Hi all-
Dr. Biter (aka Dr. Wonderful) has been suspended from delivering babies from Scripps Encinitas as of Friday at 5 pm. His patients are being told by the hospital to show up in labor & have one of the on-call OBs attend their birth.
Scripps is supposed to be one of the most mother-baby-friendly hospitals in town. How can they get away with taking away women's right to have their care provider attend their birth at the hospital they want to birth at?!?
Dr. Biter has a back up plan & has contacted the perinatologist group at Sharp Mary Birch. They have agreed to transfer his patients to their care while in labor & he will attend their births as an unpaid doula. This is the level of commitment this man has to his patients.
Scripps will not provide an answer as to why he was suspended. The last birth Dr. Biter attended was Friday morning. The birth required a c-section & when the c-section was being done, meconium was found in the amniotic fluid. No meconium was found prior to the c-section. According to the parents, the baby's Apgar score at birth was a 7 and then a 9. She gave a good cry but then needed respiratory assistance. The baby was taken to the NICU, but 3 days after her birth, she is already breathing on her own & eating on her own. The parents have no complaints against Dr. Biter & specifically chose him to attend the birth of their 1st baby because they did their research & wanted a doctor that would be present & would support their choices. The parents are shocked & distraught that something so drastic as suspending him would possibly be related to the birth of their little girl.
Please come support Dr. Biter, natural birth & a woman's right to choose where to birth & who to birth with.
Where: Scripps Encinitas hospital 354 Santa Fe Dr. Encinitas, 92024
When: Friday, May 14th from 1:30-3:30
Why: We want Dr. Biter reinstated immediately so his patients can have continuity of care & so they can be reassured that they can have the birth experience they want.
Who: You! Bring your family, your friends & neighbors! We want a really large group of protestors. The more the better!
Ricki Lake, documentary-maker, author & actress, will be there as will Anna Getty, author, actress & great-granddaughter of John Paul Getty I. Possibly more celebrities will be attending in support of Dr. Biter.
Wear green to unify the group & bring signs that say:
This is not Mother-Baby Friendly!
Bring Back Dr. Biter!
Bring Biter Back!
Hey Chief of Staff! Bring Biter Back!
If you can't make it to this event, we will be holding mini-rallies Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday in front of the hospital from 9-11 am. Feel free to bring your children!
If you can't make it to any of these events, please show your support by writing on your car windows: Bring Dr. Biter Back!
The more people see this & ask questions, the better.
Thanks so much for any support you can provide.
If you're on Facebook, please join the I love Dr. Biter fan page for up-to-date info & RSVP to the event so we have a good head count.
If you're not on Facebook, please visit www.bringbiterback.blogspot.com or www.bringbiterback.com for updates.
Please share this information with anyone you think can help support our efforts to get Dr. Biter back to doing what he does best--supporting women & their partners to have the best birth experience they can have.
Hope to see you at some of the events!
Carol Yeh-Garner
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
Showing posts with label scripps encinitas hospital. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scripps encinitas hospital. Show all posts
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
A Labor & Delivery Nurse's HypnoBirthing experience
Gail & Matt took my HypnoBirthing classes at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center on Tuesdays starting in April 2009. She is a Labor & Delivery Nurse at Sharp Mary Birch. She's seen every intervention used at Sharp Mary Birch, some as standard procedures for laboring moms & some for special circumstances. She knew that when she was pregnant that she wanted a natural birth & that she didn't want interventions for her birth. She chose to birth with Dr. Biter & at Scripps Encinitas.
Here is her birth story:
Hi Carol--
I took your suggestions for Evening Primrose, acupuncture, and prenatal massage last week and started having surges the same day as my acupuncture and prenatal massage treatments at Indigo Dragon. That was Thursday. I had surges that lasted the whole day on 8/20 until 9 pm and then they subsided and I had the best night's sleep I'd had in about a month. The surges started up again on 8/21 after breakfast and continued until after my appointment with Dr. Biter. I had surges the entire time even when he checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to 1.5 cm, completely effaced and the baby was low at -1 station. Dr. Biter offered to strip my membranes which I declined. Then he said I'd probably go into labor very soon and said that he'd see me either that night or sometime over the weekend. I laughed and said that I'd probably see him at my next appointment which was scheduled for Monday.
The surges stopped as soon I left the office and my husband and I went out for dinner with his parents. I settled in for bed around 9 pm but couldn't sleep because my little one was kicking me hard all night.
Around 5 am, the surges started again but this time they felt different. I tried to use my breathing and visualization but it was very difficult. I used the ball, a bath, and took a shower to cope with the contractions. In the end, moaning and making noise distracted me. At 7 am, the surges were really strong coming about every 2-3 minutes and I couldn't talk through them. We started preparing to leave for the hospital and finally left at 9 am.
We got to the hospital at 9:30, got into the shower around 10 am. The nurse checked my cervix when we got there and I was 3 cm dilated. I started seriously thinking about an epidural. My nurse, knowing that I was using HypnoBirthing techniques, called Dr. Biter and he came in to talk me through labor. He asked me to get into the shower and "ride the waves one at a time". That visualization worked and I stayed in the shower for about 1 hour. He came back when I got out of the shower and checked me and found that I was 8 cm. 1 hour later, I was ready to start pushing. I'd been feeling the urge to breath my baby down since 5 am so this was great.
I pushed my baby out for 53 minutes. We didn't know the sex of the baby until she was out. Delilah Rose was born at 12:53 on August 22. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She was very alert and calm. She's absolutely adorable and we're totally in love.
Thanks for the class. It really helped us achieve a non-medicated and calm birth which is what we wanted.
