Finding Wisdom

A new day has dawned and I feel obligated to offer something up to the world.

Now I have mentioned that creating the website that WAS Heads Up! was really all about ego. Really it was. I loved the attention.

There is nothing more awesome than someone coming up you or emailing you and saying....your awesome, you made such a difference to my experience. I have had a few letters such as this end up in my email inbox. And ya know what? It's awesome. But as much as I want to be told I'm awesome, I want the birth they had to be awesome. I want the person that has found their way to the information I have posted to use it to find a path to a birth that makes them want to jump up and down on the bed raising their arms in the air saying "I did it and I'm awesome!"

That said, I'll state that what I cared about most was that women ultimately had a place to go when they were presenting breech. I wanted people to find a hub that directed them to and supplied information. I remember looking all over the web for information about breech and would have loved to have fallen into a site such as Heads Up!. Alas I feel I have let down many by letting this web site go by the way side. I am hoping that those that have linked to http://www.breechbabies.com/ will see that the link no longer is active will contact me to find out "what happened?". I hope they will find me here and be able to get all the great information that was on the site.

But my intent of posting today is not about me (as much as I would like it to be :) ).

My intent is to post about the Birthlove website.

Birthlove was created by a single woman with a desire to change the world. By doing this she touched many women, just as I did in my very specific way. Leilah McCracken has pulled a huge resource of breech information together for the expectant family on her website. as well as written a book that strikes a cord in many women. One of the best essays I've read on birth and one that pushed me into advocacy in birth was Rape of the Twenty-first Century.

I link to her today because the stories on her site played a huge part in the decision I had to make when I was faced with having to deal with my babe deciding to come ass first. By absorbing the information on her site I was given the belief that my body worked. It also opened a door to understanding the part I played in the history of this world and the strength that women held inside of themselves.

Birthlove has a great deal of information about breech birth. It even has my twin's post-birth pictures on it. (only click on this is you have no problem with seeing me half naked!)

I learned from the women I met associated with Leilah's site that birth works. I learned that we are not told the truth about the effects of modern obstetrical care on the birth process. I learned that many women suffer needless pain and emotional distress from birth experiences that just could have been different had they had the knowledge that I had so recently discovered.

So pour a cup of tea (if you haven't already) and sit back and check out the links I've just posted. I hope you find the same thing I did. I hope you discover something that makes your birth experience amazing. I hope that when your baby is born, you email me and say...it was amazing.

Turn the Other Cheek

I love knowing that one little thing I did for sheer personal satisfaction effected so many people. I originally put Heads Up! on the web because I wanted a website that people came to. I knew there were hundreds of thousands of websites that wanted to tell you how to have a great birth. I wanted one that was popular (only way to get that 15 minutes of fame over and over again!)

So back by popular demand....

This is a compilation of links I collected for breech turning techniques from the Heads Up! All About Breech Babies Website. I am sending this information to the owner of the Breech Birth Coalition website and hope she will post them. As it is. I have tagged this blog with my old website name in hopes that those looking for this information will find their way back to me.

Breech Turning Techniques
Prenatal Breech Issues - discusses numerous ways to turn a breech baby.

AOCG Report on External Cephalic Version - report discusses which patients are candidates for external cephalic version, risks and benefits of the procedure, predictive factors of its success or failure, use of tocolysis, and cost implications of the procedure.
Guidelines for External Cephalic Version (EVC) of a Breech Presentation- a nice concise article about EVC and a brief explanation of how to conduct a vaginal breech birth.

External Breech Versions - this link has a description of an external cephalic version, plus it is on a nice web site. Follow the link for external breech version.

One Midwife's Collection of Breech Turning Technique
Hypnosis may help turn baby in a breech birth -

Mothercare Website - looking at the choices needed to be made, then at what can be done. An excellent resource for breech information.

I

CAN (International Cesarean Awareness Network)- this is the main link to their website. Click here for their breech breech turning info. If you are in a VBAC situation, this is the site for you.

