelings of loss surface, it is important to acknowledge them personally, to have a support network of friends and family, and to speak with a professional counselor if the feelings become overwhelming.

What do new parents need to thrive during the major transition of the postpartum period? First, the basic needs must be met: adequate fluids, nutritious food, and as much sleep as possible. (Of course, it’s highly likely that no amount of sleep will feel sufficient!) In addition, the whole family needs support from other responsible, understanding adults, who can help with cooking, cleaning, and baby care on occasion. It is helpful if parents recognize in advance that the postpartum period is challenging for everyone, and that feeling overwhelmed or fearful does not mean you are a bad parent. A support group of other new parents can help normalize these feelings, as well as offer friendships with other mothers and fathers at the same life stage. And of course, help keep the whole family healthy with natural wellness care! Planning for the changes inherent in the postpartum period will help the whole family thrive during the amazing journey to parenthood.

Healing Hands Chiropractic offers many treatments to build health during pregnancy and postpartum, including Webster Technique chiropractic care, Mother Massage®, Mama Prenatal and Mama & Baby Postpartum yoga, and a free weekly support group, Mommy Connection. We partner with Elliot Hospital’s Postpartum Depression Task Force to raise awareness and offer emotional support to new families.

by Jenny Everett King, childbirth educator and prenatal yoga teacher

Because we promote natural childbirth at Healing Hands, some people assume that our practitioners are opposed to epidurals and other pharmacological methods of labor pain relief. This is absolutely not the case. Rather, what concerns us is the idea so prevalent in today’s culture that women need medication for labor pain. We encourage natural pain relief methods because we want every pregnant woman who walks through our doors to know that non-medicated birth is a viable option.

Some mothers who plan to use medication for pain relief do little else to prepare for the discomforts of labor. But women who plan on epidurals for labor and delivery still need other coping techniques. If you go into labor at home, you will still need to cope with contractions during the car ride to the hospital as well as the admission process. Even at the hospital, the window of opportunity for receiving an epidural can be relatively small – typically between four and eight centimeters cervical dilation. Request it before 4cm, and you’ll have to wait until your labor has progressed. Request it at 8cm or more – for most women, this is the most intense part of labor – and you’ll likely be denied because the “pushing” stage is imminent. It’s also a good idea to let an epidural wear off somewhat before pushing begins, so that you can feel your contractions enough to work with them. That means that you’ll probably have some discomfort during the second stage of labor. Additionally, epidurals do not always provide total pain relief. Planning in a scheduled cesarean? In the absence of medical need, it’s unlikely that one will be performed before 39 weeks gestation. But full-term labor can happen as early as 37 or 38 weeks. Every pregnant woman, therefore, needs to prepare herself to deal with labor contractions.

Our childbirth workshops teach several ways to cope with and minimize labor pain, including relaxation techniques, the best positions for labor, massage, counter-pressure, acupressure, and vocalization. We also discuss epidurals at length, so that parents who are interested in them can make an informed decision and know when pain medication may be the right choice.

The other services we offer at Healing Hands, particularly pregnancy chiropractic, acupuncture, and prenatal yoga, are extremely useful for minimizing labor pain, because receiving these treatments during pregnancy can help your baby get into the best position for birth. The worst discomforts women feel during labor are usually due to the baby being in a less-than-optimal position. (The horror stories told to vulnerable pregnant women about “back labor” are really stories of a baby facing backwards for birth!)

Our practitioners welcome your questions about handling labor pain and optimal fetal positioning. For more on coping techniques in labor, please join us for “Love Your Birth” on January 26^th or April 20^th.

“What do you think of your body?”

It’s a question that elementary school children have been asked recently, in hopes of shedding light on the body image crisis. But it’s also a question that every woman of childbearing age should ask herself – and most do, albeit unconsciously.

