The Birth Lounge Blog

Cesarean Recovery No matter how we bring our children into this world, our bodies will have some healing to do. Bringing a baby earthside is physically taxing, and involves so many different systems of the human body. In the case of cesarean delivery, there are a few more steps added to the recovery process. We tend to neglect these steps when leaving the hospital, but it’s important to know what tools are available in your recovery toolbox. Here are the five most impactful tools that ensure a faster and more complete recovery. Walking - After surgery your epidural or spinal will be removed and over the next few hours the numbness will begin fading away. While you may leave the OR expecting to take it as easy as possible, you will quickly find that the first task on your “to-do list” is getting up and taking a walk through the hospital corridor. While this can be painful and feel like it adds insult to injury, ambulation is imperative to proper recovery. Why? Because it is the action o...

The Truth about Glucola Alternatives What is gestational diabetes and how do we diagnose it? Gestational diabetes testing is a routine screening that almost all pregnant parents will encounter around 26 weeks gestation. To get the big picture of why we screen for this we should discuss how the pregnant body metabolizes sugar in comparison to a body that isn’t pregnant. So let's dive in. When we eat carbohydrates (think bread, rice, pasta) our bodies break them down into glucose. This glucose is what gives us energy as we go through our day, and it is aided by insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. Insulin is also capable of turning excess glucose into stored fat. So how does this differ from how glucose is metabolized in a pregnant body? Think of hormones as the catalyst for nearly all bodily functions. Hormone levels in pregnancy are wildly elevated, and these higher hormone levels can actually impede the body’s ability to use insulin as efficiently. We refer to this as ins...

Tearing in Birth: What is the Norm? If there was ever one hill almost every doula would die on, it would almost certainly be that episiotomy and tearing are not by default, a normal part of birth. While episiotomy is blog for a different day, now is the perfect time to dive headfirst into perineal tears, labial lacerations, and everything in between. Let’s discuss why they occur, how to prevent them, how to know how severe they are, and how to heal them. When we think about tearing during childbirth, we often jump to thoughts of torn perineums, but the truth is that tears can affect almost every part of the vagina and vulva. Each tear comes with its own set of challenges, and some are more avoidable than others. However, no matter the location(s) of your tearing, healing will require care, delicacy, and kindness towards yourself. - Perineal Tearing : Tearing of the perineum is the most common and widely discussed area where tears take place. This is the tissue located between the vagin...

Consumer Complaints: Essential To New Wave Maternity Care What Is A Consumer Complaint? Certainly we’ve all received a long awaited package, torn it open out of excitement, and come face to face with disappointment. This product we purchased is not the product we were sold. When faced with this situation, a vast majority of us will go back onto the website we purchased the item from to leave a review explaining why the product does not live up to its advertised quality. We do this not only to let the company know we’re not happy with our service, but also to warn other consumers that this product isn’t worth their time, energy, and money. This is a normal part of life, right? An online consumer’s right of passage, if you will. What if I told you that you can do the same exact thing with Drs, Hospital Staff, and Nurses? What if I told you that doing so doesn’t just warn others that they shouldn’t waste their time and money? instead, it actually sends a clear warning that their body, bab...

An Inside look at Obstetrical Violence (Derived from a podcast conversation with Tranquility By HeHe team members HeHe Stewart and Caitlin LeBeau in Episode 136 of The Birth Lounge Podcast, find it here !) Have you ever heard the term “obstetrical violence” and wondered what it meant? Or maybe you envisioned this blatant act of disrespect or an assault of sorts. These are both examples of obstetrical violence, but there is another side to it, too. A sneaky side. We're going to share a few instances of medical manipulation in the birth room. Not always aggressive, not violent. And that is a tactic- they are trying to get you to do what they want. Which is so hard to say because we are conditioned to trust our doctors, we want to trust our doctors. This isn’t about batting heads- this is about questioning, looking into research/evidence, looking into policies so you know if they are being influenced/pressured. Have that open communication if you can. You can say, 'That's not...

The Beginning of Home Birth with Kaitlyn Fusco ( Derived from Episode 142 of the Birth Lounge Podcast ) Today, we are chatting with Katelyn Fusco, Host of Happy Home Birth Podcast. We are covering home birth and how birth has transformed over the years. Katelyn is sharing who is right for home birth and the top home birth myths. We are also diving into stickier topics like the business side of birth and how legislation can impact women’s health. We shine a spotlight on consent and continuity of care as well. I'll hand it over now for Katelyn's thoughts! We are so ingrained now, especially in the United States, to think that birth is a medical event that just has to take place in the hospital. I mean, that's just in our minds. I know growing up, that's how it was for me. My mom had all three of her children as C-sections. So when I was growing up, I thought, 'Okay, well, I'll have C-sections for my babies. Birth is surgery the end'. I don't think I'm ...

[This is also an episode on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen  here .] All about Holly Holly Grill-Spall is the author of the bestselling book Sweetening The Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control , which began as a blog and is now being developed into a documentary! She’s been featured She’s been featured in publications all over ranging from The Guardian to NPR to the Washington Post to Vogue, and Vice called her “the poster girl for a movement of women abandoning the pill in favor of contraceptives that don't wreak havoc on their body and mind.” Holly has travelled all over the world leading workshops to empower women to take back their bodies from synthetic birth control. Holly’s passion for the subject came out of her own experience taking Yaz for 10 years, starting at age 17. Holly experienced very serious side effects, including effects on her mental health, leading her down a path of research into ev...

Another Perspective, Support for the Midwifery Bill with Diana Snyder [This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen  here .] Hey Tranquility Tribe! Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Tranquility Tribe podcast. Last week, Hehe talked to Joyce Hunt-Kimball about Bill H. 1189, more recently drafted as H. 4655, about why she opposes the bill and the impact that it could have on women’s health. Today, Hehe is speaking to Diana Snyder, who is a strong supporter of the proposed bill. Who is Diana? Diana Snyder is a healthcare attorney who graduated from BU school of law in 2011 with a focus on the intersection of healthcare and women’s rights. After she graduated, she moved to California, where she practiced for four years. During her time in CA, a friend who worked in a hospital asked her for legal advice on forced compliance issues that she had observed in her workplace, including forced cesareans and forced...

Why You Should Consider Midwifery Care [This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen  here .] Hey, Tranquility Tribe!    Have you ever wondered about the differences between a midwife and an OB/GYN?   Are you considering finding a midwife but not sure what type to look for?   Did you know that many midwives do more than just birth work?   Today, Hehe sits down with Hannah Proctor, a certified nurse midwife who graduated from Vanderbilt, to talk about the ins and outs of midwifery! Differences in approach Midwives and OB/GYNs differ mainly in how they approach the birth process.   Midwives tend to have a more individualized perspective when interacting with an expectant parent, with a stronger focus on viewing the woman as a whole person and taking into account her hobbies, family, and past experiences.   Because of this approach, midwives typically think about an expectant parent a...