Induction

/ Birthing, Induction, Pregnancy / By

Induction – Heather’s position statement.

40 weeks is NOT the due date – it is  an average for subsequent births – not for the first one.

That is 10 – 12 days later.

It is the normal range after the first birth – 37 to 43 weeks – on a Bell curve.

Ask yourself why you want to hasten baby who has not yet signaled wanting to be here /breathe.

Is this safe to be controlling what is essentially a ripening process?

Do you force a rosebud open to smell the fragrance.?

Do you pick unripe fruit – not if you want the best flavour  . .

So why hurry up what will happen eventually?

Fear of what might happen if you don’t?

Who talks you through all the likely problems should you consent to interfering with yourself?

What about the horror of what happens when you do consent to induction?

If you wish to have a safe happy and pleasant natural birth perhaps download the easy birthing kit available here. 

As a continuity-of-care practitioner one who looks after you and all of your family through all your life and phases,

I support nature and life in all things.
I do not support modern obstetric practices as they are too dangerous – especially to mum and baby bonding.

You CAN alter what is happening – by changing what you are doing – and how your body is working.

Nutritional changes can make all the difference.

If you have been worried by someone medical that your body is losing the plot/not doing a great job – change what you are doing to cause this to happen.  What are you eating/drinking/doing . . . then what is happening changes – it is easy to work with your body.

If however, now without questioning you believe that baby’s placenta is about to fail (over the magic – though arbitrary 40 week mark, or that baby is ‘too big’, or that your body is not able to do the job it was designed to do – please try another acupuncturist who is more aligned with medical interference.  I work with adjusting back to perfect – not believing medical versions in asserting limitations.

Using the sacral fan moxa and massage that is contained within all my work, and drinking more water, taking Magnesium and eating more protein and fat and veggies you can radically change what is happening  far more proactive than watchful waiting. . .

Apparent medical reasons for induction:

1)  – ‘Too’ pregnant.  (the magic 40 week mark). It is a Bell curve and with first baby it is usually 10-12 days after 40 weeks that ‘due’ happens. Women have a life happening around them, and if something really upsetting has happened, maybe your body is sensibly waiting til the trauma./issue is resolved – so work out what it is and undo it.  Now.  Nothing holds a labour up like being really angry – and placating all – smiling when you are not happy AT ALL.

2) – Position – Baby is far more likely to come if on your left side facing your right.  If OP or posterior or spine facing your sine is mentioned – it DOES matter and moving baby to the left facing your right is often all that is needed to start a great and efficient labour. Why not sit forwards – not back as this can create an OP baby.

3) – Why is baby happy there?
Could it be you are not ready in your life yet to meet him/her?

4) – Is it safe to have baby?
Are you having issues at home or with the birthing attendants and their policies? (Mammals do not birth when in danger – so if you are feeling very stressed – you guessed it – more Magnesium and B complex and see an acupuncturist for de-stressing

Being very pregnant (like breech or a funny presentation) is NOT a medical issue – but common sense . . . so start using your own and ignore what is being delivered to you in fear messages.

Smaller issues – all resolvable if what is creating the problem is identified and removed.  Usually it is a nutritional deficiency  which the obstetrician/midwife is not qualified to notice – or the dietician either. Look to natural health and well being as trauma resolution is where medicine focuses and dwells.

  • Pre eclampsic tendencies, (take more Magnesium and see an acupuncturist/take Chinese herbs to normalise the body)
  • discomfort due to aches and pains, (take more Magnesium)
  • carpal tunnel, (take more Magnesium and B complex with extra B12 on top of this three at least times a day and do the lymphatic chest massage available in the book What Dads Can Do on my shop)  sciatica, (take more Magnesium and do the massage and moxa in the work ‘Moxa in Pregnancy available free for the front page of this work) 
  • fluid retention, (drink a lot more water, take Magnesium and see an acupuncturist and take Chinese herbs to correct what is starting to veer away from perfect)
  • higher blood sugar or pressure (Magnesium again)  – can all be altered and returned to normal with appropriate simple natural solutions and natural HEALTH care offered at my clinic.

