Category: pregnancy

birth plan, pregnancy

Entonox/ Gas & Air – birthing pain relief

helentaylormidwife

Gas & Air is a very popular form of pain relief for supporting women in labour and many women report excellent satisfaction with its use!

It is a mixture of oxygen and a gas called nitrous oxide, and it is breathed in through a mouthpiece.

There are a couple of really handy and vital facts to know about gas & air, which make a big difference to its effective use. The gas is breathed in for the contraction only and you stop using it and rest in between the contractions. These are my handy hints I prepare clients as well as birth partners with….

Firstly, as it is a gas and you use a mouthpiece to breathe it is – it can make your mouth feel very dry. If you anticipate this and have sips of water to hand, this can help in the initial stages.

Secondly, the pain relieving effect of the gas is slightly delayed after 10-20 seconds of use, so women need to start breathing it is as soon as a contraction begins – this way the full effect happens by the time the contraction reaches its peak. There too is a slight delay in it wearing off for 10-20 seconds after stopping it.

Thirdly, the gas can increase a nausea feeling, especially in the first few contractions of use, and this can be quite unpleasant and frankly undesired. I encourage women to anticipate this and push past the nausea as it often soon settles once you become established in using the gas effectively.

Fourthly, entonox does not remove the pain of labour completely – it simply is a tool/aid for helping to support you by making you feel a little “removed” from reality during the contraction.

Fifthly, I encourage clients to push past the initial challenges of how the entonox makes you feel, and usually quickly, within around 10 minutes of using with regular contractions, it becomes your new best friend! The role of your birth support partner is vital in “cheer leading” you along at these stages!

It is also useful if the midwife or Doctor needs to examine you and you are feeling uncomfortable or anxious, as well as other times, for example when you are have stitching post birth. Its a good “pick me up”!

new mum, postnatal, pregnancy

What does new motherhood look like?

helentaylormidwife

Interesting article I read over the weekend with some great photo’s…..proud new Mum’s with their newborn baby! Photographer Jenny Lewis undertook a project called “One Day Young”, photographing new mum’s and their babies within first 24 hours after birth!

In the article Lewis talks about an all familiar issue for me as an independent midwife….
“At the peak of the project Lewis would have weeks with 10 due dates. “I’d be thinking, ‘Please, don’t have them all on the same day!’ When I go on holiday I feel terrible but I can’t plan my whole life around it. My kids have been amazing. ‘Sorry guys I’ve got a One Day Young!’ I say, ‘Back in an hour.’”

My husband and children are amazing too…as I await client labours/births and jumping into action etc when they do! Often not back in an hour though!!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/mother-tongue/10941357/What-does-new-motherhood-look-like.html

antenatal, birth plan, pregnancy

Birth Plan!

helentaylormidwife

Birth Plan!
Read an article this weekend in Waitrose Weekend – Q & A’s to Kirsty Allsop.
One question was “What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?”
Kirsty answered – “Nobody makes a birth plan the second time!”

Educating yourself so that you and your partner know about all the choice’s open to you for labour and delivery is really important. Starting from where to deliver your baby, through to knowledge about the 3 stage’s of labour, as well as strategies for self help coping mechanisms in labour as well as all the pain relief options. Common occurances in labour is another useful topic too.

As a practising midwife for the last 20 years, I have put lots of thought into the content of my classes, and aim to educate couples so that they can make informed choice re the above.

Preparation is key and knowledge is powerful. However, it really is best to keep an open mind as to how your labour may go. Mother Nature can sometimes interrupt the best laid plans, so if you keep an open mind, you are less likely to feel that your birth plan do not go “to plan”.

pregnancy

Water birth alert! Only related to one type of birthing pool!

helentaylormidwife

For all you pregnant ladies considering labouring in a pool at home/ home waterbirth.
The warning issued by Public Health England is ONLY related to one type of birthing pool that you can hire. That is the pools where the hire company you employ come and set the pool up in your room at home, @ around 38 weeks, and fill pool etc…..so the pool is all ready for when you go into labour. The pool water is kept warm for the whole length of time until you labour, with a heater.

The alert does not affect the vast majoirty of home water births, where the pool is put up and filled only when the woman goes into labour. Equally hospital birthing pools are not affected as they too are filled immediately prior to commence of use.

See following link!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10907044/Birthing-pool-alert-as-baby-becomes-severely-ill-with-Legionnaires-disease.html

Any questions, do message!

antenatal, pregnancy

When do I start to feel my baby move in pregnancy?

helentaylormidwife

This is a frequently asked question that I often get asked! Feeling the baby move is an exciting day in your pregnancy as it is, and will become, your way of “touching” base with your baby!

Most women, particularly when it is your first pregnancy, do not feel the baby move until between 16 – 20 weeks of pregnancy. For first time Mums’s, and women who have a high BMI , it is often nearer 20 weeks than 16, so don’t  worry, but rather wait patiently!  For second time and over Mum’s, it can often be a little bit earlier than that.

The womb or uterus is still protected in the bony pelvis until about 12 weeks, when the growing womb/uterus starts emerging out of the pelvis. It is often not until 16 weeks and over that you start to feel movements, as around then the baby has grown enough in size  that the movements can be then be felt by you.

I generally as a midwife do not describe the feeling of perceiving the first movements, as essentially, you will recognize it when you do feel it! Some do though describe it as a “flutter” or “bubble like”.

Initially you may not feel your baby move everyday either so don’t let that worry you. However most do feel movements every day from around 24 weeks, and there after it is important that you are happy that the baby is active moving inside you, and if not, to report this to your midwife or doctor.

And to finish…some advice for Dad’s/ husband’s/partners who are wanting to feel their baby’s movements – this is often not possible until around the third trimester which is 30 weeks and over. Again keep trying and be patient, you will eventually feel the baby kick and if the baby is having a mad activity session, somersaulting etc, you can even watch the pregnant tummy moving!

Pregnancy is fascinating!