This week Sophie talks to mum of two Emma Coburn, about her own Daisy Birth, about motherhood in general and her top birthing tips.
Emma reflects on attending NCT classes during her 1st pregnancy, on Gina Ford and her parenting book and on her experiences of Daisy Birthing® with Nicky Woodhatch, our Guildford teacher.
The session finishes with a family anthem chosen in honour of her daughter!
Enjoy listening!
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According to NHS maternity statistics, C sections represented 24.8% of births in 2010-11. However you plan to give birth, good antenatal preparation should explore every option, so that you feel in control of whatever happens. There has been a move to empower women having both emergency and planned C sections and much of this centres on making C sections integral to birth plans. Considering and recording your wishes about C sections can make a big difference to how you feel about your birth should a C section become necessary. Both of my sections were unplanned, but positive experiences. Second time round, I planned for a VBAC, but I also realised I could make my birth plan reflect my C section wishes even more clearly.
I'm including some photos this week, they were never going to be of amazing quality under the circumstances, but I'm including them because I think photographs can be a powerful tool in understanding a C section delivery. Here I am, still with bump, feeling fairly calm amongst the medical clutter. I thought I would be terrified and a theatre would be my worst nightmare, it wasn't like that at all, the staff were so personable and quick to explain everything.
Here are some ideas for your plan, what is possible may depend on whether a section is unplanned or planned.
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What came first birthing or mothers?
To celebrate one, we have to celebrate the other
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On Friday 9th March 2012, baby Arthur arrived! Jess was a complete super star, in labour for over 48 hours ....
Not a home birth, but Jess describes how she so enjoyed the period she spent labouring at home, including her long walk in the park (and membranes releasing in an unusual place) .... Her adaptability to change and her positivity to this, is something I hope our birth confidence classes can give to all mums!
Despite such a long haul and experiencing rapid waves of contractions which were for a long period very intense, but not production effective dilation, Jess still gave birth to Arthur naturally.
She has to be commended for this wonderful result - it is such an achievement to have a vaginal delivery after such a long period of labouring (tiredness can cause adrenalin to rocket and result in a need for section or assisted delivery). What's more, she still achieved this (and in just 4 pushes) despite having to opt for pain relief which she hadn't initially banked on ....
...We are absolutely delighted that this week Sophia Mason, founder of foetal monitoring charity Count The Kicks, was able to find time in her hugely hectic schedule to talk to our resident presenter Sophie.
We won't soft soap ladies - at times this can be highly emotional listening but it has such an important message to help you empower yourself and to help you safe guard your unborn baby - And that at the end of the day matches completely with what Lazy Daisy® is all about.
Sophia is a lady who despite having the challenges of a disability herself, after suffering with meningitis earlier in life and then of course the huge emotional journey she went through during her own pregnancies and births (the interview explains all), is such a positive mum who looks forward and looks to make and inspire productive changes!
Listen in to her story, the back drop to the charity she founded, the celebs who have nominated this as their charity of the year and how you can get involved!
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Inspired by Penny's blog on birthing partners Birth Partners and Last Weeks TV yesterday, I thought I would put pen to paper and come up with my top ten tips for birthing partners.
I have been in the fortunate position of being a birth partner at 10 different births - all very different: some at home, some at hospital, one ending in a section, one super super fast, one 3 days in duration .... In addition of course, I have had five children of my own and know what I really appreciated in my own birthing partners (not my ex husband buying my midwife sandwiches during labour number 1, before tuning into the football scores, I hasten to add!)
Every mum will have her own personal preferences and every birth partner, their own little touches to add. But these 10 tips give a really good grounding
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I confess last week was the first time I have watched One Born Every Minute, but I was hooked, I was emotional, I was wincing, I was cheering and I was in tears when the babies arrived. The episode profiled a mum who refused to let her husband in the delivery room, instead favouring her mum as birth partner, and a mum who had her partner, her mum and for some of the time her partner's mum present. This got me thinking about birth partners.
One Dad kept sneaking out for cigarette breaks, but seemed very at home discussing the gorier parts of labour and had a sense of humour, albeit a bit sexist. Give or take a break, he was there for her, and his humour and encouragement helped to keep everyone going. I did feel sorry for the Dad who was ousted, especially when he returned to the delivery room minutes after the birth only to be told, via his partner's mother, to leave again. Although, I also thought the mum articulated her reasons very clearly when she said she felt birth was a female, a private and a magical thing she didn't want her husband to see, she added she felt he was very sensitive and would struggle. The camera watched him sat alone in a waiting room, looking very worried and lost.