Webster Technique Links - here are some links to information regarding this chiropractic technique that is stated to help a breech baby to turn.
http://www.icpa4kids.com/webster_technique.htm
http://www.worldchiropracticalliance.org/tcj/2001/aug/aug2001l.htm
http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/breechpresentation.html
This website has an opinion against the Webster Technique
http://www.chirobase.org/06DD/webster.html

Jane O'Hare- Lists the numerous ways to turn a breech baby

Self-help methods
Not all of these methods are supported by quantifiable data, but there is a great deal of anecdotal evidence, mainly from midwives, that they can help to turn a breech. Although these methods are low risk, pregnant women are advised to discuss any self-help methods they are considering with a midwife.

Visualization
Visualize your baby in the head-down (vertex) position. You could imagine a helium balloon attached to your baby's foot, or imagine the baby turning somersaults.

Swimming
Swimming may help to turn a breech baby. This is probably due to a combination of relaxed abdominal muscles and deep water immersion, which increases the amniotic fluid, helpful to the baby's turning. However, there is some evidence that regular aqua aerobic exercise may actually prevent breech babies from turning.

Headstand in the shallow end of a pool
Get into the pool and spend at least 15 minutes just paddling around, helping to relax your abdominal muscles. Then try a couple of headstands, with a helper to support you.

Knee-chest exercise
Get on your elbows and knees, so your hips are higher than your head, and stay in this position for 15-20 minutes a couple of times a day. You can also try crawling around in this position. A study in 1977 by Dr. Juliet DeSa Souza, retired professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at Grant Medical College, Bombay, found this method successful for 89% of 744 women studied.

Postural inversion or *breech tilt*
Lie with the hips propped up 12-18 inches higher than the head, two to three times per day, for between 10-20 minutes at a time. This helps to disengage the baby from the pelvis, and when the baby's head comes up against the inside of the fundus, it is inclined to tuck its head in and do a somersault into the vertex position. It is sometimes recommended to try this with an empty stomach. Small studies have reported success rates of between 89% - 96%.

Stimulate your baby's senses
You can try to attract your baby to turn using light, sound and cold. Try shining a torch close to the vagina, so the baby heads towards the light, or to place a radio or headphones near the pubic bone. You can also try placing a bag of frozen peas on the back side of the baby's head, as babies tend to move away from the cold.

Ask yourself: "why your baby is breech"?
Some birth practitioners believe that a mother who has anxieties about pregnancy and birth or who is stressed for other reasons (such as working late in the pregnancy) may be more likely to have a breech baby. Some suggest that that babies often turn to the breech position in order to come up to comfort the mother. Try to relax and spend some time talking to the baby. Explain that you would feel better if your baby turned, and that you and your baby could enjoy a more positive birth experience.

Getting Specialist Help
Hypnotherapy
A researcher at the University of Vermont, Burlington, USA, used hypnosis with one hundred pregnant women whose babies were in the breech position between the 37th and 40th week of gestation. The women received hypnosis with suggestions for general relaxation and release of fear and anxiety. While under hypnosis, the women were also asked why their baby was in the breech position. 81% of the babies in the hypnosis group moved to the vertex position, compared with 48% of the control group. Hypnosis was most effective for the women motivated to use the technique. Aside from the visualization involved, the deep relaxation of hypnosis can help your abdomen to relax enough to allow the baby to turn if it wants to.
(Lewis E. Mehl, MD, PhD (1994) Archives of Family Medicine, Vol. 3, Oct. 1994)

Acupressure
A professional acupuncturist or shiatsu therapist will apply pressure on acupoint BL 67, which is on the outside of the little toe, right next to the nail. Although you can do this yourself, there is a small risk that it could bring on labour, and the technique is likely to be more effective if done by a professional.

Moxibustion
Traditional Chinese medicine uses moxibustion (burning herbs, usually in a cigar shape) to stimulate acupoint BL 67, to help breech babies turn. Its effect may be through increasing fetal activity. No randomized controlled trial has evaluated the efficacy of this therapy, but studies have reported success rates of between 75% and 80%. It is possible to buy moxi sticks and try this yourself, but, as with acupressure, it is recommended to use a professional.