Medical monitoring is not the only solution – and as with miscarriage or morning sickness, or any number of other issues on pregnancy – coming to see me to normalise your body – and placental flow and all other matters – is the way to maximise your babies health and future.

Inducing labour is not medically warranted in most cases.

If it is – why were the warnings not listened to well before now – what is the point to watchful waiting – there is a problem – so fix it – and not in fear – but attend a wellness practitioner as myself . .?
There is a case for stopping work and being a mum-in-waiting.

Consequences Of Induction

You will have heard the stories.. . If induction is mentioned – ask where are the figures to show you it is safe to induce? Will you end up a wreck, or a bonded mother with a happy baby? Surely this is your focus.  How likely is it that baby on account of the placenta failing – you are well and happy – and what was your mother’s story – or your grandmothers’? Sometimes we come from a line of slow ovens .. .

How many pregnancies that are OP end in an ’emergency ‘ C section? Why is baby not coming before induction? Often it will get stuck in that position and OP is a great way to not go into labour/have a great labour/end up with a C section.

Go to spinning babies.com – get a copy of my Easy Babies 2: Easy Birthing and work through the tension and pain and aching in your back and pelvis and baby will then easily fall out of it – with dad’s help – as your natural epidural – moxa and massage. . .

You want and deserve and can work for – a great birth and breastfeeding. (Please join the Australian Breastfeeding Association).  Womanly support – it is not a medical world but a maternal one you are entering – and mothers helping mothers is what will aid you most.

Being Seduced To Induce

All too often someone rings me wanting me to induce her baby.
Most are panicked – rather than wanting to fit in with husband going away mother coming, holiday period looming. Most likely candidates for an induction (extraction of baby prior to body signaling ready)

The more usual ‘reasons’ given to a pregnant woman to hasten the decision to have a baby cut out of her (and usually at 38 weeks – when first babies are up to then a month early).

When mum is considering letting nature do the next birth (VBAC) there are many more interesting reasons to try to sway her – and often they are very wrong – as being a health care profession al myself – and often the one who has been attending her throughout and often before the pregnancy, I have a great awareness of her health markers).

This is not to say that ALL women need to reevaluate what is said to them – BUT often there is a move afoot to STOP birthing and go surgical.
Often I just ask is this the first baby? (Yes) and when was/is it due?

What Is The Rush?

The doctor says so? Why?
Is it dangerous in there?

IS FIRST BABY really due on the ‘due date’?
It used to be EXPECTED (as in Expected Date of Delivery – EDD)
Not all ovens cook at the same speed . . . .
Not all babies walk at the same time
Not all toddlers start talking in the same week/month . ..

IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST, studies and observation show that it can take up to 12 days longer for the AVERAGE pregnancy to come to term.  If you have  n obstetrician there is a scheduling issue but it is not your problem – but theirs.  It becomes your problem if you interfere with what your body and your baby need. As you take that body and baby home – and have to try to deal with the breakages – the hospital and obstetrician pocket the money abd keep going – no consequences for them.
Look to the undisturbed birthing info you can find on Dr Sarah J Buckley and also www.WombEcolgy.com

Be proactive – this is your baby /body and life!

It used to be that pregnancy was expected to last between 37 – 43 weeks – longer if the first one . . . .

40 weeks is the AVERAGE for subsequent pregnancies – it is on a BELL CURVE – This means that there are still HALF the babies to birth after the week or two AFTER 40 weeks  .  . . so regardless of the scans and what they show in early pregnancy (and are these safe?)

Adding 10-12 days and we are still AT ONLY the half way point where an average first time mum has her baby naturally – so why are we trying to get this thus premature baby out?

Why does the baby get marching orders?

Is there REAL danger from staying where baby is growing and being developed to be the best it can be? (If not then why is there not great pregnancy intervention in the form of acupuncture and massage to allow the placenta to work so much better – why has there not been attention paid to prenatal care – no smoking, practicing for breastfeeding by drinking heaps of water and eating lots of protein/fat and coloured vegetables and rest rest rest?

