Stay hydrated.  Water is best.

Wear supportive shoes.  Sneakers are good, but do not tie the laces too tightly.

Try to distribute your weight evenly on both feet.

Shift your weight from one foot to the other if you’re standing in one place for a long period of time.

When sitting, do not cross your legs or dangle your feet.

Elevate your feet whenever possible.

When lifting, do not bend at the waist.  Bend your knees, hold the object close and use the power of your legs to life. 

Use a pillow under your head to keep the position of your head in the center of both shoulders.

Use your arms, not your back muscles, to get out of bed.

Pelvic tilts are a great way to relieve lower back pain.  Lie on your back with your knees bent.  Slowly, raise your time later in the pregnancy. 

Oxygen is fuel for your body.  Take full deep breaths as you stretch your arms behind your back or above your head, clasping your fingers. 

Mediate for stress relief and relaxation.

http://intentionalbirth.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/its-about-womens-rights

Most OB’s and hospitals that refuse to support VBAC do so citing concerns about uterine rupture. And while this is a possibility, educating women about risks and benefits is vital to informed consent of patients. To be vital, informed consent requires patients (in this case women) the option of informed refusal. It is the right of every person to make healthcare decisions personally. Each pregnant woman, therefore, should also have the same right to choose what she will and will not accept as part of her individualized care. She can choose to accept or refuse induction, epidural, ultrasound, fetal monitoring, IV. She has the right to change her mind, even during labor.

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News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
CME Author: Charles P. Vega, MD

CME Released: 12/03/2009; Valid for credit through 12/03/2010

I learned so much about being a woman.  Our journey never stops and always continues to grow.  As a busy woman, mother-of-three, I’m always on the back burner of life.  I smolder there, slow cooking.  Unfortunately sometimes, I pop and explode.  I find a really good way to prevent that is by tuning into the Earth Mother within. 

Ladypallooza helped re-align me with that inner feminine energy.  That night I had a dream.  I was floating above the room and saw thousands of white laser light beams criss crossed in a labyrinth pattern suspended within the patchwork of the cathedral ceiling.   It looked like blown glass tubes, clear and throbbing with energy.    I woke up refreshed. 

Check out our doula recommendations.

Come have fun in our one-day women’s symposium. Tis the season for festivities!  Celebrate the spirit of women at Ladypallooza.   We’ll be dancing and singing and sharing ideas on Saturday, December 5 between 10 am and 4 pm at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in Stony Brook.  Ladypallooza is sponsored by Mothers Emerge Worldwide, a non-profit organization dedicated to help women find holistic health care before, during and after birth.   Shop from local craftswomen, enjoy music from female musicians, participate in workshops, listen to discussions about women’s health, wellness and pregnancy.   They’ll be gourmet snacks.   $5.00 fee or bring a canned good donation and get in free.  Children under 13 are free.  Ladypallooza at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 380 Nichols Road, Stony Brook.  Visit, www.ladypallooza.com

“Okay.  I’m on my way.”  I jumped in the shower, called my husband who was boarding a train home to Long Island from New York City.  My parents had settled in for the night — no babysitting, there.  I waited.

I drove out to the hospital, got there around 11:30 pm.  The room was dark, cool and Enya music played.   J was comfortable and greeted me graciously and rather cheerfully in between contractions, meaning she wasn’t that far along; between 3-4 centimeters.  I have three children, I knew what was coming and hoped for J that it would be better and different than what I went through.  Each birth should be the mom’s own experience.   Blessings!

J’s doula Lisa, one of our board members, was incredible.  I didn’t have a doula and missed out.  A doula, aside from your husband, is truly your best friend, navigator, mother, nurse, witness, extra arms, extra love and literally the drumbeat of the birth.  Lisa guided J through the wee hours of the morning.  It was awe-inspiring, the natural creative process that took twists and turns and stalled out and revved up.    There was not a breath that J took that Lisa didn’t help her through for 7 straight hours.  I never saw anything like it.  There was a rhythm to it.  J wanted no drugs.  She bore down and labored through from 10 am yesterday morning, resting when she could and delivered her son 7:30 this morning.  Only when she hit 7 centimeters did she take a little staydol to help her sleep between contractions.  She was strong, focused and amazing. 

I can’t help but compare and believe me birthing a child is never about a contest.  Each birth is sacred, special and here at MEW we strive to share ideas and refer wonderful health care professionals to create the healthiest birth for the mother and child.  But for all three of my births, by the time I hit 4 centimeters, I had an epidural.

J weathered the storm solo and I was so impressed with her courage, stamina integrity and focus.  Kudos to her husband, too who stood by her side with every single contraction pumping her up, “You can do it, breathe.”  

The large window backlit the room.  They raised the bed higher and J pushed, as women gathered ’round her–nurses in scrubs, Lisa the doula and Marie the midwife.   The pale powdery blue sky outlined her beautiful silhouette and dark hair billowing around the pillow.  She wasn’t more than 30 years old.  J moaned the birth song of patient frustration and exclaimed Yaaaah as her son was released into the world joyously.   

Blessings to J, her husband and the baby.  And of course, to doula Lisa Inglese.  Bravo.