INITIAL POSTPARTUM CARE AT HOME: YOUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE: PART ONE

POSTPARTUM CARE AT HOME: YOUR COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE FIRST FEW WEEKS - PART ONE


Welcome to the postpartum period, the fourth trimester, a period of healing and adjustment, of getting to know and comfort your baby, and mastering breastfeeding. All your baby needs now is love and breast milk. If you are unable or choose not to breastfeed, consider feeding baby pumped breast milk, or donor breast milk from registered milk banks. Breast milk is the ideal food for your baby, although organic goat milk formula is most similar to human milk and you can discuss best alternative options with your pediatrician. And do see the Postpartum Guide to Breastfeeding Postpartum, for initial issues specific to that.

The rest will follow naturally, as you learn on the job, take guidance from wise experienced others, and let Baby be your teacher. As in pregnancy and birth, trust your instincts and your heart. But, do not hesitate to ask for help and support as needed. Hopefully you prepared in your pregnancy so that you are well supported during this sensitive time, as it has always taken a village to raise a baby as well as new parents. A postpartum doula is a must if you do not have family and friends to help you. 

After the first week or so, but before your memory of details fades, it is a wonderful experience to reflect on your pregnancy and birth with heartfelt honesty, and write your pregnancy memories and childbirth story down in a bump to birthday journal. This is something special to share with your child one day, and it is also a wonderful gift to yourself. It can be especially helpful for healing if things were difficult, or your labor and birth did not go as planned or as you hoped. Journaling will help you express, later process, understand, come to terms and make peace with any painful feelings that come up more deeply. 

Below are some helpful hints to make the next few weeks easier and more comfortable, so you are more able to heal, enjoy and reflect upon your extraordinary new miracle. The most important advice is to slow down, stay in the moment, try to resist the temptation to do, do, do...and just be, be, be. Trust that you will heal, as you are perfectly designed to do, given the proper care and support. 

Nutrition for Postpartum Care

Maintain at least the same healthy nutrition as you did in pregnancy, especially now for recovery after birth, and during breastfeeding. This will help you to make good quality milk, and nourish your baby as well as yourself. Make sure to eat at least three whole food varied healthy meals and snacks, and even a little bit more than you would normally consume. And keep well hydrated with at least 64 ounces of water daily. 

Traditional foods for the early postpartum weeks across cultures typically include soups and stews with a lot of vegetables, including the starchy ones like sweet potatoes and winter squash, stew meat or chicken, and whole grains like barley and oats. Also, do eat plenty of eggs, seasonal fruits and vegetables. Much nourishment can be added to fruit/veggie smoothies, soufflés, whole grain hot cereals, and breads/muffins like zucchini-apple, banana-date or carrot-raisin, enhanced with almond flour or chopped nuts and seeds, nut milk, and eggs. 

Herbs and Supplements

Make sure to supplement your diet as in pregnancy, with herbs, vitamins, minerals, omega threes and probiotics to complete nourishment not supplied by diet alone. This will aid in your recovery and help supply all of your and your baby’s nutritional needs. Do increase iron foods and take an herbal iron, especially if you were anemic in pregnancy, have low iron stores, lost a lot of blood at birth, gave birth by cesarean, and/or are still anemic. 

Do continue your nourishing pregnancy herbal infusion to your diet but add alfalfa and red clover. You can have a support person make this by:

  1. Blending a handful of dried Nettle leaf, a handful of dried Red Raspberry leaf, a pinch of Alfalfa, large pinch of Red Clover, and several Rose Hips. 

  2. Add a pinch of Comfrey to help with healing. (optional) 

  3. Brew in a mason quart glass canning jar of boiling water 1-4 hours. The longer the brew, the stronger the taste and effect.

  4. Strain, and drink plain or lightly sweetened with Rose Hip infused honey and/or a splash of fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice.

  5. Enjoy hot or cold, up to 4 cups per day.

 You can make it in larger quantities and store in the fridge.

Other herbal tonics for new moms to promote general physical and emotional postpartum recovery and healing include Ashwagandha and Gotu Kola (½ -1 tsp each twice daily), and Milky Oats (1/1-1 tsp 1-3 times daily), in addition to herbs mentioned below as appropriate for each specific issue.

To promote healing after birth, take 3-4 pellets of homeopathic Arnica 30 c under your tongue every few hours for the first 3 days, then three times daily for a week. You can also dissolve the pellets in a clean unused bottle of water, shake vigorously a few times, then gargle a mouthful before swallowing, which increases the strength of the remedy.

Treatment for Afterpains

Periodic cramping, known as afterpains, commonly occur as your uterus muscle fibers contract around the blood vessels that supplied the placenta. This is your body’s natural defense in order to minimize excessive bleeding and return to its non-pregnant size. They can be quite painful, and can occur with increasing intensity after each subsequent baby.  

