What isThe Fourth Trimester and How Do You Survive It?
The fourth trimester is the three months after you have had your baby. Many of us want to know not only how to survive during this time, but how to thrive. Read on if this is you! From Mum's point of view A new mother's emotional and social experience of the first days and weeks of parenting are closely linked to her physical experience. The changes in her body all influence how able she feels to cope with the demands of parenting and how she sees herself as a mother, partner and woman. I read somewhere that postpartum is puberty's cousin. Fluctuating hormone levels, together with the lifestyle changes and responsibilities a new baby brings, all contribute to the variety of emotional changes a new mum experiences. What can you do to ease the transition? Know what physical changes to expect In the weeks after birth your body will undergo many changes, some parts get smaller, other parts get bigger. You may be recovering from a tear or surgery. Either way, before birth you can make some simple remedies at home to aid in your recovery. I love this post by Lindsay at Passionate Homemaking. She has some recipes you can make yourself or as a gift for a new mum. Other simple tools you can use include a hot water bottle for cramps, arnica for swelling and bruising and most importantly, the power of rest. Look out for Emotional changes 70-80% of mothers find they go through the 'baby blues' during the first week of birth. It is thought that the decrease in progesterone around day 3 contributes to this condition with exhaustion, stress and anxiety adding to the cause. Having someone to talk to about it, looking after yourself physically or even practising placentophagia may reduce your chance of experiencing the blues. If you feel your emotional changes are more than just the blues, please speak with your doula, midwife or doctor and get a referral for more support. Nutrition for the fourth trimester Nutrition is crucial during this time and can help you balance emotions, hormones, and replenish iron and minerals lost during the birth. When baby arrives it can be difficult to prepare healthy meals and snacks for yourself, so it is wise to prepare in advance. Good ways to ensure you are well nourished include: having a well-stocked pantry, keeping a few easy recipes on hand, cooking a few meals ahead of time and storing them in the freezer and to ask friends or family to bring meals to you. A balanced diet using whole foods is the way to go. Your Circle of Support Start building a village of support while you are pregnant. Talk with your partner about how you will support each other, look for a group of friends who will bring you meals, find out what community resources are available to you or arrange for family members to help out with housework and sibling care. Make a plan for your babymoon. And remember: I am here to provide you with information, help you develop skills and to offer social, emotional or practical support. You are always doing the best you can xx Or... why this product is shit!
A picture popped up on my facebook today of a product that claims to be able to tell you if you are producing enough breastmilk for your baby. For around $20 it gave you instructions on pumping milk, measuring it and weighing your baby then putting the data along with some other information into their website. The website will then give you a report telling you if your milk production is considered low, normal or high and if your baby's weight gain is sufficient. It also makes further 'suggestions' for you. This product frustrated me on so many levels. Firstly because the amount of milk you can express for a pump is not an accurate indicator of what your breasts produce, nor does it compare to the amount of milk your baby is able to drink from your breast. A baby is much more effective than any pump and although they do have a disclaimer as such on their website, a new mum would easily lose confidence if she was told her milk production was too low or even too high. I know many mums (myself included) whose breasts don't respond to a pump yet have succesfully breastfed their babes. There are better ways to tell if your baby is getting enough milk that have nothing to do with how much milk you can pump for a machine. Secondly it tells you if baby's weight gain is sufficient. While I am at least happy that they use the WHO growth charts for breastfed babies, all babies will grow at different rates. There has to be babies at the 3rd percentile and babies at the 90th percentile, it doesn't always mean they aren't healthy and happy. Observe your baby isntead. Are they gaining weight, having plenty of wet nappies, happy and content, meeting developmental milestones? Of course if they aren't then see a lactation consultant or your care provider but don't rely on this marketing ploy to tell you that. Trust your Mumma Instincts - you know your baby better than anyone else. Finally, the so called 'suggestions' at the end of your custom report. Really what they are is further marketing of all their products. Using the information you've given them they will make suggestions for all their other products for you to waste your money on. You told us you had a c-section. Here, our special knickers will speed your recovery and shrink your hips. Did we tell you your baby isn't gaining weight fast enough? Better buy our scales so you can measure them regularly and of course you need to buy more of this product so you can continue to check if you are making enough milk for your baby. You know what Mummas, you already have the perfect indicator of whether or not you are making enough breastmilk and it doesn't cost you anything. It is your baby and you can be certain that their personalised report will be much more accurate than this waste of money. ETA Here is an online petition you can sign asking stores to remove the product from their shelves This blog was originally published over at Claire The Chiropractor. Claire has kindly given me permission to share it here with you.
