Lets change the situation here in Indiana for home birth seeking families! Voice your support of HB 1135 to your Indiana Senator this week and tell everyone you know to do the same. This is time sensitive, take action this week please if you intend to.

The post Make Midwifery “legal” in Indiana appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 25, 2009)—Displaying a stunning lack of regard for patient autonomy, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a statement this week declaring that the group will “allow” laboring women to drink “modest amounts” of clear fluids during labor while continuing to prohibit access to solid food.

“Once again ACOG has issued a position statement with little regard for the evidence or for the ability of women to make decisions for themselves,” said Susan Jenkins, Legal Counsel for The Big Push for Midwives Campaign. “It’s insulting that ACOG actually believes that laboring women should be grateful that they will now be ‘allowed’ to have more than just ice chips, when we have long known how vital nutritional sustenance is to mothers and babies not only during pregnancy, but during labor as well.”

Hospitals routinely adopt ACOG position statements as standard policy governing the treatment of pregnant and laboring women, despite the fact that a number of the organization’s position statements do not acknowledge all of the risks and benefits associated with common procedures. “ACOG is asking laboring women to do the physical equivalent of a marathon on the power of a ‘modest’ amount of clear liquid,” said Sabrina McIntyre, mother of two. “Thanks but no thanks. I’ll stick with my midwife and her wisdom of keeping up my physical stamina for such a monumental event.”

Policies restricting food and liquid intake date from an era when laboring women were routinely given general anesthesia and risked aspirating food into the lungs. Modern anesthetic techniques have virtually eliminated this risk, which is further reduced by the fact that only a tiny minority of laboring women, even among those who deliver via cesarean section, actually receive general anesthesia.

“The women in my birth center eat when they are hungry and drink when they are thirsty, all without asking for ACOG’s permission first,” said Elizabeth Allemann, MD. “Women deserve to be fully informed about what the evidence actually shows, and it’s time that the medical profession abandoned policies based on the outdated and paternalistic idea that patients should play no role whatsoever in the decision-making process.”

The Big Push for Midwives Campaign represents thousands of grassroots advocates in the United States who support expanding access to Certified Professional Midwives and out-of-hospital maternity care. The mission of The Big Push includes educating national policymakers about the reduced costs and improved outcomes associated with out-of-hospital birth and advocating for including the services of Certified Profession al Midwives in health care reform.

Media inquiries: Katherine Prown (414) 550-8025,
katie[at]thebigpushformidwives[dot]org.

I’ve been watching the news regarding ACOG, health care reform and Midwives. I believe women (especially low risk ones!) should be allowed to eat or drink as needed during labor. Food and drink are the only way you can muster the strength and stamina to get through labor. I know from personal experience.

Personally, I had a huge pancake, bacon and hash brown breakfast and PB & J for lunch during my dilation and between contractions. I also had yogurt, mixed nuts, Powerade and water during my pushing phase of labor. It was 18 hours from the time my water broke till my baby girl was born.

There is no way in hell I would have gotten through the labor and delivery without food and drink, that is probably what ACOG wanted though. If you are too tired to push and aren’t progressing on your own (because you are starving and also running on empty) they can intervene with more costly, forceful delivery procedures…

Think about it, the more women who can’t get through labor & delivery on their own the better for their pocket books right?

Okay, I am done ranting and being opinionated. Just wanted to share the info. What are your thoughts?

The post Press Release: The Big Push for Midwives Campaign responds to ACOG's Newest Position Statment appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Her Apgar scores were 9 at 1 min & 10 at 5 min, which is great. She was feeding like a champ right after birth too, they placed her on my chest right after she was out and she found the nipple no problem. I was even feeding her as they wheeled me through the hospital doors at 3am for my repair work. I suffered a 4th degree tear that is very unusual for Farm births and homebirths in general.

A surgeon came in and stitched me up good. I specifically asked how many stitches I was receiving, the surgeon laughed and said he’d lost count and that it’s probably better that way. Basically we got there at 3am and didn’t leave till about 6am. I got lots of stitches. N, Pamela and Everly napped while they worked on me.

We also had Everly’s cord blood tested (to get her blood type) and I received my RhoGam shot while we were there since it turns out Everly is not RH negative like me. I was also prescribed some antibiotics for the tear. Basically I tore all the way through (if you know what I mean) so they were worried about anal bacteria and vaginal bacteria combining and infecting my stitches among other things.

I was not given any pain meds though, just taking Tylenol when I am hurting. I am supposed to be staying in bed with baby for 10 days, per Pamela and the surgeons orders. I am also taking arnica 30x for muscle soreness and trauma healing. I don’t feel incapable of carrying on though so staying in bed is hard.

Basically my pushing phase was super slow to start and then went super fast at the end. We tried all sorts of different positions to get her past my bones. I was laying back in bed, then went to the birthing chair, labored in the shower with N, tried squatting, pulling on a door handle, on hands and knees, kneeling face down on the bed and finally tried pushing while collapsed on my knees and elbows with my butt in the air.

Once I got in to my last position things began to go very quickly. From crowning to head out only took 3 min and she practically shot out of me. Nobody expected her to come as quickly as she did. They didn’t even have time to apply counter pressure to the perineum or to show me her head crowning. I am pretty sure I tore because she came out so fast.

Normally in a home birth situation they have you pushing as hard as you can until you begin to crown, once crowing begins they have you pant through the contractions and go real slow so you can avoid tearing. Unfortunately this didn’t happen in my case and I am certain it had to do with the fact that I made so much fast progress in the end.

