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2. The Doula's Guide to Empowering Your Birth: A Complete Labor and Childbirth Companion for Parents to Be

4. Description Reducing Anxiety During Pregnancy Lavender flower tea, 1 teaspoon per cup, brewed for 10 to 20 minutes, is delicious and soothing. Chamomile flower tea can be made similarly. Tincture of calming motherwort, 13 drops in a glass of tea or water, can also be used. Small amounts such as this are fine. Strong infusions could be too relaxing to the womb. A stronger, yet still safe, sedative herb is skullcap, and it can be used as a tincture, 7 to 10 drops in a glass of water or tea, or made as a simple tea, as above. Finally, one of my favorites is to boil 2 cups (75 g) of dried oatstraw herb in a half gallon (1.9 L) of water and then pour the herbs and water into a half gallon jar. Let steep for 8 hours. This soothing, mineral-rich brew can be drunk or poured (minus the herbs) into a bath. The only contraindication for this tea would be celiac disease. Naming Your Baby Meditate to Find a Name. Find a quiet and peaceful place to sit comfortably for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. If inside, light some candles and dim the lights. Focus on your breath. Place one hand on your heart and the other hand on your belly. Bring awareness to each part of your body starting at your toes. Move up the entire body and release any tension that you may be holding. Image yourself in nature. Where do you feel the most peaceful and connected to the earth? I imagined myself walking into the middle of a lush forest surrounded by massive redwood trees. Now ask your baby what their name is. You may hear a name loud and clear, or you may only get a letter. Listen to your baby. Choosing Your Care Provider Midwives and Obstetricians. Now it’s time to choose your care provider. Midwife or obstetrician What’s the difference? Obstetrician gynecologists, or OB/GYNs, are medical doctors who specialize in the management of pregnancy, labor, and birth. They are trained to detect and manage obstetrical and gynecological problems. They are also trained to perform cesarean sections. In many urban areas, they work in large practices and cannot offer a continuous model of care, meaning you roll the dice you don’t know which doctor in the practice will be catching your baby. This can be stressful for some clients. If financially possible, I encourage my clients to explore a solo practitioner or an OB/GYN practice that only has two doctors. The small obstetrics practices offer a personalized care model that allows for a trusting relationship to form. It may really put you at ease to know the doctor who will be there for you on your delivery day. A midwife is a trained medical professional who assists in the pregnancy, labor, and delivery of healthy expectant people. The midwifery approach is often very different from contemporary obstetrical care. Midwives offer a personalized and holistic approach to childbirth. Your emotional and physical well-being are important to your midwife. Midwives believe that birth is a natural process and intervene only if medically necessary. Creating Birth Preferences Intervention During Labor. Intervention during labor is defined as an action by a care provider intervening or assisting in the laboring or birthing process. Common interventions are rupturing of the water (amniotomy), using Pitocin to speed labor, inductions, epidurals, continuous fetal monitoring, episiotomies, and cesarean birth. Be mindful that not all interventions are medically necessary. Many care providers

5. schedule inductions due to time management or a heavy client load. Be sure to ask questions and express your feelings surrounding common interventions on your birth preferences document. Tools and Tips for Labor When to Head to the Hospital. Many of my laboring clients wonder about the best time to head to the hospital. I first suggest that they check in with their care providers to see what their suggestions are. If they are safe to stay at home for a little while, I suggest hopping in the shower. If the warm water slows down labor, we know that we still have some time. If the contractions remain the same or start to intensify, we know things are picking up. I once had a client hop in the shower, and as soon as she relaxed in the warm water she started bearing down (pushing). We hightailed it to the hospital, where she pushed her baby out within minutes.

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