Birth Story Part 3 - Natural Methods

This is the final of my three part birth story series. Here I'm talking about all the natural methods we used in the lead up to and during my labour, to help the process along. See also the previous two posts in this series - Birth Story Part 1 - As It Happened and Birth Story Part 2 - A Natural Childbirth.

Part 3: Natural Methods

It should come as no surprise when I tell you that I'm a big believer in 'natural' methods - modern medicine takes very mechanical view of the body and holds little regard for the interconnections that exist or for the life force itself. My biggest fears during my pregnancy were not anything to to with the natural process of giving birth; rather, they were fears based around what might happen to me in a hospital situation when I was in a weakened and vulnerable state. But because I had these fears, Charles and I spent a lot of time considering what we wanted to achieve in the birth situation, and learning how we could help ourselves obtain that outcome. Part of that was learning what natural means we could employ for different situations that might come up during and in the lead up to the labour and birth. These are some of the things we used and found effective.

Raspberry Leaf Tea
My midwife suggested this to me at my last anti natal appointment at 38 weeks [I never made my 39 week appointment, I had a baby instead!]. So I hopped into the local health shop and got some straight away. Apparently it can be used during the latter half of the third trimester, and according to the label, it helps to 'tone' the uterus. I'm not sure exactly what that does. I drank a few cups some days, it tasted ok and was a nice change. Did it make baby come along when he did? I have no idea. I can't tell whether my uterus was any more toned or not either. I would say it didn't do me any harm.

Moxibustion
This is a method used in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which we used extensively throughout my pregnancy, mainly around the sacral area to loosen up and release any blockages in that area [kinda important for that whole area to be loose and able to open up during childbirth]. From about 37.5 weeks, we used the moxa on a point on my little toes, which helps baby into a good birthing position, head down. Baby was most inclined to lie transverse across my belly, so we gave him a helping hand to get his head down. After the first time we tried this method, I felt him move the very next day into a lower head position. We did this every couple of days, no rocket science involved, just gut feel. And baby was in a great position for birth.

Acupressure
Also from the TCM school, we used acupressure points with fantastic results. Partly throughout my pregnancy, similar to the moxa, but most significantly as a form of pain management during labour. Charles used points on my backside, with a lot of pressure when contractions were strong, and I have to say, it was amazing. As in, if a contraction came and he wasn't there, I would be shouting for him to get there. On a scale of 1 to 5, for me, I would say these points took the intensity from a 5 out of 5, down to a 4 out of 5. That may not sound like much, but it went from being 'way too intense' to 'I can deal with this'. Another acupressure point Charles tried on me was on the soles of my feet, to help the labour along. At one point I became aware that he had my feet in his hands, and realising what he was up to, promptly told him to stop it [those contractions were hard enough without adding any extra intensity!]. Anyway on both counts, for me, acupressure worked brilliantly.

Clary Sage
This essential oil has a reputation for bringing on contractions/making labour more intense etc. In my experience, this was the case, and it was very effective. Charles first lit the oil burner with clary sage when I was about 3 hours into labour at home, and although I wasn't so much aware of what he was doing at the time, I was very much aware of the instant increase in the intensity of my contractions. Only then did I realise that the clary sage was being used. Again at the hospital, once I was in the bath, Charles lit the oil burner, and after a short time I had to ask him to put it out, such was the increase in intensity. Anyway it definitely got things going again after labour stalled a little bit with the hospital commotions. Don't use it unless you're prepared for the consequences! We also used lavender essential oil to help relax and calm.

Hypnobirthing
I'd heard a bit about hypnobirthing, but hadn't paid much attention, until I was a month or so out from my due date. Then I started googling, read up on it, and ended up buying a couple of hypnobirthing soundtracks. I listened to them most days [actually, I would lie down with the tracks playing, hear the first few minutes, then wake up some time later]. I have to say it worked for me, in terms of putting me in a good, positive head space for being in labour and giving birth. I played one of the tracks on repeat during the first couple of hours of labour [birthing affirmations] and found it wonderfully calming. Hypnobirthing helped me to be aware of what my body was doing, so I could accept it and help, rather than resist it [therefore making labour harder and longer]. And all without having to do anything much other than have a sleep most days!