Wow! So you’ve just had a baby! What an amazing feat – and how incredible is the human body to be able to conceive, grow and birth a baby? And how incredible are babies who suddenly come out into the world and are able to breathe, suckle and exist? Life is truly incredible. Chiropractic for Mum For some women, they are able to give birth vaginally, others by caesarean, or with help from vacuum extraction, forceps, gas, pethadine and epidurals. All of these ways take a toll on the woman’s body, and the baby, and can cause the postnatal (time after having the baby) period to be less than comfortable. Uncomplicated pregnancies can end in emergency C-section or even in a non-medicated natural birth, but both mother and infant have been under an immense amount of strain for the months leading up to the birth, and most definitely during the birth! Mothers-to-be are at least carrying the extra weight of the baby, placenta, fluid, and 50% more blood volume. Their ligament’s are extra stretchy thanks to a wonderful hormone called relaxin which enables the spine and pelvis to help accommodate the changes necessary to get an about-to-be-born foetus through that awesome pelvis. This process may highlight weaknesses in the spine resulting in back pain or neck ache, broad ligament (the ligaments holding your pelvis together) discomfort or pubic symphysis or sacroiliac discomfort or pain (these are the joints that join the bones in your pelvis together). These joints need to be supple and mobile to open up your pelvis for the passage of your special little one. This can be achieved through optimum alignment from visiting your chiropractor, and plenty or walking, swimming and stretching (like yoga and pilates). After the birth most women are quite sore and tender as their body pulls itself back together. Giving birth is like running a marathon, and muscles, ligaments and joints will ache from the exertion, being stretced and also from fatigue. Any areas of weakness in your alignment will be exacerbated, and handy relaxin stays in your system for 6 weeks to 6 months, which means you must look after yourself with a good diet, gentle exercise and stretching, and lifting baby, toddlers, prams and capsules very, very carefully. Women who have had prenatal chiropractic care, and know how good chiropractic can make their bodies feel are keen to get themselves and their babies checked as soon as possible after the birth so that their bodies feel better and their nervous systems, and that of their newborns, are functioning optimally. Chiropractic for Baby The foetus is snuggly curled in their mother’s uterus, gradually outgrowing this little home, and if a mother’s pelvis is not optimally positioned, the little babe can have difficulty getting to the head-down position, or even rotated correctly for an easy birth. Babies facing posterior (their spine facing their mother’s spine) typically have more difficult and longer births, which can be more painful for the mother and often end in more intervention (forceps, vacuum extraction, C-section). Babies can also be cramped up or tangled in their umbilical cord, and may even be cramped by fibroids in the wall of the uterus. These instances can have an effect on the baby’s freedom of movement, but the method with which they are born can have far reaching effects. Some natural births can be long and arduous, the baby may get stuck along the way at times, which will have it’s effects on the molding of the cranial bones. Forceps, vacuum extraction and any forcible pulling and twisting of the neck done by the obstetrician will have a massive impact on the infant’s cranial molding and delicate nervous system. Not only can this cause flattened or coned head shapes but can unduly stress the nervous system, leading to poor latching, poor sucking, excessive crying, “colic” and even nerve damage or bleeding (haemorrhage) in the brain. Caesarians are often thought of as ‘the easy way out’. Unfortunately this is not the case. Firstly this major abdominal surgery cuts through the abdominal muscles that can weaken the mother’s pelvic floor leading to back pain, incontinence and prolapsed organs if not exercised and rehabilitated (this goes for natural birth mamas too!). For the infant, there is a significant amount of stress on the spine and nervous system as the baby is pulled out of a small cut in the abdomen via forceps or vacuum or by the surgeon tugging and twisting on the neck and shoulders after the head is disengaged from the pelvis. Cranial molding does not occur as the baby’s head does not pass through the vaginal canal, which has an unmeasured effect on the delicate interaction of the cerebrospinal fluid (which surrounds and cushions the spinal cord and brain) that is pumped around the nervous system. Poor latching to the breast, poor feeding, excessive crying and “colic” are often symptoms of a strenuous prenatal period and/or birth and are the reasons many parents bring their child to a chiropractor. The chiropractor does not ‘treat’ any of the above symptoms but checks for strain and interference in the cranial bones