Breastfeeding can temporarily increase the severity of these pains, which is actually helping your body heal and prevent excess blood loss. Afterpains should gradually subside over the next week and lessen significantly over the first 3 days after birth. 

Below are some suggestions to lessen the discomfort.

  • Frequently empty your bladder, even though you don’t feel like you need to pee, as is common from the swelling after childbirth.

  • Especially during the first 24 hours, check the top of your uterus several times per hour to make sure it is nice and firm like a hard nectarine or knuckle. Massage the top of your uterus gently when it begins to soften or feels boggy.

  • Lie on your stomach with a pillow under your lower abdomen.

  • Apply warm moist towel compresses, hot water bottles, hot herbal packs or rice packs heated with a few drops of essential oil of Lavender, or a heating pad to your lower abdomen. 

  • Practice your breathwork, deep breathing and conscious relaxation exercises during the afterpains, dropping your focus right down into them, relaxing with surrendering to the intense sensations as you did in labor.

  • Try soaking in a well-cleaned, warm bath with drops of Lavender or Chamomile.

  • For an effective herbal infusion: 

    • Mix a large pinch of Chamomile blossoms and/or Catnip in 1 cup boiling water.

    • Brew covered for 10-20 minutes.

    • Strain in a glass canning jar.

    • Add honey to taste (optional).

    • Drink very warm, 1-4 cups daily.

  • Take a dropperful of Motherwort herbal tincture up to 4 times daily. If without relief, try Cramp Bark herbal tincture, 1 dropperful every 30 minutes to 2 hours, then 2-3 times daily. You can add a dropperful of Black Haw tincture 3 times per day. You can make your own cramp bark infusion by steeping a handful of Cramp Bark and Black Haw with a pinch of Hops and generous pinch of Blue Cohosh root in a quart mason jar overnight.

  • Take Wish Garden AfterEase herbal tincture as directed

  • Take 3-4 pellets homeopathic Chamomilla, Arnica, or Caulophyllum 200 c. Try one remedy under your tongue. If no relief try the other. If the remedy works, repeat daily as needed.

  • Try Moxibustion treatments by an acupuncturist.

  • Try additional suggestions and remedies mentioned here for aches and pains in pregnancy. They work!

  • If the pain is too much for you and interfering with your ability to breastfeed, rest and sleep, you can take ibuprofen (up to 800 mg every six hours) OR acetaminophen (up to 650 mg every four hours) ½ hour before nursing for the first several days only, as needed. But before reaching for these medications, try 1-2 grams of Curcumin (Turmeric), a natural herb studied to be as effective for pain relief than most over the counter synthetic analgesics without their associated potential risk of toxicity. 

Consult your practitioner for severe cramping or cramping that lasts longer than 1-2 weeks, or if accompanied by uterine tenderness, fever or foul smelling discharge.

Home Remedies for Bleeding

During the first two to five days, bleeding is no more than a heavy period with an occasional clot the size of a 50 cent piece or egg, dark red in color with a fleshy smell. It tends to be less after cesarean birth. Clots are simply congealed blood mostly that pools in the vagina when you are reclining, and can occasionally be as long as the vaginal canal. Sometimes bleeding increases with nursing, strenuous activity, heavy lifting and pushing motions, full bladder, and as you rise from a lying down position. 

During the next week or so, the bleeding becomes paler pink or brownish, and it lessens in amount so that you only need to change sanitary pads several times per day. Over the following two to four weeks, discharge becomes creamy white or yellow and even less in amount, but usually returns to red bleeding or spotting for a day or two around the second postpartum week.  

Some women occasionally spot on and off for longer periods of time or throughout breastfeeding. Suggestions for keeping clean and comfortable are:

  • Take a daily bath in a well-cleaned tub (add Calendula tincture and Lavender oil to water if desired) or shower.

  • Change disposable organic sanitary pads or herbal infused natural pads every four to six hours, and after going to the bathroom. Do not use tampons, menstrual sponges, or menstrual cups. The first day or two, especially at night, consider wearing adult diaper type pads simply because it is just easier, as bleeding can be heavier than common postpartum maxi pads can accommodate, and can leak onto your clothes and sheets. Use them with a smile.

  • Wash hands before and after changing pads.

  • Remove pad from front to back, squeeze a peri-bottle of warm water over perineum. If you had tearing with or without repair, you can also add 1 tsp Calendula tincture and Lavender oil to the water. Pat dry.

  • Do not douche.

  • Check the top of your uterus for firmness several times per hour when awake for the first 24 hours, then several times per day for three days. It should feel as firm as a hard nectarine. If it feels soft, massage it firmly so it re-contracts.