Gail and Matt (Tuesday class in April/May 2009)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you Gail & Matt for sharing your birth story! I think it's really great that you were able to have the non-medicated, calm birth that you wanted. You had a lot of visuals to "let go" from being a labor & delivery nurse! I think it's important for future HypnoBirthing moms to read your story, knowing that you still made noises, but not out of discomfort, but rather to distract yourself. So many moms want their birth to look like the videos we watch in class, but sometimes you need to make noise to release all of the energy you're feeling inside or like in your case, to distract yourself.
Happy early 1st birthday to Delilah Rose!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Here is her birth story:
Hi Carol--
I took your suggestions for Evening Primrose, acupuncture, and prenatal massage last week and started having surges the same day as my acupuncture and prenatal massage treatments at Indigo Dragon. That was Thursday. I had surges that lasted the whole day on 8/20 until 9 pm and then they subsided and I had the best night's sleep I'd had in about a month. The surges started up again on 8/21 after breakfast and continued until after my appointment with Dr. Biter. I had surges the entire time even when he checked my cervix and found that I was dilated to 1.5 cm, completely effaced and the baby was low at -1 station. Dr. Biter offered to strip my membranes which I declined. Then he said I'd probably go into labor very soon and said that he'd see me either that night or sometime over the weekend. I laughed and said that I'd probably see him at my next appointment which was scheduled for Monday.
The surges stopped as soon I left the office and my husband and I went out for dinner with his parents. I settled in for bed around 9 pm but couldn't sleep because my little one was kicking me hard all night.
Around 5 am, the surges started again but this time they felt different. I tried to use my breathing and visualization but it was very difficult. I used the ball, a bath, and took a shower to cope with the contractions. In the end, moaning and making noise distracted me. At 7 am, the surges were really strong coming about every 2-3 minutes and I couldn't talk through them. We started preparing to leave for the hospital and finally left at 9 am.
We got to the hospital at 9:30, got into the shower around 10 am. The nurse checked my cervix when we got there and I was 3 cm dilated. I started seriously thinking about an epidural. My nurse, knowing that I was using HypnoBirthing techniques, called Dr. Biter and he came in to talk me through labor. He asked me to get into the shower and "ride the waves one at a time". That visualization worked and I stayed in the shower for about 1 hour. He came back when I got out of the shower and checked me and found that I was 8 cm. 1 hour later, I was ready to start pushing. I'd been feeling the urge to breath my baby down since 5 am so this was great.
I pushed my baby out for 53 minutes. We didn't know the sex of the baby until she was out. Delilah Rose was born at 12:53 on August 22. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 20 inches long. She was very alert and calm. She's absolutely adorable and we're totally in love.
Thanks for the class. It really helped us achieve a non-medicated and calm birth which is what we wanted.
Gail and Matt (Tuesday class in April/May 2009)
___________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you Gail & Matt for sharing your birth story! I think it's really great that you were able to have the non-medicated, calm birth that you wanted. You had a lot of visuals to "let go" from being a labor & delivery nurse! I think it's important for future HypnoBirthing moms to read your story, knowing that you still made noises, but not out of discomfort, but rather to distract yourself. So many moms want their birth to look like the videos we watch in class, but sometimes you need to make noise to release all of the energy you're feeling inside or like in your case, to distract yourself.
Happy early 1st birthday to Delilah Rose!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Emelie & Justin's HypnoBirthing story
Emelie & Justin took my Thursday night classes in February 2010 at Indigo Dragon Health & Wellness Center. Here is their birth story:
Hudson Michael R’s birth story
Emelie & Justin had a different OB through the first 7 months of their pregnancy that said that she supported HypnoBirthing. But, after experiencing persistent doubts about getting her 100% support of their ideal birth plan and feeling rushed through one too many appointment, they decided to explore other options and interviewed Dr. Biter. They switched to him at 31 weeks and feel that making this change was vital to the wonderful birth they experienced.
Even though I was due on May 1st, 2010, I felt throughout my pregnancy that my baby boy would arrive sometime in late April and would say that my guess date was “sometime in late April”… I went to see Dr. Biter on Friday April 23rd for my regular weekly appointment, and although he was not conducting any internal exams, he said he thought my practice surges were happening more frequently than I was aware of and were pretty strong. He said I was having one at the time he measured my belly. I couldn’t feel a thing! Since I was 39 weeks along, we all knew that baby boy could arrive anytime and would likely be very healthy. On Saturday April 24th, my family and I enjoyed walking around the Encinitas Street Faire in the afternoon breeze. The baby felt heavy as we walked, and my mom commented that she thought it looked as if he had dropped much lower in my abdomen than even earlier that day.
As we ended our long, 2-hour walk, I experienced a more powerful surge that seemed to continue uninterrupted for about 10 minutes. My mom checked her watch to time the surges if another one began, but nothing more happened. The surge felt slightly more intense than the practice labor we’d been observing.
After a healthy dinner, we headed to bed. At about 11:45pm, I awoke with the distinct feeling that something was happening. As I stood to get out of bed, a slight gush of fluid let me know that my membranes had likely released. I checked, and the fluid was clear, so I knew that all signs were probably “GO” and that the baby hadn’t released any meconium in the waters. I waited to see if my surges were going to start before waking my husband, Justin. The surges started almost immediately and were 2 minutes apart on the dot. I awoke hubby, and we calmly sat in the living room while I experienced and timed the surges. I instinctively knew that even though they were close together – consistently 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, they were not yet intense enough that birth was imminent. In fact, I still wasn’t 100% convinced that I was actually in labor. As each surge came, I relaxed on my birth ball and meditated on my HypnoBirth Birthing Affirmations. The surges were very manageable. After about 2 hours, I took a shower to see how it would make me feel, and it was relaxing, which made the contractions begin to feel stronger. I had a secondary release of membranes that was DEFINITELY the real deal, so I knew for sure that I’d be having my baby soon! I called Dr. Biter to let him know I was in labor and get a feel for when we should head into the hospital. He instructed us to just continue to hang out at home as long as possible, and to call back when we decided to leave. He really left it up to me to listen to my body and decide for myself when it was time. At 4:15am, I felt it was time, and my mom, Justin, and I drove to Scripps Encinitas.
