Glasgow Birth Support Doula

Also find me at Protecting Birth ❤️

Undisturbed birth hormones have the power to change us: fear gives way to courage, doubt gives way to belief, and pain gives way to joy.

Who’s feeling all the feels right now? 🥺

Here’s what you need to know about delayed cord clamping: https://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/qa/delay-clamping-babys-umblilical-cord

If you watch the news, you'll realize that this message has never been more important than it is today, because our children are the future.

Teach your children well. 🤎

Did you know??🤷🏽‍♀️

🔸️Birthing in a parallel foot squatting position can open the pelvic outlet an average of 28% wider then if in the lithotomy position (on your back)?

🔸️ Unfortunately, the lithotomy position is the most widely used birthing position but the least beneficial for mom and baby.

🔸️Before your birth, set up a time to speak with your care provider about all your options; squatting, all 4's standing, birth stool and on your side, just to name a few.

🔸️ Don't wait until you are pushing to negotiate birthing positions!
Happy birthing!

Repost The Lamaze Doula
📸 : 2Life Doula

So true ❤️

Thought for the day:

Apples do not ripen all at the same moment.

They have a season.

Some need a little longer to ripen.

Some are a bit bigger than average, some are a bit smaller than average.

They're all equally lovely.

Same with labour, birth and babies.

Be an individual.

Ripen in your own time 😆😊

(For more evidence-based conversations about the timing of birth, see www.sarawickham.com/time)

Perfect homebirth ❤️

My friend messaged me after I had a baby, “how are you?” her message read.

I responded,

“It’s harder than I thought, some moments I’m swept up in the beauty of motherhood, others I’m dragging myself around in a coffee-stained dressing gown with unwashed hair.

I know people say to take some time out for me, but in this season of being so needed I don’t know how.
I’m more tired than I ever imagined, though I could trace their tiny features for hours, I could watch the way a sneeze crinkles their eyes and takes them by surprise.

But I also feel a little lost at times, yet they are a seed in my bones, and I have never been more found.
Some days I sit in shadows and other’s the light fills me up inside and together we grow and grow.

My body aches, from birth, for the girl I once was, for sleep, for their scent. The shower feels like a break, though I always feel hurried.

Makes no sense, does it?

Some days I feel as if I’m not achieving much and yet I am rushed off my feet. Years can pass through these four walls in mere minutes.
My mind is all over the place, I want to press pause and yet I am already in awe of who they’re becoming.

We’re still figuring this whole thing out together, and yet it’s like I’ve known them forever. I feel a new type of wholeness, of being complete, but some days I just feel empty,

does this make any sense?

I’d love some time alone, but I am entangled in them, and yet that’s how I want it. My heart would be fumbling around in the dark without them. That’s another thing I wanted to tell you.. I’ve never thought with my heart so much, I’ve never seen so much with it either.

I’m not ready to have visitors just yet, but I miss you, I really do.
Thanks for checking in.”

But I didn’t.

Instead, I told her we were great, my baby was simply a dream, and that we couldn’t wait to see her.
Then I hit send.

Jess Urlichs
Art: Art to Remember

You can do this mumma ❤️

So true…

“The skill of being with women in pain in labour often rests in believing in women when they do not believe in themselves.”
– Nicky Leaf

This is one of the most significant skills anyone supporting a Mother in labor can hold. The very "skill" of riding the waves with a laboring woman while leaving her undisturbed is the best way to help her through. A well versed doula or midwife can simply observe a laboring woman, the way she moves her body, the sounds she makes, and fully understand her progress in labor without ever touching her or speaking to her.

© Spot of Serendipity | Birth

Walk into a room while I am supporting a birth and you might think that I am just sitting there doing nothing. I won’t be talking. I won’t be touching the client. I won’t be using anything in my bag.

So what am I doing exactly?

🪑 Watching mom’s breathing and sometimes breathing loudly alongside her to remind her to slow down her breath

🪑 Scanning mom’s body during the contraction to make sure that she isn’t holding any tension

🪑 Monitoring the temperature and lighting to create the peaceful environment that she desires

🪑 Calculating how long it has been since she emptied her bladder

🪑 Thinking about how long she has been in her current position and thinking about the next position that she might try

🪑 Timing contractions to see if they are longer, stronger and closer together

🪑 Thinking about when mom and her partner last had a snack

🪑 Reviewing her preferences to make sure that everything is going according to her plan

🪑 Giving the couple space to connect on an intimate level (allowing for oxytocin) and/or guiding the partner to be the lead support

🪑 Updating notes and capturing labor flow

Sometimes just being fully present is enough. Sometimes just knowing I am there in close proximity is all mom needs to be able to relax and focus on what she needs to do. Sometimes just holding space for them in an unbiased manner allows for a noticeable shift in the energy of the room.

And the list goes on….

Caption:
Photo:

This……. Is why I love HOMEBIRTH!!

The number 1 question I’m asked is, what should women know before they go into hospital to have their baby and my answer is always this…

Hospitals run like a well-organised factory, there are people who work in the factory to keep it running efficiently and do what it was designed for.

In order for a factory to run safely and efficiently, there needs to be a set of rules and procedures and timing that staff will follow. This helps everyone work as a team to move you and your baby through the factory/hospital as quickly and ‘safely’ as possible so at the end there is a well live woman and a well live baby… at their core, these rules are well-intentioned, they were genuinely created with the idea that they would improve care for women.

I’m not saying it’s a right or wrong way to organise a maternity care facility, I’m just saying this is how it is… there are midwives and doctors who work in these systems do to their absolute best to work around rules that limit women’s autonomy and they are absolute hero’s in my eyes.

For women, I encourage you to remember that these policies/rules/procedures are fundamentally not made for you to follow, they are made for your care provider to follow. You are not obligated to follow the policy, your care provider is. The policy is not there for you, it’s there for them.

The policy might be best and safest for some circumstances but not all and just because they are the rules of that hospital, you don’t have to follow them. There is room for your choices and autonomy - but you’ll have to fight for it.

Ways that you can resist and decline policies and procedures that don’t serve you are:
1. Plan to birth out of hospital if that’s possible for you
2. Go to hospital as late as possible during your labour
3. Have a support team that know what you want and are willing to advocate for you
4. Have a support team that believes in your capabilities
5. Consider hiring a doula if your team can’t fill the advocacy role
6. Call the hospital early in your pregnancy and ask to be on their midwifery group practice program

More photos from the birth centre in Uganda. Such a special and much needed clinic. Hospital care costs money but here at the clinic it is free ❤️

Glasgow Birth Support Doula updated their business hours.

It's now easier to email Glasgow Birth Support Doula