Medical anthropologist Robbie Davis-Floyd writes that a woman’s choices regarding her birth often reveal her deepest beliefs about the abilities of her body, and by extension, her beliefs about nature and technology. A woman who believes that nature has made her body powerful and capable will choose a birth with minimal interventions – a labor that begins spontaneously and is allowed to progress without interference. A woman who believes that technology is superior to nature and that medical knowledge is superior to natural (and often unpredictable) body processes will choose a more “controlled” birth, where the labor process is carefully monitored and perhaps managed by outside influences. Even if the type of birth is not consciously chosen in advance – in fact, it rarely is – these same belief systems are often evident in a mother’s choice of care provider (midwife or OB/GYN) as well as the location for her baby’s birth (home, birth center, or hospital).

Of course, many women begin pregnancy unsure of what they believe regarding medical technology and its relationship to nature. The attitude of today’s average expectant mother could be summed up like this: She wants to believe that a natural, low-intervention birth is safe, realistic, and worthwhile. But by the middle of her pregnancy, she has heard, read, and viewed so many birth horror stories, she is no longer confident in her body’s ability to birth without the “safeguards” of modern medicine. She likely still hopes for a normal birth, but has taken on more of a “wait and see” approach to her birth plan.

Several studies indicate that a mother’s level of satisfaction with her baby’s birth is only loosely related to the choices that were made, but very closely related to the mother knowing she played an active role in making those decisions. A mother who feels pressured to submit to an intervention she would prefer to avoid (or even a mother who feels she was denied an intervention she wanted) is often left feeling very dissatisfied with her birth experience.

Regardless of the decisions she makes, every mother deserves to give birth with confidence in her choices. Just as the physical work of pregnancy reaches its climax with labor and birth, much of the intellectual and emotional work of pregnancy is to be informed and stay confident. Pregnancy and childbirth classes are an excellent way to get information. The face-to-face interaction with childbirth professionals as well as with other parents gives both the mother and her birth partner the chance to ask questions and explore their beliefs about a natural pregnancy and birth. Most importantly, birth classes encourage dialogue between the mother and her birth partner. (This is often a more effective source of communication than handing your husband or boyfriend a copy of the latest pregnancy book and then wondering if he’ll actually read it.)

Prenatal yoga classes offer pregnant women another opportunity to increase confidence in their birth choices, no matter what they are. Yoga’s emphasis on “tuning in” to the self helps a woman build confidence in her intuition. Pregnancy hormone jokes aside, Woman’s Intuition is not cutesy sitcom fodder but in fact a powerful and valuable player during pregnancy and birth. For many women of childbearing age, the value of intuition has gone the way of body confidence: we lost it in early adolescence. Pregnancy is an opportunity to reconnect with both.

Not sure what you want for your birth? Be honest with yourself. Do research. But most importantly, practice tuning in to your deepest thoughts and feelings. With time, you will begin to discover the choices that are best for you and your baby.

Healing Hands Chiropractic offers a number of prenatal care services to help you have the healthiest pregnancy and birth. In addition to pregnancy and childbirth workshops, we offer prenatal yoga, prenatal chiropractic care (including the Webster Technique), prenatal massage, reiki, and acupuncture.

When I found out I was pregnant for the first time, my mother’s ecstatic reaction was quickly followed by, “You have to get a baby sling.” At first, I didn’t see the point. I imagined that between a classic front pack, a car seat / stroller combination, a crib, and a bouncy seat, my daughter would have her choice of locations when my hands were occupied. I eventually agreed to the baby-wearing prospect, but mostly to appease the new grandma.

My daughter quickly revealed herself to be what many practitioners refer to as a “high-need baby.” She wanted to be held and cuddled almost constantly. She was not interested in spending her time in a vibrating bouncy seat, nor napping in her crib. (She did not enjoy riding in her car seat, either, but that particular issue was non-negotiable.)

Enter the baby sling, a piece of fabric I imagined sitting on a shelf next to the little-used blankets and newborn dress-up clothes. In her sling, my daughter was happy. In her sling, Delaney took in the world around her, she breastfed discreetly, and she napped at will. My husband and I became unexpected converts to the world of baby-wearing and attachment parenting.

