two great posts

i love stephanie's birth blog. she is a midwife here in Arizona and she has a nice writing style. two of her most recent posts were great and i can just say "amen" to everything she wrote!

check them out:

big babies

here's a quote i liked from "big babies"

 “Big babies cause tears.” – I just don’t believe this! Big babies don’t cause tears as much as impatient care providers, rough perineal massage, epidurals, lithotomy position, coached pushing, poor diet in pregnancy, dehydration…! The two largest babies I’ve ever seen born were 11 lbs 8 ounces (this weekend), and 13 pounds 5 ounces (many years ago). Neither mom tore at all. (see #2 analogy of smoke detectors)


i second that!! my second baby was a pound bigger than my first - with my first i tore very badly (had an epidural and rough perineal massage by the doctor, which i thought was supposed to help not tear...but have found out that increases the chances of tearing...great!) - with my second...slight tear...like a papercut that didn't even need stitches. it healed on its own...i felt normal the second i gave birth (i am not kidding). there was no recovery. sooooo. i agree with the fact that big babies do not necessarily mean "big tearing."

what bugs me...

here's a quote i liked from "what bugs me..." it's something to think about...really! (emphasis added)


When I am talking to someone who finds out that I’m a midwife and their response is, “Oh, I LOVE my epidurals!!” (wait – I’m not to what bugs me yet! That’s fine and dandy with me, I totally get that and I’m glad that they had positive experiences with an epidural!) But as we continue the conversation and they start telling me about how they have horrible heartburn and their doctor gave them some prescription but they don’t want to take it because they don’t want the drugs to get to the baby….that they won’t even take Tylenol because they are pregnant….they are M-O-R-T-I-F-I-E-D if they see someone pregnant take a sip of wine!! But on the day in which their baby will go through the largest physical transformation they will ever have, the ONE day in which drugs will have the biggest possible impact on that baby….on that day they almost proudly declare, “Load me up!” (i've totally heard that before)

Let me make this clear….no, it is not just that your baby’s lungs start breathing, it’s so much more than that. Let’s look at just your baby’s heart! What happens IMMEDIATELY at birth…
… As soon as the baby is born, the foramen ovale, ductus arteriosus ductus venosus and umbilical vessels are no longer needed.
… The sphincter in the ductus venosus constricts, so that all blood entering the liver passes through the hepatic sinusoids.
… Occlusion of the placental circulation causes an immediate fall of blood pressure in the IVC and right atrium.
- Increasing uptake of oxygen by lungs (first and subsequent breaths) induces a vasoconstriction of ductus venosus and ductus arteriosis

It’s socially unacceptable to take a sip of wine when you are 28 weeks pregnant…but totally okay to do Stadol and get an epidural with Fentanyl in it (Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than Morphine) – in fact, it’s weird if you don’t do that. I don’t get it.