In Bloom Doula Services

Let me begin by saying that to me, none of these things are “weird.” These choices are simply what is the best choice for either me, my baby, or both of us, as I have done a lot of research on each topic. Some choices boil down to just personal preferences, and some are choices that I believe I have the right to make, and would be seeking a new care provider if I was denied the ability to make a choice (see #2, #6, and #8). My hope is to bring light to various choices that some women are unaware they can make. For me these decisions completely changed my birth experience and helped me feel comfortable, empowered and just happy. Some ways were small and some were huge, but that is the entire point; being aware of the choices you can make to make the birth experience the best for YOU.

1. Delivering with a Midwife

I discussed this choice in greater length in my blog titled Why I Chose to Deliver with a Midwife In a Hospital, Instead of an OB/GYN. In a brief summary I will say that I prefer a hands-off and more holistic approach to pregnancy. I am not sick, nor is any other pregnant woman. I prefer not to treat a normal and healthy condition as if it is a medical problem waiting to happen. Midwives are equally qualified to handle my pregnancy if a complication did occur, and I could be seem by an OB/GYN on their team if I did end up needing a c-section. Thankfully both of my pregnancies have been low risk, with no issue at all. I understand that this is not an option for everyone due to location, availability, other health conditions or complications with pregnancy, but if you are interested in delivering with, or receiving all of your basic women’s health care with a midwife I would urge you to look into it.

2. Having a Doula

Having a doula at my birth was a huge a deal breaker for me with my first birth. I wanted to be well armed with information going into the delivery room because as a first time mom, labor and delivery was intimidating. I found my doula through my midwife and the rest is history. I took child birth education classes, found many resources, and also found the confidence to stand up for myself while in the delivery room through my doula. I think everyone should have a doula, and wrote it all down in another blog as well, titled 8 Reasons Why You Need A Doula. In fact, I loved having a doula and midwife so much that I have the exact same birth team for my next delivery in May. Which brings me to my next point…

3. Having a Birth Photographer and Filming My Delivery

I have talked to MANY expectant moms about my decision to have a birth photographer. I always say, “YES – GET THE BIRTH PHOTOGRAPHER.” If you have the means to do so, especially. Never will I ever regret the money spent on my birth photographer. I understand that money is an issue when it comes to hiring someone to do this job, in all honesty, I can’t afford one either, but the pictures are that important to me. I fall in love with new and different pictures from Holden’s birth all over again each time I scroll through them. I am so happy I have those moments documented so beautifully for the rest of my life. I couldn’t stand the thought of not having those pictures for my second son. So I will have the same birth photographer again, rounding out my birth team. In fact all the photos featured in this post (except for the last one) were taken by the amazingly, wonderful Stephanie Shirley.

I chose to hire a birth photographer because I wanted to ensure I got good photos. I didn’t want to risk Nathan, or my mom getting caught up in the moment and missing something. I also wanted to see their reactions. I wanted photos of my husband’s face seeing our son for the first time. I wanted someone who was focused on just taking photos of the birth, so I could focus on what I needed to do, and my mom and husband could focus on supporting me. I intended to film it as well, but my fear came true and we got caught up in the fast paced delivery that we forgot we even had our camera, so this time I am calling in my best friend/ sister-in-law to come film the birth for us.

You’re not too fat, it is not too gross, and you will want to see those memories for the rest of your life. Even if its just a few cell phone photos- take pictures of your birth. You’d think the birth of your child is an event you will never forget, but there are bits and pieces that fade away. Nothing has ever made me feel more powerful, strong, fulfilled, or genuinely happy than bringing this person into the world. I needed it to be documented.

4. Wearing what I wanted

This really irritated the nurse I had for whatever reason. The first thing she said to me when I got in my delivery room was “get dressed and sit on the bed.” I refused to wear the hospital gown. To me this is strictly based on preference and comfort. I wore a nightgown and a nursing bra. I eventually lost the night gown and just delivered in my nursing bra. Once Holden was born, I lost that too for skin-to-skin time and our first attempts at nursing. I actually put the hospital gown on after, to be transferred to my postpartum room, and it was a hassle to try and nurse in. I preferred wearing my own clothes. I brought nursing tank tops, loose hoodies, and nursing night gowns. And I am planning on delivering in the exact same thing for round 2.

