Carrie H.!

Carrie, please email me at fiona@iHypnoBirth.com and let me know where you would like your $25 gift card to.

Thanks to all of you who helped me promote my classes this month! I really appreciate your support! I will be doing more giveaways in the future, so stay tuned!

I love the show “Good Things Utah.” I don’t get to watch it often, since I am way too busy for TV, but every now and then I turn it on. I’ve seen a lot of great ideas on the show about crafts, cooking, saving money, being a better mom, etc.

I was so excited when I found this little clip the other day! I’m glad that this show is bringing the topic of placental ingestion to light. If I were a woman who was prone to post-partum depression, I’d want to know about all possible treatments, even those that may be considered less-conventional or downright weird. I hope that more women will realize the benefits of placental ingestion and be able to really enjoy those first few weeks and months of new motherhood.

If you’ve taken my HypnoBirthing class, you’ve heard me talk about how the umbilical cord will continue to pump oxygenated blood and nutrients to baby for several minutes after birth. This is blood that the baby needs! After a few minutes, when the baby has established breathing on his own, the cord will naturally flatten out and stop pulsating. I found this great article, complete with pictures, illustrating this natural process. Enjoy!

Magic Umbilical Cords

THE FOLLOWING PICTURES WERE TAKEN OVER A PERIOD OF ABOUT 15 MINUTES –

BABY WAS ATTACHED THE ENTIRE TIME….

Brand new! Right after birth the cord is thick, pulsing. We could actually SEE it thumping with the baby’s heartbeat.

There’s already a difference!! Look at how much thinner it is – less purple, less ‘tight’…

Less purple…thinner….

same piece of cord, same angle….now MUCH whiter, much thinner. But still not done with the transformation! You might think so though, huh! No…just wait.

NOW we are pretty much finished with the transformation. Compare this to the top picture of the same piece of cord….

Completely done, Wharton’s Jelly has liquified, the cord is not pulsing…it is thin, white, and very limp. Amazing!

And here they are all in a row for you to see…..

A great article, with references, talking about why delayed cord clamping/cutting and natural delivery of the placenta are so important. There’s some very interesting and eye-opening stuff in here!

Read it here.

Two things I found especially interesting:

One thing that care providers who are against delayed cord cutting usually say to convince mothers to let them cut the cord right after birth is that delayed cord cutting can cause jaundice. This article addresses that, and it was interesting to read that there really aren’t any negative effects of jaundice. It is normal for infants to be a bit jaundiced for a few days after birth and unless levels are extremely high, it is not a cause for concern. I had to take Harrison to the hospital for a jaundice prick test three different times since he was born out of the hospital, and he didn’t end up needing any treatment. I think I’m going to skip the painful pricks next time and tell my doc thanks, but no thanks.

Another thing I found interesting was that stress and anxiety disorders in adulthood have been found to be linked with management of the third stage of labor. Doesn’t really surprise me, but still sad since it’s almost always preventable. If I could wave my magic wand and change one thing about birth in America, it would be to require doctors and nurses to leave mom and baby the he** alone after birth!!! (That’s my two bits, anyway. ) I’d love to hear your comments! Did you have a managed or natural third stage? How did it affect you and your baby after birth?

I’m excited to announce the topic for Mother’s Circle this week! We will be discussing babywearing! I will be going over some of the benefits of babywearing and I’ll be demonstrating a few ways to wear your baby using a sling and a wrap. If any of you would also like to demonstrate, let me know! I don’t have a ring sling, so if you have one of those or another kind of babywearing device you can show, let me know at fiona@ihypnobirth.com

As always, feel free to bring your babies but please make other arrangements for older children. We’ll meet at my home on Friday at 10 a.m. Email me if you need directions. Don’t forget that you can get an entry for my giveaway if you come, and additional entries if you bring friends who have never come before! Hope to see you there!