  • To prevent excessive bleeding, take homeopathic Arnica 30 c as described in the supplement section.

  • Take herbal Shepherd’s Purse, 1 dropperful of the tincture three times daily for the first 3-5 days.

  • Wear an abdominal binder or Bellefit’s postpartum support girdle. You get a $20 off with code: ANNE20 at checkout.

  • Continue your herbal iron dose until your bleeding stops in 4-6 weeks, which may need to be increased per your practitioner if there was hemorrhage. Eat foods high in iron, like red meat, dark turkey meat, eggs, dark leafy green veggies, and dried fruits.

  • If bleeding becomes heavy (you are saturating more than a large maxi pad every half hour):

    • Try herbal Shepherd’s Purse tincture (1 dropperful under your tongue), repeat every few minutes as needed)

    • Add 3 dropperfuls tincture of Cotton root, 2 dropperfuls each of Lady’s Mantle, Witch Hazel and Blue Cohosh, and 1 dropperful Yarrow. Take them every 10 minutes under your tongue until the heavy bleeding resolves, but only up to an hour. 

    • If heavy bleeding persists, take 2 dropperfuls of HerbPharm Erigeron/Cinnamon tincture of Erigeron and Cinnamon  under your tongue every 20 minutes for no more than 2 hours, and add 1 dropperful of Angelica if without relief.

Report to your practitioner if you’re saturating more than one pad an hour for more than a few hours not relieved by the other suggestions above, especially if you are starting to feel lightheaded, weak, disoriented, cold and clammy with rapid shallow breathing and heart pounding. Contact them also if you’re experiencing large clots, foul-smelling vaginal discharge, severe lower abdominal pain, temperature over 100.4 after the first few days, and deviation from the described pattern of bleeding.

Perineal and Vaginal Discomfort

After delivery, your perineum and vaginal area may feel sore, swollen and uncomfortable. Any pain or tenderness should gradually lessen over the next several weeks, or longer if you had a large tear. 

Suggestions are:

  • Practice good perineal hygiene as previously described in the section on bleeding.

  • Don’t forget to take the homeopathic remedy Arnica 30c as directed above, in the first few weeks to support healing after giving birth, which definitely helps your perineal and vaginal areas.

  • For a small tear that did not need stitches, using a peri-bottle, squeeze warm water with several drops of Calendula tincture and Lavender oil over the area as you urinate to reduce stinging. Squirt Vitamin E oil a few times daily on the tear to promote healing. Motherlove and Earth Mama make wonderfully soothing and healing herbal combination perineal sprays.

  • Apply a perineal ice pack or frozen maxi pads saturated with Witch Hazel for the first 24 hours (with 30 minute respite each hour) or as long as you feel it is soothing.

  • Periodically sit in a cool sitz bath during the first 24 hours or as long as you feel it is comforting.

  • After the first 24 hours, take a warm sitz bath, or warm shallow bath 2-3 times per day. You can also add tea tree oil, tincture of calendula, garlic, ginger and/or lavender, or try herbal sitz bath combinations with Uva Ursi, Comfrey and Sage or Calendula and Oatmeal (both combos have Witch Hazel, Yarrow and Plantain). You can also try herbs with Epsom and Dead Sea salt or herbal salt soaks and see which feels best for you. You can use any leftover unused liquid for compresses or your peri bottle rinse.

  • Use a pillow or cushion when you need to sit.

  • Contract your pelvic muscles (Kegels) or even better, engage your mula bandha (all of your pelvic floor muscles) when changing positions.

  • Take the homeopathic Arnica 30 c as directed above for general recovery.

Report pain that worsens or does not improve over time, an increased area of redness, swelling or pus-like discharge.

If You Have Difficulty Urinating

During the first four hours after birth, many women have trouble urinating such that they feel no urge, feel the urge but cannot urinate, or feel burning after the urine comes out. It is essential that you urinate within eight hours after birth as difficult as it may be, to prevent infection and excess uterine bleeding.  

Suggestions to help you urinate are:

  • Listen to running sink water.

  • Squeeze warm water over your perineum with your peri-bottle, infused with a few drops of oil of Peppermint.

  • Dabble your fingers in water.

  • Apply light pressure to the area above your pubic bone.

  • Put oil of Peppermint in the toilet.

  • Sit in a sitz bath with several drops of the oil of peppermint.. 

  • Take a bath or shower.

  • Blow your thumb.

  • Concentrate on relaxing and opening your pelvic floor muscles while imagining the urine flowing out.

  • Drink eight glasses of water per day.

  • Try homeopathic Arsenicum or Causticum both at the 30 c dose.