After our son was born, we switched from the sling to the Moby Wrap, and discovered that, not only was baby-wearing beneficial for baby, but could be fun for parents as well. Many different carrier styles offer some of the benefits of baby-wearing: close contact and enhanced bonding, breastfeeding convenience, and an upright position for colicky babies, to name a few. But the Moby offers a host of additional benefits, including the following:

A variety of holds – With many carriers, parents are limited to just a few different positions for baby. Most babies have certain positions they prefer, and if you have a carrier with limited options, getting baby comfortable can be a daunting task. The Moby Wrap comes with instructions for a wide variety of baby positions, categorized for your baby’s age and development. You can experiment with a number of holds until you find your baby’s favorites (and yours!).

Works for newborns through preschoolers – The Moby Wrap is perfect for babies who are just days (or even hours) old, yet supports up to 35 pounds. That means one carrier for the first two or three years of your baby’s life. If you have two small children, one wrap can be used for either one. (My two kids, who are now 3 years and 16 months, respectively, took turns in it while we were shopping the other day.) Moby has specific instructions for wearing twins, too.

Skin-to-skin contact – One way to wear the Moby Wrap, the “Kangaroo Hold,” allows you to place baby directly against your skin. This skin-to-skin contact is strongly encouraged by proponents of attachment parenting, as a way to enhance bonding with either mommy or daddy. For mothers, skin-to-skin can also help to increase milk supply in the first months of breastfeeding.

Ergonomic, symmetrical design for parents– Many carriers distribute baby’s weight on the parent’s body unevenly, putting strain on one shoulder or pulling on the vulnerable muscles of the neck and upper back. The symmetrical wrap style of the Moby allows for even weight distribution, minimizing stress to the parent’s body.

Ergonomic design for baby – Many commercial baby carriers and front packs hold your baby with nearly all his or her weight on the tailbone, with legs dangling. This can cause stress and even damage to baby’s tiny spine. In the Moby Wrap, your baby sits with neck, spine, and legs supported comfortably and safely.

One size fits all – No need to buy a sized carrier for each caretaker. The Moby Wrap is designed to fit different body types and sizes, so you need just one wrap for mommy, daddy, grandparents, and babysitters.

Moby Wraps are available at our office, Healing Hands Chiropractic in Londonderry, or can be purchased directly from our website here. We welcome your questions about baby-wearing and attachment parenting. To meet other parents with similar interests, please join us for Mommy Connection on Mondays from 4 to 5 pm.

An acquaintance shared her birth story with me. We’ll call her Shelley. Her child was born at a local hospital less than four years ago. Here’s a summary of the birth of Shelley’s first child:

Shelley’s water broke (also called “ruptured membranes”) a few days after her due date. As instructed during the last weeks of her pregnancy, she called the hospital, and was asked to come in for an evaluation. After a quick test, it was determined that her water had indeed broken, and she was admitted to the labor and delivery floor. Shelley was then asked to get in bed so that staff could check on her baby’s heart rate with an electronic monitor.

She stayed in bed for 13 hours.

Over the course of that long night, not much changed for Shelley or her baby, except that she got pretty darn sick of sitting in bed. When morning came, the birth of her baby did not appear to be any closer than it had been the night before. He doctor decided to administer Pitocin, a synthetic hormone used to cause or strengthen labor contractions. For the next 11 hours, Shelley sat in bed experiencing strong labor contractions with no pain relief. (Because her cervix had not dilated to at least 4 centimeters, she was not eligible for an epidural.)

After a full day of Pitocin-induced contractions, Shelley was exhausted, frustrated, and dilated to only 3 centimeters. By this time her water had been broken for over 24 hours, which many practitioners believe increases the chances of infection. Since Pitocin had not helped her labor to progress, her doctor diagnosed her with labor dystocia (also called “failure to progress”) and recommended a cesarean section. Shelley gave birth to her baby via cesarean a few hours later.

Shelley was left very disappointed with her birth experience. She had wanted a vaginal birth and couldn’t understand why her body had not cooperated. She was left to recover from major abdominal surgery while learning to care for a newborn.

