Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas
Sweet Pea Births - ...celebrating every sweet pea and their birth
RSS Follow Become a Fan

Delivered by FeedBurner


Recent Posts

Time To Rally Around Our Midwives
Rights For Homebirth - May 2013 Update
Natural Oxytocin Boosters
10 Wishes For Your Birth and Beyond
Postpartum: Unplugged

Most Popular Posts

Planning for Baby - Part 1
Hyperemesis Gravidarum In The News
An Inside Look: Placenta Encapsulation
An Inside Look: Modern Mommy Boutique
Stay Safe and Cool Through Your Summer Pregnancy - Part 2

Categories

Acupuncture
Allergies
Amniotomy
AROM
Artifical Rupture of Membranes
Avoiding harmful substances
Baby blues
Baby Concierge
Baby games
Baby-led weaning
Babywearing
Back Labor
Bag of Waters
Bedtime Routine
Belly Cast
Berman's Law
Birth center
Birth Centers Phoenix AZ area
Birth Circle
Birth place options
Birth plans
Birth Story
BLW
Bradley Day Family Picnic
Bradley Method®
Bradley Method® birth story
Bradley Method® for next baby
Bradley Method® for second pregnancy
Bradley Method® outcome
Bradley® Coaches
Bradley™ classes and the next baby
Bradley™ classes for next pregnancy
Bradley™ classes for second pregnancy
Breast Pumps
Breast Pumps and Workplace
Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding 101
Breastfeeding Challenges
Breastfeeding in Public
Breastfeeding support
Breech presentation
Breech turning techniques
Cassandra Okamoto
Cephalo-Pelvic Disproportion
Cesarean Birth
Cesarean Support Group
Cesarean Surgery
Child Spacing
Childcare
Children's Books
Chiropractic Care
CIO
Circumcision
Co Sleeping
Coaches
Coaching
Coach's Corner
Comfort Measures
Communication
CPD
Cry It Out
Crying
Dairy Allergy
Debbie Gillespie, IBCLC, RLC
Dehydration and Pregnancy
Depression
Doulas
Drinking during labor
Due Date
Eating during labor
Eclampsia
ECV
Engorgement
Epidural
Exercise
External Cephalic Version
Failure to Progress
Family Bed
Fetal Distress
First Birthday
First Foods for baby
First stage labor
Flower Essences
Fluid Retention
FTP
Full term
Fussy baby
Galactogogues
Going to your birthplace
Grief Counseling and Support Services
Healing
Healthy, Low-Risk
Hearing Screen
Heat Comfort Measures
Herbalist
Homebirth
Hospital Birth
Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Hyperthermia and Pregnancy
In Their Own Words
Increase Breastmilk
Infant Classes
Infections and Pregnancy
Information Center
Informed Consent
Jaundice
La Leche League
Labor Marathon
Labor Sprint
Labor Support
Lactivist
Managing or coping with natural labor
Maternity Keepsake
Meet the Doula
Midwife
Midwifery Care
Midwifery Scope of Practice Committee
Milk Supply
Miscarriage or Stillbirth
Modern Mommy Boutique
Mommy-Con
Monitrice
Morning Sickness
NAP
Natural Alignment Plateau
Natural birth
natural labor coping mechanisms
Natural labor coping techniques
Nausea
Newborn Care
Newborn jaundice
Next baby
Next pregnancy
NIP
NPO
Nursing
Nursing and Maternity Bras
Nursing In Public
Nursing Strike
Nutrition
Obstetrical Care
Oxytocin
Pain
Pain management
Pain management natural labor
Parenting
Past due date
Patient Bill of Rights
Perineum
Phoenix Mommy-Con Mini
Photographer
Placenta Encapsulation
Planning for Baby
Playing with baby
Postdate
Postmature baby
Postpartum
Postpartum Depression
Postpartum Doula
Postpartum Plan
Pre-eclampsia
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Loss
Premature Ruptture of Membranes
Pre-term Labor
Prolonged Labor
PROM
Relaxation
Relaxation practice
Repeat Bradley™ classes
Rights for Homebirth
ROM
RSV
Rupture of Membranes
Scavenger Hunt
Second Stage Labor
Sensory games
Sibling Preparation for Newborn Arrival
Sling
Soft-structured carrier
Starting Solids
Support Groups
Sweet Pea Births
Swelling in Pregnancy
Tandem Nursing
Teething
The Bradley Method®
The Bradley Method® classes
The Bradley Method® pain management
Tongue Tie
Tongue Tie Procedure
Toxins, pesticides, chemicals and pregnancy
Traditions
Transition
Use of vacuum extraction
Uterine Rupture
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean
Vaginal Birth After Multiple Cesareans
Variations and Complications
VBAC
Weaning
Webster Protocol
Why we chose the Bradley Method® childbirth classes
Wrap
powered by

Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas

Epidural

Peace on Earth

Today’s post is short.  I hope I will get some insightful answers to a question.  One that just occurred to me and I wonder if it has occurred to anyone else out there in the birth circles.   

