God has a perfect design of the female body to give birth. Your body is perfect to grow and carry a baby, and it is perfect to birth that baby. Your body will go into labor, and give birth when it is time. Remember that God does not make mistakes.
LABOR CHART What you should be doing...Be sure your house is clean. If you are not up to doing this yourself, hire someone to do it for you, or ask your family to help. You do not want to be working hard when you go into labor.
Double check your supplies. Do you have everything? Each item is very important.
Do you have meals cooked ahead and in the freezer? Or do you have help lined up to do this after the baby is here?
Call me. If you get the answering machine, listen, then leave a message for me. PLEASE do not just hang up without leaving a message. If I am at an appointment or at a birth. I might have it on pager mode. Your number will show up on caller ID, but leave me a message anyway. Be sure when you leave messages, to talk slow when leaving your phone number. I will call you back with in 10 minutes. If I do not, call me again. Sometimes the towers are out, and a call might not have went thru. Wait by the phone for me to call you back please. I take my cell phone with me everywhere. If I go outside for a walk, I take it with me, If I am outside doing chores, it is with me. You can always reach me by this method, but remember if it is on pager mode, give me a few minutes to call you back.
Do NOT call my home phone, unless you have treid several times to reach me, and I have not returned your call. My home number is for family and close friends, not for my midwifery business and for emergencies ONLY. I have given this private number out, only for emergencies. If I am unavailable for a day or two, (yes I do take an occasional day off and do go on vacation also) I will find a replacement midwife for me. You will know this in advance. If there is a family emergency, then we will cross that bridge then.
SECONDGet your bed ready. Remove the bedding, place clean sheets (older ones) on the mattress. A bottom and a top sheet. Then over this, place the plastic and tuck it in. Now over the plastic, put an older bottom sheet down and then the top sheet. Remember the blankets should also be older. Have an extra older set of sheets available. (total of 3 older sets of sheets)
THIRDHave your over cleaned out, (you should have done this a week ago) and have your microwave cleaned (if you have one). also have a clean older pan available for me to boil water, if I would need to. If you have a slow cooker, have that cleaned out too.
FOURTHHave your tub cleaned.
| Phase | Signs of labor | What Mom may feel like | What coach should be doing | What Mom should be doing | What contractions may feel like |
| Early Phase | Mild irregular contractions, lasting 15-60 sec. & 5-30 min. apart. The cervix dilates from 0-3 cent. Effacement begins, bloody show may begin, diarrhea, or nausea. | excited, happy, full of energy, sociable, restless, she may be scared, nervous, irritable or alert. | have her take a warm bath or shower, get your stuff ready for the birth. massage, effleurage, keep her relaxed. Time the contractions, get her food Drink, go for a walk with her. Give her a foot rub. Encourage her! | walking, a bath, or shower, get rest get mentally prepared 'I can do this'. If the contractions stop when you change what you are doing, then it is probably not the real thin yet. Be patient, if it is to be, your labor will start! | a tightening around your abdomen, or like a low back ache It will probably feel like a strong menstrual cramp. The uterus feels hard with the contraction. |
| Active Phase | Stronger, harder contractions, with more of a pattern. They last longer, & are closer now. Cervix goes from 4-7 cent. The effacement continues. There may be a lot more bloody show. Nausea, diarrhea can happen, & her water may break. | Tired, discouraged, with the progress if it is taking a long time. anger, some frustration, restlessness. she can sometimes be irritable now. | Encourage her, remind her to empty her bladder every 2 hours at least. Have her keep up her fluids & light foods. Be attentive & offer a lot of encouragement! Give a lot of comfort, rub her back feet, & hands. Help her with breathing to stay relaxed. Offer cool wash clothes to her face & neck, ice chips or juice after every other contraction at least. Encourage her a lot! | continue to walk a little, a bath or shower is good to do. Try to get some rest between contractions. Rocking in a rocking chair can help. Do not stay flat in bed, Keep your bladder empty. | It will most likely be much stronger, & more painful. It will still feel low in the abdomen or in the back. But it may not be much stronger. Your uterus still gets hard with the contraction. |
| Transition Phase | Cervix goes from 7-10 centimeters. bloody show, more fluid leaking pressure low in her butt area. | Shaky, cold, hot, scarred, discouraged, nausea, vomiting, feels like something is 'coming out that is really big, like a bowel move-ment. She may say 'I can't do this' or 'I'm tired'. There is very little time to rest between contractions. | Work with her breathing if she needs it. Remind her she CAN do this! Remind her to take a big sigh like breath, before and after each contraction.Continue back, foot rubs. & other massage efforts. Offer fluids, ice, cool cloth. Help her when she is squatting. Give a LOT of encouragement! | Mom works very hard now. Contractions are very strong and powerful. She works very hard to stay focused. Work with the breathing keep her bladder empty, Don't lay flat in bed , walk if you can, lie on left side, rock in a rocking chair, try hands and knees, all help brings the baby down. | Strong, still maybe in the low back or just up in the front. Very powerful contractions. Lots of pressure as the the baby moves down into the pelvis. |
| TRUE LABOR | FALSE LABOR (BRAXTON HICKS) |
| Contractions get stronger, longer, and closer together. | contractions remain same strength, length and distance apart. |
| Contractions are in a regular pattern. | Contractions may be irregular. |
| Walking or changing position makes them stronger. | walking or changing position does not make them stronger. |
| Usually felt beginning in the back, moving around to the front, and low down in the abdomen. | usually felt mainly in the front and up high. |
| Cervix thins and opens | no changes in the cervix. |
A contraction is when the uterus contracts and feel hard on the outside of your abdomen. After it is over, your abdomen will feel soft again. When the contraction is happening, you may feel pressure in your lower back, or pain down inside on your cervix. Some women describe it as a very hard menstrual cramp.
