Cameron's Birth Story

Here is a birth story that shows how HypnoBirthing works under all situations!


Cameron's Birth Story

I decided to try HypnoBirthing because I am afraid of doctors and pain, perhaps unreasonably so. I very much wanted to have my baby without feeling fear and anxiety. At the beginning of my pregnancy, I joked that if I could set up the appointment for the epidural in advance, I would. As I learned more about HypnoBirthing, I downgraded my insistence on an epidural to an "if-needed" basis. When I would tell people about HypnoBirthing, they would look at me as though I were crazy. I would say, "For some reason, it just makes sense to me." No one thought that it would actually work. I must admit that I remained somewhat skeptical as well.

It's worth noting at this point that I had three major fears around labor:
1. Pitocin induction - I had heard so many horror stories about Pitocin, I was determined to avoid it at all costs.
2. No possibility of epidural – One of my sisters had a very fast delivery with her second baby and had no time to have an epidural.
3. Back labor - A friend's account of birthing her posterior baby sounded horrific.

At 6:00 am on June 30, after a night of no sleep, I decided to call my doctor. I had been having quite a bit of pain in my upper abdomen. I knew they weren't contractions. I wasn't due for another month and the pain was constant and different than any description of labor I'd ever heard. It felt as though a steel band were being tightened around my rib cage. My doctor told me to go to the hospital to have blood work done to try and determine what the problem was. My pregnancy had been incredibly easy so far. I joked to my husband, John, that I was going to be given a dose of Gas-X and sent home.

We went to labor and delivery and were situated in a room and had blood drawn. I remember thinking it was odd that we weren't just sent to the lab. Within an hour of the blood draw, the phone in the room rang and I answered. My doctor said, "Carol, you're going to have your baby today." It turned out that I had suddenly developed severe preeclampsia. We called my sister, Robin, our birthing companion, to tell her the news.

It goes without saying that my Birthing Plan did not include preeclampsia. I was supposed to begin labor and stay at home for as long as possible before heading to the hospital, where I would be five to six centimeters dilated upon check-in. I would recite birthing affirmations all the while. I would have an epidural, if I felt I needed one. My baby would arrive peacefully and I would feel no fear or anxiety. In reality, I didn't even have my bags packed for the hospital. The baby's clothes had not been washed and we didn't have sheets for the bassinet. John and I hadn't practiced HypnoBirthing in a little over a month. We had practiced only one time with Robin present. In fact, we had scheduled a "refresher course" with Kathie for the very next night.

The form of preeclampsia I had was called HELLP Syndrome. H=Hemolysis, bursting red blood cells; EL=Elevated Liver enzymes; LP=Low blood Platelets. The cure was to have the baby. I was not allowed out of bed, so I was catheterized. My sister arrived and my husband went home to pack a bag. I was zero percent effaced and less than one centimeter dilated. There was talk of Pitocin. I spoke to the doctor and asked if my water could be broken to get labor going, if their efforts to spur effacement (similar to Prostaglandin) helped me to dilate. She said she'd have to wait and see. I put on my headphones and listened to my Rainbow Relaxation and the Birthing Affirmations over and over again.

Once I was fully effaced, about five hours after the initial treatment, I was still less than two centimeters dilated. Labor had clearly not started. The minor tightening I felt in my lower abdomen did not even register on the monitor. My blood work continued to return results that my condition was worsening. My doctor told me that they would have to begin Pitocin. With my greatest labor fear a reality, I asked for an epidural. I was told that because of my low blood platelet count, I was at risk for uncontrolled bleeding. I could not have an epidural.

It was about 5:30 pm, and I was told that the Pitocin would be started by 6:30. I put my headphones back on and said to John and Robin, "I'm checking out now." I knew that I would need to be completely relaxed once the Pitocin started, so that I could stay "on top" of things. At this point, Robin and John called Kathie to ask for some pointers. She was very reassuring, and told them that even without practice, we had everything we'd need.

At 6:40, the Pitocin was added to my IV. No one told me that it had started but I remember feeling my surges suddenly and greatly intensify. The sensation was all in my lower back. I couldn't believe it. Back labor. I told John and Robin what was happening and they looked through all of my HypnoBirthing materials to see what they could do. There was a method for getting the baby to turn that involved stacking pillows under my knees and having me turn from one side to the other with each surge. We tried that for three surges and I found it exhausting. At that point, I asked that we stop and asked Robin to apply counter-pressure to my back and for John to recite HypnoBirthing cues and provide light-touch massage on my arms and head. I had planned on listening to the Steven Halpern CD I had purchased from Kathie. However, in the rush to get my things to the hospital, John had picked up some new-age CD that we had bought at Target and had never listened to. I didn't matter. I was completely calm and felt no fear.

I can't say that there was no pain. But my mind was so far away from my body, it didn't seem to register in the usual way. The counter-pressure massage from my sister served to move the sensation from my back into my abdomen. Once it was there, I remember rubbing my abdomen lightly and saying, "Thank you my body for bringing my baby to me." This had a definite anesthetic effect. I think that acknowledging and being thankful for the fact that my body was completely in charge prevented my mind from registering the pain. I used many visualizations: breathing in to fill up a balloon that then floated away from my body, the opening rose, and being on a beach were the most effective for me.

I spent the duration of my labor laying on my left side, asking for counter-pressure with each surge and listening to my CDs. On several occasions, I was asked to turn onto my back so that my progress could be checked. I had to have a second IV set in case there was a need for a blood transfusion. The doctor attached an internal monitor to the baby's head. None of these things interrupted my hypnosis.