and spine of the infant, gently adjusts the spine, and allows for the infant’s inborn instincts and innate intelligence to be uninhibited. Left alone, these symptoms of nervous system interference may manifest as recurrent ear infections, poor immunity, learning difficulties, poor attention etc. Congratulations if you have just had a baby! But please consult with your midwife, postnatal doula, and your chiropractor to get yourself back into alignment, and ensure the delicate nervous system and spine of your precious baby is working at it’s optimum. Author: Dr Claire Raggio Ballinger Today is a guest post from Melissa Smith over at Little Para Pants. Please go and check out her website if you are interested in reusable swim nappies, custom made for your child. A big thank you to Mel for sharing her stories with us, I'm sure some of it wouldn't have been easy to write. Trigger warning: Mel does talk about the death of one of her babies, so please be gentle if this is a trigger for you x Three Postpartum Experiences I've given birth to three boys. Their births were all different, as were the postpartum periods after each one. It's always hard adjusting to a new member of the family, isn't it? Caleb Caleb was my first baby. He was born in March 2007, in my lounge room. My MIL stayed with us for two days to help us get settled in. She did pretty much everything those first couple of days - and then she was gone, and we had to sort things out on our own. I wasn't very good at asking for help in those days. I'm still not very good at it, but I'm slowly getting better. When Caleb was a newborn, I would try and try to settle him when he was upset, until the point I was in tears, because the idea of asking for help - even from my husband, who should have been learning how to look after a baby too - just didn't occur to me. It was a hard slog, and the few times I did ask for help from someone, very little actual help was given. I was stressed more than usual. I don't know for sure if I had PPD, but I'd say the chances are pretty high. And at that time, the idea of eating my placenta just felt wrong. So I didn't, even though it probably would have helped a lot. Ian Ian was my second baby, born in May 2009 in the kitchen. The kitchen part wasn't planned, but the 'home' part was. A lot of the rest wasn't planned either - like the fact that Ian was born brain dead and died two days later. This time I had a lot of support. I had friends bring me meals, mow my lawn, take Caleb to the park, clean my house, craft a memory necklace. This time, I had pretty much everything I needed to get through a postpartum period - except my baby. I also had someone try to be 'helpful' by hiding things that they thought would remind me of Ian - such as the 'big brother' t-shirt that I wanted Caleb to wear to Ian's funeral. I started to come good again around the three month mark. Started. I couldn't get out of my pajamas some days because I couldn't be bothered doing anything. Caleb wanted more attention and reassurance, and it was the last thing I felt able to do for him. I don't know if any amount of support would have helped that. I just wanted to be alone most of the time, and I couldn't be. But I felt like I'd used up my quota of help from friends, and tried to do it alone again. I didn't get a choice about my placenta this time - the minute it came out of me was the last time I saw it. We didn't know till six months later that it was sent to the coroner. Ethan Ethan, or Chuckie, was born in October 2011, again in the lounge room. Partly due to his enormous head, I ended up with a 4th degree tear. We went to hospital so I could have that repaired, and they sent me home with so many pills that I almost rattled. We had a friend come over to stay with Caleb for the day, and the two of them had a blast. Before his birth, a few friends (including Kelly!) had dropped off food for us, so they were already in the freezer ready for quick meals. A few weeks later, one of the mums groups I'm in set up a roster for me, so I had fresh food delivered almost every day for the week. Lots of food made things a lot easier. This was also about the time that I discovered Coles delivery, and for the first few months, I had a fortnightly order. The fruit boxes they have made it really easy to have healthy snacks on hand whilst breastfeeding. I still couldn't bring myself to eat my placenta though! I didn't really know about encapsulation, except that I'd heard of people doing it, but it sounded too hard. And my husband DID THE DISHES. He *never* does the dishes. I had one friend volunteer to take Caleb for the day a couple of times, which was awesome. Ethan had more sleep those days, when Caleb wasn't around making noise! If I decide to have another baby, I would love to hire a postnatal doula. I know having someone I can count on to do the boring everyday stuff would be a big weight off my shoulders. And she can prepare the placenta pills for me too. :) Would you like to share your postnatal experience? Send me an email and we'll chat! Let's normalise a variety of postnatal experiences.
