This section is devoted to the information that will be useful in the creation of a Kin's Domains.
Homebirth
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A Midwife's Touch
by Elaine Stillerman
"There is hardly a people, ancient or modern, that do not in some way resort to massage and expression in labor, even if it be a natural and easy one."
The statement above was made in 1884, but it stands the test of time. At the beginning of the following century, physician and anthropologist Ales Hrdlicka, who traveled extensively throughout North America, reported, "The assistance given is everywhere substantially the same, consisting of pressure or kneading with the hands or with a bandage about the abdomen, the object of which is to give direct aid in the expulsion of the child. The procedure, which is not always gentle, accomplishes very probably the same result as the kneading of the uterine fundus under similar conditions by the white physician, namely, more effective uterine contractions."
Midwives are in a unique position to carry the benefits of touch and massage with them into labor and childbirth. By doing so, they can help control pain, foster deeper relaxation and even hasten labor.
Studies on Touch in Labor
A study reported in Mental Health Update demonstrated that physical and emotional support by a labor doula provided substantial benefits to women in labor. In the study, the women in a group that received physical touch (light massage and counter-pressure) and emotional support, as compared to controls, had 56% fewer c-sections; an 85% reduction in the use of epidural anesthesia; 70% fewer forceps deliveries; 61% decrease in the use of oxytocin; a 25% shorter duration of labor; and a 58% drop in neonatal hospitalization.
Another study demonstrated the power of partner massage during labor. The Touch Research Institute (Miami, Florida) reported that women whose partners massaged them felt less depressed, had less labor pain and had lower stress and anxiety levels. The involvement of a partner correlated with less need for pain medication, shorter labors, fewer perinatal complications and a more positive attitude. In another study, massage provided by a partner was viewed by the mothers as having more therapeutic value than the touch of a nurse-midwife.
Use of Touch in Labor
While in labor, a woman's response to touch is unpredictable and variable. The midwife must understand that since there is no clear way to know how a mother will respond, she will need to use a number of different techniques and strategies.
Touch during labor is not massage, in the traditional sense of the word. Touch requires no prescribed routine; it has no beginning, middle or end and it doesn't fit neatly into an hour. Instead, during a woman's labor the source and type of touch has to change along with the progress of labor -- if it is welcomed at all.
Rather than stroking, the midwife will need to use more support and counter-pressure. Generally, during the rest between contractions, elongated strokes -- predominately effleurage (a massage technique used to warm up muscle prior to deep tissue work) -- are used to relax muscles, reduce lactic acid build-up and control pain. She can also effectively employ stretching exercises at this time, to increase circulation and reduce muscle tensions. Moving around and/or changing birthing positions often provides pain relief.
Other techniques to give pain relief are the application of counter-pressure, sacral lifts, pelvic tilts, hip squeezes and stimulation to specific labor-enhancing acupuncture points for the duration of the contraction. A birthing mom also can sway her hips in a rhythmic figure-eight pattern while standing, leaning or bending.
Various birthing positions and tools can facilitate labor and ease labor pain, especially back labor. For instance, a midwife can firmly press a tennis ball(s) into the mother's lower back or hips, at the location of the pain, during a contraction. The mother also may position her back against the ball(s) and let her own body weight provide the pressure. Another technique is to use a hollow rolling pin filled with ice or cool water to relieve sore back muscles.
The pressure you use depends upon the woman's comfort level, which can be expected to change as labor progresses. The kind of touch that soothed her earlier may now irritate her. You can determine this by asking her for feedback, or just getting a sense of how she feels by how much she tenses or relaxes from your touch. When a woman cannot articulate her needs, she will express them through body language. Being cognizant of subtle changes and reactions is essential.
The tactile stimulation of stroking increases the input on the large diameter nerve fibers and helps block pain impulses. This action of the "gate control theory" is also enhanced by the dynamic activity of the mother's cerebral cortex, which is engaged in attention-focusing or other mental activities for relaxation. The more proactive the laboring woman is regarding breathing or relaxation strategies, the more her descending nerve fibers will take priority within the central nervous system and override pain signals.
Touch in Early Labor
Midwives or other support providers can easily provide massage in a variety of positions and in familiar surroundings for women who are home during the latent phase of stage one or who stay home during their entire labor. They have to be ready to assist and support women in various positions without compromising their own bodies. (See sidebar)
Relaxation is essential to promoting the progress of labor; many comfort measures and coping strategies throughout labor will insure that the birthing woman stays calm and controlled. The midwife can use light touch to make a mother aware of any tense areas throughout her body that she needs to release. She can also encourage the mother to breathe into those areas and exhale with a loud sigh. Breathing with her will encourage a patterned rhythm.
During stage one of labor, pain impulses are transmitted along the lower thoracic spine, between T11 and T12 and through the accessory lower thoracic and upper lumbar sympathetic nerves. (These nerves originate in the uterus and cervix.) Women feel most of the pain and discomfort brought on by cervical changes in the lower abdomen. They also may experience referred pain, which radiates from the uterus and is felt in the lumbosacral region, iliac crests, gluteals and down the thighs. Generally, the pain is present only during a contraction, although some women may feel residual discomfort between contractions.
Nearly 25-65% of women experience lower back pain, which may slow down the progress of labor. This pain can be ascribed to uterine changes, uterine ischemia and distention of the fetal occiput posterior position in which the fetal head stretches the ligaments of the sacroiliac joints. Most babies will rotate during birth and relieve the pressure on the lower back. Another possible reason lumbosacral pain occurs is cephalo-pelvic disproportion, which exerts pressure on the sacral nerves and other pelvic structures. As the contractions of early labor begin, the mother should take a deep cleansing breath, in through the nose and out through the mouth. This breathing pattern should be repeated after the contraction ends, as well.
Massage Techniques for Early Labor
Start your massage between contractions with an effleurage (long, gliding stroke) in her mid-back down to her sacrum, in the direction of the muscle fibers. The pressure should be as deep or light as she prefers. She can be sitting on a stool, leaning over a bed or pile of pillows, or side-lying. Gradually work deeper into the lower erector spinae muscles from T11 to the sacrum using your fingertips, thumbs, knuckles or elbows across the muscles fibers from the lateral borders of the erector spinae to the transverse processes of the spine and down to the lumbosacral joint.