When I felt that it was time to begin breathing the baby down, I let John and Robin know. They told the doctor. As the room was being prepared, I remember talking and laughing with John and Robin. Because my condition was worsening, I was asked to abandon "breathing the baby down" in favor of downright pushing in order to get the baby here faster. Even that did not break the hypnosis. After 20 minutes of pushing, Cameron arrived at 9:08 pm, two hours and 28 minutes after the Pitocin began.

Despite all evidence to the contrary, it was exactly the birth I had hoped for. I was calm and unafraid and the mood of the room was the same. There was nothing but joy when our little boy came.

By the way, my doctor called me the day after Cameron was born. She said that she had never seen anything like Cameron's birth. Not only was she impressed with the fact that I actually stayed relaxed, she also commented on how terrific the support was that I received from John and Robin. They were reading directly from the materials you passed out. She said that she had been very unsure of HypnoBirthing, but had been converted!
For further information on local HypnoBirthing Classes in Rockland, Westchester & Orange Counties in New York and Bergen County New Jersey contact www.BirthingWisdom.com

Low Breastfeeding Rates Incur Billions in Medical Costs

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Low Breastfeeding Rates Incur Billions in Medical Costs

By Crystal Phend, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
April 05, 2010


MedPage Today Action Points
Note that the economic analysis may have been an underestimate of the financial cost of low adherence to breastfeeding guidelines, since few of the cost projections were based on six months of exclusive breastfeeding.

Review
Poor compliance with breastfeeding recommendations costs the nation at least $13 billion each year, with nearly all of the cost related to infant morbidity and mortality, according to a comprehensive economic analysis.

If 90% of new mothers followed guidelines for six months of exclusive breastfeeding for their children, an estimated 911 deaths would be prevented annually, said authors Melissa Bartick, MD, MSc, of Harvard Medical School, and Arnold Reinhold, MBA, of the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, both in Boston.

Even 80% adherence would save $10.5 billion and prevent 741 deaths each year, they reported online in Pediatrics.

Taking action to help more families to follow the guidelines, such as by creating a national infrastructure to support breastfeeding, would likely be cost-effective, Bartick and Reinhold said.

Prior analyses that included fewer pediatric conditions affected by breastfeeding suggested a more modest potential savings of $3.6 billion if breastfeeding rates rose to meet the Healthy People 2010 objectives for initiation (75%) and six-month duration (50% any breastfeeding, 17% exclusive breastfeeding).

However, that data was based on actual breastfeeding rates collected by the infant formula industry and incorrectly assumed that this reflected exclusive breastfeeding, Bartick and Reinhold wrote.

So with national data now available from the CDC on breastfeeding, they aimed to get a more accurate estimate of the economics of breastfeeding.

The CDC's National Immunization Survey found actual breastfeeding rates in 2005 were 74.1% for initiation and the early postpartum period, 42.9% for any breastfeeding at six months, 12.3% for exclusive breastfeeding at six months, and 21.5% for any breastfeeding at 12 months.

"Exclusive breastfeeding" meant only breast milk -- no water, infant food, juice, formula, cow's milk, or sugar water.

Bartick and Reinhold determined direct and indirect costs of illness and premature death as assessed in a 2007 Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analysis of the impact of breastfeeding on a host of maternal and childhood diseases.

The excess annual cost in 2007 dollars associated with the current poor levels of adherence compared with 90% compliance was:

$4.7 billion and 447 excess deaths due to sudden infant death syndrome
$2.6 billion due to 249 excess deaths from necrotizing enterocolitis
$1.8 billion due to 172 excess deaths from lower respiratory tract infections
$908 million due to otitis media
$601 million due to atopic dermatitis
$592 million due to childhood obesity
The largest proportion of these costs -- 74% -- was associated with premature deaths, although the price for more common conditions, such as otitis media and childhood obesity, was still substantial, the researchers noted.

There wasn't enough data available for type 2 diabetes to estimate the effect of breastfeeding duration, "although these costs are partially represented in the obesity analysis," the researchers said.

Furthermore, few of these estimates were based on exclusive breastfeeding for six months and most erred on the conservative side, so the projections may actually be an underestimate, they explained.

"Substantial gains could be made with exclusive breastfeeding for four months and any breastfeeding at six months," they concluded.

The researchers reported that they had no financial relationships or conflicts of interest to disclose.

Primary source: Pediatrics
Source reference:
Bartick M, Reinhold A "The burden of suboptimal breastfeeding in the United States: a pediatric cost analysis" Pediatrics 2010; 125: e1048–e1056.
Disclaimer
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Infant/Child CPR, Choking & Safety

Infant/Child CPR, Choking & Safety

In the US nearly 400 children under the age of four die every month due to
unintentional accidents!
This class presents age appropriate home proofing and safety concerns inside
and outside the home from infancy to toddlerhood. Learn how to deal
with an emergency situation.

Infant/Child CPR and choking will be presented and reviewed by participants with
hands-on return demonstration on
sanitary "CPR Manikins."

Safety & CPR handouts are given to each participant for display at home.
Location: Blauvelt, NY
Date: May 1st (Sat)
Time: 10am-12:30pm
Fee: $30.00/person
Class size is limited so sign up early.

You can reserved your space in this class by sending the class fee to:
Pauline Nardella, RN, MPA
2 Private Lovett Ct
Blauvelt, NY 10913

Private classes also offered for 16 participants

To receive further information or to sign up for the next class
go to info@BirthingWisdom.com
or call 845-680-0385
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