His mother in law however, didn't look particularly at ease watching her daughter in pain either, and at many points seemed to be struggling to find the words and excused herself from the room. Emily, who blogs at Never Bored of Bubbles, found her husband made great birth partner, but her mum found seeing her daughter in pain too difficult. Fortunately midwives are also brilliant at coaching birth partners.
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This week I was delighted to be able to interview Emma Walters, our Daisy Birthing® teacher in Portishead and Bristol. Emma was delighted to talk to me about her experiences of having two early babies and her experiences of teaching Daisy Birthing now .....
I’m a mum of 2 little boys Joshua who is 4 and Kasey who is 18 months old. My background was previously in recruitment but it was never really my passion and I always longed to do something that would help other people but at the time I just didn’t know what. After the birth of my 2nd little boy Kasey I decided to train as a Lazy Daisy Teacher as I am passionate about childbirth and really want to help other women have positive birth journeys.
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We merrily tick off baby vests, body suits, baby groes (aren't they all the same?), baby socks, hats, mits, nappies ...
Taking some time to chose some special pieces for our labour kit, can really make your day extra special!
...As Jess posted her final pre birth video blog, her submission statement was "hope the baby comes soon, I'm sooo tired".
Being 39 weeks pregnant with another tot at home is definitely an exhausting time, but I think you will all agree she looks amazing in her maternity shots (taken by Sara Thomaswww.maternityandbabyphotographer.co.uk)
...Here I am on my 29th birthday, 5 months pregnant with my first and looking for new, non alcoholic ways to celebrate. We hired a boat on the Thames and picnicked. You might spot the Jo Jo Bebe Maman bag, the birthday presents have shifted slightly, to mark my mum-to-be status
I think it is fair to say I was an early adopter to pregnancy amongst my closest friends. Shortly after this my husband and I decided to leave behind our life and friends in London to set up business and home in Nottingham. I decided to leave teaching and to be a full time mum for a few years. Looking back it was a pretty huge transition. I approached it alot like freshers week at university and joined as many antenatal or baby related groups as I could. I soon made lots of wonderful new mum friends, many of which I see on a weekly basis 5 years on.
But what about my friends of old,my school friends, the gang of girls I went to university with and then gravitated to London with? I missed them hugely, I didn't see them as often and sometimes, especially when I had to say no to things, because I was still breastfeeding, because I didn't feel ready to leave my babies or because I was tired or strapped for cash, I felt our lives had moved in different ways. But, despite missing a few birthdays, not keeping up on gossip and feeling a little like I was missing out on their child free fun, we are still going strong.
...And despite the snow and sickness bugs, Jess is here - 37 weeks pregnant and checking in!
This week Jess talks about sickness bugs (Aghhh!), her week's highlight of waking up on Sunday and having a family snow day and her top tips for packing her hospital bag (even though she is still on cue for a home birth!).
Jess has some great tips about maternity pads (yes maternity pads - all dignity goes out of the window when blogging pregnant) and we have our own top tips to add to her brilliant suggestions, below!
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Welcome to week 3 of our broadcasts - it's great to hear so many of you are enjoying these broadcasts and using them to help support your weekly classes and practise at home!
This week is all about relaxing and chilling out. Something which are a week of VAT returns, I really need to do!
Nope, well mother nature is definitely a sneaky gal and tries to get us ready for interrupted sleep post baby, by doing her best to interrupt it pre baby. So most mums to be feel a real need to chill out and let go from time to time!
In this week's broadcast, you can experience techniques to help you relax but more over understand why relaxation is so important for you, for your hormones, for your baby and for Optimum Foetal Position!
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In our Daisy Radio antenatal podcast Daisy Radio - 2 of 6 Episodes (Series 1) last week, we considered the importance of balance to the uterus (womb). This is something we work on a huge amount in our weekly antenatal classes.
Think of a hammock tied to two trees and how important it is that the ropes attaching it are even, in order to allow you to lay in the hammock without falling out.
Now think of baby in the womb - a symmetrical womb will allow baby to turn more easily into their optimum position - in short OFP is all about balance!
...This is the second in a series of Daisy podcasts designed to help existing Daisy Birthing® class mums practise their newly acquired birthing skills but also to allow mums-to-be who are new to us, to give us a try!
In our first episode which went live on 19th January, Daisy Radio is here!, we worked on the importance of breathing and how to link the breath to a birth visualisation.