Stroke up her entire back from the sacrum, up the spine and over her shoulders. Massage around and over her shoulders and up her neck.
When a contraction starts, apply counter-pressure at the site of any pain or discomfort. Keep your wrist neutral and alternate between using your wrists, knuckles, elbows or knees (on her sacrum). Hold this counter-pressure throughout the contraction -- and remember to breathe.
Use the sacral lift during a contraction to reduce the pressure of the fetal head on the spinal nerves, relieve lower abdominal pressure, ease engorgement of hemorrhoids and support the bulging pelvic floor. Place your hand low on her sacrum and lift upwards and slightly towards her umbilicus. (This stroke cannot be performed on anyone with coccyx pain or subluxation.) Use your knuckles, forearms, shoulder, knee and foot as alternatives to your hands. Hold this for the entire contraction. This is best performed when the mother is sitting down, but can be very effective in a side-lying position using only your neutral fist. Fold a small hand towel or dry wash cloth over your knuckles to prevent bone-on-bone discomfort.
During a contraction, use the pelvic tilt, done with your client on her side. This elongates the lumbar spine, stretches the compressed muscles and reduces lower back pain. Use your fleshy forearm on her top hip and gently pull toward her head while your lower hand is on her sacrum gently pulling toward her feet. A variation of the pelvic tilt is the knee press, also performed with your client on her side. Sit behind her and secure your hip directly next to her sacrum. Lean over and clasp your hands around her top knee. Position her hip at a right angle and pull her knee toward your hip. For additional support, press your body onto her hip, thereby providing a pelvic squeeze at the same time.
If she has backaches, try the pelvic press or hip squeeze (locate the center of her buttocks and using your fists with your wrists neutral, squeeze in and slightly up -- forming an X -- and hold for contraction). An acupuncture point can release a lot of back tension during labor: Gall bladder 34 is found in the depression anterior and inferior to the small head of the fibula on both legs. Hold both points at the same time for a count of 10, repeating a total of 10 times.
Another acupuncture point that minimizes pain is found posterior to the outside corner of the nail of both little toes. This point is Bladder 67. In China, this point is needled to stop the pain of labor. (It is also needled or treated with moxibustion [heated herbs] in the 37th or 38th week of pregnancy to turn a breech presentation.) A recent study of this ancient Chinese technique has proven it to be effective in relieving labor pain. Large intestine 4 is found in the webbing of the thumb and index finger. Although contraindicated during pregnancy, when an ice massage is given to this point on the left hand for 20 minutes or until the 4th contraction, whichever came first, pain was cut in half. Icing the right hand reduced pain by 19%.
To speed up labor at any stage, use pressure on certain acupuncture points, especially when used during a contraction. Hold each point bilaterally for the duration of the contraction, releasing only to relieve your fingers. These points are: Large intestine 4, found in the webbing of the thumb and index finger; Liver 3, found on the top of both feet about 2 inches down from the first and second toes, where the foot bones meet; Spleen 6, the expression of Female Energy, found on both legs approximately 2-2 1/2 inches from the top of the medial ankle bone, under the tibia.
Active labor
As labor progresses into the active phase, a noticeable shift occurs in contraction pattern and mother's emotional response. The midwife's goal is to keep her calm, comfortable and focused and to encourage the normal progress of labor. Another important task is to meet her emotional needs with understanding, nurturing and respect. This will give her a greater sense of control over labor, which can lead to heightened self-esteem and a more satisfying, empowered experience.
The bodywork techniques must now be adapted to the mother's emotional and physical needs and changes. Her breathing pattern will be different and should be encouraged by breathing (or intoning, moaning, etc.) with her.
Techniques for Active Labor
Encourage her to change positions whenever she needs to, but at least every 30 minutes to treat backaches and speed up labor.
Hold pelvic tilting throughout a contraction.
Use hot or cold compresses with or without rolling pressure on her lower back.
Use knee press with mother sitting in a chair with her back supported by pillows. Press just inferior to her knees and sustain this pressure for the contraction. If your wrists tire from this exertion, sit on the floor and turn away from her, facing outward. Lean against her knees with your back, saving your hands.
Use a pelvic squeeze to alleviate the pain of back labor, as it repositions the sacroiliac joints that are being stretched by the back of the baby's head against mother's sacrum.
Do gentle lymphatic drainage, stroking towards her heart, if her legs shake or feel tired and heavy.
Transition
As labor progresses into the transition phase of stage one, most women are no longer comfortable with long, gliding strokes. Some women may actually pull away from touch altogether as they focus on the task at hand. Hot or cold packs, or ice chips (perhaps imbued with an herbal remedy such as black cohosh, if her blood pressure is low and stable) may be welcome. Holding, rocking or swaying with her may be all the support she needs. Placing your hand on an area of tension or firmly applying pressure on her sacrum during a contraction can relieve back pain. (Don't forget to keep her face and jaw relaxed, since a lot of women in late labor grimace in pain and lock their jaws.)
Quiet encouragement and reassurance are paramount during transition. Keeping her relaxed and calm lets her natural rhythm of labor proceed smoothly and on course.
Stage Two
After the short resting phase of stage two where she may enjoy a few gliding strokes on her back or belly, strong contractions resume and the urge to push becomes involuntary and compelling. Relaxation is vital to the conservation of her energy and smooth passage, particularly her pelvic floor and adductors, as any physical tension could increase pain and slow labor. Gently and quietly remind her to release tension and allow her body to open.
Helpful ways to support her include encouragement, staying calm and helping her follow patterned breathing and chosen relaxation strategies. Help her change positions and rub any tense areas -- if she wants the touch. The strokes of abdominal effleurage during the active phase begin at the fundus and move toward the pubic bone in tandem with uterine contractions. Between contractions, try effleurage of the lower back, or she might prefer gentle pelvic rocking. Leg cramps or muscle spasms can be treated with active or passive stretching or appropriate light leg massage. She will most likely need assistance straightening her legs after squatting to either stand erect or sit down.
