Doula Thread

psherman42wwsa

At my hospital they routinely wait at least 24 hours after birth for baby's first bath. I wasn't even asked last time until it was over 24 hours.

emilyalso

@jayandaplus - This may belong on the new breastfeeding thread, but I'll just do a quick response to what you said about buying formula. I know that we well-informed, well-read, well-meaning mamas worry about the dangers of things like nipple confusion and changing the bacteria in a baby's gut by not exclusively breastfeeding. I get it. It was my intention too. But I had a C-section, it took a few extra days for my milk to come in, and my little guy had lost a LOT of weight, struggled to kick his jaundice, and wasn't pooping. I ended up supplementing 15ml (thats almost nothing!) every other feed for MAYBE half of a week. My milk came in full force, he blew up like a ballon, and I was grateful that I had some formula on hand instead of having to try to make a decision about which one to buy - and actually make a trip to get it - when I really needed it. 

I hope that breastfeeding comes easily for you (and all of us!) but it may save you some stress later to at least buy a small amount of formula to have on hand just in case. Maybe you'll never use it, but at least you won't be in a tailspin wishing you had it. 

jayandaplus

@emilyalso Thank you for that perspective! I think you're right, better to be prepared.

chickyclg

I feel like I am some what crunchy (baby wear, cloth diaper, amber necklaces)

We will be vaccinating, last time we did delayed cord clamping and plan to this time, and as far as the bath I never looked into this before.    I am also pro-breastfeeding but don't necessarily think breast is best,  the twins were provided with donated breast milk while they were in NICU until my milk came in but from day 1 they always had formula added to raise the calorie count of the BM.  I also don't really buy into nipple confusion because both kiddos were able to go from bottle to breast after 4 months of bottles, and even then they still got 2 pumped bottles a day because of special dietary needs.

chailife34

I'm thrilled there are other crunchy mamas here! I am a yogi, meditating, baby-wearing, cosleeping, EBF, well educated hippie mama.

- We will do another water birth this time in a private cottage on a vineyard owned by my midwifery. It was paradise with my first and can't wait to do it again. We breastfed immediately after birth and never gave baby a bath since she was in the water with me after birth. No doula as I'll have the same midwife as last time (I love her so much, I'll only have babies with her), plus her student and potentially another midwife. 
- Absolutely to delayed cord clamping, and I plan on cutting the cord myself and also plan on catching my own baby. My first was born in the caul (bag of water never broke) so I couldn't then, but fully plan to this time.
- Placenta encapsulation was a post partum lifesaver. Fast recovery, high energy, anemia kept in check, no PPD even thought I was high risk. Very satisfied and will do it again.
- After a lot of research, yes to Vitamin K (needed for blood clotting and baby won't produce enough for a while after birth) and no to eye ointment (widely used to prevent a form of pink eye contracted from mothers infected with gonorrhea or chlamydia). 
- We are 100% pro vax and follow an alternative schedule in partnership with our family doctor who specializes in naturopathic care. 

Okay, I think I've exposed enough of my crunchy ways for now.

redheeler

I'm curious about this eye ointment, it's not used here in Australia and babies aren't bathed after birth, In fact DS didn't get a bath until we were home 3 days later...

eta: spelling 

laurapalmier

Will anyone who is doing placenta encapsulation also get a placenta print?  I'm really considering encapsulation (just learned about it yesterday) and if I do I'll definitely do the print. Not to hang on the wall but it's really crazy to be able to show your child when they are older!

I don't know if this is really a crunchy topic but I feel it might be. Has anyone done/is anyone planning on baby sign language? I watched a bunch of youtube videos today of 6 month olds clearly expressing their wants. I'm 100% going to try this but curious if anyone here has had success. 

starphish18

@laurapalmier We're planning on using some basic ASL (American sign language), which also means I'll have to learn. H already knows some and has a friend who's baby was able to express his needs very early with ASL.

hp_momma

@laurapalmier I've done Baby sign language with both of my girls and will do it with this LO. I find that they pick up on it pretty quickly and it's easy to remember. I only do a few basic signs though; milk, more, eat, thank you, all done (there might be more but that's all I remember using off the top of my head!) 

chickyclg

@laurapalmer we started signing at about 9 months, only select words.  DD picked them up really quickly, DS has 2 that he religiously uses.  DS also had Torticollis so signing much more difficult for him than DD.

starphish18

I have nothing against placenta encapsulation for those who wish to do it. I won't be and just wanted to share why for anyone who may not have thought about this side of it. There really isn't appropriate research done on humans consuming their placenta. Also, the placenta acts as a barrier to protect the baby. So, it's possible your placenta may contain mercury, bacteria, or other potentially harmful contaminants that you're then reconsuming. I'm all about science and nature. So, I recognize that it's common in nature for animals to consume their placenta, and it makes sense to me that there may be some great benefits to doing so. However, with the lack of research, it's not something I'm comfortable doing. I would also add that, if you do get placenta pills, it would be a good idea to check if anything else is encapsulated with the dried placenta, because I've heard of some encapsulation specialists including various herbs and such, and that may not be something you want.

jayandaplus

@starphish18 That's a good point, thank you for sharing it. Here's my thought back, not in a debate way, just bouncing ideas around: we eat liver (calves liver, etc.) all the time, and it's known to be highly nutritious. The liver is, literally, your filter. I wonder if scientists would have discovered eating liver problematic by now?

