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My granddaughter smiling at 6 hours old after an optimal birth. |
When I was pregnant with my first, the future was unwritten and I had everything ahead of me. My baby girl was perfect. She nursed easily and we were inseparable. Her birth was easy and pain free. I believe that was because I was unassisted. I went into the zone and I stayed there until I pushed her out.
With an attended birth there is a conflict between the caregiver's need to monitor and the mother's need to go inward, to stay in the zone. As a midwife the best I can do to balance these needs is to prepare the mother to ignore the monitoring. I also instruct others present to not ask the mother questions, do nothing to cause her to come out of the zone. Every question you ask might add an hour to her labor and disrupt the baby's journey.
I seek the zone of optimal birth whenever possible.
2 comments:
Great reminder! TV births prepare you for zero tranquility, zero time to go inward and a very low chance you will be able to birth unassisted at all. It's a shame!
Yes, Love Home Birth! I recommend not watching birth on TV. It gets too much adrenalin going. You don't want to train your mind that labor calls for adrenalin. Adrenalin is only needed during the pushing phase. But it interferes with a productive first stage.
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