Yoga exercises
The classical yoga shoulder stand posture can help to give the baby room to turn and stimulation to allow the baby to turn itself. However, it is an advanced posture, and will need to be done in a modified position if the woman is not accomplished in the posture already.
To obtain maximum effectiveness, the posture should be done when the baby is most active. Other yoga exercises can also help - approach an experienced yoga practitioner who is experienced in antenatal exercise for advice and support.

The Webster Technique
This must be carried out by a chiropractor. It is a simple technique, which involves the chiropractor working gently on the woman*s legs and vertebra, usually requiring a series of appointments every two or three days for two weeks. Clinical case studies show a 80-100% success rate with this technique and a widespread trial is planned.

Homeopathy
Homeopathic Pulsatilla causes the muscle fibers in the uterus to even out and may help to turn a breech baby. Homeopathic natrum muriaticum can help reduce swelling (odema) if this is a contributing factor. Consult an experienced homeopath for advice. (my midwife used 1M before my version p.b.)

External Cephalic Version (ECV)
ECV involves the external manipulation of the baby by an obstetrician. Ultrasound is usually used to find out exactly how the baby is lying and to locate the placenta and the baby is monitored throughout. The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend that ECV is offered to all women with an uncomplicated breech pregnancy at term (37-42 weeks). Performed prior to 37 weeks there is a risk of preterm labour and many babies will turn on their own around this time anyway. The biggest risk associated with ECV is separation of the placenta which rarely occurs, mostly due to the guidance of the ultrasound. Large scale trials report success rates for ECV of 46% in the UK, 65% in the US and 80% in Africa. Recent studies show that epidural anesthesia during ECV may actually increase its success rate.

Keeping the baby in the vertex position
Being aware of your posture, and sitting upright, cab help to keep your baby in the vertex position. Upright exercise, such as walking, can also help. So can simple yoga exercises, such as sitting in the classic *tailor* position and leaning forward.

After all that...if your baby is still breech...
If your baby remains breech, there may be a good reason why. It may be because of the position of the placenta or a short, knotted or twisted cord. Breech can also result if a physiological condition is present in either mother of child. These things are not necessarily anything to worry about, and breech may simply be the best presentation for your baby.
Consider your options for birth and discuss these with your midwife or obstetrician.

(Hi Heather! hope this helps your lady!)

What this blog means to me

Cup of coffee in hand I start the morning with excitement. I couldn't sleep last night. As only a writer, that has had their hands hoovering over the keyboard waiting for that first stoke to hit and having nothing to say, can understand what is like to get their muse back. I was awake until past 2 in the morning with ideas floating in my head and wanting to get up and write!

Birthing by the breech (the blog) means many things to me. Most of all it is about the life challenges that present themselves every day that shake your comfort zone. Creating this venue allows me to open up and take on those challenges so that I can achieve the goals I have set for myself and to find that inside myself to "get the job done".

My awareness of learning how to overcome personal challenges began when I first saw my daughter (my third child and the one pictured above) on an ultrasound at 20 weeks. I knew I had a challenge before me. Now, many a times I said to myself..."don't think it into being", but I could not get my head away from that little body hair pinned inside of me with her bum right where it stayed the whole pregnancy.

I was walking the right road. I hired my midwife and planned a home birth. Keeping it simple till it proved no longer simple was my thought. With great excitement I attended each midwife appointment. I loved the attention she gave me. Also at the time I was studying for my post diploma certificate in perinatal nursing, so it all meant a great deal to me both physically, emotionally and intellectually.

Then came 37 weeks and baby had not turned.

I stayed the course and did what needed to be done. But, regardless of how much chiropractic Webster's Technique, slant board inversion with cold peas and music I applied to myself and my belly, baby stayed breech. I consulted with my very pro-homebirth family doc to discuss my options about a potential breech birth and who would "attend me" when I went into labor. The visit went as well as it could. My amazing doc took almost 2 hours of her time with me and was not so gentle in her opinion of my situation. Not because she didn't believe I could push this baby out, but that I had come to her whining about "needing" something outside of myself to get the job done (at one point I was a called a homebirth primadonna spewing intellectual bullshit). I was shaken to the core by her words, but as the birth passed and I reflected on that conversation I realized she was right. I was going to the books to solve my answers, I was seeking outside information to support the "of course I can do this" attitude. What I was not doing was finding the way within myself to birth this baby in the best way I knew how.

