What is a 'Natural' Cesarean?

I had a discussion with a good friend of mine today, when she came to the realisation that despite having a section she could still have maintained some level of control over her baby's journey into the world. She is 20 weeks pregnant with her third son and is looking forward to the birth and excited about the pregnancy, but for her last two births she had caesareans after not progressing at all. Her second child was born using HypnoBirthing and although she was very calm and focussed she just didn't progress.

This may be because of an accident she had when she was younger and not treated for properly, and so this time she is going to see a chiropractor and then make the decision on whether to have a caesarean or go for a normal birth again. If she does have a normal birth, then I'm going to be her birthing partner so I have all fingers and legs crossed that I can be there with her.

But while she was here I went through the research by Professor Fisk on 'natural' caesareans, some of which I posted on our Facebook page the other day. Natural seems a bit of paradox when talking about such an invasive surgical procedure, and I have seen some midwives splutter and cough on hearing the term. Yet Fisk's research shows that some methods of delivering a baby by caesarean can mimic the journey through the birth canal, for example by delaying cord clamping for as long as possible, reducing the amount of time the baby is separated from the mother, ensuring that there is skin to skin contact before weighing and that the mother is as comfortable as possible – surrounded by her own choice of music and wearing her own clothes.

However, many women, once they decide on a caesarean, reluctantly assume that that's it -they can hand over to the medical professionals, book a date and go into have their baby. Well that isn't it, there is so much more that can be done to ensure that baby's and mums have a better birth experience. It's not that new a phenomenon and there have been articles published in The Times, The Guardian and in the BBC about steps some hospitals in the UK are taking to make caesareans less traumatic for mum and baby.

Preparation should not just focus on the day but also taking action to ensure that the there is some emotional and mental antenatal preparation for your baby's birth, even if it will be surgical is hugely important. Antenatally, the time that the baby has in the womb is a vital 9 months - that environment is one in which he begins to lay out his neurological map and experiences emotions and feelings. From what I have seen in my antenatal classes - there is no doubt about it baby responds when the mums are calm. In the middle of relaxation exercises there is joy and laughter all around as they experience thier babies move almost in unison! Women that have birthed using mind and body techniques have practised these techniques many weeks in the run up to the birth so that the baby benefits from that positive imprint during its time in the womb.

This is just as important to a baby that is going to be born surgically as a baby born naturally. Time spent preparing beforehand can really make a difference to your baby and to how you emotionally prepare for parenthood.

When having a caesarean, some women decide to have small rituals the day before to welcome the baby into the family, just sitting quietly, or perhaps with music, singing, reading and spending some close and loving time with thier family in preparation.

Many will have discussed beforehand with their caregiver what their intentions on the day are, so that they know what to expect and feel reassured that the birth is going to be as gentle as possible for the baby.

Here is a list of things you may want to discuss with your surgeon and midwife before.

• Request you wear your own clothing
• Bring your own music in
• Lower the drape after uterine incision so that you can see your baby being born
• Allow the baby to breathe while the body is still in utero mimicking birth
• Delay cord clamping as long as possible.
• Baby can be passed directly to the mother.
• Baby only weighed after surgery is finished.
  

So my friend now feels comforted and relieved that she can do something to ease this baby's journey into the world even if it is surgical. Even so I have all fingers and toes crossed for a normal birth so that I can be there!

Nature Nurtures Birth

OMG OMG OMG.

How excited can I get about ducklings? Two have hatched today in my garden. I saw their dark brown fluffy bodies and beautiful shiny eyes, and heard their cute cheep cheep. Seeing them peer out from their nest was almost as lovely as seeing a new baby born, looking up from her mother’s breast. (Actually, newly hatched ducklings are fluffier and less gooey – but not nearly so emotionally heartwarming).

We’ve had ducks for a while. I wanted to hatch some, and I wanted it to be as natural as possible. I knew that newly hatched ducklings imprint onto that which they see move, so they need their mummy around when they hatch, in order to follow mummy duck around the garden. I didn’t want ducklings in a box. I wanted them stumbling over stones and rocks, following mummy frantically and freely.

So we waited. And waited. No signs. These ducks have been bred for eggs, not breeding, so I guessed that their natural instincts had been bred out. And I wondered, while putting the washing out, how quickly instinctive birth can be lost after generations of caesarean sections?

Anyhow, we tried all sorts of other things. Getting chicken hens to sit on the eggs, using a home made incubator, using a posh incubator. To no avail.

Then, suddenly, mummy had made her very own nest, and was sitting on nine eggs! It wasn’t where we wanted her to be – but she was so well hidden that we realised she wasn’t in danger from foxes. We were delighted. But not as delighted as we are now that they have also hatched!

Clever mummy. And to think that we lost faith in mother nature and her ability to create fabulous new life just like that! Our classes help us to put that faith back, and as a doula, I have to work at keeping the faith. I can’t believe I let it waiver with my mummy duck. She has taught me to keep the trust no matter what the situation!