Anyway I started pushing and was fully dilated at 10:44pm, she crowned at 1:12am and her head was out by 1:15am. One min later her body was out and I was holding her. It all happen super fast and the pushing part was my least favorite part because I felt like I wasn’t making good progress and that I was doing it all wrong. It turns out it was the positions that were working against me and making things seem like they weren’t progressing.

The contractions were much easier for me to deal with as I had found a way to “get in the zone” and relax through them. I listened to my tranquility music and Tibetan singing bowl music on my iPod during this phase, it lasted about 8 hours. N said everyone was amazed that I hardly made a peep until the last half hour of birth when the molding and crowning was taking place.

All in all I am very pleased with my birth experience and would totally do it the same way again. Pamela was great and N was a champ too. He never really left my side. From the moment he arrived back at The Farm until I was back home and stitched up. He even looked down there and got to see her coming out which we had previously discussed and he wasn’t sure he wanted to do.

Oh, and Pamela even wrote a song about Everly that she played for us on her guitar before we headed home. The song was beautiful and made me cry. We planted the placenta on her land under an evergreen tree, it’s the Everly Evergreen tree now. It seemed fitting since we birthed Everly in Pamela’s cabin on The Farm and it will forever be an important place for us.

Everly’s birth was an amazing experience and it truly was a right of passage for us. We are on cloud 9 now and wouldn’t have done it any other way!

Oh, if you want to read N’s version of Everly’s birth story (Pt. 1) & N’s version of Everly’s birth story (Pt. 2) are now up over at his blog! I am still working on my long version of the birth story. Posted my short summary version already, it can be read here.

The post Everly is now 5 days old: A look back on the birth experience. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

That way Tater can make her entrance either before or after her “due date” and I’ll be exactly where I need to be, ready for it.

So, given I have some cell phone reception I’ll be live blogging via text message. These will be very short and sweet entries to keep everyone in the loop. I recommend you subscribe to my blog feed if you are interested in really following my progress. That way you’ll get notification of new posts as they happen.

N will be stopping in here to guest blog after he comes down to see me on the weekends for visits. Remember, he has to stay back and care for the animals while working so he’ll have more detailed posts and probably some photos to share with you. Plus I’ve got some blogger memes and other prewritten posts scheduled here to keep things fresh while I am away.

The only thing I wont be able to do is read all your posts and comment on them while I wait for Tater to come. Don’t hate me, lol. Hopefully everyone is doing well and continues to have good times while I am gone. Can’t wait to introduce Tater to you all once she arrives!

The post Headed to The Farm Midwifery Center: Will be meeting my new baby soon! appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.

Unmedicated, natural childbirth in a homebirth setting is our ultimate goal as many of you already know. We will not be at a hospital to deliver Tater, we’ve opted to hire a trusted and very capable midwife to attend our delivery. Our midwife is knowledgeable in birth complications, remedies, norms and knows when hospital transport is necessary, that is what we hired her for.

We aren’t delusional and we aren’t swearing off modern medicine, we just want a chance to labor and birth the way nature intended. This is why we are having a birth professional at the delivery (some opt to birth unassisted), if hospital transport is necessary we’ll do it in a heartbeat via the recommendation of our midwife.

I am a firm believer in a woman’s innate ability to procreate and deliver her child naturally as this is what her body was designed to do. When a low risk woman is able to trust her body, tap in to her instincts, eliminate her fears and allow the natural birth process to unfold with confidence she can have her natural childbirth.

This is where the emotional and mental preparation comes in to play for us. Now is our time to work through any birth fears or concerns we may have and to ensure we are 100% at peace with the natural birth process. I am focusing on the powers of positive energy and am feeling great about my body’s capabilities.

Last night I even got a little homebirth suggestion via a dream… Either my subconscious is helping me brainstorm and prepare or Tater is helping me via my dreams but I awoke with such a sense of peace and even a touch of anticipation for labor to begin.

My dreams have always been my source of enlightenment. I’ve developed dance combinations in dreams, awoke with solutions to problems and now am being prepared for my birth via them.

The revelation was Tibetan singing bowls. Tibetan singing bowls are music to my ears. They make me super relaxed, we learned this one night by mistake when a John Tesh radio broadcast was on and a singing bowls album was featured. It was the most relaxing and centering music I have ever heard. You can listen to samples here…

Last night in my dream I was reminded of the impact this music has on me and I was urged to obtain this music to play during the birth. I also own my own mini Tibetan singing bowl (thanks to N’s mom) so I plan to bring it along for playing during labor.

I also was particularly interested in trying the guided Hypnobirthing meditation CDs during labor (and have registered for it via amazon) but since they are so expensive I am thinking they might not happen. Anyway, the singing bowl music is another great idea and I am looking for some tracks I like and can download to my iPod right now.

I am thinking singing bowl music, low lights and N will get me through labor just fine. I am not scared at all. I know it’s not going to be all roses and sunshine, labor is hard work but it’s nothing I can’t handle with the help of my support system.

Now I want to know: What did you use to relax or focus you during your labor? I know some women bring a picture or statue to focus on. Others pick an animal to intimidate, some like upbeat music, dancing, others like candle light, etc. So what floats your boat?

The post Preparing for my "homebirth" via my dreams. appeared first on Updates from Ryder Family Farm.