@laurapalmier I've never heard of a placenta print. I'll have to go Google that.

Also, I'm ALL for baby signs. I've already bought the books and learned plenty. I will say, I am already an ASL fan, having taken a couple years of it in high school and college. I've been teaching DH, which is both endearing and makes me feel like we're onboard something great together. Even if you just use a few, baby signs can be huge for children. As a nanny I did baby signs and felt it made a huge improvement in the attitude and disposition of the children I cared for.

starphish18

@jayandaplus I love some idea bouncing. That's definitely a good thought. The one thing about the liver that I'll mention, though, is that it filters but does not store toxins. It just marks them to be taken care of by the intestines or kidneys. I assume that's why liver is considered safe to eat. Since the placenta actually stores toxins and such, I think that's where the unknown concern lies.

laurapalmier

@jayandaplus which books did you get? 

mdlorenz

I'll add my two cents about placenta encapsulation. Part of lactogenesis after birth requires the complete expulsion of the placenta and the withdrawal of the associated hormones produced by the placenta. When women have retained placenta, it can be a huge problem in terms of establishing a meaningful milk supply (in addition to being an infection risk). I've done quite a bit of work with a breastfeeding medicine specialist who had worked with mamas (a small sample size, mind you) who have had zero clear risk factors / lab abnormalities to explain their very low milk supply other than their use of placenta pills. I was seriously considering encapsulation for my first birth but decided to bury it ceremoniously instead. I know there are TONS of women who swear by the good effects (perceived or real - I don't honestly think we know since there is no money in the research of this!) of the hormones in their placenta but I'd offer the above as a word of caution. That being said, I have so many good friends who are doulas / encapsulators who would disagree with me. 

livin541

Thanks for all the information and showing both sides ladies. I definitely think it's important to know about all the factors and potential risks/benefits when making a decision for yourself and/or your child!

jayandaplus

@laurapalmier The books I use and love are:

Sign with your baby by Joseph Garcia, MD
The Baby Signing Bible by Laura Berg

I also have a few "children's book" that are baby signs, like My First Signs and Baby Signing. These are board books, so something I can read to baby or maybe good for a sibling.

laurapalmier

Bringing this thread back to the og doula topic
This afternoon I confirmed who my doula will be and our first meeting will be on Wednesday. I always have a list of questions going for the ob but I'm a bit nervous about being properly prepared for our doula visit, since we'll likely only have 2 prior to birth. 

I have a lot of questions that she'll be able to answer about my hospital, but wondering how involved she might be in helping me nail down my birth plan. 
@JCWhitey how do your first visits go normally? I'm eager to ask questions and for help but don't want to lean too hard on her, should I be worried about this?

I am so psyched that I found a doula. especially after being pretty sure I wouldn't have one. My partner gets a little weird when it comes to questioning doctors, like gets almost defensive as if I was saying I didn't believe in medicine, which is silly. So knowing I'll have a doula to help us facilitate the best relationship between us and our nurses/doctor reaaally puts me at ease. 

jayandaplus

@laurapalmier
How did you confirm your doula if you haven't met her? What if you don't get along well, can you change your mind? I wouldn't worry about too many questions-- this person needs to be okay with all of your inquiries, who you are, and your style, which includes all of those wonderful questions! Don't be worried about how YOU come off. You're interviewing her. She's the one who needs to pass the test. That's my viewpoint. Also, if you want someone who can advocate for your strongly and in the way you need, then your doula needs to have some kind of backbone. Questions and being your true self will show you she's capable. That's important! I wouldn't worry about only having 2 meetings before birth. I think one truly good meeting could be enough (more the merrier though!) But, 2 meetings is all the more reason to be yourself-- and have DH be his true self. Congratulations on finding someone! Keep us posted!

JCWhitey

@laurapalmier. I have kindness of a unique situation in that I live in a small town and 90% of the time I would know a mom before being hired.  So there's not really much of an initial meeting that we do.  Usually just chat.  I'm also the only local doula that I know of.

laurapalmier

@jayandaplus @JCWhitey thank you

I've actually met her before a handful of times and know we get along very well, but Wednesday will be our first doula/client meeting. 
I will let you know how it goes