Re: Re: [ozmidwifery] Hypno birthing

[Marilyn Kleidon]

All of my children swam before they walked and this is how I was taught to teach them 28 yrs ago (how time gallops by) in Brisbane. I started between 2 and 3 months of age. I don't remember ever having to teach them to hold their breath, just the blowing on their face as infants was enough. And they all love to swim, surf, play waterpolo etc..   I thought the comment about water birth was not so much that it  wasn't a natural thing to do for some but simply a comparison with hypnobirthing and other "prepared" childbirth methods in the context of working for some women and not for others.   Some women seem to be able to birth in just about any situation, a train, a bus, an immaculate apartment, a shed, a hospital bed, a bath, the shower, a creek, the black sea... it goes on and on... they do it as fit as a fiddle or tired and exhausted, this has happened since the beginning of time everything lines up (the power, the position, and the passenger) and we would have to be baby elephants to be able to stop it or get in its (the birth power) way.  I am not saying that labours such as this are good luck, easy, or to take anything away from those of us who have had such births. They are awesome, powerful moments to be part of and though they may be enhanced by some methods or environments but they will happen brilliantly if we as care givers just move aside and guard the space also allowing the enhancement if desired. And yes I have purposely left out the other 2 P's psychology and place because for the women I am talking about, for some reason these don't seem to matter or at least they are not constant ie they are highly variable unlike the other P's mentioned.   However, other women will not birth well in just any situation and surely it is for us a care givers to have at our sides our bag of tricks and if possible to prepare women to have their own bag of tricks should the going get tough, should they have less than optimal repour with their midwife. This is when the "methods" move beyond enhancement, when the water is no longer a choice between water or land birth but a treatment when the pain may seem unendurable.   All I am saying is all labours are not equal, and it seems to me that in abandoning the "methods" of prepared childbirth because they don't work for everywoman we have abandoned many women to pharmacological methods of pain relief. Just look at our stats. We have had (and are having) a backlash against natural childbirth because women felt like failures when they succombed to interventions whether or not they were necessary. Once more I think we have largely thrown the baby out with the bath water or even lost the plot entirely.   Also let us not forget that these "methods" arose because women felt abandoned in labour and delivery wards, they had to have a way to help themselves.   marilyn ----- Original Message ----- From: Pinky McKay To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 3:11 AM Subject: Re: Re: [ozmidwifery] Hypno birthing Is this the "Mammalian dive reflex"? Cookie Harkin a baby swim teacher in Melb who has also been involved with water births and has studied in Russia, utilises this reflex to teach very young babies to "swim" - not sure how/ if it relates to birth but if you blow on a baby's face to stimlulate it to breath in, then submerge it, it wont breath in under water (I guess the blowing probably isnt "necessary" for newborns but would make parents feel better about submerging older bubs and possibly works as a cue to the baby that he is "going under" so later, when the reflx disappears he does breath in -I did it with my youngest and he loved water/ swimming and was totally fearless and even when he came home one day at 3 having been off the tarzan rope with his big brother (into the diving pool) I asked "did you get water up your nose?" and he just looked at me as tho I was a loopy and said "no I hung on round Jono's neck" so I guess he learned not to breath in but certainly not out of any fear or experience of a gulp of water. Apparently this reflex goes away at about 4 months -probably like other newborn reflexes so this is why Cookie encourages early water experience with babies. It makes sense that it would work with babies born in water. I must call Cookie for an explanation.   Pinky ----- Original Message ----- From: Denise Hynd To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 9:16 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ozmidwifery] Hypno birthing Mary Here in WA Maybe Gabby could shed some light on understanding the diving reflex for CMP midwives?? Denise ----- Original Message ----- From: Mary Murphy To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 4:30 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ozmidwifery] Hypno birthing I wish I knew more in-depth about it.  mm ----- Original Message ----- From: JoFromOz To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, March 13, 2004 1:09 PM Subject: Re: Re: [ozmidwifery] Hypno birthing Regarding the 'rule' about not resubmerging the baby's head if it has been born out of the water... what about the 'diving' reflex - does that not apply to birthing newborns?   For those who don't know the reflex I am refering to is when a baby's face is covered in water it stops breathing, and blood shunts to major organs only.  The lose this reflex after a few months ( I can't remember how many ).   ... or are babies just being born different?   Thanks, Jo   -- Babies are Born... Pizzas are delivered.