Oh Happy Day Birth Doula Services

Don't be fooled into thinking that you can teach your baby to self-soothe by leaving them to cry.

Leaving them to cry teaches them one thing only - that they can't rely on you to help them when they need you. Self soothing is a complex and mature skill that develops as the baby's brain and physical capabilities grow. This process can't be sped up by any form of sleep-training, ever.

When it 'works' it doesn't mean the baby is sleeping-through it just means they are quiet when they wake. Research shows they wake just as much as they did before the training.

The best way to enable your baby to self Soothe as quickly as possible is to nurture them and meet their needs now. Nurturance grows brains and is the foundation of true emotional regulation. 💕

Whether you choose Hospital birth, Home birth or Birthing center for your birth, understanding the main differences is important!

Thank you
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🌟According to the results of this study (link below) consuming dates in late pregnancy was effective in decreasing length of labor processes and reduced the need of oxytocin for labor acceleration. Thus, it is recommended to consume dates in women without contraindications.

🛑 People who take monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) drugs, which are sometimes prescribed for depression, should avoid eating dates. Dates contain the amino acid tyramine, which can interact with these drugs and produce a life-threatening rise in blood pressure. Tyramine can also trigger migraine headaches in some people.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5637148/
Prescription for Dietary Wellness
Phyllis A. Balch

The poster below is a perfect example of anti-breastfeeding "information". This notion that you can't eat certain foods when breastfeeding is not based in science. Let's look at some of the information.

First of all let's look at foods that "okay" for breastfeeding mothers. Nothing really wrong with what they say except that you don't have to take in calcium to make milk with calcium. But the real problem is that this is a diet for people who are relatively affluent. Many mothers could not afford to eat such a diet and thus be frightened into formula feeding, which, I should emphasize is actually more expensive that the foods mentioned here. This is a stratagem used by formula companies. A prime example a few years ago was a campaign by one formula company in Brazil, supported by the Brazilian pediatric society, saying that your breastfed baby eats what you eat. Posters were widely distributed showing a baby suckling at a breast that looks like a doughnut, or looks like a hamburger.

What about the panels of foods "to avoid".

1. Sugary foods. The poster says in this section to avoid fatty foods and salty foods as well as sugary foods. We all should try to keep our sugar, salt and fat intake at a reasonable level. But to imply that if you eat a lot of sugar your baby has an increased risk of obesity is just plain wrong. Breastmilk, in fact, does not change much in response to what you eat. It changes from morning to evening, from day to day, from month 1 to month 6, and later, but not because of what you eat. But if you eat a lot of sugar, your milk will have the same amount of sugar as if you ate no sugar at all.

2. "You might find that just a dash of pepper is enough to make your baby irritated and fussy for hours". This is pure fantasy. There is no evidence for this being true. And it is unlikely that anything in pepper or other spices would get into the milk in quantities that would bother the baby.

3. Citrus fruits? "Certain compounds" are supposed to the irritating to the baby´s gut. Oh, please! If these "certain compounds got into the milk would they not be irritating to the breast or ni**le?

4. Caffeine? Babies do not excrete caffeine as rapidly as adults true, but so little gets into the milk that a cup or two of coffee will not bother the baby. Caffeine is given to premature babies as a treatment and nobody worries about how they might excrete caffeine. It's not right to deprive breastfeeding mothers from drinking coffee and tea in reasonable amounts. This poster eliminates much of what mothers like to eat.

5. Processed foods? Not a great choice for anyone, this is not specific to breastfeeding mothers. But just as above, the preservatives will not get into the milk in any significant quantities.

6. Garlic? Are they insane? Garlic does not bother babies. This is prejudice against people who eat garlic. Most of the world loves garlic and eat it when the baby breastfeeds without harm to anyone.

7. No peppermint, fennel, parsley, or chamomile? There is no evidence for this to show that the way people typically eat these can reach therapeutic levels.

8. Alcohol, no level of alcohol in the milk is safe for the breastfed baby? Except that almost no alcohol gets into the milk. See this article http://ibconline.ca/maternal-medications/. Alcohol is discussed near the end of the article, but it's worth reading the whole thing.

This poster is an appalling attempt to frighten women out of breastfeeding and enjoying what they like to eat. These restrictions on what breastfeeding mothers can eat have been debunked decades ago. Let's encourage good nutrition for everyone, and let's stop haranguing breastfeeding mothers into stopping breastfeeding by worrying them about their diets.

You can find a more about how to prevent problems with breastfeeding, including preventing fussiness, "colic", "reflux" "allergy to something in the mother's milk" and much more in my ebook called Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents: www.ibconline.ca/ebook

OBGYN Accused of Negligence After 23-year-old Mom Dies After He ‘Forcibly’ Removes Placenta During Birth California OBGYN Dr. Arthur Park is being accused of negligence following the death of a 23-year-old mother who died in his care.

The 'sleep industry' in the West is huge. The obsession with getting babies to sleep longer and more deeply than is appropriate for their developmental age is a burden many parents experience.

