Induced Labor by means of Relaxation, Breathing, Orgasm ...

The Lamaze Technique is a natural childbirth technique developed in the 1940s by French obstetrician Dr. Ferdinand Lamaze as an alternative to the use of general anesthesia during labor. Dr. Lamaze was influenced by Soviet childbirth practices, which involved breathing and relaxation techniques under the supervision of a "monitrice" or midwife. The Lamaze method gained popularity in the United States after Marjorie Karmel wrote about her experiences in her 1959 book Thank You, Dr. Lamaze.

Modern Lamaze childbirth classes teach expectant mothers breathing techniques and often other ways to work with the labor process to reduce the pain often associated with childbirth, such as hot and cold packs, changing positions, the use of a "birthing ball" to remain in a supposedly more natural upright position, and even orgasm to induce or hasten labor. When you see laboring women on TV or in movies huffing and puffing through clenched teeth, they're practicing the Lamaze technique of childbirth.

Myths about Lamaze

Myth #1: Lamaze is all about breathing.

Reality: The goal of Lamaze classes is to increase women's confidence in their ability to give birth. Lamaze classes help women discover the inner wisdom they already have for giving birth. Women learn simple coping strategies for labor, including focused breathing. But breathing techniques are just one of many things that help women in labor. Movement and positioning, labor support, massage, relaxation, hydrotherapy, and the use of heat and cold are some others.

Myth #2: Lamaze promises painless childbirth.

Reality: Many women are afraid of the pain that is a normal part of childbirth. The pain of labor and birth, like other pain, protects us. Responding to the pain of contractions - by changing positions and moving, by massaging, by moaning - actually strengthens the contractions, helps the baby settle into the pelvis and move through the birth canal, and reduces pain perception. Some women find that experiencing and coping with the pain of labor and birth is similar to the hard work demanded by dancers and athletes. Lamaze classes help women understand the value of pain and learn how to respond to pain in ways that both facilitate labor and increase comfort.

Myth #3: Lamaze childbirth means you can't have an epidural.

Reality: Lamaze classes provide information about natural pain relief options as well as epidural anesthesia. Eliminating pain completely makes it difficult to respond to contractions in ways that facilitate labor and birth. Women who have epidural anesthesia are required to have IV fluids and continuous electronic fetal monitoring. They may be encouraged to stay in bed and may need medications to increase the strength of her contractions. The ability to use many of the comfort techniques learned in Lamaze classes, such as changing positions, walking, and hydrotherapy may be limited. Lamaze education will assist women in making personal decisions that are right for them.

Myth #4: Lamaze doesn't work.

Reality: Lamaze that "works" has nothing to do with feeling pain, taking or avoiding medication, or developing complications that necessitate medical interventions. Lamaze teaches women that nature has designed birth simply and close to perfectly and that women already know how to give birth. Lamaze is working if women trust the natural process of birth, have confidence in their ability to give birth, have the freedom to work with their bodies as labor progresses, and are supported by health care providers, family and friends who wait patiently for nature to do its incredible work. Lamaze "works" if birth is allowed to work.

Myth #5: Lamaze is not for everyone.

Reality: Women have always prepared for the birth of their babies. Until recent times, women learned about birth from their own mothers and sisters. Birth took place at home with family rituals and traditions to help them feel confident in their ability to give birth. Women were surrounded by family and wise women who provided comfort and encouragement through labor and in the days and weeks after birth. Today, Lamaze childbirth classes provide the knowledge, skills, and support that help women give birth with confidence and joy as they have done for centuries. Lamaze preparation is for everyone!

Lamaze Philosophy of Birth

1) Birth is normal, natural, and healthy.

2) The experience of birth profoundly affects women and their families.

3) Women's inner wisdom guides them through birth.

4) Women's confidence and ability to give birth is either enhanced or diminished by the care provider and place of birth.

5) Women have the right to give birth free from routine medical interventions.

6) Birth can safely take place in birth centers and homes.

7) Childbirth education empowers women to make informed choices in health care, to assume responsibility for their health and to trust their inner wisdom.

Sphere: Related Content

Breastfeeding Does NOT sag New Mother's Breast

Breastfeeding won’t make a new mom’s breasts sag, but having more babies might, a new study indicates.
“A lot of times, if a woman comes in for a breast lift or a breast augmentation, she’ll say ‘I want to fix what breastfeeding did to my breasts’,” University of Kentucky plastic surgeon Brian Rinker told Livescience. So he decided to study any possible connection. Rinker and his colleagues interviewed 132 women who came in for breast lifts or augmentation between 1998 and 2006. On average, the women were 39 years old, and 93% had experienced at least one pregnancy. Among the mothers, 58% had breastfed at least one of their children. The average duration of breastfeeding was nine months.
The researchers evaluated the study particpants’ medical history, body mass index, pre-pregnancy bra cup size and smoking status.
The results of the study, presented this week at a conference of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, showed no difference in the degree of breast ptosis (or sagging) between women who breastfed and those who didn’t. The main factors that did affect sagging were age, smoking status and the number of pregnancies.
Rinker noted that the smoking connection made sense because “smoking breaks down a protein in the skin called elastin, which gives youthful skin its elastic appearance and supports the breast”.
Pregnancy also “has a very strong contribution to breast ptosis (sagging)”, Rinker said. “In fact, our study showed that those negative effects increase with each pregnancy.”
Rinker says this finding should alleviate the fears of new mothers over what nursing their child might do to their breasts in the long run and will encourage them to breastfeed because of the health benefits to their infant. “Women may be reluctant to breastfeed because of this unfounded myth that doing so means the end of youthful breasts,” Rinker said. “Now, expectant mothers can relax knowing breastfeeding does not sacrifice the appearance of their breasts.”