Report inability to urinate more than eight hours after the birth, burning pain before or as the urine is coming out, feeling the urge to urinate frequently but little urine comes out, fever, or back flank pain.

Cesarean Birth 

If you birthed your baby by c-section, it will take more time to heal physically, and psychologically - especially if unexpected and unplanned, or traumatic. Trust that you will get back to your new mama self. The scar will be there but will eventually fade. Allow for at least 3 months recovery for your body from major abdominal surgery, possibly longer to heal the mind and heart. Homeopathic remedies help tremendously and definitely speed and enhance your recovery safely and naturally.  If your cesarean is planned, start Arnica 200 c three times daily the day before and continue through 3-4 days postpartum. 

Other remedies helpful to have on hand are Aconite 30 c for intense fear and panic before surgery, Bellis Perennis 200 c post cesarean to boost healing after you finish the Arnica, Staphysagria 200 c for incisional pain and healing, and Hypericum 200 c for shooting nerve type pain from the spinal anesthesia (only if needed). Use one remedy at a time and take it three times daily until you feel improvement. Consult your classical homeopath for more personal guidance.

The first week is the hardest in terms of postoperative pain, so take ibuprofen or acetaminophen if absolutely needed, then switch to more natural pain relief remedies like ginger or turmeric that are safe for you and your breastfeeding baby, but still effective. 

Use the skills from breathwork and mindfulness to center and ground yourself, stay present one breath at a time, surrender, lean into and embrace the temporary painful sensations you feel, without the story, with love and compassion towards yourself. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or stressed, take a few minutes to simply breathe, keeping your focus softly on a distant nonmoving object (drishti) or close your eyes and internally gaze between your eyebrows, relaxing deeper with each exhale. Send your love and breath (divine life force) and imagined light to areas of pain. Use visualization to support you as you desire. This is powerfully healing.

While in the hospital, it is important to take deep abdominal breaths also to keep your lungs fully expanding (use the incentive spirometer many hospitals give you), and to get up and walk within 12-24 hours after birth for 10 minutes each waking hour, especially to prevent serious blood clots and painful abdominal gas buildup. The more you walk, the sooner you pass gas and get your bowels moving, and you keep your blood flowing rather than stagnating from immobility.

Ask to be progressed from a clear to regular diet within this time, and choose healthy foods and bottled spring water from the hospital menu (if that even exists!) or have your family and friends bring you more wholesome real food meals and snacks. For gas and bloating, limit:

  • Gluten containing foods found in wheat, spelt, rye, barley and some oats

  • Some fresh fruits and veggies

  • Cow dairy if lactose intolerant

  • Carbonated liquids

  • Chewing gum. 

Eat slowly, chewing thoroughly and mindfully. Natural remedies for gas and bloating include chewing Fennel seeds, drinking Fennel tea, or taking 2-4 ml of the tincture three times per day, taking Slippery Elm lozenges 3-4 three times daily, and a high quality multi species probiotic twice daily on an empty stomach. Eat and drink more fermented foods like kefir. For bad gas and abdominal pain, take 1 dropperful each of Chamomile and Passionflower, ½ dropperful each of  Hops and Lemon Balm, and ¼ dropperful of Lavender tinctures every four hours.  

The dressing over your incision should be removed within 12-24 hours, so your incision is kept clean and dry to prevent infection. You can apply a clean maxi pad over the incision if your belly is folding over it, so it does not stay warm and moist, inviting bacterial growth. You have been sewn back together in many layers, and the skin is brought together by a glue like substance, absorbable stitches or staples, or removable metal staples. While it takes time to heal, when all is proceeding normally, it is unlikely to open as commonly feared. 

Sometimes they use steri-strips over the incision which will come off eventually or you can remove them in a few days. You can definitely shower, but do not use soap initially on the incision. Dry the area gently. A little oozing of blood is common to see on the dressing, as is a tiny amount of clear, white, or yellowish fluid, as long as it is not pus- like discharge. Look at your incision so you can monitor its healing as well as work on acceptance and appreciation for the journey you and your baby needed, made especially for you both. Once you go home, you can apply herbs for perineal and vaginal tears mentioned above to soothe and enhance healing. Earth Mama makes a lovely herbal balm specific to healing a cesarean scar and there are other organic balms that also help the scar fade. 

Make sure to keep Baby skin to skin in dim quiet as much as you can, bonding and soothing baby with your love, telling Baby all is well, Baby is safe and acknowledge that was a tough journey for both of you. Get help with breastfeeding as soon as possible. Baby may be sleepy from the medications, and it takes longer for the full breast milk to come in, but you will get the breastfeeding going with excellent support and patient perseverance. 