If you'd like to read the stories other women share about their postnatal experience, you can subscribe to my blog via the RSS feed. How Can A Chiropractor Help My Fussy Baby? By Nick Messe What is Colic? Colic is defined as unrelenting crying by infants, particularly newborn to 3 months of age, for more than 3 hours a day, over 3 days a week, and over the course of more 3 weeks. The cause of colic is still unknown by the medical community. Chiropractors propose that colic may be a symptom of vertebral subluxation resulting from birth. A fussy or colicky baby that is otherwise healthy may benefit from chiropractic treatment. Fewer than 5 percent of babies with inconsolable crying are found to have organic causes for their crying. Indigestion, constipation, ear infections, acid reflux, urinary tract infections, and lung or heart conditions are all possible causes that should be investigated. However, most babies show no known underlying medical conditions and outgrow their colic without treatment by the time they reach 4 months. This fact could point to a cause of colic rooted in nervous system development shortly after birth. What happens during birth? An infant's body undergoes tremendous compression and stretching while it passes through the mother's birth canal. A long pushing phase during labor, use of vacuum extraction or forceps, or otherwise difficult birth can cause misalignment of the infant's back vertebrae. Even the delivery doctor's well-meaning pulling and twisting hands can contribute to vertebral subluxation in the newborn. The misaligned vertebrae then pinch surrounding nerves, compromising nervous system integrity and causing muscles to lock. Muscle locking and lack of nervous system integrity lead directly to discomfort, poor bodily function and ill health. For example, the baby's digestive system may be negatively affected by spinal misalignment, resulting in poor digestion of breast milk or formula. The baby's muscles may become very tense and the head may show abnormal posture, interfering with nursing. The baby may feel considerable head and neck pain. How will I know if my Baby could benefit from Chiropractic treatment? Common outward signs of infant spinal misalignment are high-pitched screams, a flushed face, furrowed forehead, arching back, pulling of legs toward the abdomen, and clenching fists. Crying often occurs late afternoon or early evening and lasts for hours. Desperate attempts to sooth or feed the infant prove ineffective. Fortunately, a visit to a chiropractic clinic can result in the quick location and adjustment of spinal distortions, even in babies. Parents may believe chiropractors to be no more than glorified massage therapists. They may be concerned that spinal adjustment will hurt their baby. However, a chiropractor uses no more finger pressure on an infant than one would use to test a tomato's ripeness. Misalignments are usually immediately apparent as they are often tender to the touch. Immediate relaxation and relief of the baby may be observed. The restoration of nervous system control lets the baby's body function properly again, relieving symptoms, including colic and fussiness. In October 1999, The Journal of Manipulative and Physiologic Therapeutics published a randomized controlled study of spinal manipulation versus treatment with the drug dimethicone for colicky babies. The babies who received spinal manipulation showed a 67% decrease in crying after 2 weeks, while the babies receiving the drug had only a 38% reduction. Here are three excellent Chiropractors around Adelaide who can help you and your baby:
Claire the Chiropractor - Gawler http://www.clairethechiropractor.com/ Victoria Park Chiropractic Clinic - Rose Park http://www.vicparkchiro.com.au/ Summit Chiropractic - Crafers http://summitchiropractic.com.au/ Does your family see a Chiropractor? How have you found it to benefit your or your children? Leave |
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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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