I was welcomed into a delivery room for initial monitoring and check-in. I went over my birth preferences with our nurse, and she said they would be able to accommodate all my requests without any issues. I sat on the birthing ball while they did the Fetal Monitoring, and because I was so calm, the baby’s heart rate was excellent and very consistent. I was dilated to 4cm, which I was a little disappointed about (and didn’t really need to know), but I somehow knew that things would move along quickly, so I didn’t let my disappointment distract me from remaining calm. I was allowed to do intermittent monitoring from that point forward, and the nurse left us to labor in peace and said she’d be back in an hour. I decided to use the shower and sat on the birth ball while hot water poured over me. The surges became extremely intense, and I frequently changed positions in the shower to better control how I reacted to them. I was not as outwardly serene as I thought I would be, but I did feel completely in control of the process. Even when I felt sick and vomited in the shower, I knew it was completely normal and was probably an indication that I was entering the latter part of the thinning and opening phase. I made low moans without even meaning to as the surges continued to get stronger. Justin repeated some of the birthing prompts, and the most helpful thing about that was that it helped him remain calm and have something to do that he felt would help. I think the intensity of my surges and my gutteral, animal response to them was fairly overwhelming to him, and the prompts helped him stay calm, which in turn helped me remain focused.
At 5:30am, I left the shower when the heat became overwhelming, and alternated between laboring on my hands and knees in the bed to standing in a swaying position. I was checked again and was already at 7.5cm in just over an hour! The surges continued to intensify and I kept repeating out loud to “Let it Go” – so that my body would release and continue to open and move the baby down. The thought of pain or pain relief never entered my mind, nor did I even once think that I couldn’t do this. I was more focused than I’d ever been in my life! I started to bleed a bit and feel some pressure at 6:30am. Justin called and told the nurse that I felt like I’d need to start pushing soon. She looked at me quizzically and I think was a little doubtful that I’d progressed to that point yet since I was at 7.5 only an hour before. But my body was telling me what I needed to do, and I told her again that I was needing to push. I must have sounded convincing! She called Dr. Biter and told me to remain calm and focused, that I was doing an amazing job, and would just have to wait a few minutes until the doctor arrived.
I did not feel or look like the calm women in the HypnoBirth videos. Instead, my labor rumbled across my body like a thundering stampede. I let the surges take over and began to rock up and down on my knees to keep from pushing. I blew out through my mouth like a horse – something I’d read about in the Ina May Gaskin book, which ended up being a very helpful technique to remain open and loose.
Dr. Biter arrived just before 7am, and checked me as I was up on my knees. My mom asked him how dilated I was, and his response was – we’re going to have this baby right now!
I pushed from an upright position on my knees a few times, but was encouraged by Dr. Biter to turn around and lay back (in the ‘slanting J’ position) for more effective pushing. I listened to his confident support and lay back. I was relieved to be in the hands of someone I really trusted to help me birth our son the way I wanted to. He helped me listen to my body more effectively and push only when I felt the urge. He told me to push past “that point”, and doing so felt incredibly empowering. It was VERY intense, but I knew that I had to do this for my son… his heart rate was dropping a little as he came down the birth path, and even though the nurse didn’t say anything, I knew I had to deliver him with haste. After about 10 minutes of pushing, I crowned. Apparently the cord was around the baby’s neck, and Dr. Biter gently unwrapped it and kept encouraging me. I wasn’t aware of this until after the fact. A few more powerful pushes, and his shoulders were out. From my birth plan, Dr. Biter knew that I wanted to receive the baby, so he told me to look down and birth my son. I reached down, put my hands under his arms, and gently pulled him from me and placed him on my chest. It was the single-most unbelievable, beautiful experience of my life. Justin was in complete awe.
Hudson Michael R was born at 7:12am on Sunday, April 25th– after 15 minutes of pushing and less than 3 hours of labor at the hospital (about 7 hours of labor total).
We bonded skin-to-skin, and Hudson was incredibly alert and calm. He let out a single cry to clear his lungs and afterward, he just calmly lay on my chest and took his new world in. He latched almost immediately.
The nurses were extremely supportive and kept saying how awesome this birth was… how fast, controlled and natural.
Justin cut the cord after it stopped pulsating, and I birthed the placenta easily about 5 minutes after Hudson was born.
While my birth was not a “textbook” calm HypnoBirth, I do believe that I would not have remained in calm control without the relaxation techniques, self-confidence, and body awareness that we learned in our class. I envisioned how proud I would be of myself if I could achieve a natural birth, and I now feel more powerful, womanly, and natural than I ever have. I will carry the memories of this amazing experience for the rest of my life. In addition – my body is recovering from delivery extremely fast. My positive mental and physical state is ideal for handling the fatigue of newborn care.
Even better, Hudson is one of the calmest newborns I’ve ever seen. The doctors, nurses, and his pediatrician have all remarked at how great his temperament is, how healthy he is, and what a great nurser it looks like he will be. He was born exactly the way he was meant to be, and I think he’ll be forever impacted by it without even knowing it. This has been amazing.
Thank you so much Carol, for providing us the tools, knowledge, and ability to create exactly the right birth experience for us, even if it looked different that what we’d pictured in our minds.
______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Emelie & Justin! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story. Enjoy your babymoon!