Sphere: Related Content

Pregnancy Where Orgasm Is Not Safe.

Orgasms cause the uterus to contract, sometimes with great intensity, lasting for one-half to one hour after intercourse. Contractions are more frequent as the due date approaches, but may be present in the early second trimester. In general, these contractions do not result in a change in the cervical dilatation or effacement.

If contractions persist for more than an hour after intercourse, or if there is an increase in pelvic pressure or heavy vaginal bleeding, you should contact your caregiver immediately.

For most women, intercourse results in no problems. However, in certain high risk pregnancies (premature labor, incompetent cervix, multiple gestations, placenta previa), "pelvic rest" is advocated to decrease the possibility of premature labor or bleeding. There currently is great debate over the relationship of intercourse to premature labor.

Chemicals present in seminal fluid, called prostaglandins, also cause increased uterine activity. For some women near term, unprotected intercourse can result in more contractions that may cause cervical dilatation or effacement. However, it is impossible to predict who would benefit from having intercourse to stimulate the onset of labor.

Quite often, the mother's pregnant abdomen can cause intercourse to be awkward, and some couples worry that intercourse may, in some way, harm the fetus. In an uncomplicated pregnancy, intercourse is completely safe for both mother and child.

Sphere: Related Content

6 Importance Of Exercising During Pregnancy

While exercises are good for your health, exercising during pregnancy can brings added benefits. Generally, exercise should be light, especially during the first few weeks of pregnancy while your body adjusts to the changes. Heavy exercise can divert blood flow from crucial areas and most women that exercise regularly should tone down their workouts during pregnancy.

Walking, swimming, and yoga are two popular exercise activities suitable for pregnant women. Other forms of exercise like weight lifting are okay too as long as it is not too strenuous. Most experts recommend exercising 3-4 times a week, unless a medical condition prevents it. If in doubt, always consult a physician first. Listed below are some of the top reasons for exercising during pregnancy.

1. Exercise can reduce the length of labor and reduce recovery times. The right exercise routines will increase stamina needed for delivery.

2. Improve emotional health - exercise lowers stress and improves emotional health and can make it easier for the new mother to get through the experience of pregnancy.

3. Exercise can help with weight management after the child is born. A common concern with most mothers is losing weight after pregnancy. Exercising during pregnancy can make postpartum weight loss easier.

4. Exercise is good for your unborn baby. By keeping your body healthy, you are also helping out your baby.

5. Reduced pregnancy side effects - Symptoms like headaches, fatigue, swelling, and constipation are common in pregnant women. Exercising has been shown to reduce the occurence of these symptoms.

6. Decrease risk of premature birth - exercise has been shown in studies to decrease the risk of premature birth by about 50%.

Make sure to drink plenty of fluids before exercising, have a nutritious diet, and avoid over exertion. Also, listen to your body - if you start feeling sick or nauseous, then you should stop and rest.

Some have tried "The Look Good, Feel Great" Pregnancy Kit and have had some very positive experiences.

Sphere: Related Content

Women In The Habit Of Low Fat Diet Losses Chances Of Pregnancy

FIONA MacRAE

Women who keep to a low-fat diet when trying to conceive could be dramatically cutting their chances of pregnancy, according to a study.

Drinking a pint of semi-skimmed or skimmed milk or eating two pots of yoghurt a day almost doubles the risk of an increasingly common condition in which women stop ovulating.

Eating full-fat dairy products has the opposite effect. A bowl of ice cream a day was found to be enough to boost the chance of having a child.

The study carried out at the highlyrespected Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts involved nearly 19,000 women.

Jorge Chavarro, the report's author, advised would-be mothers to eat up to two servings of full-fat dairy foods a day. One serving equates to half a pint of milk, an ounce of cheese or half a cup of ice cream.

Yoghurt, cottage cheese and skimmed or semi- skimmed milk are classed as low fat, while whole milk, cream, ice cream, cream cheese and other cheeses count as full fat.

Dr Chavarro warned women however not to increase their overall calorie intake, or their intake of dangerous saturated fat.

"Once they have become pregnant, then they should probably switch back to low-fat dairy foods, as it is easier to limit intake of saturated fat by consuming low-fat dairy foods," he added.

The study tracked the health and diet of 18,555 women for eight years.

During that period, 438 of the women, who were aged between 24 and 42, were diagnosed with anovulatory infertility.

The condition, in which ovulation stops, accounts for a third of female fertility problems.

Scrutiny of the women's diets revealed a clear link between dairy food and anovulatory infertility, with low-fat products appearing to exacerbate it.

Those women who ate two or more servings of low-fat dairy foods a day were 85 per cent more likely to suffer from it.

Women who ate at least one serving of full-fat milk dairy food a day were 27 per cent less likely to have the condition. Adding half a pint of whole milk to the diet cuts the risk of ovulation problems by 22 per cent.

Women who ate ice cream at least twice a week were almost 40 per cent less likely to suffer from anovulatory fertility than those who rarely ate it.

Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers said they could not explain the results.

It is possible that dairy fat or the sex hormones in cow's milk boost fertility by affecting the balance of hormones involved in ovulation.

Both the fat and the sex hormones are at their highest in whole-fat products.

It is also possible that removing fat from dairy products raises the levels of a hormone thought to be behind many cases of anovulatory infertility.

Professor Adam Balen, of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said: "It is an interesting finding but more research needs to be done. The main concern is obesity and the advice about not increasing calorie intake is key."

Sphere: Related Content