HOW DO I GET THEM TO SLEEP! HOW DO I GET THEM TO SLEEP THROUGH? HOW DO I GET THEM TO NAP LONGER? HOW DO I GET THEM TO NAP NOT ON ME?

Parents feel they are somehow failing if their baby doesn't nap for X minutes, or sleep a total of X hours a day, or if baby needs their help getting to sleep. Parents can feel ashamed, like they are lacking skill, like they're not cut out for parenthood, like they don't know what they're doing, and are often sold the unhelpful lie that baby sleep is the most important thing to 'nail' in the first year. Again, otherwise you're failing.

This is a Friday reminder from us - that you are not failing.

In many parts of the world, infant sleep is not such an obsession. Life goes on around it and the mother isn't basing her worth on such a small fragment of what it means to love and care for a baby.

Your baby is so much more than their ability to sleep deeply and for a long time. This isn't the sole reason they came into the world. They came into the world to be a person for you to love, for you to hold, for you to enjoy, for you to get to know.

There are good nights, less good nights, ok nights and awful ones. Better nap days, train wreck nap days, no nap days and great nap days. Every single parent has to learn to ride the highs and surf the lows. There is no escaping them. You get the picture....

Imagine how much less stressed those at home looking after babies and toddlers would be if they really knew this in their hearts. It doesn't mean sleep isn't important, and that Mums/Dads don't need a break in the relentlessness of it all. Of course they do. But if society stopped focusing in on sleep as a measure of the worth of the parent, or the success of a parent & instead understood normal infant sleep and supported parents while they were in the trenches of it in those early years, imagine how different it could be. I'm sure we're not the only ones who think that would be a great shift in thinking and therefore parental experience.

You're not failing. And neither is your baby.

Have a great weekend.

Cl****is and p***s anatomy. If you don’t know, now you know. It’s all the same embryologic origin!

Nerdy talk 🤓: “The male sc***um and female l***a majora come from the same embryonic structure called the l***ascrotal fold. The paired dorsal erectile tissues called the corpora cavernosa are found in both the p***s and cl****is. The head of the p***s and cl****is both come from the embryonic ge***al tubercle.” Ken Saladin, Emeritus professor of biology and author.


It’s important to know that there can be variations of this AND the actual gender that someone identifies with is related to a variety of factors including the brain and hormones - not just how the external organs present.

Unlike the p***s, the cl****is usually does not contain the urethra and is therefore not used for urination. There’s a separate urethra and opening that is still very close to the cl****is and associated nerves. The cl****is also usually lacks a reproductive function. But as Urologist Dr. Helen O’Connell states “It boils down to rivalry between the s*xes: the idea that one s*x is s*xual and the other reproductive. The truth is that both are s*xual and both are reproductive." She also believes that the urethra and va**na are related structures (which makes sense, right!?), forming a cluster with the cl****is- the primary location of female s*xual function and or**sm.

Pretty cool, huh? What are your thoughts? Hit like if you like this anatomy talk. 😉

Baskin, L.S., Differentiation, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diff.2018.08.001.

https://urology.ucsf.edu/sites/urology.ucsf.edu/files/uploaded-files/attachments/4_s_development_of_the_p***s_and_cl****is_1-s2.0-s0301468118300938-main.pdf


O'Connell HE, et al. J Urol. 2005.

Anatomy & Physiology: The Unity of Form and Function
8th Edition. Kenneth Saladin (and quora quote).

IG: pelvicguru1

18 Striking Photos That Capture The Intensity Of Birth Birth Becomes Her announced its annual photography contest winners.

These days, around 70% of women get epidurals when they're in labor, and that number has been increasing steadily for years. But do women really know what is in the epidural...or the potential risks they face?

Regardless of what any woman chooses, she deserves full, complete informed choice.

Most epidurals are a combination of two drugs: bupivacaine and fentanyl. The medication does cross the placenta and get to the baby, but the effects on babies aren't well-studied. Some old studies show that babies were a bit irritable or "difficult" in the first few days after birth, and that this affected bonding and maternal perception of motherhood, but there aren't more recent studies to confirm or deny this.

Maternal risks are more clear. There's an increased risk of both instrument-assisted delivery and caesarean delivery. Plus, many women develop fevers, low blood pressure, dizziness, nausea, and may have slightly longer labors. Babies are more likely to be malpositioned.

Of course, in some cases, moms can get exhausted or tense from pain, and an epidural might be what allows them to keep laboring and deliver successfully.

There are different blends of pain medications and different amounts given, and lower levels of pain medications -- sometimes referred to as "walking epidurals" -- seem to have fewer risks for mom with good outcomes for mom and baby.

If you are considering an epidural, ask questions about what kind of medication you would be given, the dose, and how much control you would have over it. Explore non-drug options as well.

Sources:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25040829
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4718011/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279567/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3417963/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106379/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25126704
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4921713/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7238154
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4335561/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5136389/