Tag Archives: home birth

Sibling Preparation: During Pregnancy

Krystyna has wrote various pieces on preparing siblings for the arrival of a newborn brother or sister and even specifically preparing them for a home birth of that sibling over on Sweet Pea Births blog, but today I am going to share what exactly we did with our 2.5 year old son during pregnancy and birth in anticipation of his sister’s arrival.

We talked about the pregnancy, baby, breastfeeding, what he could expect, etc. every day in all different contexts and situations, it was a regular topic of conversation and everything was always positive. In addition to that ongoing dialouge the following was all extremely helpful in easing the transition.

1.  Big Brother Books.

We picked up all sorts of different books: I’m Going to be a Big Brother , Daniel Tiger’s The Baby is Here and Big Brother, Babies Can’t Eat Kimchee and were gifted Berenstains Bears’ New Baby and The New Baby. We read them throughout the pregnancy and he still likes reading them today (3 months post birth).

2. Watching Birth Videos.

We were planning a home birth so towards the end of the pregnancy we watched home birth videos online quite often. I searched for ones with siblings present and we talked about how this is what it would be like when baby sister arrived. We talked specifically about what labor was like and how she would come out and join us.

3. Breastfeeding: Remind, Remind & Remind Again.

We were in the process of weaning when I found out I was pregnant. My son was completely weaned very early in the pregnancy but still was interested in and asked about “milk” ALOT. I knew that breastfeeding might be a point of frustration / anger / sadness for him when the baby arrived so we talked about it early and often. We talked about how babies have mama’s milk when they arrive (and watched newborns nurse in the above mentioned birth videos), we watched animals nursing online, we talked about how little babies need mamas milk but he is big and has things like yogurt and ice cream that babies can’t have. I asked him over and over again what the baby was going to do when she got here so he could respond with “mama milk!” and over and over and over just kept the conversation going and always kept it very upbeat.

4. Big Brother, Little Sister Gift.

We talked a lot about how when little sister got here she would bring a gift for him (my parents and grandparents so generously purchased him an iPad mini! We wanted it to be something notable) and we took him around my due date to a local children’s store and let him pick out a gift for her. He picked out a little plush giraffe and a couple hours after the birth he started asking about his gift and was extremely excited to give baby her gift too! This really worked like a charm for us and definitely promoted his interest in her when she arrived I believe.

5. Recognizing & Pointing out Siblings.

As soon as we started talking about a baby joining our family we started emphasizing siblings wherever we went. We talked ALOT about his friends that had babies and what it was like for them and how exciting it was that *he* was going to get a baby too, just like them. When we would see babies at the park I would always point them out and say “a baby like your baby sister that is coming”, etc.

These are all extremely simple and were not hard to implement but for our family they really did make an impact. Our son knew exactly what to expect during and after the birth and I could not have been more pleased with the immediate transition. I feel like a large portion of the work actually came *after* she was born in order to preemptively mitigate tension and maintain peace within our day to day though. Stay tuned for those in part two, Sibling Preparation: Post Birth, coming on Thursday!

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What else did you do to prepare your older children during pregnancy? We would love to hear in the comments, cheers to siblings without rivalry!

Wordless Wednesday: Home Birth Edition

Our sweet, sweet baby girl was born at home in late January, time is already flying by. You can read her birth story over on the Sweet Pea Births blog, but I wanted to share the images here today in honor of Wordless Wednesday. All of the photos were captured by the amazing Kirsten Redding, who I still can not say enough good things about and the birth was attended by the wonderful women of Wise Mama Midwifery & Tiger Lily Midwifery.

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning and a very, surprisingly fast delivery (which is why there are no captures of anything before “pushing”). These photos are definitely ******* NSFW ***** so beware :).