5. Getting a Hep-Lock in place of an IV

Every time I mention that I wanted a hep-lock I get questions. Why? What is the difference? It all boils down to freedom in the delivery room for me. I chose to have an unmedicated birth, so I wanted no pitocin, no drugs at all, and I wanted to move freely about the room to get comfortable. Sitting or laying on the bed throughout grueling contractions was a no go for me. I felt so much better in various positions: standing, leaning, being in the bathroom, kneeling on the bed. Dragging an IV around with me would have been a nuisance. I got the hep-lock which is what they attach the IV to just in case I needed it, which I almost did. I was so dehydrated that if I wouldn’t have been able to drink water (see #6) I would have needed fluids. They couldn’t find my vein, so I ended up needing it placed into my arm (seen in the photo above), but it was better than having chords and machines attached to my body.

6. Breaking hospital “rules”

Specifically: moving around the room, doing intermittent monitoring, eating and drinking if needed.

Understandably, when you have an epidural you are bed bound. But for me, contractions were nearly impossible to sit through. As a I mentioned previously I felt much more comfortable switching positions as needed. I told the nurses to wait until the contraction passed if I needed to be monitored (I did intermittent monitoring instead on constant) and I only had cervical checks that I wanted. I am a firm believer that moving as much as I did helped my labor progress as quickly as it did. I went from 6 cm. to 10 cm. in 2 hours (2 cm. to 10 cm. in only 4 hours). I think I might have had an even shorter tabor, had I started moving the way my doula instructed me to as I labored at home in the beginning.

There is no need to not eat or drink during labor, unless you will be put under completely (like for an emergency c-section). I had a very low likelihood of this happening because I wasn’t induced, I was progressing, baby wasn’t distressed and I had a doula, which lowers your chance of a surgical birth tremendously. I had no desire to eat, in fact I was incredibly nauseous, but I was thirsty. Dehydrated actually and it was beneficial for me to keep sipping on water throughout labor. I can’t fathom for one second being in labor any longer than I was an not being allowed to eat or drink. The calories burned during labor are comparable to running a marathon, and it takes the energy out of you. The hunger that hit after delivery was something serious. In this case, the benefits for me, outweighed the risks, but you do you!

7. Catching my own baby

I wrote about this briefly in Holden’s Birth Story. Basically, I saw Kourtney Kardashian catch her own baby, and I instantly wanted to do that too. I reached down, my midwife guided me to where to grab Holden and I pulled him up as far as his umbilical chord would go. I loved it so much that I plan on doing it again. Ideally for this birth I will be in a squat position and pull this little mister to my chest that way, but I will just see what feels comfortable at the time. Catching Holden was one of the coolest parts of his birth for me, so talk to your OB or midwife about it if you’d like to do it too.

8. Delayed chord clamping

To me, delayed chord clamping is a deal breaker. If my care provider didn’t agree with me, I would be moving on. This is also something I discover not many people know much about. Basically, there is a lot of the infant’s blood still in the placenta initially after birth, but once the baby is out the blood stops circulating, so if given an adequate amount of time almost 100% of the baby’s blood will be back in their body, as opposed to in the umbilical chord or placenta. This has many benefits and doesn’t take too long. When the chord has turned white you can then cut the chord, which I think I may do myself this time too. The graphic linked will go into more detail about the benefits of delayed chord clamping and why it is important. See it here.

9. Keeping my placenta

Of all the weird stuff I am doing, I can pretty much bet that this will be considered the “weirdest.” There are many different things to do with your placenta. I will detail what I am doing with mine in another blog post, but some women encapsulate it, others ingest it, some take it home and bury it in a garden with a tree. I have even heard of people painting it and having a print of it. I mean, another “you do you” choice. Do what makes you comfortable and happy. I mean if you don’t keep it, it just becomes “medical waste” and is thrown away. If there are benefits to keeping your placenta; the organ your body grew out of no where to nourish and support that precious little life, why not?