Birth
Most of the support during the baby's birth helps to calmly remind mother to stay relaxed and conserve her energy. You can offer some physical support such as counter-pressure or perineal support and help her find a comfortable birthing position.
Expulsion of the Placenta
In the tribal world, placental birth was usually very fast because women were in good physical shape and they used efficient birthing positions. Standing and stretching can expedite placental delivery. Massage was used almost exclusively to encourage expulsion of the placenta in tribal societies. Other procedures included contracting the abdominal muscle, having the woman sneeze, having the new mother bite on something very hard or having her blow into her hands or an empty bottle. Heat applications were also used to effectively expel the afterbirth.
The women of Morocco soak the end of the severed umbilical cord in oil heated over hot coals. Within a few minutes of the treatment, the new mother stands and the placenta falls out. The Filipinos warm the handle of a wooden rice ladle and press it against the woman's navel. In certain regions of Mexico, a hot tortilla is placed against the mother's right side. In India, the birth attendant oils her head and rubs it against the standing mother's belly until all the blood comes out. In Tahiti, the afterbirth is expelled as mother kneads her own abdomen while bathing in the sea. Her husband presses his foot against her to stimulate further expulsion of fetal detritus.
Abdominal massage from the fundus to the pubic bone, skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby (kangaroo care, nursing), nipple stimulation or oral stimulation (by the partner) promote the release of endogenous oxytocin that encourages the uterus to contract and expel the placenta. Midwives can stimulate acupuncture point Spleen 10 to release the placenta. Place the heel of your hand at the top border of the mother's knee. Your thumb should reach the belly of the vastus medialis muscle where the point is found. Hold for a count of 10, repeating until the uterus starts to contract.
If mom starts to shake, squeeze the arches of her feet to control the trembling and guide her through gentle breathing.
Many helpful bodywork and massage techniques, along with numerous comfort measures and coping strategies, can have a positive impact on the way a woman perceives and experiences her labor. These techniques also provide midwives with additional ways to keep their clients calm, comfortable and relaxed.
Elaine Stillerman, LMT, has been a New York State licensed massage therapist since 1978. She began her pioneering prenatal practice in 1980. She is the developer and instructor of the professional certification workshop "MotherMassage: Massage during Pregnancy" (www.MotherMassage.net) and the author of MotherMassage: a handbook for relieving the discomforts of pregnancy (Dell, 1992); The encyclopedia of bodywork (Facts On File, 1996); Prenatal massage: a textbook of pregnancy, labor, and postpartum bodywork (Mosby, 2008); Modalities for massage and bodywork (Mosby, publication date to be announced). She is the researcher and writer for the PBS-TV show "Real Moms, Real Stories, Real Savvy" and is proud to have helped organize the March 2008 Midwifery Today conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/
Image source http://smh.com.au/; http://www.birthrevolutionmidwifery.com/
Jane Mullin's Birth Story
Do you believe in fate? But funny how things turn out isn't it? I was about 6 months pregnant and at my lowest point. Banging my head against a system (the NHS) that treated my pregnancy like an illness that had to be dealt with as quickly and swiftly as possible. I had no say in the matter at all it seemed. I had my daughter, now six, in Vancouver, where the system is totally different and mothers to be are treated like first class citizens, where you are made to feel important and everything you said about your pregnancy mattered. It has a good before and after service catering to all concerns. It was very hospital run but still quite good support. To be doing this in England where you are just one of millions came as a very rude shock.
I had been determined to be high risk due to contracting viral meningitis early in my pregnancy but no one was particularly concerned, just put me in high risk and took away my options of doing anything else but going to a high risk hospital. There is no point naming hospitals but you will understand that there are just some places you do not want to go to, healthy, sick and let alone to have a baby in! I wanted a home birth or at the very least a low risk hospital. No one was interested in what I wanted, or even interested in how I felt about any of this. I was slotted into a hole and boy, was I having a hard time digging myself out. I felt powerless, and frustrated, and wretchedly depressed at a time I should have been enjoying an otherwise healthy pregnancy. No one was interested in how I wanted MY pregnancy to happen. It just had to fit into the system. I do have to defend the system a little as I do appreciate how busy these people are, but along the way they have lost all meaning of what it is they are doing and forgotten they are dealing with people with fears and concerns.
So I was at a very low point not knowing what I was going to do when, at a school function that I wasn't meant to be at, I ran into a fellow parent that I rarely get to see (the fate bit...) who is a midwife and we just stumbled into talking. It all snowballed from there. She mentioned a friend of hers who was an Independent Midwife who she was sure would be happy to just talk to me. Anyway to cut a long story short Liz and I got talking. Liz opened up a totally new world to me. One that I never knew existed to mothers. I was stunned at the rights I had, the choices I could make, and the options available. None of these had been mentioned to me and I was so amazed. I felt such a sense of, I have to say although it might seem extreme, euphoria. But if you can understand I felt so trapped and helpless and to talk to Liz was just so freeing.
After several telephone conversations with Liz, mixed in with a visit to my NHS midwife, I realized that there was no way I could go through the rest of this pregnancy and birth with any one else. I was panic stricken at the thought of doing it with anyone else. So Liz and I met. This meeting reinforced my feelings. In the meantime I finally was made low risk (a three minute conversation with a specialist who barely glanced at me) and so was set my conviction for a homebirth and the go-ahead to work with Liz.
From then on started a wonderful journey into the celebration of motherhood and childbirth. Liz provided me with a font of information. Filled me a sense of purpose and empowerment. We were celebrating this event, not in fear of it. Liz showed me how to enjoy this time, to allow all the feelings that were flowing through me happen, to talk about everything - there was no time limits (my NHS midwife had given me a time limit of 10 minutes to talk about my concerns), nothing I said was too big or too small to discuss. It was all quite a shock and took me a while to relax into this. There was a wonderful warmth to my pregnancy now. I was fearful many of the natural things you fear in the last months of pregnancy, but now I had someone's unfailing support in it all. The beauty of it was that Liz got to know me as a person. She was brilliant at getting to know me very quickly and so understood me. I never failed to be amazed how Liz would every visit ask me how I was feeling and really want to know! It took a while to actually know it was OK to express myself.