  • Has baby signaled s/he want out? (No – labour has not started . .  . .)
  • Has mum decided she is fed up with being pregnant? Possibly – so what about having more nutrients to allow body relaxation and what about some nourishing acupuncture and moxa to allow easy birthing preparation?  MAGNESIUM will help you feel more comfortable./sleep better.
  • Is there an actual REAL (not statistical) reason for early pregnancy termination?
  • Who benefits from having a labour starting when nature was not ready?

Mum and baby don’t as an ‘augmented’ labour is rather violent and only 6% of women can do it without pain relief – and when this is on board actually birthing easily becomes more a race against time not a lobar of love with a joyous birth and bonding at the end.
http://www.kindredmedia.com.au/info/being_seduced_to_induce_what_women_should_know_about_their_obs/229/1

http://www.bellybelly.com.au/articles/birth/induction-of-labour-to-induce-or-not-induce

A first time pregnancy is expected to last nearly 42 weeks.  Mum’s subsequent pregnancies to be then 40 weeks from date of last period/two weeks prior to actual conception.
http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/figuring.htm

http://www.birthsource.com/scripts/article.asp?articleid=168

If It Is Your First . . .

– and you (like all mothers) have been counting down from that magical date given so many months ago – you may be not happy to hear you need to add nearly another TWO WEEKS on to where you were planning your life change into motherhood.  (Oh no!!! you cringe ) – feel uncomfortable? – reach for heaps of Magnesium . .

Mum Not Comfy

Minor Issues In Pregnancy Are Very Easily Resolved. Magnesium, more water and rest

Good prenatal care is NOT attending an obstetrician who may send you to a midwife or dietician – it is far broader than this.  If you needed help to become pregnant – where is the help now?

Back to the farming model – when an animal (think sheep) is pregnant – she is given better access to all that she needs to grow the next breeding animal inside her.  If she is carrying a multiple pregnancy she is especially cared for – as there needs to be NOT chance operating but good animal husbandry.

This means less stress/more restful environment and better class of food and water. This also equates to supplementation (a commonly expensively marketed pharmacy multivitamin is no substitute for sensible eating and food choices – and any good health food shop multi is far better than a specialized pregnancy product touting ‘research’ – and a good general one is invariably also cheaper . . .

So what happens when the average woman gets pregnant?
She works as though nothing were happening. She likely still eats and drinks whatever she feels like. ( Healthy Eating In Pregnancy – bonus Liberate Your Butt!– for greater pregnancy comfort and Easy Birthing – to allow baby to arrive with graceful ease)

There is so little direction for health and wellness within the orthodox medical model – as there – health and disease seem to be not attached to life and choices do much as ‘genetics’ and luck still.  For vibrant wellness – your local natural therapist will have guidelines – as following nature is always where your body is set to follow.

Heather’s Pregnancy Comfort Recipe

1) – Take at least 2 doses of powdered Magnesium designed for muscular assistance daily.  NOT a tablet – a powder as you will digest/assimilate far easily.

2) –  Soak in Epsom salts bath (at least your feet).

3)  – Use transdermal Magnesium several times a day.

Is it safe to supplement, you may ask?

Thought of in the reverse – especially when the symptoms are straight forwards  deficiency ones like this – it absolutely is – then think – is it safe to prescribe sleeping tablets/anti depressants and muscle spasm relievers when the person is deficient in Magnesium (resulting in these very symptoms) OF COURSE IT IS not . . . (Only a fear based medical model could have you thinking this – is it that you believe just because something is medically condoned/happening now it is the best possible way?

A few decades ago women were routinely given Guinness to boost their iron levels in hospitals whilst in for medical pregnancy problems).

Why is there such worry about this when the medicinal profession have no guidelines for wellness and only prescribe what is synthetically thus potentially harmful – food can be our medicine and as we chose through palate often we need to be mindful of what we are NOT choosing – and supplement to ensure optimal wellness.