Even though Emelie & Justin's birth experience wasn't a "textbook" HypnoBirth, it sounds like it was an amazing experience--even with moaning, rocking & vomiting! I really work hard to convey in class that the videos are just for a visual & that maybe people will experience birth in that way but even if it doesn't happen exactly like that or exactly like what they had envisioned, that they hopefully will still feel in control & empowered throughout their experience. That is the goal for me when I teach HypnoBirthing. If a woman gets a "pain-free", calm, peaceful birth, that's a bonus. I want women to birth with confidence knowing & trusting their body's natural process. I want women & their partners to go into their births with full informed consent, doing the research to ensure they have the right care provider & the right birth setting for them to feel safe & 100% supported, and to know the questions to ask to ensure that any intervention suggested is for a true medical situation.
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Hudson Michael R’s birth story
Emelie & Justin had a different OB through the first 7 months of their pregnancy that said that she supported HypnoBirthing. But, after experiencing persistent doubts about getting her 100% support of their ideal birth plan and feeling rushed through one too many appointment, they decided to explore other options and interviewed Dr. Biter. They switched to him at 31 weeks and feel that making this change was vital to the wonderful birth they experienced.
Even though I was due on May 1st, 2010, I felt throughout my pregnancy that my baby boy would arrive sometime in late April and would say that my guess date was “sometime in late April”… I went to see Dr. Biter on Friday April 23rd for my regular weekly appointment, and although he was not conducting any internal exams, he said he thought my practice surges were happening more frequently than I was aware of and were pretty strong. He said I was having one at the time he measured my belly. I couldn’t feel a thing! Since I was 39 weeks along, we all knew that baby boy could arrive anytime and would likely be very healthy. On Saturday April 24th, my family and I enjoyed walking around the Encinitas Street Faire in the afternoon breeze. The baby felt heavy as we walked, and my mom commented that she thought it looked as if he had dropped much lower in my abdomen than even earlier that day.
As we ended our long, 2-hour walk, I experienced a more powerful surge that seemed to continue uninterrupted for about 10 minutes. My mom checked her watch to time the surges if another one began, but nothing more happened. The surge felt slightly more intense than the practice labor we’d been observing.
After a healthy dinner, we headed to bed. At about 11:45pm, I awoke with the distinct feeling that something was happening. As I stood to get out of bed, a slight gush of fluid let me know that my membranes had likely released. I checked, and the fluid was clear, so I knew that all signs were probably “GO” and that the baby hadn’t released any meconium in the waters. I waited to see if my surges were going to start before waking my husband, Justin. The surges started almost immediately and were 2 minutes apart on the dot. I awoke hubby, and we calmly sat in the living room while I experienced and timed the surges. I instinctively knew that even though they were close together – consistently 2-3 minutes apart and lasting 30-45 seconds, they were not yet intense enough that birth was imminent. In fact, I still wasn’t 100% convinced that I was actually in labor. As each surge came, I relaxed on my birth ball and meditated on my HypnoBirth Birthing Affirmations. The surges were very manageable. After about 2 hours, I took a shower to see how it would make me feel, and it was relaxing, which made the contractions begin to feel stronger. I had a secondary release of membranes that was DEFINITELY the real deal, so I knew for sure that I’d be having my baby soon! I called Dr. Biter to let him know I was in labor and get a feel for when we should head into the hospital. He instructed us to just continue to hang out at home as long as possible, and to call back when we decided to leave. He really left it up to me to listen to my body and decide for myself when it was time. At 4:15am, I felt it was time, and my mom, Justin, and I drove to Scripps Encinitas.
I was welcomed into a delivery room for initial monitoring and check-in. I went over my birth preferences with our nurse, and she said they would be able to accommodate all my requests without any issues. I sat on the birthing ball while they did the Fetal Monitoring, and because I was so calm, the baby’s heart rate was excellent and very consistent. I was dilated to 4cm, which I was a little disappointed about (and didn’t really need to know), but I somehow knew that things would move along quickly, so I didn’t let my disappointment distract me from remaining calm. I was allowed to do intermittent monitoring from that point forward, and the nurse left us to labor in peace and said she’d be back in an hour. I decided to use the shower and sat on the birth ball while hot water poured over me. The surges became extremely intense, and I frequently changed positions in the shower to better control how I reacted to them. I was not as outwardly serene as I thought I would be, but I did feel completely in control of the process. Even when I felt sick and vomited in the shower, I knew it was completely normal and was probably an indication that I was entering the latter part of the thinning and opening phase. I made low moans without even meaning to as the surges continued to get stronger. Justin repeated some of the birthing prompts, and the most helpful thing about that was that it helped him remain calm and have something to do that he felt would help. I think the intensity of my surges and my gutteral, animal response to them was fairly overwhelming to him, and the prompts helped him stay calm, which in turn helped me remain focused.
At 5:30am, I left the shower when the heat became overwhelming, and alternated between laboring on my hands and knees in the bed to standing in a swaying position. I was checked again and was already at 7.5cm in just over an hour! The surges continued to intensify and I kept repeating out loud to “Let it Go” – so that my body would release and continue to open and move the baby down. The thought of pain or pain relief never entered my mind, nor did I even once think that I couldn’t do this. I was more focused than I’d ever been in my life! I started to bleed a bit and feel some pressure at 6:30am. Justin called and told the nurse that I felt like I’d need to start pushing soon. She looked at me quizzically and I think was a little doubtful that I’d progressed to that point yet since I was at 7.5 only an hour before. But my body was telling me what I needed to do, and I told her again that I was needing to push. I must have sounded convincing! She called Dr. Biter and told me to remain calm and focused, that I was doing an amazing job, and would just have to wait a few minutes until the doctor arrived.
I did not feel or look like the calm women in the HypnoBirth videos. Instead, my labor rumbled across my body like a thundering stampede. I let the surges take over and began to rock up and down on my knees to keep from pushing. I blew out through my mouth like a horse – something I’d read about in the Ina May Gaskin book, which ended up being a very helpful technique to remain open and loose.