One of the many wonderful things about having an Independent Midwife is that they have time for you, and get to know you. So by the time you get to the actual labour, you know each other and what to expect, which is what Liz and I did. Liz impressed me with her professionalism, as well as her empathy with me. I felt safe - still nervous, but totally trusting that Liz would do her very best for me and my baby. Now having all the stress taken away and being able to plan the birth I wanted for myself and my baby, I could now actually give some thought time to the gift that was inside me - to quietly look at myself and really think about this time and celebrate this miracle.
The time was edging ever closer. Liz was either with me or on the end of the phone. I got it into head that the baby was going to be 2 weeks early and was frustrated when she wasn't. Liz just took me calmly through this time. She was reassuring and happy. Looking forward to the event helped me through those last anxious days when you want it to happen, but are scared for it as well. My daughter ended up being 4 days late, and started coming when I had finally stopped worrying and decided to just get on with things.
My waters broke, just a trickle really, at 2am and the contractions started pretty much straight away. Not painful but persistent. Lots but not regularly. I phoned Liz. She was her ever reassuring self, told me to rest and time the contractions and call her if anything changed, or if I just needed to chat to her. After 6 years you forget certain things but, once those contractions start, it soon comes back to you and boy, you know there is no going back. I had planned all sorts of things for my daughter and my mother (who was staying with us), as I wanted to be alone with my husband in the house when I had the baby. So I spent the rest of the morning working things out. The contractions were still persistent but do-able. My daughter woke her normal time around 7am and I told her the baby was its way and she had to get ready for school. After several phone calls, I had my mother at a friend's for the day, my daughter at school and my husband driving them all, and heading off to work. Once I finally had the house to myself - I remember it was 8.30 - I felt a huge relief and set to things. I tidied the house, did a load of washing, made soup and a cake, as you do.
In the middle of this Liz had phoned back, asked a few questions and said she was heading over. I didn't feel as if I needed her and was just planning the day to myself, thinking it would be like my 6 yrs old when I laboured for the day before having her late that night, anyway Liz arrived at 9.30 am. I was still making the soup, in between being on all fours on the floor as the contractions had taken hold. I remember Liz saying I'd like to have a look at you now and listen to the baby and me saying just one more carrot! Well, the soup got made, the wash got hung out and the cake cooled. Liz said, "I think we should get your husband home." I was fairly cracking into it by now. My husband got home and I was feeling OK. Surprised by how much it was hurting but OK. I had my homeopathic pregnancy kit and my Rescue Remedy, water, boiled sweets.
Liz was brilliant at reading my husband and I, and I remember thinking afterwards that she knew exactly when to leave us alone, and when to leave me alone. She just let me get on with what was working for me and allowing me to just act as my body was calling for me to respond. It was so unlike being in the hospital. She would check the baby every 5 minutes or so. I felt safe with her and trusted her totally. Things were hotting up and I felt scared as I was getting tired, managing things now, but not sure how long I had in me if things continued on like this. I took some Aconite from the kit and I think that helped.
Liz and my husband got the lounge room ready as Liz thought things were going along pretty quickly. I liked the fact that she never once did an internal examination. She would have, if I wanted it, but I didn't, and she didn't feel the need for it. We were just going along with my body, and didn't need to actually be inside to know how things were going. We tried the birthing chair, which we had looked at before, but on all fours was just working for me, pressing against my husband through each contraction.
It was different than my first child. I felt more in control, even if scared, but Liz was helping me to listen to my body. Open it up; welcome what was happening as each contraction was bringing me closer to my baby. I was willing it all on. Afraid of the pain and my strength and my ability to do this but at the same time saying come on let's do it, let's get on with this. All the time this is going on I was so aware that I was in my home doing this. I guess homebirth hadn't really thrilled me up till then. It was just that I didn't want to go to the hospital even more. But now in my own lounge room with the curtains drawn on a rainy Tuesday morning, with 2 people I trusted more than anything I was having my baby. This I found totally amazing. At first it felt weird just having my husband and Liz there. You expect loads of nurses and others would be mothers and Doctors and noise and just stuff. To be in my quiet home with the smell of soup, and cake, with just 2 people was almost spooky but then you relax into it and realize just how perfect this is, how natural and amazing - in your home doing your own thing. I loved it.
I didn't love the pushing. I was ready, felt so ready and just wanted the baby now. Liz said it was time to push and I did for what felt like 10 hrs (apparently it was about 10mins), but I just couldn't get that baby out. I begged that baby to come out but really felt I would never do it. It was really hard. How to describe that time? You are beyond scared, just putting all your energy into this. Liz was ever constant yet never intrusive, knowing when I needed help and when I needed to be left. I felt her and my husband's support from afar and felt safe to just do what I had to do. I don't remember feeling that feeling with my first daughter.
Well I wanted that baby out and, of course, she came out and this time I felt relief that it was over, which is all I had with my first child, but this time I felt love for that baby lying on my lounge room floor - a few seconds silence and a big angry yell for us all to enjoy. I felt the moment was just for us - not surrounded by bright lights and tin objects and machinery. I know odd images but that is what I remember from my first birth experience and it wasn't bad, don't get me wrong, but there was so many things around and going on. Whereas this time all I remember is my husband and I and our precious baby. Liz was there but so much a part of us that it didn't even feel like she was there. Moments must have past and I just lay and enjoyed our baby.
What was so wonderful about having a home birth was there was no sense of rushing - no one had to be anywhere. We chatted and enjoyed the baby. Liz and my husband made me comfortable, still on the floor and Liz just busied herself with the necessary things she had to do to see if the baby and I were all well but I didn't really notice any of it. I felt so calm and happy and just sucked in every part of my new baby. Any new mother will know the feeling of relief that the pain bit is over, and some that instant love, but how many are blessed with feelings of such tranquillity and peace and reassurance that comes with a home birth and care of a good midwife. I so wish that for every mother. It is such a treasured moment but so personal and I think sometimes you lose that in a hospital, as so much else is going on, and they have so much to do, and other women are just out that door. But this time was my time. A time that I would never have again and I really felt that Liz had given us that - by doing the homebirth and by being the kind of person that she is we were able to experience it on our level and our way. Every person is different but, I felt that Liz was able to feel in tune with us, and just allow us to be, and I cannot tell you how special that made this time.