I encourage you to love, be proud and grateful for your cesarean scar. This may take time to cultivate, but is a worthwhile goal. Do not be shy to ask for extra needed help, and get support processing and healing emotionally. For online and local group support and advocacy, there are many wonderful resources like ICAN, but you may want to consider breathwork to release the strong stuck emotions and trauma energy in your body if it is interfering with your well-being. If you are suffering from birth trauma or you suspect your baby has it as well - as is common after cesarean birth - there are resources for healing for you and for your baby.

Consult your practitioner with:

  • For fever over 100.6 with general muscle aches and chills

  • Persistent or worsening pain

  • Area of tenderness/foul smell/pus/redness/swelling by your incision

  • Area of leg swelling, redness, warmth and pain worse when you flex your foot

  • Unusually frequent, urgent or painful urination

  • Heavy or foul smelling vaginal bleeding

  • Vision changes, nausea, vomiting, chest pain and/or headache, especially if you had high blood pressure

  • Anything unusual you are concerned about. 

Obviously, if you have problems breathing, feel weak, disoriented and faint, call 911.

Constipation and Your First Bowel Movement

It is normal to go a few days after delivery without having a bowel movement. Many have loose stools before labor and pooped during pushing, and those who birthed in hospitals who don’t allow eating in active labor probably did not eat much, if at all, in labor, unless they (hopefully!) respectfully challenged that outdated policy, or simply sneaked it. So you have a few days leeway. Some mothers are afraid that a bowel movement will be painful or open their tear more or stitches if they had them. Other women are too busy and preoccupied with all that is involved postpartum to even think about taking the time. Do rest assured that although the first few bowel movements may be uncomfortable, they will not open your tear or effect the stitches. Even if you had a large tear, it’s extremely rare for them to be torn by a BM.

Suggestions to limit your discomfort and prevent constipation are similar to remedies in pregnancy with some additions:

  • Replace refined highly processed foods with whole grains, lots of fresh fruits with the skin, and vegetables (especially green leafy salads).

  • Drink at least 64 ounces of fluid each day, preferably filtered, spring or well water, or herbal tea. Consume between meals, at least 20-30 minutes before or 2 hours after eating.

  • Do Kegels and abdominal muscle toning exercises.

  • Drink warm prune juice or a cup of tea or coffee on an empty stomach.

  • Drink Smooth Move Tea, which tastes yummy and works like a charm.

  • Mix 2-3 Tbsp oat or wheat bran, or ground flax seed, in your hot cereal or apple sauce. Or, mix with stewed prunes or dried figs. 

  • Try raisin bran muffins with black strap molasses (ask someone to make you a batch, with whole grains, or Paleo - gluten, sugar and dairy free).

  • You can take these remedies in these doses for preventing and treating constipation which include Magnesium or the powdered liquid equivalent in Natural Calm, herbal Floradix liquid Magnesium, Triphala, Psyllium seed husks, or homemade Dandelion and Yellow Dock root infusion. 

  • Use Colace (stool softener) as directed if your bowel movements are getting hard despite these above suggestions, and you are on opioid pain medication after a cesarean birth.

  • If you are taking iron, use alternative sources of iron other than ferrous sulfate, such as ferrous fumarate, ferrous gluconate, or herbal iron.

  • Do not ignore the urge to have a bowel movement, which usually occurs ½ hour after breakfast.

  • Take an interesting book or magazine into the bathroom with you to enjoy some relaxing time on the toilet.

  • While on the toilet, rest your feet on a low stool and avoid straining. Support your perineum by applying counter pressure with a folded tissue if needed.

  • If it hurts while having the first few bowel movements, do some relaxation and deep breathing exercises, relax into the discomfort instead of fighting it and tensing up, or try splinting the perineum with your hands to provide extra give to the area.

  • Avoid relying on enemas and laxatives on a regular basis.

  • Ask your classical homeopath, or refer to books like Homeopathy For Pregnancy, Birth and Your Baby’s First Year by Miranda Castro, for a homeopathic remedy specific to your unique symptoms.

Consult your practitioner if there is no bowel movement by the end of the fourth postpartum day, or you experience unusual pain or bleeding.

Treating Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoids are varicose veins of the rectum, and are a common postpartum occurrence. They resemble a pile of red grapes or marbles just outside the anal area, but they can be internal as well. They can itch, bleed and be quite painful during the first 2-3 days, before gradually becoming smaller. Refer to the suggestions for natural remedies for hemorrhoids in pregnancy as many still apply now.

Suggestions for relief are:

  • Herbal sitz baths as mentioned above for your perineum, with Epsom salts, Witch Hazel, and/or Comfrey.

  • Use a pillow or cushion when you need to sit on a chair.

  • Sleep on your side.

  • Lie down several times each day with your hips and legs elevated with pillows.

