Blissborn birth hypnosis natural childbirth

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Don't cut that cord!

We want to share with you one of our soap box ramblings, which we happily share with anyone who comes within earshot — it's about keeping your baby's umbilical cord intact after the birth, until it stops pulsing.

The practice of cutting the cord immediately after birth is an example of some of the medical industry not practicing what is called "evidence-based" medicine.

With the medicalization of labor and birth, the idea was passed around that the umbilical cord should be clamped and cut immediately after the baby's birth — presumably to prevent any of the baby's blood from washing back into the placenta.

We now know that this assumption is incorrect, and that this practice has created problems for babies.

There's quite a lot of blood (up to 180 mL) that continues to pump into a baby from the placenta after the birth, and when babies don't get this blood, it can create what's called low blood volume.

Think about this — a baby's body has a lot of systems to bring online immediately after the birth. The first breath alone is a huge change. The kidneys, liver, gut and skin are also being used for the first time in a brand new way, and need that oxygen-rich blood as well. When a baby has low blood volume it taxes her liver to a large degree. This can contribute to jaundice, which is sometimes considered an "iatrogenic" disorder (meaning caused by medical interventions).

There are a whole host of other problems associated with low blood volume too — from low blood pressure to anemia to respiratory distress. Many of the benefits of banking cord blood that you've read so much about are passed to your baby as well.

Read more about this piece of the puzzle in the Blissborn Manual, and do your own research. We're certain that when you look at this important choice you'll include it in your Birth Preferences document.

Tell your provider you want to leave the cord intact at least until it stops pulsing — give your baby the best start, and give him the placenta's final gift!

 

Pain meds don't help babies, but hypnosis does!

Shelley BlackIt's easy to get bummed out about this: Pain medications taken during labor reach the babies inside and increase their chance of drug dependency in adulthood.  Twilight sleep, for example, was used in the late '40s and '50s on many moms giving birth in hospitals, and those children grew up to be part of the 'sex, drugs and rock-n-roll' generation, with drug use more common than ever before.  The feeling of 'turning on' likely links back to their first impressions of life outside the womb.

Babies back then were separated from their moms at birth, sometimes for days, as the moms recovered from the drugs and the violence of their medicalized births.  Their infantile unfulfilled longing for acceptance, touch, bonding, and reassurance would easily have been re-kindled in a drug-induced haze, and would finally have been satisfied in the environment of free love.

Studies show that the children of epidurals have somewhat impaired motor skills, language development, memory and judgment, from an early age.  With those kinds of challenges children often turn away from formalized, rule-driven environments because they just can't keep up ... and if most of the children are in the same boat, the system has to change to accommodate them.  As young adults they demand change.  As full adults they can create a revolution on all fronts: social, cultural, economic, spiritual, etc.

 

Thusly (I love that word), the situation we find ourselves in now, for better or worse, can be seen as a function of the medicalization of birth!

Moms have more options now than ever before when it comes to coping with pain in labor.  Blissborn, for example, teaches moms how to use their minds to experience calm comfort instead of pain and fear.  Hypnosis brings all kinds of benefits like increased endorphins, a sense of control, a way to relax and let birth take its course ... and the benefits to babies are unmistakable too.  Babies born with hypnosis instead of drugs are more alert, ready to bond, and have better Apgar scores (meaning better circulation, breathing, heart rate and overall recovery).  And best of all, they are calm -- a lovely side effect that often lasts well into the first year.

Making the world a better and more naturally calm place, one birth at a time, with hypnosis -- that's what Laura and I are all about.  If you share our passion and want to experience a better birth and give your baby the best chances naturally, you're in the right place!

Connect with us on Facebook for more daily insights and tips, and contact us anytime!   ~ Shelley, Blissborn co-founder

 

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