I could feel the magic in my home and the power of motherhood. I know that may sound over the top, but what a feeling of empowerment to be able to do the most natural thing in the world as naturally as you like. Wow what a great feeling that I did this! We were celebrating and not just getting it over with and getting on with life. We just lay and enjoyed the moments. I had chosen not to have the Vitamin K for my baby and not to have the injection to move the placenta along. It just happened when it was ready.
I finally relinquished my hold on our daughter to her father, where he fell under her spell. Liz sorted out me and helped me into my own bathroom (Heaven! Not some hospital shower shared by thousands) and while I enjoyed that they turned our lounge room back into a lounge room. I came down to found out that I had given birth to a 9lb baby (ouch!) and we all sat down together - the 4 of us!- to the soup I had made earlier like it was the most normal everyday thing to give birth. My daughter felt as if she had always been with us and I hadn't moved out of my home! It was so wonderful to sit with Liz and my husband and chat and share the morning we had just spent. Laugh and delight at how wonderful it had been, how I had felt during it, how hard it was to get her out! Liz did all her necessary paperwork and made sure all was OK and with instructions to call her during the night if I needed to and that she would be back in the morning. She had arrived at our place 9.30 that morning and left about 5ish. How lucky was I to have such attention?
My daughter arrived home to find her new baby sister waiting for her. What a lovely thing to come home to. The four of us spent a fairly sleepless night altogether in the one bed just wanting to be together and delight in our new addition.
Of course the care didn't stop there. Liz came everyday for the first week. And I needed that. I just needed her. I needed her reassurance everything was OK. I was glowing with love for my baby, but after a few days the old anxiousness I had got with my first child set in and took hold a bit. Thankfully this time I had Liz in my home everyday and at the end of the phone line. I didn't have to leave my home for help, which in itself is stressful enough. Liz helped us with all the practical stuff as well: how to register the birth, national insurance number and all that stuff. I had daily support on getting the breast-feeding right and knew that all I had to do was try and get through that day until she came back. Because I don't know about you but those first couple of weeks feel like a lifetime and each day a year. Liz never made me feel foolish for my fears and anxieties- was professional, but a friend whose shoulder I could cry on as well. She knew her stuff, which reassured me. And I delighted in sharing my baby with her each day, which she seemed to enjoy nearly as much as I did.
It was hard for a while. I was very fearful but got such support that I did relax and was able to enjoy this baby. I had to wean myself off Liz and was aware that I needed to do this myself. But always knew that even after she discharged me from her care that she was only a phone call away. Liz knew me on such a personal level and gave us such a gift that we can never repay her. We think of her everyday and we cannot look at our daughter without thinking of the wonderful start she had in life. She is named Clancy Elizabeth after the wonderful woman who helped bring this miracle to our lives. And Clancy is such a wonderful calm happy baby. And every one comments on how calm and peaceful and relaxed she is. Such was her entry to the world. A homebirth with someone you trust has to be one of the most wonderful things a woman can experience.
Oh but might I add that my husband thought it wonderful too!
Back to School Lunches
Tips for resisting junk and making quick and delicious school meals
Amanda Rappak
Your memory of the school cafeteria as a drab place that served limp-looking salads and tired burgers is no fiction, and they don't seem to have improved much. That picture becomes alarming when you consider that cafeterias are feeding more children than ever before, in part because fewer parents are cooking and packing up the leftovers. The freshness that's sacrificed in packaged foods, paired with poor-quality mass-produced and processed items, puts children at risk of missing out on total nutrition, not to mention depriving them of the simple pleasure of eating good food. On the flip side, there's evidence that kids actually learn better and show fewer signs of eating disorders when they get meals made with fresh ingredients and a diversity of fruits and vegetables. So how can you get your kids to school with "real" food -- on time and on budget?
Real Food for Real Kids
For Lulu Cohen-Farnell, going back to the basics of eating home-cooked, nutritious, quality food is like a revolution. As founder and co-owner of Real Food for Real Kids (RFRK), she has launched school lunch programs that help kids become aware of what they put into their bodies, a message that creates good food habits that last a lifetime. RFRK began five years ago when Lulu and her husband David realized that their son's childcare centre -- though it offered outstanding service -- was providing the same average-quality lunches as the majority of such centres in the city; meals filled with low-quality, highly processed options packed with sugar and sodium. Lulu's subsequent decision to send Max with his own nutritious snacks and lunches hit a nerve at the centre. Not surprisingly, its eats didn't stack up well against Max's healthy, fresh and tasty homemade food, so the child care centre invited Lulu to cater its kids meals. RFRK was born.
Food should look good, be good for your tummy, smell great and be shared, says Lulu, and the RFRK Lunch Club puts these ideals into practice by showing kids that eating good food is something to appreciate. RFRK has strict criteria for sourcing ingredients and it works hard to establish partnerships with local farmers and producers. The program signs up a minimum of 60 children per school or 35 per childcare centre and then rolls in with freshly made delicious food that gets dished out with the help of a 'Real Food Lunch Club Coach' and parent volunteers. Children bring their stainless steel containers, eat with real cutlery, get served, and then sit down together with their food. This idea of commensality -- or sharing a meal with loved ones and friends -- is also a tenet of the Slow Food philosophy (which RFRK deeply supports and practices). Lulu says that parents have really welcomed the program because they notice that their kids feel better and that their energy has changed (they're calmer and more balanced, yet energized).