  • Try gently placing the hemorrhoids back inside your rectum with a lubricated finger, and then tightening your rectal muscles around them for 2 minutes.

  • Natural remedies with dosing are here for internal and topical use, and include applications of already made Witch Hazel compresses (known as Tucks in the pharmacy) or make your own by pouring Witch Hazel onto round cotton pads, plantain, pure Aloe Vera gel, clove of garlic insert, and homeopathic Hamamelis and herbal combinations in a salve or ointment.

  • Shine a red heat lamp on the affected area.

  • Avoid constipation and straining.  See above.

Report if pain, swelling or bleeding worsens or becomes severe.

Postpartum Dizziness or Faintness

It is very common to feel dizzy, light-headed or faint the first few times that you get up from a lying or sitting position, especially after a long, hard exhausting labor with a large amount of blood loss.  

Suggestions are:

  • Make sure you are eating well and drinking enough water as described in nutrition and constipation sections. 

  • Have someone assist you the first couple of times that you have to rise.

  • Rise from lying down gradually. First sit, then stand slowly.

  • If feeling lightheaded or woozy while standing, lie down with your feet elevated or sit down with your head between your knees. Ask for someone to bring you a few large glasses of juice, as well as a high quality whole carbohydrate, fat and protein meal. For example, a nut butter and jelly sandwich on sprouted multigrain bread, or yogurt with fruit and granola.

  • If you feel faint or do faint, sniff ammonia or smelling salts. This is an important first aid item to have, especially if birthing at home.

  • Open windows to get fresh air.

  • Splash water on your face.

Contact your practitioner with dizziness that lasts longer than the first few days or any actual fainting.

CONTINUED NEXT MONTH….STAY TUNED!

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Tips for Postpartum Healing

Those of you who have given birth to a baby know that many physical and emotional changes occur, many of which catch you by surprise. As a new mom, postpartum care is essential to both your physical and mental health and well-being. Working with your midwife and doula can help guide you through the healing process and provide you with resources to make your recovery as smooth as possible.

I cover this in depth along with holistic modalities for all the common discomforts along the journey to having a baby in my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition, and how to prepare for postpartum healing and support during pregnancy, in my Guide to Postpartum e-course.

The First Few Weeks

The first few weeks of postpartum can be a difficult time for new moms, with many physical and emotional changes happening, while the days seems to be a blur of feeding, diapers and a complete lack of sleep. Here are a few of the struggles new moms can face in those first few days and weeks after baby. 

Pain/Tenderness

Pain and tenderness are one of the most common issues experienced by new mothers. This is due to the stretching of muscles and tissues during labor, as well as from any tearing that may have occurred. The area can be quite sore and tender, making it uncomfortable to sit down or even go to the bathroom.

Fluid Leakage

Lochia, or vaginal discharge, is common following childbirth, and even after cesarean birth. While seeing such a large amount of blood is naturally alarming- this is completely normal. Wear whatever you need to be comfortable, and know that it gets better with time and completely stops at some point after four to six weeks. I love these postpartum panties from Mommy Matters which absorb leaking fluids while also having a pocket to hold an ice pack which helps provide some much needed relief. 

Emotional Roller-Coaster

As a new mother, it is completely normal to feel overwhelmed and exhausted during this time- don't be too hard on yourself. 

While some mood changes are common after giving birth, postpartum depression and/or anxiety can be serious and should not be ignored. If you're feeling too overwhelmed to function, having frightening thoughts and are unable to care for yourself or your baby, it's important to seek help right away. Organizations like Postpartum Support International are available 24 hours a day to provide mental health support.

When you find yourself getting frustrated with caring for your baby, it's ok to step away and take a few deep breaths. Remember, you did something amazing by bringing life into this world and you deserve to be easy on yourself. Be honest with your midwife or doctor about what's going on so they can help you come up with a plan that's healthy for everyone.

How does a vaginal birth affect your body?

After more than twenty-eight years as a midwife, I know that some moms will experience some degree of tearing during vaginal childbirth despite all preventative measures. The vagina must stretch to allow the baby's head to come through, which can result in various types of tears ranging from first to fourth degree. Small tears can occur that do not need repair but still need to heal. The discomfort with a first or second-degree tear can last for a week or more, making simple everyday activities like going to the bathroom, coughing, sneezing, and even having a bowel movement painful and sensitive. 

Third and fourth-degree tears are more common after episiotomies, can take longer to heal, and the pain and tenderness associated with these injuries may be felt for several months. If you have recently had a baby and are experiencing this type of discomfort, it is important to take things slow and understand that this is normal. Your body is healing, and you will eventually be able to regain your strength and pelvic floor. 

