Willamette Birth

😍

To be a toddler again!

Tragically true 😭

Sometimes even when you can’t do it you can remember you are doing it!

🙂

All of these things have their place but they are not the answer to every problem and medical professionals need to start doing better when it comes to women’s health.

Reminder.

Yes!

We’ve had clients whose doctors have told them that it’s “especially dangerous to have your second baby at home” (that might be the best one to have at home!), that if they birthed at home they could bleed to death and their baby could die, that they were lucky they hadn’t died at their home birth, and that they “recommend against home birth in general.”

What they don’t know is that midwives offer personalized care, maternal autonomy, AND safety for mom and baby.

The hormonal benefits of home labor are unparalleled. The data shows that being in your own environment allows your body to let your labor unfold in as natural a manner as possible.

A more effective way to burp your new baby!

"Using birth certificates, the Oregon Dept of Vital Statistics compiles useful data for looking at the risks of different choices for birth attendants and settings. The height of each bar in this graph represents the risk to the baby during birth, with the higher bars representing more risk. The blue bar represents planned home birth with a licensed midwife in Oregon, and the red bar is for women who gave birth in the hospital. The higher risk options in the middle represent women who had unassisted births or who delivered with an unlicensed midwife. As you can see, this data shows us that the risk of hospital birth is comparable to the risk of planned home birth with a licensed Oregon midwife."

Oregon Birth Certificate Data PROVES Planned Home Birth with Licensed Midwife is a SAFE Option, Comparable in Risk to Hospital Birth This data shows us that home birth is safe and the risk of hospital birth is comparable to the risk at home with a licensed midwife.

When I was first attending births in 1984, the obstetric model was to cut the umbilical cord immediately after birth and take the baby away for evaluation and a first bath. This was based on the belief that placental blood flow would increase birth complications for babies.

Even back then, we midwives knew to do it differently - we waited until the placenta stopped pulsating - 10 or more minutes -- before clamping and cutting the cord. Baby’s did great, placentas came out readily, and all was good - even if our methods were considered silly by doctors.

Times change, science has caught up. The midwives were right. We now know that immediate cord cutting, unless there’s a medical emergency that requires it, is not recommended. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends a delay in umbilical cord clamping for at least 30–60 seconds, and the WHO recommends 2-3 minutes.

The benefits of waiting include:
❣️ Transfer to baby immunoglobulins and stem cells, essential for tissue and organ repair
❣️ Extra iron, which has been shown to prevent iron deficiency in the first year of life
❣️ Possibly reduced risk of hemorrhage and easier placental delivery for mom

While jaundice can develop from delayed cord cutting due to this influx of blood, this type of jaundice is not usually a medical problem. Baby will naturally clear this excess iron with pooping. Your midwife or pediatrician will keep an eye on baby over the first few days to make sure it’s clearing. However, the benefits of delayed cord cutting are more beneficial for baby than the risk of this jaundice.

Unfortunately, immediate cord clamping/cutting are still common practice in hospitals. You have to let your midwife or doctor know that you want to wait, with baby tummy to tummy on you, while you do. I recommend bringing this up with your care provider in advance to ensure that they are on board to do ‘delayed cord clamping and cutting’. Get specific with exactly how long you want baby to be connected to the placenta. Unsure how to advocate for yourself? Want guidance on pregnancy, birth, and newborn care? Join the Mama Pathway for all the support you need to be in the know. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ideservebirthsupport/

📷 on Instagram

This is what home birth looks like,

Midwives sitting at the table chatting, sipping coffee and water.

Your best friend sitting on the floor playing with your toddler.

Your partner holding your hand while you work with the waves that rush over you to bring your baby into this universe.

Home birth isn’t how the movies depict birth. It isn’t an agonizing mother in hospital bed. It isn’t a woman who’s left to do the work all on her own. It isn’t unfamiliar doctors and nurses ushering in & out of your hospital room.

Birth is,
Powerful.
A rite of passage.
Transforming.
Empowering.
Normal.

“We are conditioned to feel birth is scary. You watch T.V. and it's screaming and your feet up in stirrups and there's sweat; it’s a really nonrealistic representation of birth. I've had three children; all my births were very different,” she said. “There's so much to be said for being in your oxytocin little bubble of love with you and your partner. That helps babies come into the world a lot more calmer.”

Airdrie mothers on home births: 'It just felt so sovereign' Doctors and nurses scurrying in and out of a hospital room, a partner anxiously squeezing a hand (potentially passing out for a moment or two perhaps?), and the inevitable yells to push. These are usually the images and sounds that are conjured up when talking about giving birth. However, the concep...