New lunch rules
According to Cohen-Farnell, the ideal lunch is made of some hearty leftovers (based around a nutritious grain such as couscous or quinoa is best) packed in a thermos along with some fruit for a snack. Sounds easy enough, right? Not if you don't leave the grocery store with the right basics, she says. Identifying healthy sustainable meal ingredients can be harder than it looks. For example, many milk products, generally thought of as nutritious, contain unnecessarily high amounts of sugar, as do things like canned beans. So here are her tips on navigating the supermarket and putting together great lunches:
1. Just don't bring the junk home. If you know you'll be faced with a tantrum in the store when you start saying no to the sugary cereals or salty chicken nuggets, try going solo. You're the boss. If that's not an option, try to teach your kids to be "food detectives" who scan the shelves for products to be wary of and decode labels.
2. Eat less meat -- and when you buy it, buy better quality meat and if possible, straight from a small-scale, local farm using organic feed.
3. Keep an open mind. Don't assume that just because you don't like a food, your child won't either.
3. Avoid using junk food as a reward. You'll serve your children better by bringing them food that restores and nourishes them, rather than just fulfilling a craving. To peak their interest in real food, take field trips to a farmers' market or nearby farm and show them that carrots are grown in the ground! (Better still, next spring, get them growing their own!)
4. Make eating fun. Go on picnics, making sure to bring reusable containers along for a zero-waste lunch in a park or at the beach.
5. Find ways to include your kids in the kitchen. As a mother, Lulu knows that giving a kid a carrot to peel could take forever. But, she insists, there are ways to keep their interest. For example, try quizzing your little one about a food's origins, how it grows, the way it tastes, its colour, etc. The key is making it fun!
6. Relax. A good food pantry doesn't happen overnight, so give yourself time to make the adjustment to adding whole grains and spices to your cabinet, experimenting with new tastes and gradually removing the crave-oriented snacks and junk foods from your household altogether. But get started. It's nearly harvest season, so now is the best time to change!
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/
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Healthy Snacks for Kids : Vegetarian Food Pyramid
Organic Breakthrough: Pesticides out, Electrons in
We are consuming more now than ever, and thus the demand is enormous. Suppliers have a little secret that the average consumer does not know or ask about, and that is, how this increasing demand is being met.
One company that has led the way in discovering the solution to that very problem is Monsanto. The only problem is that their solutions have hurt more than they have helped -- but have been very profitable for them.
They are the makers/creators of a well-known herbicide, Roundup, used for commercial soybean crops and maize. Monsanto also introduced BGH (bovine growth hormone), which involves injecting cows with artificial steroids/hormones that would allow a much higher volume of production, thus meeting increased demand. The results have us consuming unhealthy amounts of God knows what and the animal activists boycotting.
The processes by which we meet these demands in America are outlawed in most countries around the world because of the concern of genetically modified foods. Monsanto isn't allowed to touch the food supply in most parts of Europe and Canada.
With our cows and chickens being pumped full of steroids and antibiotics, and our veggies tainted with chemicals, there is no way we can continue on this path without serious complications. We have already started seeing the effects of such tactics, and so we have turned to organic. We are becoming more conscientious of what goes into our bodies and the process by which our food is produced. But, with organic comes a very important question and concern; does organic mean a greater potential for contamination? Some feel that it's not worth taking the risk nor is it worth paying more for a supposedly healthier alternative.
We have seen recent outbreaks of contaminated vegetables and the results can cost millions, and possibly even lives. What if there was a solution to the problem for not only for commercial crops, but organic as well, that didn't involve chemicals.
According to Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, there is a solution.
Instead of using harmful fungicides on crops, researchers have developed a method that involves bombarding seeds with electrons to kill fungal spores and viruses.
A growing number of consumers prefer to buy organic foods that have been grown without the use of chemical pesticides. Conventional farming practice involves treating seeds with a mixture of chemicals: Fungicides to protect the emerging seedlings from attack by microscopic fungi, insecticides against wireworms, aphids and biting insects, herbicides to suppress weeds.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP in Dresden have developed an alternative to fungicide treatment.
"If cereal crops succumb to disease, this is usually due to microscopic fungi and spores present on the outer surface and in the husk of the seeds. Instead of using chemical products to eradicate these spores, we make use of accelerated electrons," says FEP team leader Dr. Olaf Roder.
So what happens when the electrons hit the seeds?
"It's not unlike cooking. For instance, when you make strawberry jam, the germs are killed by the high temperature - and your jam will keep for years. The electrons destroy the chemical bonds that hold together the molecules in the fungal spores and other pathogens, but without generating heat. You might say that they cause the molecules to explode," explains Roder.
The plant developed by the researchers exposes the seed to electrons as it falls through the treatment zone. It is capable of treating 30 metric tons of seeds per hour - or disinfecting the entire surface of around 200,000 individual seeds per second. But the greatest challenge is not the speed of the process.
"Plant seeds are living organisms. If we damage the plant embryo, the seed will not germinate. We therefore have to dose the energy of the electrons very precisely, to ensure that they penetrate no further than the outer layers of the seed," says Roder.
The researchers are disinfecting around 5,000 metric tons of seeds per year in collaboration with seed growers Schmidt-Seeger-GmbH.
"Our method has been approved for use in conventional arable farming, and is even recommended for use in organic farming. We are planning to set up a spin-off company to take over and expand these production activities," reports Roder.
At the Parts2Clean fair from October 28 to 30 in Stuttgart, the research team will be demonstrating numerous other disinfecting and sterilization technologies for the pharmaceutical and medical engineering industries, in addition to the e-ventus technology for seeds described above.
http://weheartworld.com/
The Key to Affordable Health Care: Healthier Lifestyles
Scientists are reporting a breakthrough therapy to lower the risk of developing the most common and deadly chronic diseases by about 80 percent.
The therapy is called taking care of yourself: not smoking, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet and maintaining a healthy weight.
Obesity is costing the American healthcare system more than $100 million annually. Diabetes costs nearly $150 billion, cancer care costs more than $200 billion, and heart disease costs more than $300 billion annually.
The key to affordable healthcare is disease prevention, not treatment.
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It's abundantly clear that the American health care system is crumbling. Priced at nearly $8,000 a year per American, and soon to be 20 percent of the GDP, it's 40-60 percent more expensive than health care systems in any other industrial country, and totals nearly half the health care budget of the entire world.