Dr. Biter arrived just before 7am, and checked me as I was up on my knees. My mom asked him how dilated I was, and his response was – we’re going to have this baby right now!
I pushed from an upright position on my knees a few times, but was encouraged by Dr. Biter to turn around and lay back (in the ‘slanting J’ position) for more effective pushing. I listened to his confident support and lay back. I was relieved to be in the hands of someone I really trusted to help me birth our son the way I wanted to. He helped me listen to my body more effectively and push only when I felt the urge. He told me to push past “that point”, and doing so felt incredibly empowering. It was VERY intense, but I knew that I had to do this for my son… his heart rate was dropping a little as he came down the birth path, and even though the nurse didn’t say anything, I knew I had to deliver him with haste. After about 10 minutes of pushing, I crowned. Apparently the cord was around the baby’s neck, and Dr. Biter gently unwrapped it and kept encouraging me. I wasn’t aware of this until after the fact. A few more powerful pushes, and his shoulders were out. From my birth plan, Dr. Biter knew that I wanted to receive the baby, so he told me to look down and birth my son. I reached down, put my hands under his arms, and gently pulled him from me and placed him on my chest. It was the single-most unbelievable, beautiful experience of my life. Justin was in complete awe.
Hudson Michael R was born at 7:12am on Sunday, April 25th– after 15 minutes of pushing and less than 3 hours of labor at the hospital (about 7 hours of labor total).
We bonded skin-to-skin, and Hudson was incredibly alert and calm. He let out a single cry to clear his lungs and afterward, he just calmly lay on my chest and took his new world in. He latched almost immediately.
The nurses were extremely supportive and kept saying how awesome this birth was… how fast, controlled and natural.
Justin cut the cord after it stopped pulsating, and I birthed the placenta easily about 5 minutes after Hudson was born.
While my birth was not a “textbook” calm HypnoBirth, I do believe that I would not have remained in calm control without the relaxation techniques, self-confidence, and body awareness that we learned in our class. I envisioned how proud I would be of myself if I could achieve a natural birth, and I now feel more powerful, womanly, and natural than I ever have. I will carry the memories of this amazing experience for the rest of my life. In addition – my body is recovering from delivery extremely fast. My positive mental and physical state is ideal for handling the fatigue of newborn care.
Even better, Hudson is one of the calmest newborns I’ve ever seen. The doctors, nurses, and his pediatrician have all remarked at how great his temperament is, how healthy he is, and what a great nurser it looks like he will be. He was born exactly the way he was meant to be, and I think he’ll be forever impacted by it without even knowing it. This has been amazing.
Thank you so much Carol, for providing us the tools, knowledge, and ability to create exactly the right birth experience for us, even if it looked different that what we’d pictured in our minds.
______________________________________________________________________
Congratulations Emelie & Justin! Thank you so much for sharing your birth story. Enjoy your babymoon!
Even though Emelie & Justin's birth experience wasn't a "textbook" HypnoBirth, it sounds like it was an amazing experience--even with moaning, rocking & vomiting! I really work hard to convey in class that the videos are just for a visual & that maybe people will experience birth in that way but even if it doesn't happen exactly like that or exactly like what they had envisioned, that they hopefully will still feel in control & empowered throughout their experience. That is the goal for me when I teach HypnoBirthing. If a woman gets a "pain-free", calm, peaceful birth, that's a bonus. I want women to birth with confidence knowing & trusting their body's natural process. I want women & their partners to go into their births with full informed consent, doing the research to ensure they have the right care provider & the right birth setting for them to feel safe & 100% supported, and to know the questions to ask to ensure that any intervention suggested is for a true medical situation.
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Monday, April 12, 2010
A HypnoBirthing birth story
Alana & John took my Tuesday night classes in January 2010 at Babies by the Sea Boutique. Here is her birth experience:
My Birth Experience
On Sunday morning March 7th I lost my mucus plug so I knew I was on track since I was due March 22nd and all the books say that Labor will start within 24hrs to 2 weeks. I never thought that while I was at work Monday morning March 8th at about 11am that my water would break. I called my Husband, John, at his work and let him know that I had felt some water release but I wasn’t having any contractions yet so I was going to work another hour and then head home. I got home around 12:15pm and decided to try and take a walk to start getting some contractions going.
After an hour of walking nothing had changed. I went home to lie down and relax. I watched some TV while John gathered everything we needed and packed up the car. I had contacted my doctor’s office and let them know my water had broken and since I had tested positive for GBS they instructed me to go to the hospital as soon as I was ready. I decided to take my time since I wasn’t feeling anything yet. I took a warm bath and just thought about the process ahead of me and told myself to remain calm and focus although I was very anxious and excited all at the same time.
On the way to Scripps Encinitas I stopped by an acupuncture clinic to get an induction treatment to help progress my surges. The acupuncturist also showed John & myself some pressure points that would be useful to press on when I started feeling an intense surge. We arrived at Scripps at about 7:00pm, with our arms full of bags, exercise ball, a yoga mat and pillows. It was a strange feeling arriving there without feeling as if I needed to be there since I still wasn’t feeling any signs of labor.
I got lucky and it was a slow night so I had a nurse all to myself who was very supportive in honoring my birth plan and allowing me to voice exactly what I wanted to take place. She was in total agreement with me in allowing me to be free of being hooked up to anything. After my initial 20 mins of monitoring I was allowed to be unhooked. My initial measurement when I arrived was 1 cm. There were contractions that I was having but they were erratic and not consistent and I could not feel them. By 9:00pm my doctor came in and let me know that they were going to start Pitocin since it had been awhile since my water had broken and they were worried about risk of infection with the baby.