Birthing Environment
My preference would have been to have a home birth, but for a number of reasons it just wasn't an option. Home is a very 'safe' environment, which is conducive to labour and birthing. Being in an unfamiliar environment, with unfamiliar faces, bright lights, loud noises, medical equipment everywhere and potential for cold were all things we wanted to avoid. We were lucky that the hospital we attended had only two midwives, both of whom were present for my labour, and no-one else entering the room. We double and triple checked that this would be the case during my anti natal appointments. We dimmed the lights in the bathroom and created the most welcoming environment that we could. After all, this was going to be our baby's first taste of the world! We wanted it to be calm, warm, welcoming; not cold, hard or harsh in any way. I still would have preferred to be at home, but I'm satisfied with the environment we had created in the end.

Magnesium
This wonderful element is really effective at relaxing muscles, which is pretty important [read: critical] during labour and childbirth. We used it also throughout my pregnancy, as it totally solved leg cramps and twitches. We bought it in a powdered form from the health shop, and apart from drinking it every night before bed [except for the odd night when I was just too tired to be bothered, and then suffered twitchy leg for my laziness], I drank it throughout the day when I was labouring. Charles was the one who kept up my supply, routinely handing me some to sip on throughout the day. I can only assume it was effective during labour, based on how effective it was during my pregnancy.

So that essentially covers the natural methods we used to help in various ways during my labour and in the lead up to the big day. We had faith that these methods would work for us, but at the same time it's hard to know until it actually happens. If you're thinking of using natural methods for yourself, do your research and make your own decisions about what you think will work. Listed below are links to some of the resources we used and which we found effective. I'm very happy with how these methods worked for us and I'm very happy that I didn't have to resort to medical assistance. Basically, using these methods allowed us to be in control of how the labour and birth unfolded, rather than being at the whim of medical professionals who often see things differently to us.

Moxibustion, Acupressure, TCM during pregnancy [link to a book by Heather Bruce]

Birthing workshop by Rhea Dempsey [general birthing education]

Hypnobirthing soundtracks

Read Part 1 of my birth story - As It Happened
Read Part 2 of my birth story - A Natural Childbirth?

Birth Story Part 2 - A Natural Childbirth?

This is the second of my three-part birth story series. This post is about my experience of wanting a natural childbirth for my baby, and how it actually played out on the day, particularly given the preparation and forethought that Charles and I had put into ensuring an intervention-free birth. The first part of my birth story looked at the day just as it happened, which you can read here. The third and final part looks at the natural methods we employed to assist in various ways both in preparation for and during the birth of our baby. 

Part 2: A Natural Childbirth?

One thing that Charles and I had been very certain of during my pregnancy, was that we wanted to have a natural childbirth for our baby. No unnecessary intervention, no use of drugs and procedures 'as a matter of course', just allowing our bodies and our instincts to guide us. We are of the opinion that babies have been successfully born for a very long time, and modern medicine, with all it's bells and whistles, has been around for a very short time - so are these interventions really necessary? You can read more about my thoughts surrounding my desire for a natural childbirth in my post Planning A Natural Childbirth.

What we found was that in Australia, the rates for normal, physiological childbirth are as low as 5% of all births [source]. A normal, physiological childbirth is one that does not involve medical intervention of any kind - just birthing a baby, the way nature intends for us to do. The processes involved, the interrelations between mother and baby bodies and hormones, the intricate ways of the body during childbirth - these could never be replicated by any medical procedure, and for me, any thought that a medical process could be 'better' than allowing nature to take it's course, is sheer arrogance on the part of the medical profession, and utter nonsense. Acknowledging the necessity of medical intervention in a very small number of actual emergency situations [don't be fooled - the terminology used suggests there are more emergencies than there actually are].