Pregnant? Think Twice About The Birth

Did you know that how your baby is born can have a significant effect on her emotional and psychological makeup as an adult? Everything she registers and feels during her initial entry into the world will be memorised and can influence the rest of her life. Elena Tonetti, an advocate of conscious birth, refers to this as “limbic imprint”. Leslie Temple-Thurston, a teacher of enlightenment, refers to this as “negative or positive imprinting”. The greater the birth trauma, especially through unnecessary or even necessary intervention, the greater the negative birth imprint.

Babies are extremely sensitive, and those born to intervention and rough handling can find the experience extremely shocking and abusive, even if birth attendees consider the handling normal (Leslie Temple-Thurston). While babies may forget their ordeal in the hours and days that follow, the memory of the experience is held deep within them and doesn’t spontaneously go away. Unless babies are helped to release the stress of this imprinting (Aletha Solter, The Aware Baby), it (stress and imprinting) stays with them for the rest of their lives whether they are conscious of it or not. This is because during birth the limbic system registers all of the sensations and emotions around the experience of birth, and the memory of it lives in the body for the rest of our lives whether we are conscious of this or not.

Elena Tonetti says that “if our first impressions of being in the body are anything less than loving ([violating], painful, frightening, lonely...) then that “anything” imprints as a valid experience of love. It is immediately coded into our nervous system as a “comfort zone”, acting as a surrogate for the love and nurturing [that we expect to receive], regardless of how painful, frustrating and undesirable it actually was. And in the future, as adults, we will unconsciously, automatically recreate the conditions that were imprinted [into us] at birth and through our early childhood” (The Limbic Imprint by Elena Tonetti).

If birth trauma is extreme, a baby’s first experience of life will feel like he has entered a dangerous and violent world (Leslie Temple-Thurston). Chances are good that the psychological conditioning he receives, because of his experience at birth, will also be extreme. Abuse and trauma at birth imprints a baby with tremendous shock and fear (Leslie Temple-Thurston). If a baby feels disempowered or victimised at birth, either through rough handling by less than sensitive birth attendees, or as a result of mechanical intervention, he will unconsciously try to recreate this experience in later life either by becoming a perpetrator of abuse himself, or by allowing others to abuse him. A large body of evidence exists to show that complications during delivery are associated with physical conditions and behavioural disorders in later life. Birth trauma has been shown to be associated with a range of problems including addictions, poor problem-solving skills, short attention span, low self-esteem, inability to be empathetic and responsible and a host of physical health problems (www.birthpsychology.com).

So how we birth our babies clearly has a considerable influence on the kinds of people they become and has a lasting impact on how they will function in the world. This isn’t something to be taken lightly. How many of us spend time considering the possible emotional and behavioural effects that birth can have on our children’s lives? Unfortunately we live in a culture where the emotional and psychological impact of the birth experience on a baby is not taken seriously or really even understood. Birth is usually regarded as a physical, medical experience (often emergency), and the instinctive, natural and spiritual component is seriously disregarded. As a result many women feel let down by their birth experiences, and some even go as far as enduring traumatic births, often unnecessarily, and suffer consequent post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) long after the birth (Birth Trauma Association, www.birthtraumaassociation.org.uk).

Birthing a baby is not “routine procedure” – it is a completely unique and sacred moment in time. It is possible to have a natural, gentle, healthy and positive birthing experience, and if you are expecting a baby I would say that you are entitled to it. In most cases in this day and age, a gentle, natural birth requires disciplined preparation and is not usually handed to us on a plate. In fact, entering a birthing field consciously (fully present, aware and unmedicated) requires serious mental and emotional preparation. And contrary to popular belief, with proper guidance and support this is possible for a considerable number of expecting couples. In most cases, both mums and dads need to be mentally and emotionally prepared for the birth of their babies in order for the birth experience to be a healthy, gentle and positive one. According to Elena Tonetti, many delivery complications are the direct result of family psychological problems that have not been resolved. She suggests that it is crucial to the quality of the birthing experience that these dramas are dealt with before the due date (www.birthintobeing.com).

With adequate preparation we as parents have the opportunity to soften the birthing experience for our babies and help them enter the world with a more favourable first imprint. With proper preparation we can have gentle birth experiences and control to an extent how their nervous systems will be limbically imprinted. In many cases traumatic births can be avoided if the necessary mental and emotional preparation has taken place.

When we decide to have children, we enter a sacred contract with them agreeing to be custodians of their emotional well-being. It is of paramount importance to the future emotional health of our children that we begin this responsibility right at the beginning – at that pivotal point of entry into the world. Because when a baby is born gently into a loving environment, the shock and fear factor is greatly reduced, and this softer imprint stays with her for the rest of her life.

Happy Birthing!