As your doula, I will help you gather knowledge and encourage you. I will remind you of your goals and values. I know that you are the expert on you. I trust that you will make the best decisions for you and your baby. I recognize that you have the power of choice and I will honour that power whether or not they are choices I would make for myself. I know that each birth is different and you are capable and in charge of your experience. I will support you in your moments of vulnerability and in your moments of strength. I will listen with compassion and serve you with my hands and my heart. I believe in you.
As a placenta encapsulator I get to see lots of unique placentas and umbilical cords from women around Adelaide. One feature that often pops up is false knots in the umbilical cord. What is a false knot in an umbilical cord? A false knot (or pseudoknot) is a very common variation in umbilical cords caused by extra looping of the blood vessels inside the whartons jelly. False knots do not have any clinical significance and can range from very small to several centimetres. The video below shows one example of a larger false knot. Drying out the cord enables you to see the blood vessels inside the whartons jelly quite well. What's the difference between a true knot and a false knot?
What was your experience? Did you have a false knot or a true knot in your cord? Share your experience below You can learn more about the medical side of cord knots here on Medscape AuthorKelly Harper has been providing professional placenta encapsulation services for families around Adelaide and South Australia since 2012. As the Founder of Placenta Services Australia she has a strong interest in placenta encapsulation safety and research. Free Birth Affirmations To Print At Home
Birth Affirmations can act as reminders of your birth philosophies, help set a positive frame of mind, relax you and make your birth environment your own.
Print them out, hang them around your home or hospital room as reminders to you and your care providers. Share them with friends Click on each picture to be taken to the pdf download. Enjoy and have a positive birth Kelly x PS If you're local to Adelaide you might like to also join our free antenatal classes through the Positive Birth Movement. More information is available in our Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/1394215413942214/ What does a Doula do?Part one ... what you may not expect I do
Believe it or not, my role as a Doula is not to just hold your hand and rub your back throughout contractions or surges (although I can do that if you like). I am not there to check your labour progress, "protect you from the system" or act as an intermediary between you and your care provider. So just what do I do?
As your doula, I am your companion throughout pregnancy, labour, birth and postpartum. We spend many hours together, before birth, building our relationship to help you recognise the skills and capacities YOU need for autonomy in YOUR birth.
The 5 areas we work together in
1. Your Values What sort of birth do you want and what is the best care model for you to achieve this? How do you want to feel during and after your birth? Not just physically but emotionally too! In what circumstances are you happy for your care provider to make decisions for you? Would you prefer that decisions were made together between you, your partner and your care provider? Did you want to make informed choices for yourself - do you know you have the legal right to do that? Your values will affect the decisions you make about your preferences for care and whilst no-one can guarantee the outcome of your birth, our work together will ensure you feel confident and in control of your choices. 2. Your Options As a doula I am employed by you, not the hospital or your care provider and as such I am not generally bound by their policies and procedures. I am guided by your wishes and my ethical and legal responsibilities. This means we can discuss ALL the options, not just the ones presented by routine procedures, and look at all the pros and cons of these options before you give birth. Are there policies you agree with, policies you are happy to find a mutually agreeable compromise about or policies that you don't agree with and if you can't find a compromise, would it suit you better to find a more compatible care provider or birth setting? There is always more than one option available to you! 3. Communication Active participation in your health care requires effective communication and collaboration between you, your partner, your family, medical staff and others. Together we can explore how to respectfully state your views or express your concerns assertively, discuss the best questions to ask to get the information you need to make an informed decision or even role play various scenarios you may come across. 4. Your Decisions "Women do not make choices or experience pregnancy and birth in a vacuum. Their partners, families, peers and health-care providers all influence the process of bringing a child into the world." I recognise that you do not make decisions in isolation and prepare you to use various decision making tools to weigh up the benefits and risks where required. My responsibility is to facilitate the skills and capacities you already have within you so that you feel listened to, more knowledgeable and so that your choices reflect your values, reducing the possibility of remaining undecided or regretting your decisions. 5. Reflection Reflective practise is a way of using past experiences as learning situations, especially helpful for previous births and decisions. We look at how you made those choices, were they in line with your values and at being responsible for your actions. If there is a difference between your expectations and the outcome, how can you do things differently this time so that your actions align with your goals? I believe these five areas are some of the most important skills we can work on as they promote what YOU can already do and work towards fostering your self-confidence and trust in yourself, your body and baby and your birth team. Stay tuned for Part 2 of What I do as your Doula.
This blog is based on the work of Sandra Meadow and the Doula's role in fostering relational autonomy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kelly is a birth and postnatal doula working in the Adelaide area. She has a strong belief in families making informed decisions about their health care and happily works within the following hospitals: Women's & Children's, Lyell McEwin, Flinders Medical Centre, Burnside, Calvary, Ashford and North Eastern Community. You can contact her here to book a Birth Clarity Session or to hire Kelly as your Doula. What is World Doula Week? World Doula Week started in Israel as World Doula Day in 2010 by Ruti Karni Horowitz who had no idea about International Doula Month. The event was a huge success, so Ruti had suggested that it become a world-wide event to celebrate doulas globally. Initally, World Doula Day (March 22) was chosen because it is the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, which represents the return of fertility in countless cultures. When the committee was formed, they all decided to expand World Doula Day (March 22) into a World Doula Week (March 22-28) so that multiple events could be planned to help spread the word about doulas. The goal is to spread the word about doulas and to encourage doulas to continue improving the physiological, social, emotional, and psychological health of women, newborns, and families in birth and in the postpartum period. In honour of World Doula Week and this years theme " Doulas Benefit Everyone" I would like to offer 1 person the opportunity to have doula support during their birth for $150.
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About MeKelly Harper is the owner of Elemental Beginnings Doula & Placenta Services in Adelaide. She provides sleep consultancy, placenta encapsulation and doula services to families during pregnancy, birth and in their fourth trimester. |
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