Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas
Sweet Pea Births - ...celebrating every sweet pea and their birth
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Recent Posts

Rights For Homebirth - May 2013 Update
Natural Oxytocin Boosters
10 Wishes For Your Birth and Beyond
Postpartum: Unplugged
Bébé Concierge: J'aime la vie by Victoria Antoinette

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

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Sweet Peas, Pods & Papas

Postpartum Plan

Postpartum: Unplugged

We see the beautiful newborn pictures taken by professional photographers of sweet sleeping babies.  We ooh and ahh and maybe wish we had found someone to capture these days with our children.


Bradley Method® natural childbirth classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Tempe, Ahwatukee, Gilbert, Mesa, Scottsdale, Payson
Here is what you do not see:  the tired mama, and probably papa, standing behind the photographer.  They are not getting sleep between adjusting to life with baby, learning how to breastfeed, and trying to figure out just how often they are supposed to feed the baby.  How do you sleep when the baby sleeps?

Labor Support: Meet the Monitrice

I am so excited to announce a monitrice service for couples that want to have a natural birth outcome in a hospital setting.  Jennifer Hoeprich, LM, is now extending her skill set to families who want to stay home as long as possible before heading to a hospital for their birth.


What is a monitrice?
A monitrice is a professional, medically trained, labor support person, who provides clinical monitoring within the home environment, including cervical dilation exams, auscultation of fetal heart tones, and monitoring of general well-being of mother and baby, during labor.

Mama Time

     The baby you have always dreamed of is here!  They are precious, tiny, and completely dependent on you!  You cherish the opportunity to nourish them, teach them, and wait for the day when they begin to interact with you by smiling at you, making and keeping eye contact, your first shared laugh together…all of these moments are priceless.

     Then something occurs to us - "when" is a matter of time.  They are here with you forever.  You will never go back to your life before baby.

Postpartum Period: 0-6 weeks

On Tuesday I shared the things we have in our “Postpartum Kit”.  Last night’s birth circle topic was about the postpartum period…specifically the six weeks after baby was born.  Here are some gems from last night to share with you: 

Breastfeeding:  Some moms set up a “nursing station” in the nursery.  They stock it with water, snacks, books or magazines to read while nursing, nursing pads and nipple cream.  One of the mom/Bradley™ teacher/doula suggested to set up more than one station because in her experience mom’s get tired of nursing in the same spot.

Postpartum Kit


Bradley Method(R) classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Ahwatukee, Scottsdale, Payson
We said best wishes to another class last night...it's always hard to believe our group has been together for 12 weeks, and that the gatherings are over until reunion time.  

I have never shared what is in our postpartum kit before, so here is a visual of what I put together to show our couples for them to consider keeping handy in the first few days after baby arrives:

Bradley Method(R) classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, Ahwatukee, Scottsdale, PaysonWater:  We suggest that coaches bring mom a tall glass of water or a full water bottle every time she settles down to nurse.

Postpartum Ideas

Bradley Method® classes offered in Arizona: Chandler, Ahwatukee, Tempe, Gilbert, Mesa, ScottsdaleIt breaks my heart to hear desperation in a new mama’s voice, or to read that they are struggling with breastfeeding, or to know that they are not getting enough sleep.  It’s a harsh reality check after the first few hours of euphoria after the baby is born.
 
After a baby is born and the female body is flooded with endorphins, a mama who has had minimal interference with the natural process will be completely alert, awake and responsive to the needs of her newborn child.  Hopefully she gets some sleep after the endorphins wear off.

Breast Care 101

We have lots of new mommies in the queue, so I thought I would share some of the great products available for milkin' mammas.  I picked four categories, and with the help of Talisha Heiden, I have product descriptions and some informational videos for you.

Galactagogues
As I mentioned in mynewbie's post, it is important that mom's get help within the first three weeks of their current breastfeeding relationship if they have any doubts or are concerned about their milk supply.
In this video, Talisha shares her knowledge of the products she carries to help new mother's increase their milk supply.

Some Postpartum Strategies

OnTuesdayI posted some ideas to avoid birth trauma, mental anguish and physical distress during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding.  It is by no means a complete list, however it’s a good starting point for thought and action. 
 
As a general rule, the fewer interventions you have during your birth, the easier your breastfeeding relationship will be to establish.  This leads to a mom who recovers from her birth experience feeling competent in her abilities to nourish her child.

Newborn jaundice

We are back from our babymoon!  It has been a wonderful five weeks of enjoying our baby instead of doing all of the regular day-to-day activities.  I didn’t do any blog writing or homeschooling through this time…we are slowly getting back to our routine.  We have continued on with our class series and all of our students have seen our baby grow into her 12-pound, 1-ounce weight and 24 inch length in the last five weeks.  Breast-milk is nature’s perfect food!!
 
Which brings me to one of the topics that we covered briefly at the end of class last night.

Off to a Good Start with your Newborn

Bradley Method(R) classes cover postpartum care - post by Jacqueline Norris, a Bradley(r) momWe are still on our babymoon - thank you to Jacqueline Norris, CD, PCD for writing today's post about postpartum care and the work of a postpartum doula.  To learn more about Jacqueline, please see the end of today's post.

A baby is born -  helpless, frail, precious, captivating, demanding, amazing.  Even if not initially, soon enough most parents find themselves awed at this tiny little miracle. They want to do the best they can to care for this needy little person who demands so much of their attention and care.
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