We educated ourselves very well. We attended a birthing course, we researched, we looked at different options for places to give birth, and we considered what kind of support we wanted. We established very early on that we did not want an obstetrician present - as the rates of intervention are higher [sometimes significantly] when an obstetrician was in attendance. Thankfully for us, the closest hospital just started up a new midwife led birthing model, and we decided that this was a good option. Not the best, but the best we could get in our location. I commenced antenatal care with one of two midwives involved in the program, Tom, and we made our desire for an intervention free, drug free childbirth very clear. A second midwife joined the program much closer to our due date, Colleen, who we didn't get to spend as much time with, or make our desires fully clear with.

Anyway, fast forward to the day we turn up with me in labour. Within five minutes of being in the birthing suite, I tripped up twice in my efforts for a natural childbirth - and in ways that we had been coached to look out for. Such is the strength of the medical model. Colleen just asked me to hop on the bed, I can't remember what the exact terminology was, but she didn't say 'I'm going to attach a foetal heartrate monitor which will see you strapped to the bed for the next 20 plus minutes and make contractions extremely painful' [and increase the risk of further interventions], it was something more along the lines of 'just hop up on the bed and we'll see how baby's going'. As soon as I realised what was going on, and had a contraction come at the same time, I ripped at the straps until they were off. I remember repeating the words 'baby's fine, everything's fine'. Tom also suggested to Colleen that she just let it go. This was the first thing we said no to.

At the same time as getting me onto the bed, Colleen was waving a form in front of me that I had to sign - 'just sign here, we need you to sign here'. Being not fully with it, I signed the form, thinking it was some sort of hospital admission form, only to realise seconds later that I had just signed a disclaimer saying I agreed to a managed 3rd stage and an episiotomy, and there was more but that's all I managed to glimpse. Wonderful Charles got a pen and put a line through all the clauses, while I was verbally saying, 'no, I don't agree unless it's absolutely necessary'. Again, Tom was the go-between between us and Colleen, basically saying to her to just let it go. This was the second thing we said no to. The worst part about both of these potential intervention scenarios was that we knew to look out for them, and yet it still happened. If you were not prepared to deal with the way the medical system operates, I don't think you would stand much chance of having an intervention-free birth in Australia.

Anyway, for the next couple of hours we were left mostly to our own devices, me in the bath and Charles helping me through contractions. Every now and then either Tom or Colleen would check in with us, or want to listen to baby's heart rate, which was all fine. The only funny thing here, was that for a little while, I was making no noise whatsoever - I was in a space I had learned through the hypnobirthing soundtrack I had been using for the past few weeks, and was really able to breath through those contractions very calmly. The problem was, it appeared to the midwives that my labour was stalling, as there were no sounds coming from me, and this led to a few comments about potentially speeding up the labour if it wasn't progressing. I ended up going back to making noise enough for them to be satisfied that something was in fact happening, just so as there wouldn't be any talk of speeding things up.

The second stage of labour saw the most pressure for interventions. I was coming under pressure to have my waters artificially ruptured, since they hadn't yet broken. I honestly don't know why this even comes up - baby is perfectly capable of being born with the membranes intact, so if the waters don't break, they don't break. Also at this stage I was on the table in a position without any assistance from gravity, and I found the pushing pretty hard going. There was constant pressure from Colleen [a trained surgeon] to make 'just a little cut' [read: episiotomy] to help baby out. Both Charles and I were starting to get annoyed by this stage, and we had to keep on repeating 'no, it's not happening' at every suggestion. I just can't fathom it - my body would be better off tearing, as it would heal better, than if I was cut. Yes, pushing was hard work. Yes, I was ready for it to be over. But not to the extent that I would even contemplate being cut to speed it up.

Even once baby had been born, the pressure didn't end - there was pressure to have the injection of artificial oxytocin to speed up delivery of the placenta [which interferes with the natural oxytocin produced by the mother, and in turn interferes with mother-baby bonding, and breastfeeding], there was pressure to have the baby's cord cut straight away [we chose to cut the cord once the blood in it had all been returned to baby - baby needs this blood!] and there was pressure to whisk baby away to be weighed and measured straight away [when this is the best time for mother-baby bonding to take place - interference here can lead to problems with bonding and breastfeeding]. We were starting to sound like a broken record: 'no', 'no', 'no'. In a perfect situation, we wouldn't have to worry about any of this; we would instead be able to focus on meeting and bonding with our new baby. But the medical model of birthing is far from a perfect situation, and we held our ground well.