Shelley’s story is a classic example of a concept childbirth educators call the “Domino Theory of Interventions.” Like dominoes falling, one medical intervention leads to another, and that one to another, and so on, often resulting in a disappointing birth experience overall.

Could Shelley’s cesarean birth and subsequent difficult recovery have been prevented? I believe so.

There is a specific reason Shelley’s labor did not progress: Her baby never “dropped,” which means his body never moved down far enough for the top of his head to press on her cervix. Especially in first pregnancies, without pressure from the baby’s head, a mother’s cervix can dilate the first few centimeters, but usually no further.  Mother and baby truly work together to make labor happen.

Why didn’t Shelley’s baby drop? The likely reason is that she was stuck in bed. Her body was not allowed to opportunity to work with gravity and move her baby deeper into her pelvis.  The most frustrating part of this story is that, according to Shelley, there was no medical reason for her to stay in bed for those 13 hours. She simply wasn’t offered other options. Once the Pitocin was administered, staying in bed was necessary, since Pitocin augmentation requires continuous monitoring of fetal heart tones.  (This is because Pitocin contractions can be more stressful on the baby than naturally-occurring contractions are.) As we know already, Shelley’s baby hadn’t had a chance to drop, so the 11 hours of painful and exhausting Pitocin contractions were relatively futile.  For Shelley, confinement to bed interfered with both her own body’s and her baby’s natural impulses, which resulted in Pitocin administration, which necessitated staying in bed and further stole the opportunity for Shelley to work with her contractions. In all likelihood, it was medical intervention that created the need for a cesarean.

So what to do if you find yourself in a situation like Shelley’s? If you give birth in a hospital, starting your labor in bed is highly probable, since most hospitals require 15 minutes of fetal monitoring upon admission. If this is your hospital’s policy, you still have options. You can sit upright in bed for 15 minutes, then get up and move around. Another option – one that works especially well if your situation requires continuous monitoring throughout labor, instead of just 15 minutes – is to labor near the machine but not in bed. You can stand or walk near the machine, or sit in a rocking chair or (my personal favorite) on a birth ball directly next to it. As long as the monitor stays in place on your abdomen, and you don’t move further than the wires can reach, there is no good medical reason for staying in bed.

Our weekly prenatal yoga classes incorporate many poses that can encourage your baby to “drop” and engage in your pelvis at the final weeks of pregnancy. The majority of the poses we practice are equally helpful during labor, and some can even be used for birth.  Any expectant mother who wants to learn more about helping to create the birth she wants for her baby is invited to join an upcoming prenatal yoga class or childbirth class series.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is a family wellness center located in Londonderry, NH. Also offered at Healing Hands: Prenatal and Family Chiropractic, Acupuncture, Pregnancy Massage and Reiki Therapy.  

Quote: “There’s just no reason to do it any other way.” Said by many a new mother sitting in a hospital bed, following the virtually pain-free birth of her baby, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine. Years ago, when my sister-in-law and I had this conversation, I found myself at a loss. Having just delivered my own daughter without medication or other intervention, I felt conflicted. I disagreed with her logic, but could not seem to come up with an articulable counter argument, and that frustrated me.

Before we go any further, let me be clear: I count women who have chosen  medical birth among my dearest family and friends. I have no wish to offend them or anyone else. And for a minority of mothers, medically-oriented labor and delivery is the best option. But natural-birthing mothers have been silent too long, and it’s time we respond, “Yes, there absolutely is a reason to do it another way.” To more accurate, there are several reasons, and the evidence on the sheer physical benefit of physiologically normal birth is compelling. But let’s forget about the science for a moment and talk about one specific, albeit abstract, reason: Elective childbirth without medication just may be – no, will probably be – one of the greatest sensations of your life.

Is childbirth painful? You bet. It’s probably some of the most extreme discomfort many women will experience in their lives. Childbirth educators like myself often shy away from the word “pain,” because we don’t want to scare anyone. But let’s face it: “Discomfort” does not begin to describe the sensation of transition contractions. Birth hurts.