Practice contractions (braxton Hicks, or false labor) vs True labor As I said before, I don't like the term false labor, because your body is practicing. When contractions start that will make you go into labor, they will start short, and far apart, then get closer together and last longer. If this starts prior to 37 weeks pregnancy, you are in pre-term-labor, and you need to call your care giver right away. A baby born too soon, may have more problems.
Self-palpation is a way for you to time your own contractions. First lie down on your left side. Be sure you use enough pillows to prop your back, abdomen and knees for comfort. Use your fingertips, to feel for contractions on your abdomen. Record when the contraction starts and when it is over. Time from the beginning of one contraction to the end of it for the length the contraction is and from the end of one to the beginning of the next one for how long they are lasting. Do this for one hour. Report the information to your care provider.
![[Photo of Baby.]](../images/bellybw.jpg)
You want to keep your bottom in tact with the birth. Midwives (should not) do routine episiotomies. My goal is a healthy mom and baby, and to keep your bottom intact. You NEED to eat healthy for this also. See, eating healthy is sooooo important for everything!
Balance protein, fresh vegs and fruits, and very little refined foods. (I do NOT recommend the governments food pyramid for a guideline)
Well hydrated and oxygenated tissues promote elasticity and quick healing. A adequate fat intake is also important.
Alfalfa tablets (used with caution and supervision) with vit A, B-12, and Vit D as well as calcium and phosphoras daily. Vit E is also important, Take this daily with food, or a drink containing fat to aid in its absorption (200-400IU)
Vit C (1000-2000mg) will help circulation and tissue elasticity.
Red Raspberry tea helps the area to be supple. Exercise helps blood flow, so occ, practice squatting, take walks, and do your kegals.
Check your body for stretch marks, if you are finding any, take Vit C with bioflavinoids, 250 mg, 3-4 x a day. Arnica oil helps a women's perineum to stretch. You can use this at the birth. You can also use this before the birth the last 2 weeks, by applying a small amount daily to the perineum. I also want you to begin taking Evening Primrose oil.
When your baby is born, and after you have spent some time bonding with your baby, and have nursed, then I will weigh and measure your baby. Options that you have with some midwives and with most doctors are eye drops. This is an antibiotic ointment that is put into the babies eyes to try to prevent infection. In the past silver nitrate was used but it burned the babies eyes. Now erythromycin is used. Be sure to check with your care provider though as to what they use.
Some states try to mandate this, but you as the parent still have the final say so.Phehyiketonuria is a genetic disorder. It is a state mandated test. This is when the babies heel is poked, and 5 circles are filled with blood on a test card. Other tests are also performed by this same test card, not just PKU.
This vaccine is now mandated in most states to be given at birth. You will not find too many home birth midwives that will give this shot, if any at all. You can start this vaccine at birth or at 2 months of age. I would ask you, do you or your babies father have hepatitis? Have you been exposed to this? Assess your risk first and then discuss it with your care giver.
This is your babies first test, we check at one minute of age and again at five minutes of age. Normal or average score is from 7 to 10. anything less than a 7, and we will be a little worried' about your baby. Below is the chart used for births. Remember that there is a different chart used for water births.
| APGAR | 0 points | 1 point | 2 points |
| A= activity (muscle tone) | absent | arms and legs flexed | active movement |
| P=Pulse | absent | below 100 BPM | Above 100 BPM |
| G=grimace (reflex irritability) | No response | Grimace | Sneeze, cough, pulls away |
| A=appearance (skin color) | Blue-gray, pale all over | Normal except for extremities | Normal over entire body |
| R= respiration | absent | Slow, Irregular | Good, Crying |
Vitamin K is a shot given after the birth to help your baby 's blood clot. Babies are not born with intact clotting factors. This starts for babies on day 7 to 8th of their life. It was when the Lord told the Jews to circumcise their babies. Thus a perfect time, as babies own clotting factors began. The giving of the vit K shot became popular after births were often being done with the use of forceps. This is because of the extra trauma to the baby's head by using forceps, so the shot helped prevent bleeding in the brain. Today we are still using this state law to give vit K routinely, despite the fact that forceps are not being used as much or if at all. Vit K can be given orally, and families are requesting that it be given this way. Some doctors are agreeing to this change, some not. Vitamin K has been linked to jaundice, and even a potential increase in childhood leukemia. If you are having your baby boy circumcised, then you need to discuss the giving of vit K. If you choose not to give it, then you NEED to wait until at least one week or better two weeks after the birth to do the circ.
Usually this involves a intracranial bleed and the usual cause if maternal medications during pregnancy. It can also be from a birth injury
This occurs 1 in 200 to 1 in 4,000 depending on the study you look at. The causes are pre-maturity, delayed onset of feeding, inadequate feeding, low Vit. K in the breast milk. The following are the sites of bleeding in order of their frequency: Gastro-intestinal, cord, ear, nose, throat, needle prick, circumcision, or intracranial.
This occurs 1 in 5000 or more. The causes are low vit K in breast milk from a maternal problem. Sometimes the babies liver needs to be checked. Warning signs are: prolonged jaundice, poor feeding, failure to thrive, and any unusual bleeding.
The common sites are intracranial and uro-genital and intrathoracic (chest). This is what you as a parent need to watch for:
