Doula Workshop

Your due date should reflect your cycle length. An expecting mother with a longer menstrual cycle may have her baby a week or two later than girls with a shorter cycle.

The body is triggered to go into labor by an enzyme released when the baby's lungs are ready. If there is a problem such as a kidney infection, it could cause the body to go into labor early. 

See Risk - Consequences of a Near Term Birth click below.

Full Movie (Risk- Consequences of a Near Term Birth) - IMDb

Early birth can cost more money and lead to temperature problems, blood sugar imbalances which may cause seizures, autism, ADD, ADHD... A quarter of a baby's brain grows the last four weeks of pregnancy.  

Position that May Help in Delivery 

This one can be good especially if the mother has had spinal, epidural or narcotic and has no feeling of her contractions to know when to push. Notice her elbows are straight out.

One Way to Relieve Pressure During a Contraction 

If the mother is afraid it decreases blood flow to the baby,

No more than three comfort measures should be used at once:

Sing through contractions until you get to transition.
Massaging the hands or feet releases oxytocin.
Hot bath or shower

Eye Contact

Dim lights

Walking

Music
Pray

Tammy Ryan, Excellent Instructor from Ohio
Hospital Personnel make more money with most interventions.

There is a cascading effect of intervention.
Each intervention often leads to another.

34.2% of births in USA are now done c-cesarean.

Epidurals can leave women paralyzed for hours, for months, or for life.  It is designed to lower blood pressure. The epidural medication goes into the baby. The baby may come out limp. 

Narcotics make the baby weak. Sometimes the baby is so weak he can hardly breathe on his own. 

Episiotomies sometimes cause the bladder to drop into the uterus. Episiotomies cut through muscle. This can lead to sexual problems, incontinence, inability to control Tearing just tears skin.

Pitocin could cause the uterus to rupture.

The folio balloon causes tearing.

Doulas 
Remind mother to urinate every hour. A full bladder can obstruct the baby's exit. If she is so full that she cannot urinate, a catheter may be inserted.
Pooping, crying, giving up, shaking, throwing up, hot flashes, mood swings are all good signs of transition, that birth is near.

Childbirth Class
Some ideas to help turn the baby into the correct position.

For a baby that is backwards (OP position): 

Two stair climbs at a time. During contractions one may lean toward the upper step.

or Use a rebozo (big scarf shown above) with the mother on all fours.