What happens to your pelvic floor as a result of childbirth

Childbirth can have a significant effect on your pelvic floor, which is made up of the muscles and ligaments that hold the uterus and other organs in place. Pregnancy hormones cause these muscles to relax, making them more likely to tear or stretch during labor. During birth, you may experience pain, tenderness, and tearing in the area due to the strain of childbirth although there is much you can do to prevent tearing - there are no guarantees.

No matter what type of birth you had, it's important to take care of your pelvic floor afterward. Doing regular pelvic floor exercises can help prevent stress incontinence and support your bladder and rectum, improving your overall health and strength. A pelvic floor physical therapist, in addition to your provider, can help guide you through the postpartum period and advise you on ways to rehabilitate your pelvic floor after childbirth.

How can new moms expedite healing?

Giving birth is a beautiful, life-altering experience that can cause immense physical and emotional changes. As a midwife, I understand the importance of allowing your body the time it needs to heal, while also recognizing the value in doing everything possible to ease and expedite the process. 

One of the most important things new moms can do to accelerate and support postpartum recovery is to practice good self-care. This means getting adequate sleep, nourishment, and rest. The days after birth can be incredibly draining, so it's essential to take time for yourself to rest whenever you have the opportunity. Additionally, wearing comfortable clothing and using cooling packs to alleviate swelling can help keep your body feeling comfortable as it heals. 

If you experienced tearing or an episiotomy during childbirth, Mommy Matters has created an amazing product called NeoHeat. Finally, we have a real mechanism to heal the perineum after birth! NeoHeat’s red and infrared LED light provides fast, effective and lasting relief from possible injury caused during childbirth, while reducing the long-term risk of infection, accidental bladder leakage, and even pain during sex. I am so happy to have something to help women heal, in the comfort of home. 

I often recommend a perineal spray to help with instant relief. The SOOTHE Perineal Spray is a great way to help relieve any pain or discomfort. This natural spray is specifically formulated with herbal extracts and organic oils known for their anti-inflammatory and calming properties. Dr Tara, who created this product, recommends keeping it in the fridge for extra cooling relief. 

By taking the time to care for yourself and utilizing products that are specifically designed to soothe and support postpartum healing, you can make this time a bit smoother.

I know how difficult it can be for moms to recover from vaginal birth. I love red light due to its healing properties, while being extremely safe. In this case, high-powered red & infrared LED light therapy is designed to activate internal and external healing of the perineal/vaginal tissue. It helps accelerate wound healing, increase circulation, reduce inflammation, and provide rapid pain relief.

Red LED light energy and thermal energy work together to help speed up the recovery process. The red LED light energy helps reduce pain, while the thermal energy increases circulation which accelerates the healing process. In fact, this type of therapy can reduce healing time by up to six times compared to traditional methods. It not only reduces pain and heals 6x faster than traditional methods, but it also reduces the long-term risks of infections, incontinence, and painful sex. Most importantly, it is a natural and effective method with no need for medication. If you're looking for an easy and natural way to help speed up your postpartum recovery, I recommend trying out high-powered red & infrared LED light therapy. 

By having NeoHeat and NeoBrief in your toolbox, you are giving your body a chance to heal so you can return to you again- but faster. 

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Jet Kids BedBox by Stokke is a Must Have For Parents

The JetKids by Stokke BedBox has been designed exclusively to give parents an option for a smarter way to travel with small children. Because traveling with children can be less than amazing, the JetKids by Stokke BedBox has been designed a product that aims to give families the confidence they need to conquer traveling with littles and the Home Sweet Homebirth Team more than approves. I wish I had this when for my now grown kids! 

 

We took the JetKids by Stokke BedBox on a long-haul trip from New York to Milan, Italy and we were nothing short of impressed. The BedBox offers ease of use that similar products just don’t provide. Why? Because traveling with children is a strenuous experience for parents, Stokke’s aim is to make it easier and more pleasurable for them, have more positive memories, and spend quality time together.

 

The JetKids by Stokke BedBox is a premium carry-on and ride-on suitcase for children that can be used as an in-flight bed or a leg-rest feature, making navigating the airport with children a breeze. The beautifully designed BedBox is both attractive and functional, with plenty of storage, it for all of your child’s must-haves. Once packed, you can let your little one ride or pull it through the airport terminals with ease; fun for them and stress free for parents. Once the seat belt sign is off, transform the BedBox from a suitcase to a bed for your little one in no time at all. Viola! 

The Stokke JetKids Bedbox is available in several colors, includes added storage in the top part of the box, and has an adjustable strap making it easy to carry over your shoulder or pull regardless of height.

Click here to get yours!

