Plans for the Water Birth

I thought I’d write a bit about our plans for those of you curious how it’s all going to go down, as it were…

Waterbirth Resources and Accessories!

We’ve purchased a sweet little kiddie pool for the birth as well as various aquarium accessories that make for an neat little fill n’ drain system with clean, potable water. My mom was curious about the “why” of water birth, so I printed out this neat little “Water Birth 101″ article as well as How to Prepare for a Joyous Waterbirth. Since she’s going to be a prime helper, I hope it will all make sense to her, and to you too! Just in case you’re considering a future waterbirth, this Birth Pool Resources page on the MotheringDotCommune forum is indispensible.

So we’ll set the pool up once I’m into serious labor, and I’ll be able to get in and really relax those muscles so my birthing body can do some work. At the start of labor, and ongoing throughout, Ben will be coaching me in Hypnobirthing, which has been a really awesome experience so far and hopefully will turn out that way during the birth as well! The Hypnobirthing method advocates complete relaxation, sort of getting into the “zone”, in order to calm all fears and tensions and let your body do its amazing work. I discovered the method when browsing birth plan resources on the net, and after reading Amazon reviews (aff) of the book I decided to give it a try. We found a woman here in Normal who teaches classes, and we were lucky enough to get attention from her one-on-one. I am happy to report that Ben is an excellent relaxation coach! He’s even helped me out in times of late night uncomfortable insomnia due to my increasing hugeness!

In addition to the pool and the relaxation exercises, our third tool in the arsenal is some meditation and relaxation CD’s we bought by The Relaxation Company (aff). Some of them have these trippy “brain waves” inserted into the music that send Delta wave patterns to train your brain into relaxing deeper for sleep or meditation. Whatever… if it might help, I’ll take it! One that I particularly like (minus the brain waves) is music by Silvia Nakkach (aff) that includes Tibetan bells and droning vocalizations. Just the kind of abstract sound that helps lull your neocortex into cooperation…

So essentially the plan is to begin relaxation in bed when labor starts, take a shower or a walk or a bounce on the exercise ball to keep things moving until labor gets serious, and then call our midwife and our doula and ready the birthing pool once things are really moving. After that it’s anything goes and we just hope that all goes will with the baby through the birth canal so we can have the delivery in the comfort of our home. Bernice, our midwife, is set up for IV use, oxygen, and medication to slow bleeding if needed. And if necessary, we are set up with a backup doctor and midwife at the hospital which is 10 minutes away.

Writing a Contingency Hospital Birth Plan

Last night I stayed up glued to a great book, Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth (aff) . Ina May Gaskin is an old-school hippie, a longtime midwife, and a definitive, comforting resource. Her expertise guides you not only through the spiritual and psychological preparations for birth, but also a wide variety of scientific and historical evidence for mother and infant friendly practices. Speaking of which, here’s a fascinating list and something to consider — Ten Steps of the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative. Published by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services, this list is a guideline for hospitals and birthing centers to receive the designation of “Mother-Friendly,” based on research in healthy outcomes. ‘Twas a helpful guideline for me as I finalized my “just-in-case hospital birth plan” last night!

Yes, we’re due any day now! So keep checking for news and pictures!

Love, H

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