I stayed very firm with my ideas of having a natural birth without any drug interventions. The doctor insisted that something be done and after Pitocin was suggested she offered Cervadil to be placed on my cervix but she did explain that the disadvantage was that once the Cervadil was on it could not be taken off. I again stayed firm and asked if there was anything else or if we could please give my body more time since I was already on IV antibiotics. The Doctor then came up with an idea of what she called a Foley Ball and asked the nurse if they had the right equipment available for it. The nurse said they did.
The Doctor was then very thorough in explaining to me exactly what was going to happen. Basically it is a tube that at one end they fill with water to form a ball that is about 2 inches in diameter. The tube is first inserted in your vagina and then filled up with water. The ball then puts pressure on your cervix to cause it to contract. There are no real side effects for you or the baby and once you are dilated to anywhere from 4-6cm the ball becomes loose and is taken out. There is the discomfort of having the remaining part of the tubing hanging out of your vagina the nurse was able to tape it to the side of my leg so I was able to walk around easier.
As soon as the Foley Ball was inserted and filled with water and placed directly on my cervix I started feeling surges and they were becoming more frequent and consistent. The doctor did let me know that if I had not progressed in the time that she wanted that I still would have to get Pitocin, in my mind I just figured that we would talk about that if it came up but I was going to get through it without the Pitocin. By 12:00am midnight I had opened another cm and I was at 2cm so they let me keep going at around 3:00am John and I took a walk all around the hospital for about an hour. By then I had progressed to about 4cm. The doctor was happy with my results so she said there was no reason to administer Pitocin which I was very happy about.
Periodically I would take showers, which felt great. I would sit on the birthing ball in the shower and let the warm water fall on me having John or my Mom rub my back with gentle touch massage. I would walk around the room, sit on the ball bracing my arms on the bed and sometimes just laid in bed listening to my Rainbow Relaxation CD and at times felt so relaxed that I would fall asleep. Even while not listening to the CD I kept positive thoughts in my head and John was encouraging letting me know I was doing great. Also breathing helped a lot I took long slow relaxing breaths.
At around 10:00am I was at 6cm dilated and my surges were getting pretty close together and definitely intense. The Foley Ball was removed and it was nice to not have the tubing taped to my leg. This was the most difficult time for me with the intensity of the surges in my back, at one point I looked at John and told him I wasn’t sure how much longer I could do this for. He let me know with words of encouragement that everything was going great & that I was doing a great job. I got in the shower to help with the intensity of the surges. Again John and my Mom took turns rubbing my back and I also used some of the pressure points to help with the intensity. It felt so good in there and time had gone by that the nurse said it had been an 1hr and ½ and they needed to check me. I was in shock when she said that I was at 9 ½ cm and was looking good but still needed to go a little longer and she was going to let the Doctor know to come to the hospital. She also said not to push and she would be back. Of course as soon as she left & John had just gotten back from the cafeteria I felt as if I needed to push and I told John to call the nurse.
The nurse came back in because they had lost the fetal heart rate and I told her that I needed to push and the baby was coming. She let me know that I still had more time to go and that the Doctor was on her way. I said "no, I really need to push, can you check me again?". So she went ahead and did and within those few minutes I had already gone to 10cm and was ready so she said that I could go ahead and push. This was the easy part for me, it just felt like the urge you have when you need to go the bathroom. I could no longer feel the contractions...just the anticipation of seeing my baby for the first time and seeing if it was a boy or a girl. That was at about 11:50am and after pushing for about 20 minutes we had a beautiful baby boy.
Kai William was born at 12:07pm he was 7lbs. 9oz. and 21 inches long. Both the doctor and nurses were great at honoring what I had asked. John was able to announce the sex of the baby since it was a surprise, and cut the cord after waiting until it stopped pulsating. My placenta came out very easy with little effort on my part and the doctor said that I had torn just a little that there was really no need for stitches but put 2 small ones in.
Overall my experience was great. I really feel that taking the Hypnobirthing classes allowed me to find a state of relaxation to help cope with the discomfort of what I was feeling. When it came down to it the 2 things that helped the most were the warm water of the shower while sitting on the exercise ball and listening to the Rainbow Relaxation CD while laboring and also every night before I went to bed to help mentally prepare myself for the birthing process.
By taking your classes both my husband and I were able to feel very knowledgeable about what was to happen at our baby's birth. For me personally, much of what I was fearful about was the unknown since this was my first baby. The classes helped educate us in a calm and interactive way allowing us to ease into and inform us of what we were going to experience as opposed to being told what a scary and painful experience giving birth is. We went into it anxious and excited for it to happen and to meet our baby. The breathing and self hypnosis exercises allowed us to really prepare and envision what was going to occur, which I found very invaluable. Listening to the Rainbow Relaxation CD every night before bedtime really helped me stay focused and relaxed while in labor. I would definitely recommend taking Carol's HypnoBirthing classes and plan on taking them again next time we get pregnant.
I hope this information is useful to your new and prospective students!
Alana
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Thanks for sharing your birth story! I want to add that Alana called me after her water had released & nothing was really happening. I suggested to her that she rest, relax, have her husband read some hypnosis scripts to her while in the bathtub & that she see if she could get an induction acupuncture session in on her way to the hospital. I always suggest to my clients to call me if they have any last minute questions & am so glad when they do.
Congratulations Alana & John! Enjoy your babymoon!
All my best--Carol
www.AWellLivedLife.Net
www.AWellLivedLife.blogspot.com
Thursday, August 21, 2008
An inspiring HypnoBirthing story
Here is a really inspiring HypnoBirthing birth story from one of my clients that took my class in June 2008. It shows how having a supportive team can really help even when you doubt the process....enjoy!
