Childbirth Class at 33 Wks

We went to our first class with Terry Richmond from BirthDay Presence--our childbirth educator who is a doula and has attended 175 births over the last five years. We really liked Terry and the first day of our class--very informative, mellow, and reassuring.

We learned about partner support of the laboring woman, through massage techniques, breathing, staying in the moment, using shower/baths, birthing balls (Auntie Ilka has a birthing ball she is going to give us that's down at the Shore), socks filled with uncooked rice that can be heated or cooled, moaning/making noise, and giving emotional support.

We talked about positioning during labor, and how that can help move the fetus to more labor-friendly positions, and back labor--which is when the baby isn't positioned in the front part of your abdomen, but around to the side, and when it's spine is facing your spine. Back labor can be hazardous because the fetus' limbs can get in the way of proper movement down the birth canal and can prevent a healthy vaginal birth, and can prompt an OB to encourage a laboring woman to have a C-section delivery.

We really learned all about what doulas do, which is provide emotional support--and butt massage--for their clients, and act as advocates for a laboring woman in the hospital, and try to defend the type of birth the woman or couple wants to have. We were happy to hear that Terry has worked with Drs. Flagg and Gahr from Spring OB-GYN before.

It was also really interesting that she said that a lot of women respond physically during labor the same ways they respond to sex, with rocking, moaning, noise, faces, etc. She also talked about "birth climax," which I guess is when a woman has an orgasm during a delivery--she said it's not supercommon with her clients, but that she has heard of it happening. I mentioned to her that Susie Bright the sex writer has said that childbirth is the most sexual experience she's ever had. (I've mentioned that to other women who've had babies, and they decidedly did not agree.)

Tomorrow we are going to learn more about medical interventions: epidurals, episiotomy, and how to approach your doctor about different medical issues that you may want to address before labor.

I felt great in the class. The teacher said I was in great shape for being 8 mos. along, and said I seemed very flexible and had very open hips and legs. So, so far, so good!