I doubt few of us would vigorously object if this investment was producing important benefits, as health is one of the most precious gifts we could have. However, as you well know, this is not the case and this funding produces shockingly poor results.
What's missing in all of the debates about health care reform for the United States is a holistic approach to health, as opposed to figuring out how to pay for all this disease.
Our focus needs to shift to figuring out how to give everyone more time to relax, exercise, have access to healthy, unprocessed foods, and sleep a sufficient amount of hours.
It makes such perfect sense that the most effective way to treat disease is by treating its foundational cause. Yet conventional medicine has spent decades fighting this notion and pushing pills to mask superficial symptoms instead.
Which is why it's refreshing, to say the least, to see an article like this in conventional media.
The Cumulative Protective Effect of a Healthy Lifestyle is Greater Than Any Medicine
This European study, involving over 23,000 Germans, shows just how fantastic the results of a healthy lifestyle can be.
The cumulative effects of just four healthy factors: not smoking, exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining a healthy weight, resulted in:
- An average of 36 percent reduced risk of ALL cancers
- A 93 percent reduced risk of diabetes
- An 81 percent reduced risk of heart disease
These are three of the most common types of chronic diseases, and as you all know, chronic diseases are very expensive - you have to pay to treat it for the rest of your life.
Let's look at one example: obesity.
Treating weight-related diseases costs the U.S. $147 billion a year; double what it was nearly a decade ago. The high price tag reflects the costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other ailments that develop as a result of being overweight.
Obesity-related conditions now account for just over 9 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.
Diabetes, in turn, costs the nation $190 billion a year to treat, and excess weight is the single biggest risk factor for developing diabetes.
So it all rolls downhill. We simply must shift away from the conventional mindset of treating these diseases as if they are "unavoidable," and start paying for disease prevention. If the U.S. did that, hundreds of billions of dollars could soon be saved.
I've long stated that type 2 diabetes is nearly 100 percent avoidable, and the results of the massive European study above confirm my own assessment. We're spending $190 billion dollars on a disease that would not exist were it not for poor lifestyle choices.
Ditto for heart disease, which costs more than $300 billion annually. It's important to realize that these diseases are NOT unavoidable aspects of aging or genetics.
A vast majority of these cases would simply disappear if healthy choices were taught widely and implemented on an individual basis.
Unfortunately, both the pharmaceutical and food industries are hard at work to make sure finding out the truth about what's healthy, and what's not, is as confusing and difficult as possible.
How to Reduce Your Health Care Costs for Life
You can be very confident that additional government involvement doesn't hold the answer to the health care crisis. What is needed is more personal involvement -- your personal involvement -- in the form of a commitment to your own health.
So many people claim they can't afford preventive care. But in reality, the question should be: Can you really afford NOT to?
If you carefully follow some basic health principles -- simple things like exercising, eating whole foods, sleeping enough, getting sun exposure, and reducing stress in your life -- you will drastically reduce your need for conventional medical care.
Remember, the drug industry spends about $15 billion a year manipulating and distorting your perceptions about the proper solutions for your health challenges. And, the food industry spends TWICE that much to brainwash you and your children to choose highly processed convenience foods that will accelerate your path toward death and disease -- and your need to use drugs to control your symptoms.
For example, if you've fallen for any of these health myths, then you have bought into incorrect propaganda designed to benefit something other than your long-term health:
- Sun exposure causes skin cancer
- Milk (pasteurized and homogenized) does your body good
- Whole grains are good for you
- Fish is good for you
- Saturated fat causes heart disease
It's a vicious cycle of deceit, misinformation, and manipulation. Fortunately you can take control of your health and step out of this crazy loop.
To get you started, these 10 Steps to Optimal Health are BASIC tenets of health, based on simple truths that will never go out of style that are not dependent on the latest fads concocted by some special interest group:
1. Address your emotional traumas and manage your stress;
2. Get optimal exposure to sunlight;
3. Drink plenty of clean water;
4. Limit your exposure to toxins;
5. Consume healthy fat;
6. Eat a healthy diet that's right for your nutritional type (paying very careful attention to keeping your insulin levels down);
7. Eat plenty of raw food;
8. Optimize your insulin and leptin levels;
9. Exercise;
10. Get plenty of good sleep.
By adhering to these basic tenets of optimal health - the basics of a healthy lifestyle, not just a temporary fix for a particular ailment -- you are building a healthy mind and body, and thereby safeguarding yourself against a multitude of health problems and serious diseases.
http://articles.mercola.com/
Image Source: http://specialreport.blogs.foxnews.com/
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Biodynamic Gardening
Storing Tomatoes
Everyone who grows more than two tomato plants - and who doesn't - invariably ends up with a lot of tomatoes, both with ripe ones, and a lot of green ones, as the tomato plants keep producing until frost kills them. And while one can freeze a lot of tomatoes - cut up into chunks and sealed in plastic bags - this is good only for use in soups and pasta sauces. To enjoy that incomparable taste of a vine ripened tomato, fresh storage is the only answer.
First of all, listen carefully to the weather report for night frosts. Most tomato plants can be protected against cool weather and light night frost with a cover of clear plastic to extend the ripening period. Still, all tomatoes should be picked before the first hard frost at the latest - or before night time temperatures are consistently under 45 degrees F (10 degrees C).
All Tomatoes
Chose only unblemished tomatoes for storage, tomatoes which are free from any cracks, cuts and sign of decay. Remove the stems of the tomatoes and wash well in cool water. Many experts recommend washing the tomatoes in a light bleach solution of one tablespoon of household bleach to one gallon of water, to disinfect the fruit. This greatly extends their storage life. The bleach will not pass through the skin of the fruit and once removed from the wash water and allowed to dry naturally the chlorine from the bleach will evaporate leaving no residue or taste. Let the washed tomatoes dry on cloth or paper towels, and wrap them individually in paper. Store in the dark in shallow trays at a temperature close to 60 degrees F. (20 degrees C.) and a relative humidity of 85-90%, in a place with good air circulation. Most cool basements fit this bill.