But that’s only half the story, and if that’s all you’ve heard, you’ve missed the best part. Yes, birth hurts. But birth also heals. Childbirth is not only one of the most physically painful things many women will experience; it is also one of the most physically and emotionally ecstatic.

I’m convinced that many mothers shy away from discussing this aspect of birth for two reasons: 1) It is highly personal, and 2) It is extremely difficult to articulate.

Describing to anyone your feelings at the birth of your child is to let them in on one of the most intimate experiences of your life. It requires a level of intimacy that most of us share with very few people. Even more challenging, the ecstasy of childbirth is nearly impossible to put into words. But its inarticulable nature does not mean it doesn’t exist. By way of contrast, consider some of the more intense experiences of your own life – moments that enveloped you physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And then ask yourself: Could anyone possibly put that experience into words? Poetry might be able to come close, but prose? Could a random, double-blind, controlled scientific study even begin to touch it?

For most people, the answer is no. There are experiences that cannot be put into words. Science may reflect the hormonal surges that lead to the feelings we experience, but science cannot describe the feeling itself. Now ask yourself: How do you normally respond to an experience that is “too good for words”? Doesn’t its inarticulable nature only make you want to try it more?

So here’s my suggestion: If you are expecting a baby and find yourself on the fence about natural childbirth, put down the research books. Instead, talk to a mother who chose to deliver her child without medical intervention.  Ask her about her experience. (Don’t be shy – most mothers love to tell their birth stories!) Notice her enthusiasm, her attitude towards labor pain, her level of confidence. Ask her if she would have chosen a different approach to her baby’s birth. I’ll wager that she’ll tell you: “There’s just no reason to do it any other way.”

Considering a natural birth? Want to learn more about your options? www.HealingHandsNH.com/childbirth.html

December 20, 2008

LONDONDERRY- Dr. Jessica L. Caruso (formerly Leavey), director at Healing Hands Chiropractic- A Family Wellness Center in Londonderry, NH is currently accepting new patients. Healing Hands Chiropractic is a full service wellness center offering chiropractic care, massage therapy, reiki therapy, yoga, meditation and childbirth education classes; focusing on prenatal care, family wellness, women’s health, and pediatrics.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is pleased to announce the addition of a comprehensive prenatal program to their schedule, beginning January 2009. Dr. Caruso is certified in the Webster Technique; a safe and effective technique for expectant mothers used to restore proper pelvic balance and function; allowing the baby to get into the best possible position for birth. In expectant mothers presenting breech, there has been a high reported success rate of the baby turning to the normal vertex position. This technique has been successfully used in women whose babies present transverse and posterior as well. More may be learned about this technique at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/chiro.html.

Healing Hands has also added additional pre- and postnatal yoga, as well as Yoga for Women’s Wellness classes to their schedule. Prenatal yoga classes are a traditional series of beginner and intermediate asanas, tailored to the specific needs of expectant mothers. The mission of their prenatal classes is to help you find the balance between preparing for the profound experience of birth, while also caring for yourself in the present moment.
Pregnant women may also participate in any of their traditional Asana classes. Instructors at Healing Hands can show you how to modify poses when necessary. Babysitting services are available on site for most yoga classes at Healing Hands Chiropractic. Classes with childcare may be found at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/yoga_hours.html

Healing Hands Chiropractic also has childbirth education classes available. Classes meet in two formats: Weekly classes are two hours each, and run for six weeks. The seventh week is a casual question and answer time, where students have the opportunity to speak with new parents as well as holistic health professionals who specialize in prenatal care and/or pediatrics. Weekend sessions, an alternative for those who can’t attend during the week, meet two Saturday afternoons for five hours each time. Exact dates and times of classes may be found at http://www.healinghandsnh.com/child_hours.html.

A free prenatal consultation is available with Dr. Caruso by appointment. Appointments may be made by calling Healing Hands Chiropractic at (603)434-3456 or online at www.HealingHandsNH.com by clicking the ‘Book Now’ icon.

Healing Hands Chiropractic is located at Landmark Crossing, 25 Nashua Rd., Ste F2 (RT 102); Londonderry, NH 03053.

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