Then there is baby. Standard practice is an injection of vitamin K for the baby at birth. Now, babies are not born with any vitamin K in their bodies, and there is none in the first breast milk. Which raises the question - why does baby need a vitamin K injection? Basically, vitamin K helps with blood clotting, so in the instance where baby is damaged following delivery [think use of forceps] and there is internal bleeding, then vitamin K would be essential. But does it therefore need to be administered as standard practice, to every baby born? You decide, but we didn't want this for our baby. So again, we had to say no. We also declined a hepatitis B vaccination, which in Australia is standard at birth. Again, I cannot fathom why - at birth, a child has no immune system of it's own, so we inject it with substances that can be potentially harmful in the name of protection - but at what cost? Seriously, what is the risk of baby being exposed to hepatitis B at this age? The next hepatitis B immunisation is due at 6 weeks, and we are undecided about whether to have this or not.

At the end of the day, I am happy that I had a natural childbirth. There were no drugs in my system, and Tom even commented on how clear William's eye's were, due to my not having had drugs. The natural bonding process was allowed to occur promptly, William started breastfeeding promptly, and the natural flow of hormones that control these processes was able to occur. The one area where I did receive artificial assistance was in dilating from 9cm to 10cm. I don't know/didn't know enough about that situation to really make an informed decision on the day, so I have to be happy with my decision  to accept that assistance. The reason I'm writing this story is to share just how difficult it is, to achieve a natural childbirth when you're operating under the medical model [in a hospital situation]. Intervention is standard practice, and to avoid intervention, you are stepping outside the norm, you will be considered different, or difficult,  and you need to be strong enough to back your own decisions, in the face of 'experts' telling you otherwise.

I would like to finish by noting one other point. The people involved in my birth situation, all did their jobs as they have been trained to do, and to the best of their ability. Obviously we had to say 'no' to Colleen so many times during the day, but I know that she was doing her best to help me in the way that she knows how. So I'm not writing this post to be critical in any way, because I'm not. Honestly, I'm very happy with how our birth happened. I'm just writing it to highlight how difficult it can be, in the face of modern medical birthing practices, to achieve a natural childbirth. But it is worth it. For me the proof is in the calm, happy little baby that we now have. 

Read Part 1 of my birth story - As It Happened
Read Part 3 of my birth story - Natural Methods

Birth Story Part 1 - As It Happened

I have been thinking about how I want to write this birth story, and the fact is, I have three different stories to tell. So it's being written in three parts. The first part is, plain and simple, how the day unfolded for me. What happened, what I experienced, and how I ended up with my baby in my arms. The second, will look at birthing my baby in terms of a natural childbirth - I was very adamant that I wanted an intervention-free birth for my child, so I'm going to talk about the issues that came up surrounding that aspect specifically. And finally in the third instalment, I want to acknowledge our use of natural methods for birthing outcomes - with some surprising results surrounding what worked for us. I hope you'll enjoy this series and maybe even take something useful away from it. In any case, I need to write this for me. Thanks for reading.

Part 1: As It Happened

I woke up at 3:20am on Monday morning, with discomfort in my belly. I didn't think anything of it, just baby moving and making me a bit uncomfortable, a trip to the bathroom and back to bed. But back in bed only a few minutes, and the same thing happened - uncomfortable belly sensation. Not something I could just lie in bed for, I hopped out of bed and stood, bent over, until it passed. Back into bed. Repeat, only this time I don't get out of bed, just get on hands and knees on the bed and wait for it to be over, and lie down again. And repeat again twice more, once out of bed, once on hands and knees. You would think by this time I might have suspected contractions - and it crossed my mind, but I really didn't think it was.

Anyway, by 3.40am I had given up on staying in bed and hopped up. I took my favourite blanket and some warm clothes and went to my laptop in search of answers. I was trying to work out whether the pains I was feeling were in fact labour pains, or not, or just a false alarm, so I googled 'what do contractions feel like'. I didn't really become any further enlightened, and the pains kept coming, such that I was standing at my desk bent over as I was reading. I flicked through some notes I had made at a birthing course we had attended back at the start of February. Reading these made me suspect that I was actually in labour, but I still wasn't sure. It was probably around 4.30 at this stage. I also made myself something to eat - a few rice cakes with vegemite to keep me going.