We have big news! A beautiful new princess has joined the B family. Kylie Anne B. was born on 8/18/08 at 9:59am, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs 13 oz and 20.5 in long. The girls are thrilled about their newest little sister! We are home, and Mom and baby are doing very well! We will send pictures as soon as we can. I will surely have my hands full in this house full of women! God help me. Love,John, Anne, Lauren, Alexandria & Kylie
Here is Anne's birth story that she gave me permission to share: My original due date was August 12, 2008. I had an appointment with my OB (Dr. Dane Shipp at Pacific Coast Women's Health) that day. I was ready to have this baby, and discussed my options for induction. But, my doctor –knowing full well I wanted a natural delivery – told me that there was no medical reason to induce, and advised me to give it another week. So, I made another appointment for August 18, 2008 fully intending to schedule an induction at that time.
I woke up at 3:30a.m. on August 18th and knew the surges that I felt were different than the practice labor ones I had been feeling for weeks. I started timing them, and they were coming about every 6-7 minutes apart. By 4 a.m., they were every 2-3 minutes, lasting a minute. I woke John and we started getting ready. We waited an hour, but when they were coming every 2 minutes consistently, I really wanted to get to the hospital (Scripps Encinitas). We got there by 5:30 a.m., and checked in. I specifically requested a labor nurse that supported a natural childbirth, and got a wonderful nurse. She was only on until 7:00a.m. though, so I asked her to please assign us another one that also supported natural childbirth. She too was wonderful and I was pleasantly surprised at how the hospital staff went to great lengths to abide by our wishes.
When I got to the hospital, and was checked at around 6 a.m., I was 4cm dilated and 100% thinned. My doctor came in and checked me again at 8 a.m., and I was 6 cm dilated. I had been doing my breathing and listening to the CD until that time, and felt pretty relaxed through the surges; but at 6 cm, it was getting very intense and I started to doubt my abilities. About 20 minutes later, I asked my nurse for pain management options that did not include an epidural. She did tell me that I could have IV drugs, but felt that I would not like the effect they had on me.
By this time, John was really in full mode, doing light touch massage and telling me how great I was doing, how I was laboring just as I had planned through this whole pregnancy, and how I could achieve my goal of a completely natural childbirth. I really wanted to believe him, but really felt doubtful, but decided to try to hold out a little longer. Somewhere between 8:20 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., I knew that I had taken the HypnoBirthing as far as I felt I could, so I asked for the IV drugs. My nurse asked if I could wait for the doctor to check me, because she thought I may be pleasantly surprised by my progress. By 9:00a.m. when my doctor checked me, I was 9 ¾ cm dilated – so in less than an hour, I had progressed 4 cm – and was told that no drugs could be given to me now. I was relieved I had made it that far!
When I was fully opened and thinned, my doctor advised me to do what my body wanted to do naturally – if that meant pushing, great, but he was not going to coach me to push – nor was the nurse, he would just wait for my cues and follow my lead. After 6 cm, I had to abandon the HypnoBirthing breathing and really just did what my body needed (shorter breaths with longer ones between surges). But, I really tried to breathe the baby down, but did not feel that I could continue to do that, and once the last ¼ cm of cervix had opened, I pushed, but did so as gently as I could (until she crowned – then I purple pushed with all my might). The doctor turned all the lights down, used a calm voice, gave me some tips to make me more comfortable and advised what may help to get the baby out quicker, but all in all really supported me. He told me not to be scared of the actual delivery, that everything I was feeling was normal, but that I was doing great (By this time, I was shaking, having some convulsions and getting a little nauseous). He did advise me to slow my breathing down and take some deep slow breaths to gear up for the crowning and to regain some strength.
John was also just incredible during this stage, really giving me confidence to listen to my body and finish my goal, talking softly in my ear (I don't even remember what he said, it was just the sound and tone that kept me calm). I also want to point out that my membranes had not yet released by the time I wanted to push. My doctor said he was not going to advise me to break the water, that there was no medical need to do so, and to just let nature take its course. My membranes did release right after a good push, and Kylie was born about 10 minutes later at 9:59a.m. The hardest part by far was the very end when she was being received – which is when I purple pushed (I was able to help receive my baby – I just held my hands out and held on to her as she emerged –it was incredible.)
It wasn't until about 20 minutes after her birth that I really realized that her birth – although the most difficult thing I had done – was just what I wanted. No one urged me to "speed things along," I had my husband, doctor and nurse all talk me out of using any drugs or intervention – my nurse specifically said to me "I really think you will be disappointed later if you use any drugs right now, I know you can do it, you are doing great." John kept telling me how amazed he was by me, how great I was doing and that I could do it all naturally just like I wanted.
No one told me that they had to break my bag of water or anything. Really, the only thing my doctor insisted on was to start an IV because this was my 3rd baby and he was concerned that it would progress so rapidly that I may have too much blood loss – but I didn't have a problem with having an IV. Even when my placenta did not release after a ½ hour, he just kept waiting and massaging, trying to let my body do what it needed to naturally (it finally release after 50 minutes). I also held Kylie on my chest for an hour before they weighed her and checked her out.
I really wouldn't have changed anything about the way she was born. I think I was the only one that doubted my abilities – so I am so grateful that I had the support system that I did. Without John coaching me and encouraging me 100%, I am sure I would have gotten the drugs, but am SOOO happy that I didn't.
Kylie is a wonderful baby, she hardly cries, is very content and easily soothed. We are on day 2, and I feel refreshed and a lot less tired than I did with my other 2 deliveries. Although I did a mix of HypnoBirthing breathing and "regular" birth breathing, I think HypnoBirthing allowed me to get as far as I did and made this birth so successful.
I wish all the other couples a safe, happy and healthy delivery.
~Anne & John (and Lauren, Alexandria and Kylie)
We hope our story encourages other couples who want to pursue natural child birth.