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P’s birth was nothing short of truly amazing and being able to share in all of it’s peace, beauty and tranquility as a family is something we will never forget.

x and o and birth,

Cassandra

Monday Musings: Taking Action

Not a very long post today – I am heading down to the State Capitol to meet with some other home birth advocates and a state representative sympathetic to our goal to Kill SB1157.

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It was so disheartening to see the bill passed on a party-line vote.  I would like to think that people can think for themselves…this was clearly not the case.  NO THANK YOU to the four Republican *women* who voted against evidence-based birth.  THANK YOU to the Democrats (2 men, 1 woman) who stood up for Arizona’s women and their right to choose their birth place even if they are not what the medical community considers an ideal candidate for home birth.

If I can find it, I will post the video from last week’s meeting so you can watch this dismal facade called “testimony”.  It was deplorable how the side for evidence-based birth is held to one standard to fight for their rights, while the medical community is given a pass to even offer one shred of evidence or “gold-standard” research for the “statistics” they offered.

I encourage all of you to get involved with birth politics in your community.  Get informed, and form a community of evidence-based advocates.  I am sure that ACOG and other anti-home birth factions are watching the proceedings in Arizona…the fight may be on your doorstep before you know it.

Personally, I am looking forward to having some action plans.  Hope you all have a great day!

Out of the loop and want the scoop?  HERE is a great summary of the bill, why we are opposed to it, and some action steps you can take to advocate for evidence-based home birth from Sink Full of Dishes.

Home Birth in Arizona – Your Voice Counts

I want to start by saying that I respect obstetricians individually.  There are many good, caring, watchful OB’s who practice as Dr. Bradley did, acting as a “life guard” at the pool, stepping in when a pregnancy or birth necessitated obstetric care.  Otherwise, they care for and facilitate safe, natural births…Dr. Bradley’s stats were 94-96% vaginal birth rates in any given year.

Despite his, and other OB’s invested in the natural, hands-off approach to normal, low-risk pregnancy and birth, maternity care in the United States is not uninterrupted.  Thanks to “advances” in maternal care, most births take place in the “Safety” of a hospital setting.  Our cesarean rates are still at an all-time high, and despite spending the most per capita on maternity care, our maternal mortality rates are 48th in the world.  47 countries, including some third-world countries, do a better job at keeping mothers and babies alive than we do.

In the face of these facts, many women are choosing to seek different care.  Certified Nurse Midwives are making gains in the hospital setting, and home birth with Certified Professional Midwives is on the rise in home settings.  Guess who is freaking out??  The white-coats who have enjoyed little to no opposition since they convinced the US consumer that they were better off birthing in a hospital than they are at home.

Let’s take a look at homebirth and hospital birth numbers…check out the infographic, or find links to the reports on the first ever published home birth study in the United States HERE.

This infographic is used with permission from Growing Slower:
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And now, a group in Arizona has decided to try and “back door” a bill (SB1157) that I suspect, they thought was going to go undetected.  It is an attempt to reverse all the strides in evidence-based care that were made when the AZ Department of Health Services expanded the Midwifery Scope of Practice.  The scope was ammended after hours of testimony, consideration and deliberation – you can see those proceedings HERE.  The backers of the bill are using the same rhetoric that was used to get women into the hospital in the first place: “Unsafe” “Irresponsible” “Dangerous”

The fact of the matter is that the case can be made that hospital births in the United States are now dangerous.  You have a 1 in 3 chance of receiving a cesarean, even if you walk in as a low-risk mother.  Category X drugs are used off-label, when the manufacturer’s instructions specifically list the dangers of use in childbirth and warn against using them in pregnancy or labor.

Read more about that  here:

We have the right to self-determination and access to qualified, professional care providers, even if they are not the care provider that would be chosen by the majority.   If you are in Arizona, please join us at a rally to say no to Senate Bill 1157.  You can read more about action steps you can take whether you can or cannot join us in person HERE, or please take moment to sign THIS change.org petition to the Chairwomen of the Health and Services Committee, who will hear the bill tomorrow.

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