10. Delayed weighing/ measuring

Instead of my doctor/ midwife pulling out my baby, cutting the chord and handing him to a nurse immediately after, I caught him as mentioned above, and we waited to cut him umbilical chord. During this time I nursed him, admired him and just soaked him all in. He stayed on my chest and we had our “golden hour” full of skin-to-skin and bonding. Ideally it would have been even longer, but I needed a stitch for a minor tear, so Nathan took a turn holding him and watching the nurses weigh, measure and do some of the other routine procedures (discussed below) while I got fixed up and ready to move on to our postpartum room, where we continued to do skin-to-skin.

11. Refusing Erythromycin

Speaking of newborn procedures in addition to weighing, measuring and getting footprints there are a few other things that happen to your newborn straight out of the womb. They will receive a vitamin K shot, a Hepatitis B vaccine, and erythromycin eye drops, unless you say otherwise. Now, I have always vowed to not touch on particular controversial topics in regards to the mom world, two of those being vaccines and circumcision, so I will be skipping over those.

In regards to the vitamin K shot and the eye drops though there is important information to know that often goes unexplained or unspoken of while in the labor and delivery room. They just happen, and new moms are told it is normal and everyone gets it and usually no questions are asked like: what is it for? Is it really needed? And why is it happening now and not later, like tomorrow?

• Vitamin K: in a very simple explanation, basically some infants are born with a vitamin K deficiency. This can cause very serious hemorrhaging and brain damage. No studies can detect any negative side effect from getting the vitamin K shot, so I went ahead and decided to agree to the vitamin K shot.
• Erythromycin Drops: These are also routinely given to newborns, which gives them the glossy/glazed eyelids look. In my opinion it is completely unnecessary, unless the mother has a bacterial sexually transmitted infection (ie. gonorrhea or chlamydia) and it gets into the infants eyes at birth. This can cause blindness and obviously this would be very serious. But if you are receiving adequate and consistent prenatal care, it should be clear to your doctor or midwife if you are STI positive. If I do not have any STIs, then I would like to limit my baby’s exposure to unnecessary antibiotics. The catch is that there are laws in some states that require a care provider to administer it. Until recently, in Texas that was the law. There are well know cases of CPS being contacted because a parent objected to the erythromycin. To avoid this possibly happening I agreed to it out of ease, but since then the law has been changed. When my next baby is born in May we will be opting out of it completely.

12. Delaying the first bath

Once we got settled into our postpartum room, a nurse came in to tell me that it was time for Holden’s first bath in a very excited and cheerful tone. I think most moms do this without question, which all comes down to choice and preference. But, I told her we’d do it at home. I think they asked me a few more times when we wanted to bathe him, which was kind of annoying, but it was important to me to delay his bath and here is why:

• Keeping the vernix on: Holden wasn’t born with much, if any vernix (the white thick creamy stuff), but it is great for keeping newborn skin moisturized (reduces skin conditions like cradle cap and eczema), keeps newborns warm and helps regulate their blood sugar. I am pretty sure his lack of vernix was due to him being 8 days passed his due date. The earlier they are, the more vernix they may have.
• Not to mention increased skin-to-skin is a huge factor when it comes to milk supply and bonding. The bath can wait.
• The antibodies! Newborns are exposed to antibodies (like the kinds in breastmilk) when they come through the birth canal. This helps strengthen immunities and helps prepare them for this new world they need to adapt to.

Call it gross, call it what you will. I didn’t use soap on Holden until he was over 3 weeks old, and I have heard of people going even longer. Holden was never dirty, smelly or actually in need of a full body bath. We cleaned up blow outs and musty milky neck rolls as needed, but I preferred to limit the exposure of his skin to any harsh chemicals or fragrances and I believe in the benefits to that whole heartedly.

If you’re interested in reading more about my choices for my next delivery you can check out my blog post 5 Things I Will Do Differently the Next Time I Give Birth. What are some of the “weird” things you’re doing in the labor and delivery room?