Wise Woman Way of Birth
http://wisewomanwayofbirth.com/insiders-tip-on-how-to-have-a-great-vbac/
Original title: Insider’s Tip on How to Have a Great VBAC
Posted on October 9, 2009
The following is a post I sent to the ICAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network) list. It is very, very important information for ALL birthing women and can make all the difference in a VBAC birth. Read it carefully, copy it, send it to your clients. One of the ICAN women replies to my post at the end:
That first night can make all the difference and yet so many couples act like it’s a party and don’t realize they are sabotaging their births right at the beginning.
Staying up all night in the early part does two things–it throws off the body clock that controls sleep and waking and confuses the brain AND it inhibits the release of the very hormone you need to dilate effectively.
Subject: ICAN: Tip for birth
I wanted to write to those of you who are pregnant to tell you something that has been running through my mind all day about how you can be successful with your VBAC births. Many births begin in the night…. woman will get up to pee, feel her membranes release and then an hour later begin having sensations fifteen minutes apart. Because we think of birth as a family/couple experience, most women will wake up their husbands to tell them something’s starting and then, probably because we all hope we’ll be the 1 in 10,000 women who don’t experience any pain, {!!} we start getting the birth supplies organized, fill up the water tub, etc. I have seen so many
I have seen so many births that take days and days of prodromal (under 3 cms. dilation) sensations and they usually begin this way. The couple distracts themselves during that early critical time when the pituitary gland is beginning to put out oxytocin to dilate the cervix. Turning on the light, causes inhibition of the oxytocin release. Many couples don’t call their midwives until they have sensations coming 5 minutes apart at 7:00 a.m. but they’ve been up since midnight timing every one of the early sensations. If they had called their midwife at midnight she would have said:
“Turn off the light and let your husband sleep as much as possible through the night. You, stay dark and quiet. Take a bath with a candle if it helps and call me back when you think I should come over.”
Secret beginning of birth
That first night can make all the difference and yet so many couples act like it’s a party and don’t realize they are sabotaging their births right at the beginning. Staying up all night in the early part does two things–it throws off the body clock that controls sleep and waking and confuses the brain AND it inhibits the release of the very hormone you need to dilate effectively. You know that it can take days to recover after a night of partying or after working a graveyard shift. Don’t start your birth with that kind of stress on your hormone system.
When you begin to have sensations, I urge you to ignore it as long as you possibly can. Don’t tell anyone. Have a “secret sensation time” with your unborn baby and get in as dark a space as you can. Minimize what is happening with your husband, family and the birth attendants. What would you rather have–a big, long dramatic birth story to tell everyone or a really smooth birth? You do have a say over your hormone activity. Help your pituitary gland secrete oxytocin to open your cervix by being in a dark, quiet room with your eyes closed.
Gloria Lemay, traditional midwife
Vancouver, Canada
Pam wrote:
“I really loved what Gloria had to say here. For me, it’s all about what went wrong at my first birth (stayed up all night timing contractions…stupid, stupid, stupid, and was totally wiped out by morning), and could have been improved at the second, when I lacked a place to stay dark and quiet. I printed it out for my husband to read, and am putting it in my file of important things to remember when labor starts, within the next couple of weeks.”