We have big news! A beautiful new princess has joined the B family. Kylie Anne B. was born on 8/18/08 at 9:59am, weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs 13 oz and 20.5 in long. The girls are thrilled about their newest little sister! We are home, and Mom and baby are doing very well! We will send pictures as soon as we can. I will surely have my hands full in this house full of women! God help me. Love,John, Anne, Lauren, Alexandria & Kylie
Here is Anne's birth story that she gave me permission to share: My original due date was August 12, 2008. I had an appointment with my OB (Dr. Dane Shipp at Pacific Coast Women's Health) that day. I was ready to have this baby, and discussed my options for induction. But, my doctor –knowing full well I wanted a natural delivery – told me that there was no medical reason to induce, and advised me to give it another week. So, I made another appointment for August 18, 2008 fully intending to schedule an induction at that time.
I woke up at 3:30a.m. on August 18th and knew the surges that I felt were different than the practice labor ones I had been feeling for weeks. I started timing them, and they were coming about every 6-7 minutes apart. By 4 a.m., they were every 2-3 minutes, lasting a minute. I woke John and we started getting ready. We waited an hour, but when they were coming every 2 minutes consistently, I really wanted to get to the hospital (Scripps Encinitas). We got there by 5:30 a.m., and checked in. I specifically requested a labor nurse that supported a natural childbirth, and got a wonderful nurse. She was only on until 7:00a.m. though, so I asked her to please assign us another one that also supported natural childbirth. She too was wonderful and I was pleasantly surprised at how the hospital staff went to great lengths to abide by our wishes.
When I got to the hospital, and was checked at around 6 a.m., I was 4cm dilated and 100% thinned. My doctor came in and checked me again at 8 a.m., and I was 6 cm dilated. I had been doing my breathing and listening to the CD until that time, and felt pretty relaxed through the surges; but at 6 cm, it was getting very intense and I started to doubt my abilities. About 20 minutes later, I asked my nurse for pain management options that did not include an epidural. She did tell me that I could have IV drugs, but felt that I would not like the effect they had on me.
By this time, John was really in full mode, doing light touch massage and telling me how great I was doing, how I was laboring just as I had planned through this whole pregnancy, and how I could achieve my goal of a completely natural childbirth. I really wanted to believe him, but really felt doubtful, but decided to try to hold out a little longer. Somewhere between 8:20 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., I knew that I had taken the HypnoBirthing as far as I felt I could, so I asked for the IV drugs. My nurse asked if I could wait for the doctor to check me, because she thought I may be pleasantly surprised by my progress. By 9:00a.m. when my doctor checked me, I was 9 ¾ cm dilated – so in less than an hour, I had progressed 4 cm – and was told that no drugs could be given to me now. I was relieved I had made it that far!
When I was fully opened and thinned, my doctor advised me to do what my body wanted to do naturally – if that meant pushing, great, but he was not going to coach me to push – nor was the nurse, he would just wait for my cues and follow my lead. After 6 cm, I had to abandon the HypnoBirthing breathing and really just did what my body needed (shorter breaths with longer ones between surges). But, I really tried to breathe the baby down, but did not feel that I could continue to do that, and once the last ¼ cm of cervix had opened, I pushed, but did so as gently as I could (until she crowned – then I purple pushed with all my might). The doctor turned all the lights down, used a calm voice, gave me some tips to make me more comfortable and advised what may help to get the baby out quicker, but all in all really supported me. He told me not to be scared of the actual delivery, that everything I was feeling was normal, but that I was doing great (By this time, I was shaking, having some convulsions and getting a little nauseous). He did advise me to slow my breathing down and take some deep slow breaths to gear up for the crowning and to regain some strength.
John was also just incredible during this stage, really giving me confidence to listen to my body and finish my goal, talking softly in my ear (I don't even remember what he said, it was just the sound and tone that kept me calm). I also want to point out that my membranes had not yet released by the time I wanted to push. My doctor said he was not going to advise me to break the water, that there was no medical need to do so, and to just let nature take its course. My membranes did release right after a good push, and Kylie was born about 10 minutes later at 9:59a.m. The hardest part by far was the very end when she was being received – which is when I purple pushed (I was able to help receive my baby – I just held my hands out and held on to her as she emerged –it was incredible.)
It wasn't until about 20 minutes after her birth that I really realized that her birth – although the most difficult thing I had done – was just what I wanted. No one urged me to "speed things along," I had my husband, doctor and nurse all talk me out of using any drugs or intervention – my nurse specifically said to me "I really think you will be disappointed later if you use any drugs right now, I know you can do it, you are doing great." John kept telling me how amazed he was by me, how great I was doing and that I could do it all naturally just like I wanted.
No one told me that they had to break my bag of water or anything. Really, the only thing my doctor insisted on was to start an IV because this was my 3rd baby and he was concerned that it would progress so rapidly that I may have too much blood loss – but I didn't have a problem with having an IV. Even when my placenta did not release after a ½ hour, he just kept waiting and massaging, trying to let my body do what it needed to naturally (it finally release after 50 minutes). I also held Kylie on my chest for an hour before they weighed her and checked her out.
I really wouldn't have changed anything about the way she was born. I think I was the only one that doubted my abilities – so I am so grateful that I had the support system that I did. Without John coaching me and encouraging me 100%, I am sure I would have gotten the drugs, but am SOOO happy that I didn't.
Kylie is a wonderful baby, she hardly cries, is very content and easily soothed. We are on day 2, and I feel refreshed and a lot less tired than I did with my other 2 deliveries. Although I did a mix of HypnoBirthing breathing and "regular" birth breathing, I think HypnoBirthing allowed me to get as far as I did and made this birth so successful.
I wish all the other couples a safe, happy and healthy delivery.
~Anne & John (and Lauren, Alexandria and Kylie)
We hope our story encourages other couples who want to pursue natural child birth.
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