Why Magnesium?

We need it to balance Calcium absorption – and everyone seems to think Calcium supplementation is important – without bothering to check if your ZINC status is sufficient – go to a naturopath or health food shop and ask to be tested to challenge your taste buds. If you can’t taste the test – it means you are like most living in Australia and New Zealand – there is little in the soils –so the food is also depleted in this vastly important mineral –

http://www.magnesiumforlife.com/magnesiumdeficiency.shtml
When we are deficient in Magnesium we feel and are stressed – and the more stressed we get the more we use – so when slightly depressed/anxious/tense/agitated/unable to sleep /relax/be free of spasms/restless legs/rigid frame and overall can’t get comfy – especially in late pregnancy – the answer is as simple as easily absorbed Magnesium (invariably also with Calcium) powder.  I regularly get all the women in late pregnancy to have up to SIX glasses of a very easily absorbable form – an alternate source is to find transdermal oil to rub into the skin)

All my pregnant women take it away and few complain about not being comfy in bed – as I just get their partners to do the birth preparation moxa and massage and also ensure they are still taking Zinc, Magnesium and a little Vitamin B often.

Mandy, 37 weeks pregnant wanted me to induce her as she was just getting no rest with all the Braxton Hicks practice contractions she was having.  She desperately needed sleep and the uterine activity was not allowing this.  Both she and her husband as GPs knew of my work and felt a natural ‘induction’ was safer.  I pointed out that as it was her first pregnancy this was over a month early for the baby and neither she nor baby were actually ready – what needed to happen was that she needed to replace what was not there – and the symptoms were the body’s warning signs.

After she had two days of SIX glasses of Magnesium powder – she was sleeping all night and not so upset about allowing baby stay to term.
•    More rest
(ANSWER TO failure to thrive/less placental fluid/baby too small/excess fluid)

Few seem to realise that it is a phenomenal task to grow another person.  We as superwomen have a tendency to think if we are still standing there is more in the tank. As pregnancy is one of the few times when our bodies are remaking themselves – whilst making another – actually being slothful and putting self first is the best lifetime investment – for both baby and you – you can make.

Of course this means taking steps to ensure you can sleep well – and taking more Vitamin B (a little often is better as we do not store it in our bodies) and then the Magnesium supplementation.

Is it really THAT important to stay at work – how much will it cost if there is a problem in late pregnancy for either mum or baby?  Rest and more rest is often all that is needed when there is a varicose problem – or fluid accumulating – or particularly when there is an apparent drama with insufficient placental fluid/failure to grow/possible placental failure – why not just drink far more water and rest and eat sensibly (definitely no preservatives and other chemicals in the diet -these all heat up a liver that is probably already overworked just living in this century).

Is there a case for negotiating shorter hours – especially taking a day off midweek as a mini weekend – and just resting up? This is very needed when carrying twins or triplets.
•    Eating well – see Heather’s Eating Plan
Often just changing the frequency of means and removing all fillers – anything gluten and sweet in taste – is all that is needed to get the pregnancy back on track.

What do I mean?

Eating to make a great baby is not a matter of ‘what do I feel like eating today?’ Although obstetricians and hospitals may tend to send you to a dietician – the reliance on what is culturally perceived as ‘good’/nutritious is not the entire story.

If we ate as though we wanted to make great breast milk when pregnant (and even when trying to conceive) the results would stand out.
•    A little protein every three hours.
•    The full fat option (we need fat to MAKE hormones – and the baby’s brain)
•    At least three cups of coloured vegetables daily – to ensure that there s a selection of nutrients – and seasonal – allowing better baby (and mum) growth.
•    NO gluten product s or gluten replacements – they are just fillers – to go veggies – as they are carbohydrates . . .
•    Nothing sweet to taste – that knocks off all fruit also – go for vegetables – a lot of us are very addicted to fructose and it is not biologically expected – all fruit by definition are seasonal – and we tend to NOT eat the way we were programmed to – going back to this alleviates most ‘health’ issues.