The situation continued - basically my contractions were coming pretty standard 5 minutes apart, and lasting for about 1 minute. I played a 20 minute track of hypnobirthing affirmations that I had bought a couple of weeks earlier, a couple of times, which helped me through those early contractions. I found that I was able to breath into them, and relax my body enough, that I could actually feel the muscular sensation of what was happening - the pulling up of my uterus, at this stage quite low down but moving up higher. This calmed me - knowing and feeling what was actually happening in my body, accepting the movement without fighting it, really just getting my head out of the way and letting my body get on with it. I could do this.

Around 5.30 I decided it was time to wake Charles. He hopped up and got straight into action, watching me for a contraction or two, talking with me about how far apart the contractions were coming, bringing me magnesium drinks and at some point setting up an oil burner with some clary sage and lavender. That actually made things a bit more intense for me, the clary sage, and I ended up calling for a bucket as I started to feel nauseous. No sooner was the bucket delivered than I put it to good use, and poor old Charles had the job of emptying it and bring it back for me. This happened a few times. Purging - getting any last 'stuff' out of my body, clearing the way for labour to progress. It really didn't bother me at all. 

All this time I had been stationed in our office/library, but around 8am I went back to our bedroom. All I wanted in the world was to climb back into bed and go to sleep. I just wanted it all to stop, because I was feeling sleepy, and start again some other time. After a sleep. So I went back to this business of lying in bed, then hopping up for a contraction, then crawling back into bed for those few minutes of rest. Complete with a cat snoozing on the bed and everything. I'm glad we had seen a few dvd's of births in the birthing workshop we attended because I knew that Charles was ok with seeing a woman in labour - as in, he wasn't freaking out. And the cat didn't flinch, she probably didn't even notice.

Sometime next, I decided that I wanted to be in the bath. Or a shower. So we moved to the bathroom, where I sat on a chair in front of the bathroom mirror, being flooded with endorphins between contractions, and standing up holding onto the bathroom vanity for dear life and swaying my way through contractions. They were definitely getting stronger and closer together. During this, Charles was cleaning the bath [as you do] so that it would be nice for me to hop in. I was so very aware, being able to see myself in the mirror, of just how effective those endorphins the body releases are - I could have been fully drugged up, I was so out of it. But at the same time so focused on the task at hand. I'm in awe of what the female body does to assist in childbirth.

Anyway by the time the bath was clean, I knew that I really shouldn't get into it. It was about 10am by this stage, and there was a great big bath at the hospital birthing suite - much more appealing than our poky little bathtub. Around this time Charles spoke to our midwife, and I remember asking Charles to ask if we should go in yet. To which the answer was yes. So I continued to labour in the bathroom, while Charles calmly set about gathering all our bits and pieces together [I had half-heartedly packed a bag some time earlier] and preparing to go. Packing the car, remembering to take baby clothes, feeding the animals. And off we went - me on the back seat of the car, on hands and knees, for the faster than usual trip into town. Thankfully it is one long straight road into town.

At the hospital, I remember trying to walk really quickly down the hallway to the birthing suite, not wanting to have a contraction in the hallway. I almost made it, but then it came, so I had to stop and hang on to the wall til it passed. There were people standing nearby too. Oh well. Anyway we made it into the birthing suite, and I promptly had a contraction and was desperately trying to find something comfortable to hang on to. Then a quick look to see how far I had progressed and we found I was about 6cm dilated at this stage. I would have preferred to be 7cm, but hey, a lot of the hard work had been done. I desperately wanted to be in that bath, so one of the midwives started filling it and Charles set up our station in the bathroom. During this time, I was dealing with the other midwife - who was trying to attach a foetal heartrate monitor to me. This was one of my 'not required' items - at first I didn't even realise what she was doing, but as soon as I did, and being on my back as a contraction hit, I had ripped those straps off in seconds.