Ripe Tomatoes
Tomatoes store and ripen best in the dark, and not on the window sill, where they will shrivel, turn bitter and rot. Never store tomatoes in the refrigerator; this will cause early rotting, failure to ripen, and marked loss of flavour and texture. And temperature above 70 degrees F (25 degrees C.) will also cause early rotting, and loss of texture and taste.
Unripe Tomatoes
Mature tomatoes, those that have begun to color have formed gel in the inside, will ripen naturally from the inside out. Ripening of these tomatoes can be accelerated by placing them in a generous plastic bag and adding a ripe apple. Ripe apples exude ethylene gas, which is the the same natural ripening agent which tomatoes also produce when ripening on the vine. This will result in almost the same heavenly flavour of vine ripened tomatoes.
Check your stored tomatoes often for signs of cracking and decay and remove these tomatoes to prevent its spread to others. With a little care, tomatoes will last to six weeks and longer, and although not quite the same as vine ripened tomatoes, these tomatoes will still have a far better taste than most store bought tomatoes.
http://www.salescene.com/
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Angelic Organics - Biodynamic Farm
Growing Garlic
Like daffodils and other winter hardy bulbs, garlic overwinters well here and is best planted in fall - from the middle of September to the middle of October. And just like daffodils, garlic is extremely easy to grow - it's as easy as just sticking some cloves into the ground and forgetting about them. All that's needed is a raised bed so things don't get too soggy for them in our wet winters.
And any kind of garlic that appeals to you can be grown from its cloves. The best kinds of are usually found in Italian and Greek specialty stores. Check them out, and plant the garlic you like best.
Like all biennials, garlic stores growth resources in a bulb in its first year, and then flowers in its second year. This means that when the planted cloves sprout next year, they need a lots of fertilizer to make lots of green growth - the more green growth the larger the bulbs. Side dress once a week with a high nitrogen fertilizer, starting in spring and throughout their green growth period.
Plant the cloves root side down, about twice as deep as the height of the cloves, three to four inches apart in the row, in rows 12 inches apart. Five to ten feet of row will provide all but very large Italian families with all the garlic one can use. Garlic is disease and insect free - it is often used as in insect deterrent - and in our typical springs and summers, irrigation is not needed either.
Harvest garlic when the seed stalks are mature, or depending on kind, when the top leaves turn brown and fall over. Dig up the bulbs, leave the leaves attached, and hang them in the sun to dry. After they have dried the stalks can be removed, or left on and braided together for a garlic braid. Save the largest cloves for planting in the fall again. And that's all there is to growing an abundance of your own organic, poison free and supremely healthy garlic.
Silverskin
This familiar variety can also be grown from an early spring planting, and is great for long storage and braiding
Rocambole
With a hotter flavour than Silverskin, this garlic is the favourite among chefs, and is best planted in fall. Breaking off the flower stalks results in larger bulbs. Initially, the inner skin is purple which turns brown when cured.
Elephant Garlic
This is the mildest garlic and makes huge bulbs which mature in August, from its green growth which can grow five feet tall. Its cloves often rival the size of the whole bulb of the other garlics. It is also best planted in the fall. Because of its mild flavour, it is often used just like a vegetable in scrumptious gourmet dishes.
http://www.salescene.com/
Image Source: http://mountainstewards.icardnow.com/ |
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What non-profits know about energy efficiency
(and what you should too)
One of the misconceptions that has had a lot of legs but which has started to shatter of late is the idea that the green economy - energy efficiency, renewable energy, organic agriculture, the local living economy movement - is "too expensive".
In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The problem is that massive pricing distortions have created conditions at a structural level under which the polluting economy - the grey economy - is priced in such a manner as to be artificially cheap.
We know about the direct subsidies for the grey economy: billions of dollars a year in direct funding to the fossil fuel industry; hundreds of millions of dollars for muscle cars in Ontario; nuclear plants that perform at 1/3rd levels of operational downtime. Then there's the indirect subsidies that are vastly greater: pollution; smog; climate change; pervasive poverty; the clear-cutting of old growth forests; the destruction of water-sheds.
What's encouraging is that people are starting to get it and they are getting it real quick.
This constitutes a sea-change in collective consciousness and it's one that business and industry once again finds itself attempting to play catch-up on. (You'll note that I left out government. The problems regarding the lack of innovation in Canada fall directly at the feet of industry, not government).
Over the past several months my business partner and I have been planning out a total energy retrofit of a non-profit housing property in Toronto's east end. A complete efficiency overhaul is required in order for this circa-1985 property, designed as low-cost housing and operated privately by the Riverdale Housing Action Group, to continue delivering on its affordable housing mandate.
In the coming months, we'll be undertaking a retrofit plan with this modest property that will:
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Replace electric baseboard heating and window mounted air conditioning units with geothermal heating and cooling
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Enhance building envelope performance with new insulation, doors and windows
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Integrate energy recycling systems such as grey water heat recapture and energy recovery ventilators that both pre-condition and enhance indoor air quality
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Integrate a thermal storage system that will enable the building to benefit from time of day electricity pricing
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Capture rainwater on-site for use in the property's vegetable garden
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Verify carbon offset credits which can be sold, resulting in future revenue for the organization
It turns out that funding by the City of Toronto is making this project happen. However, the client was committed to this project regardless. Simply put, the operational cost reductions would have been self-funding; the cost of borrowing and the depletion of the organization's capital fund would have been met by energy cost reductions. Put another way, if you can get a 17% ROI on a project and you can borrow money at 7%, the project becomes self-funding and enables cost shifting from operating to capital budgets.
Such self-funding projects are among us in the countless thousands - from lighting upgrades to solar heating systems for pools and apartment buildings to geothermal retrofits to the complete re-skinning of buildings.
If non-profit housing providers understand that operational cost reductions better enable them to deliver on their core mission and that such undertakings are self-funding, Canadian industry has run out of excuses for beginning the massive efficiency project it needs in order to ensure its strategic survival - never-mind our survival as a species - in the 21st century.
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/
Image Sources: http://conservationreport.files.wordpress.com/
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A demonstration of green construction
These articles come directly from researchers and are passed on to everybody. The company assumes no liability for any content in these articles.
For Educational purposes only. This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease
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