When labor day came I felt like a rock star. I birthed her in hospital and then went home where my midwife fed me peanut butter sandwiches and a glass of milk while I lay in bed with my daughter at my breast.

Against all odds, I birthed her the year after the Hannah Breech Trial said all breech births should be a cesarean.

So what did I learn by birthing by the breech? I learned that you might think you have all the answers and know what your doing, but in the end you probably still have your head up your ass if you are depending on others solving your problems.

In Honor of Father's Day

Okay Okay...it's one day late, but this baby blog is only one day old...give me a break!

I wrote this way back long ago, but thought I would share...hope you like it.


I Will Support

By Patricia Blomme

I wonder.
I wonder how she feels.
There is life in her.
Life I can not see,
except in her face when she looks at me.
She is beautiful!
More beautiful than the day
when I first fell in love with her.
Now she carries my child.
Our Child.
She is so strong.
She carries the strength of a millions of women before her.
She will need this strength.
I will be strong for her.
An unspoken strength that will protect her at her most vulnerable time.
I must trust her.
I must trust her body.
Just as she responded to my touch,
she will respond to the life force with in her.
I must help her trust her body.
I will understand the special moments that she calls out to share.
I will take hold of the child before the birth has happened,
before movement is ever felt.
I will cherish every time I feel the child move within her.
This is my first contact.
I will talk to this wonderful child of mine, ours.
I will talk so that my voice is known.
When our child opens his eyes,
I will quietly greet him.
He will know me.
I will stand by while my love accomplishes her labor of love.
She does this for me.
She has taken a vow to bring forth this child in health and vigor.
I must do the same.
I will support her in her hardest moments.
Doing all that she asks.
Without question.
I will trust her to know what she needs.
I know my love is experiencing the emotions of birth.
Though she calls out with the waves.
I will help her to surrender to them.
With surrender the body will open.
With surrender the pain is triumphed over.
With surrender,
The child is born.

A Change in Title

So here I am day two of being an official blogger and I'm already changing my tune. So whats with that?

Well in reality it is all about my vanity on line. I have cultivated a persona of being very knowledgeable about birth, specifically breech birth. So I thought, well everyone writes about birth and breastfeeding, I need to do what I did back in 2002 and create a very specific topic of conversation and something that just happen to be in the fore front of "birth world" news.

That topic is of course....breech birth.

Now I could go on and on about my opinions on birth and breastfeeding and what I think is best and what the pregnant human is capable of if left to her own devises but there are MILLIONs (yes millions) of birth junkies out there that are doing that already.

So I will do what has worked in the past. Back in 2002 I created a website called Heads Up! All About Breech Babies. Now in the last 6 months I have said goodbye to it (mostly because I let the domain name lax and now some advertising site now own the domain breechbabies.com.)

I have been in contact with the gal that operates http://www.breechbirth.ca/ and she will get all the good stuff I hosted on my site and I can be free to just have an opinion.

I will take the time to read and digest the newest statement by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada and will get back to you all with my thoughts about what it says and to post some interesting web wanderings of mine that also hold opinion about this current position held by the S.O.G.C.

For now....have a great day and I'll be back soon.

Coming soon to a blog near you.

Over the past few years I have been coming to terms with developing a way to communicate my ideas, teachings and frustration about the state of birth in our western culture. Thus I have decided to delve into the world of blogging.

I hope to entertain and educate you while all the while feeling better about doing my part to make birth better for women, for babies and for families.

In conjunction with this blog I will finally be developing my book for dads (Daddy Matters) in celebration of Father's Day 2009. Over the next year (or less!), you will travel with me as I go through the growing pains of writing and publishing this book.

So join me in my journey, lets have fun.