I hopped in the bath, which was slightly on the too warm side, but which I was happy with. Between the heat of the bath, the issue of the heart rate monitoring and the car ride in, the contractions had slowed off a bit, and I had a few minutes to just lie in the warm water and rest. I was almost sleeping! Bliss. But Charles, seeing the slow down in progress, lit the clary sage to burn again and there we were, straight back into it with renewed intensity. The bath was amazing, and I stayed in there for some hours, Charles and I working through the contractions. By now, he was using some acupressure points on my backside to help keep the contractions under control. At one point, I realised he had my feet and was working on points to help the contractions along - and pretty much said 'don't you dare!'. I also had to get him to blow out the clary sage burner, I couldn't take the increase in intensity that it brought about.

Somewhere around 1.30pm I was starting to get tired I think, and I was keen to see how far I had progressed. My waters still hadn't broken either. A quick look showed that I was 9cm dilated, but was starting to get the urge to push down. I was struggling by that point - I think the knowledge that I still had 1cm to go and feeling the urge to push was all a bit much for me. The midwife had been offering me nitrous oxide and oxygen since we had arrived, and I had to this point adamantly refused [despite telling Charles on the car ride in that I wanted the gas right now!], but my determination wavered. We asked whether the gas would cross the placenta, and the midwife said no. The final straw, and what saw me end up taking the gas, was that the midwife actually helped to dilate the last 1cm - not an altogether comfortable experience, and pretty much my breaking point. I didn't use it for long, but for that hour or so that I had the gas in my hand, it was a brave person would have tried to take it off me.

So then we were pushing down. This was the strangest sensation ever, and not made any easier by the fact that I couldn't see or really get a feel for the baby moving down as I pushed. My waters eventually broke, which was a relief, as that ended the pressure to have them artificially ruptured. I was up on the bed at this stage, half sitting, half lying, and despite knowing that it wasn't the best position for me to be in [there was no assistance from gravity], I felt too tired to move. I was utterly exhausted, and between each surge I was resting, completely spent. This went on, and on, and on. Actually it was about 1.5 hours all up, but I wanted it to be over so badly, and it just kept on going. As it turns out, the baby had a hand up at his face when he appeared, which would have been making life a bit more difficult for me. I cannot complain though - the time taken allowed my body to stretch perfectly, and shortly after 4pm, baby William was born. Not a nick or a tear on my body. And a surprised midwife who had been suggesting an episiotomy for the past hour. I had to be happy with that. 

The most amazing thing in my life had just happened. My baby boy was passed up onto my belly, and Charles had laughed when my first words to him were 'hey little dude'. What are you supposed to say when you first greet your son? He was slippery and pink and absolutely perfect. We were left to bond, as mammals do, skin to skin, and within a short space of time he was looking to breastfeed. I was also pressured to have the injection to speed up delivery of the placenta. It had actually almost come out, then just stopped, so I knew it was just sitting there. The midwife kept suggestion the injection, I repeatedly said 'it's there, if I stand up it will come out'. Eventually I had to push it out, about 40 minutes after the birth. We also waited until the cord had completely stopped pulsing and was empty of blood before clamping. At this point we let the midwives weigh and measure our baby, and then he was back in my arms, where we stayed for about the next 2 hours, bonding and being a family together.  Charles put a pair of socks on my feet, I was so focused on other things, but he looked after me so well, taking care of the little details. He was absolutely amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better birth partner.

And that, in a very short summary, is how baby William came into our world. It was a total surprise, as I was 39 weeks, and had been saying to Charles the previous evening 'I think it's at least another week off'. Still, he was ready, and weighed in at a healthy 3.41kg. We had said frequently throughout the pregnancy that we thought he might come a little early. Not that there is really any such thing as 'early' or 'late', we have such a tendency to put our own timeframes on babies when in reality, they put theirs on us [and birthing is just the start, as I'm now discovering]. I have to say, this was by far and away the most amazing, best ever day of my life. It all feels a bit surreal now, but I want to hang on to the day forever. Those first moments bonding with my new baby, with Charles at my side, made me happier than I could have ever imagined being.

Read Part 2 of my birth story - A Natural Childbirth?
Read Part 3 of my birth story - Natural Methods