Maternal health IS children's health.

And children's health IS the health of the future generations.

We can not tend to the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual health of our children -

without tending to the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual health of the Mothers.

That which we are experiencing and tracking in our children at this time:

ADD, ADHD, Autism, Crooked Teeth, Ongoing Ear Infections, Diabetes, Obesity and on -

is directly related to HOW WELL NOURISHED Mothers (and Fathers) have been

over MULTIPLE generations.

While there are SO many ways that Mothers can and should be nourished -

FOOD is foundational to the nourishment of our physical matrix.

Certain foods are REQUIRED for the full capacity of our physical matrix as humans to be expressed.

TOMORROW, and I will be leading a free class addressing this. MOTHERFOODS: Maternal Nutrition & Humanity's Health. Link in my profile to register.

Do you love crowded waiting rooms, seeing a different new doctor or midwife at every visit, and having no idea who will show up when you are in labor? No? Then talk to me- my practice offers bespoke, customized, holistic midwifery care that is just for you. An elevated prenatal, birth, and postpartum experience. A marriage of the best of modern medicine AND holistic traditional midwifery with botanical/herbal support.

Call (541) 908-9188 or message this page to schedule a midwifery care consult. ****Rated 5/5 stars by former clients.**** Serving Corvallis, Salem, Eugene/Springfield, the Oregon Coast, and surrounding areas. Send us a message or find more at willamettebirth.com

Always !

This cord pulsed and was blue for a good 5 minutes after baby had birthed.

Now booking for 2022- stay out of the hospital during the pandemic and plan a gorgeous home water birth! Call (541) 908-9188 or message this page to schedule a midwifery client intake. ****Rated 5/5 stars by former clients.**** Serving Corvallis, Salem & the Oregon Coast. Send us a message or find more at willamettebirth.com

Willamette Birth – Ash Johnsdottir, Midwife Serving Corvallis and Oregon's Willamette Valley | Ash Johnsdottir, Midwife Serving Corvallis and Oregon's Willamette Valley Willamette Birth is the midwifery practice of Corvallis midwife Ash Johnsdottir, who is a licensed & certified professional midwife serving women & families in Corvallis, Salem, Eugene, Springfield, Newport, Albany, Philomath, Lebanon, Junction City, Sweet Home, & surrounding areas. We provide compl...

I’ve been the happiest since I’ve had children.
I’ve also been at my lowest.

I’m a much better version of myself.
I also haven’t always liked what I’ve seen when mirrors have been held up to me.

I’ve never been in more company.
And at times never felt so lonely.

Some days I don’t want to end.
Some days I wish away, oh and the guilt from feeling that when they grow so fast.

I’ve never been so sure of who I’m meant to be.
I’ve never wondered so much who I am.

I’ve never felt closer with my husband.
But at times, I’ve never felt more distant.

I believe in myself, I trust myself.
I’ve questioned myself and doubted myself.

I always want to be better for them.
But I’ve yelled and cried and wished I’d handled certain situations better.

I’ve never loved so hard and so fiercely.
And I’ve never felt so vulnerable.

I’ve never been more broken.
And I’ve never been more complete.

I’ve never smiled so much.
I’ve never cried so much.

I’ve never craved alone time more.
But when I am I always feel like somethings missing, like an arm.

I’ve never been so excited to watch them grow.
And simultaneously wished they’d stay little forever.

Some days I feel like I’ve achieved nothing.
But as I think of them at night, I know I’ve achieved everything.

I’ve never looked forward to so much.
And I’ve also, never looked back.

It’s one beautiful contradiction.
A journey of wrong turns that are probably still right.
And dreams of the future even if you don’t get enough sleep to dream.
Exhaustion but effortless love.
The hardest and most rewarding thing ever.
Motherhood.
...................
📚 words from ‘All I See Is You’ poetry book www.jessicaurlichs.com/shop
Artwork:

EPIDURAL OUTCOMES
Increased risk of
- Vacuum-assisted birth or forceps-assisted birth
- ≥10 h first and ≥2 h second stage labour
- Receiving IV syntocinon and antibiotics
- Fever
- Breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum (1/2 as likely)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/.../abs/pii/S1871519220303188

EPIDURAL OUTCOMES
Increased risk of
- Vacuum-assisted birth or forceps-assisted birth
- ≥10 h first and ≥2 h second stage labour
- Receiving IV syntocinon and antibiotics
- Fever
- Breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum (1/2 as likely)

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1871519220303188