Here in this second episode, we think about one of the fundamentals underpinning our Lazy Daisy classes - bringing symmetry and balance to your uterus and your pelvic floor. Why? Well to help your baby move more easily into the ideal position for birth (torsions in the uterus can prevent this and hold baby posterior or breech) and to help you feel more comfortable in your back and abdominal area!
Some of you may have read about our ethos and the hidden birth muscles, like the psoas and the piriformis, in February 2012 edition of Practical Parenting & Pregnancy magazine. This broadcast will really help you understand why we talk so much about using movements to lengthen the psoas muscles and to work on the piriformis, and why these muscles are so relevant to labour.
...Last week’s post on Reach out and touch me provoked interesting debate here and on Twitter, so this week I thought I would keep on the bonding theme.
Last week my brother sent me a text. It simply said 'It's a boy!' He’d just come out of his girlfriend’s 20 week scan. Straight away, proud aunty-to-be that I am, I called him back shrieking 'I knew it, fantastic, congratulations!' Cue obligatory jokes about footy teams, and him being a striker.
Doctors this week suggested there is no need for parents to know the baby’s sex at a 20 week scan. A specialist recommended 30 weeks. But how important is this information to parents?
My mum and grandmother marvelled at my scan photos and the idea that we could know our babies' sex in advance. I couldn’t resist finding out, there was something magical about being able to bond just a little bit more with my babies. During pregnancy lots of time is spent dreaming and fantasising about your baby, and the child they will be. For me knowing whether I was having a girl or boy made those images more tangible. 
I’m biased, so I asked my fellow bloggers what they did. Mostlyyummymummy has found out, not found out, and for one child wasn’t able to tell at the scan. Her favourite she says, was the exciting surprise of the ‘it’s a boy/girl’ moment at the end of labour. @Clearbean explained her thoughts changed with each pregnancy, the first time she was impatient, second time she wanted to prepare her first child and third time did not want to, but her partner did.
For her first two children Rachel of Right from the Start didn’t find out, she felt that it would take something away from the birth, looking back she has no regrets and felt it added to the magic and surprise of having a newborn. But, for her third child she found out, because she had 2 girls at this point and wanted to be prepared, boys names were proving challenging, as was choosing a third girl’s name. But she says knowing she was having a girl the third time didn’t take any excitement away.
...Over Twitter, Facebook and from general class feedback, our Daisy mums-to-be and teachers always rave about Daisy Bolly. 
Added as the 'fun' standing element of our class, when mums just wanna let go and get their hips moving, Bolly has without a doubt proved very popular. And so it should, as with moves which gently lengthen the Psoas muscle from origin on T12 as well as insetion on the inner thigh bone, it really can get your hips and pelvis ready for birth and make more space for baby.
Plus of course, it makes us feel so good! Maybe not cool (but as Uju asked Is Parenthood the Death of Cool?) but certainly happy! And a happy mum means high endorphins and a gush of feel good to baby!
So here's the music (CD's can also be purchased from your Daisy teacher) which comes to you with a huge thank you to Sophie DJ Tott, our composer and also to all the amazing Daisy Birthing teachers who are not afraid to get their hips moving in the name of confident birth!
...This is the first in a series of Daisy podcasts designed to help existing Daisy Birthing® class mums practise their newly acquired birthing skills but also to allow mums-to-be who are new to us, to give us a try! In this first episode, we work on the importance of breathing and how to link the breath to a birth visualisation.
Breathing is so key for labour, as really does provide a focus and an anchor - in Daisy Birthing® we refer to it as a life buoy; when the waves of labour get big, and sometimes they will really roll and become very intense even momentarily knocking us under, our breathing helps us get right back to the surface! To stay confident and calm!
Breathing will also ensure your birthing muscles receive vital oxygen, so that the muscle fibres can slide easily against each other, without a build up of sticky lactic acid; Remember if the muscle works more easily, it will be more efficient (and work more comfortably).
In addition, good breathing will also help you to release from the navel and the area surrounding the origin of a really important muscle, the psoas - lengthening this muscle will help your pelvic and hip mobility and allow baby to descend more easily!
...Hi I'm Jess, mum of 1 and 34 weeks pregnant with baby number 2. Here in my pregnancy and birth video blog I talk to you all about life as an expectant mum with a toddler in tow, about my hopes for my own birth (and whether this will be at home or in hospital), about my experiences of Daisy Birthing® classes 2nd time around and the great debate ..... as a professional photographer, should I have a photo shoot of my labour and my own baby's birth!
Enjoy and feel free to leave your comments here!
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e-Mail on info@lazydaisybirthing.co.uk