 It started to tickle my brain as we entered the political season here in the U.S.  A time when I discover that although my birth and breastfeeding friends and I all share very similar beliefs about birth and breastfeeding, we are split into different voting parties.   

Natural Labor Coping Techniques

Here are some of the ways we recommend our students manage their labor without analgesics or anesthetics.  Even when they are used in labor, we are so happy that our couples use them as tools to manage a long labor and their children are born nursing vigorously and with high APGAR scores.

Bradley Method® natural childbirth classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Payson  Mom and Coach are informed. 
Through the course of The Bradley Method® class series, parents are taught about what to expect as “normal” in labor, what the variations on normal might be, the different options and interventions in labor, and how to recognize a complication that warrants a change in the plan for a Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby outcome.

Failing to Progress or Naturally Aligning

Bradley Method® natural childbirth classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Payson  We have had a couple of students have had textbook “NAPS” in the last two classes…and since we still have several couples waiting for their babies, I thought this might be a reminder and an inspiration to them for their labors.  NAP – no, they didn’t take epic naps in labor (although I am a big advocate for sleeping in labor)…what it means is that they were very patient in their labors.   

One of the cornerstones of The Bradley Method® is a Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby outcome.  All of the discussion below only applies if Mom and Baby are not showing any signs of distress through labor.

Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby

Bradley Method® Fall 2011 Series Chandler, AZBradley Method® Fall 2011 Series Chandler, AZ





I finally got approval from all the families to post the Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby pictures.  Here is a brief synopsis of their outcomes along with a birth story from one of the moms.
 
All of these are babies from our Fall 2011 Bradley Method® series.  Angelika got to be one of these babies, too!  The families enrolled in our classes with the intention of having natural births.  However, all of them took to heart our entreaty to evaluate all their decision points with the Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby filter.

Positive Communication

Communicating with your Care Provider  

Tonight’s class was about Variations & Complications of Labor.  The Bradley Method® believes in teaching this topic so that parents are prepared for the outside possibility of a variation of labor.  We strive to introduce these in an informative way while leaving out the flashing sirens of fear and doubt.  

In previous posts, I have written aboutchoosing your care providerand yourrights as a patient consumerof health care in a hospital setting; both will affect your outcome when faced with critical decisions during the birth process.

Uterine Rupture: Assessing the Risks

Uterine Rupture: Assessing the RisksThis is a topic that came up when I was pregnant with Angélika that I was not ready to allow into my consciousness until she was safely in our arms.  Now that enough time has passed and we have proven to ourselves that homebirth can be a safe option when a person is healthy and low risk, I am ready to write about it.   

I gave Stephanie Stanley, facilitator of the East Valley ICAN group, byline credit for this because I am using her research from a uterine rupture presentation she did at a meeting for my post today.

Energy for Pregnancy and Labor


Energy in pregnancy and energy for laborI made the mistake of serving sweet gooey treats for snack in class tonight.  It got really quiet after we did our labor rehearsal – oops.

So what are ways of increasing your energy during pregnancy, or additionally, your labor, if you are feeling low energy?   

Abdominal Breathing 
 We talk about it often in class – deep abdominal breathing is one of the best ways to increase oxygen in your body while still maintaining a deep level of relaxation.   

 Chest breathing wastes a tremendous amount of energy.

Preparation for a Positive Postpartum

Baby arrives - now what?  We all spend time planning and preparing the nursery and for the birth-day - and we may forget that there life after the big day, and that your new normal is going to include caring for a newborn child.
 
What can you do to prepare for the best postpartum possible?  The mom who can rest and feels capable in feeding and caring for her baby is less likely to experience postpartum depression.  Avoiding birth trauma, mental anguish and physical distress are factors that lead to a more positive postpartum experience.

Touring Your BIrthplace

Typical hospital roomBirthing suite at a birth centerBedroom with all the comforts of your familiar environment








As part of our Bradley Method® class, we encourage all of our students to take a tour of their birthplace.  In the event that a couple is planning a birth center or home birth, we encourage them to tour the hospital that their care provider would transport to “just-in-case”. 
 
There are many reasons why taking a hospital tour are important:

1.  You know how to get there and can plan alternate routes in the event of traffic.
If your care provider offers you a choice of hospitals, then this could be a deciding factor in which facility you choose.
Website Builder provided by  Vistaprint