•    GO AND HAVE ACUPUNCTURE to relax and revitalize you.

Very Important Question To Ask

What position is baby holding?

I don’t mean head down – I mean – is baby in the optimal position to be birthed?
If not please investigate what YOU can do to help.

Do not assume that if it were a problem, someone would have alerted you.
Yes the midwife may have mentioned this.

Yes it is glossed over in all other dealings with people maybe attached to your pregnancy BUT this is the NUMBER ONE reason women come to see me to try to get baby moving out – before the doctor does the induction they would do.

Why do people try acupuncture?  Usually because it is seen to be a gentler (though not always effective mode of starting labour – as natural therapies do not FORCE the body to go against its inclinations).  If cervical ripening does not happen fast enough, and acupuncture and allied moxa and massage is used, at least the labour when it DOES start will be more effective, as with using natural assistance the target is EASE and augmenting normal and ensuring placental wellness all in the one package.

You may even ask the question – why induce at all?
Or more specifically – is routine induction safe?

http://www.hencigoer.com/articles/elective_induction/

http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=83

Related – reducing C section rate . . .

http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=164

Why Is Labour Not Starting?

Usually either:

•    it is NOT time (not 42 weeks for first baby and even then this is a HALF WAY MARK – there are still all those who have to be sliding down the Bell curve).
•    Or baby is OP/not in optimal lie to initiate labour. (see Fetal Positioning Solutions)

•    Also check out . . .
http://www.spinningbabies.com/baby-positions

http://www.homebirth.net.au/search/label/Rebozo

http://www.homebirth.net.au/search/label/Induction

http://www.homebirth.net.au/search/label/posterior%20position

http://www.homebirth.net.au/search/label/Long%20labour

 

Heather’s Recipe For Turning Baby To Where S/He Probably Will Be Most Placed For Easy Birthing

Moxa on the sacrum – see the free eBook offered at the front of this site.

Come in and see Heather and get a sample of how good you can feel when very pregnant.

Dad can do this safely and simply at home so you can sleep better and have NO PAIN.

See the Easy Birthing Preparation eBook

OR

•    Stuck Liver Qi Release (from Practical Stress Solutions eBook)
•    Sacral moxa (from What Dads Can Do manual and DVD or eBook Liberate Your Butt!
•    Pelvic opening massage (as above)
•    Sacral massage (as above)
•    Perineal point release (as above)
•    (if baby known to be in unstable or breech position) moxa  on point Bl 67 15 minutes each toe – don’t do initially as it is time consuming and if baby is made more comfy in there, s/he will no doubt do the work themselves).
•    Roll mum over to be on her back, legs supported by lots of pillows so they are way in the air.  Now perform a lower lymphatic drainage to assist the diaphragmatic releases coming next
•    Diaphragmatic release (as in Practical Stress Solutions eBook )
•    If necessary – Rebozo
•    Pop mum back over onto hands and knees and now repeat the sacral massage/pelvic release to allow maximum blood flow to the placenta as the local tension and stress is resolved.
•    Have mum lie as a rest on her left side for a while
•    Perhaps then on hands and knees to wash the floors by hand . . .

Why not allow nature and life to unfold as it is – as we are NEVER going to be able to control ourselves – let alone another – and definitely not our destiny.  Regardless of all your plans/intentions, life is STILL random!!!

WHAT IS ‘SAFE’ – as nature intended – so this means – are you well?
And – is it the doctor’s version of ’well’ or a natural therapists take on you?
Many women appear in my clinic pregnant for diverse reasons – and few I would say are well.  There is usually something that is considered to be ‘normal’ and they just put up – but the increase in fluid, the reflux/heartburn, the inability to get comfortable, the continual peeing problem, varicose veins and hemorrhoids, weight gain out of control sciatic and will other mild annoyances are all signals/warnings that something else is awry.

Perhaps ring me if in Brisbane, (07 3899 2274) organise a few pregnancy wellness sessions so you can be as well and happy as possible leading up to a great birth.