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Routine Labor Interventions Needing to be Abolished

Routine interventions in healthy labor and birth that need to be abolished when all is well include not allowing food and drink, IV, laboring and pushing in bed on back, artificially breaking your bag of water, continuous electronic fetal monitoring - including the admission and periodic strip, using the outdated Friedman curve to asses progress, forced coached pushing during the resting phase before the fetal ejection reflex - during the resting phase once diagnosed as fully dilated, episiotomy, immediate and premature cord clamping.

Many labor in hospitals that don’t allow food and drink, and need IV to prevent dehydration which can cause complications needing more interventions….unless you are sneaking food and drinking plenty orally. If you’re pregnancy and labor are healthy and proceeding naturally, IV fluids aren’t at all necessary and may cause harm. Even the American College of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (ACOG), the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) & of course the World Health Organization (WHO) all recommend encouraging oral fluids instead of IV fluids.

Why is this not happening? Routine intravenous fluids can over hydrate and decrease newborn weight & blood sugar & cause maternal swelling - even in the breasts which impairs breastfeeding, can be uncomfortable, get inflamed, infiltrated or cause infection; IV restricts needed movement in labor, undermines mama’s confidence and sense of feeling empowered and healthy. It’s harmful practice to restrict needed nourishment and hydration during labor and birth. As long as you are keeping well hydrated by drinking, you can absolutely feel no qualms about declining that routine IV. There is also no evidence to support the IV access called saline lock for low risk laboring mamas because in case of postpartum hemorrhage. The risk of that in this population is low, and needing treatment beyond natural remedies and medications without IV even lower. An excellent practitioner can start an IV in that rare emergency.

Artificially breaking your water is another routine intervention that has no place in normal birth. The bag of amniotic fluid is intact for a reason. Let it break on its own. Most often that is late labor or during pushing. Occasionally it breaks before labor or rarely doesn't break at all, leading to an en caul birth with baby born in the amniotic sac.

If you’re told there is little to no risk - it's just nothing - you are not getting informed consent or evidence based care. Breaking it artificially without medical reason has drawbacks like causing more intense painful contractions and use of pain medication to cope, increased risk of infection and fetal distress from cord compression without the protective barrier around baby. It can also lead to malposition of baby which can lengthen labor. All this leads to a cascade of other interventions from IV Pitocon, continuous external or internal fetal monitoring using an electrode screwed into baby’s scalp, and c - section. If your cervix is not soft, thinned out or dilated much, the risks of all the above significantly increase. If baby is presenting other than head first, or not yet engaged in your pelvis, breaking the water can cause the cord to prolapse needing emergency cesarean to save your baby’s life. It's proposed benefit of speeding up labor is possible, but no guarantee. Is that worth the risks? Sometimes a provider tells you they want to do it to check for meconium - not uncommon, which baby at some time of stress in pregnancy or labor had its first bowel movement that mixes with amniotic fluid. If there are no signs of fetal distress and heart rate is reassuring, why create more stress? Knowing there is meconium stresses the team, then you, as they now treat you as having a complication that requires more intensive surveillance. There is no need for this when all is well. When there’s a problem, such as prolonged or stuck labor and you’re exhausted or not coping well, after trying all other more natural remedies, breaking the bag can help. But make sure you are well informed by preparing in advance with my Guide to Pregnancy Birth & Postpartum.

Continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) is still routine despite the overwhelming amount of evidence against its use. Non reassuring fetal heart tones is the second most common reason for first time cesarean in the States, after “Failure to progress”’, many unnecessary as babies are born vigorous without any signs of it. Per the research there is no benefit for the admission and periodic 20 min continuous electronic fetal monitoring strip either, in healthy low risk pregnancies. It isn’t just ineffective, it’s uncomfortable, harmful, leads to increased continuous fetal monitoring, other risky interventions and cesarean without making any difference in baby outcomes. There is no evidence to show that this kind of fetal monitoring is safe or effective, and has contributed to huge increase in cesarean rate without improving Apgar scores, cord blood gases, admission to neonatal intensive care unit, low oxygen brain damage and cerebral palsy, stillbirth and newborn death. Even Obstetric professional organizations like ACOG acknowledges this and endorses intermittent fetal heart rate monitoring with a hand held doppler in low risk pregnancies and those laboring without complications. Furthermore, they encourage training of staff to its use to facilitate freedom of movement and increased comfort. NICE in the UK as well as SOGC in Canada agree there is no evidence to justify routine use of continuous EFM & that intermittent hands on listening to fetal heart rate is the preferred method of monitoring. NICE goes as far as opining that providers NOT even offer continuous EFM to laboring women low risk for complications. The ACNM says intermittent listening of baby’s heart rate with a hand held device should be the preferred method of fetal monitoring in those low risk for complications. Research is not clear & guidelines differ even regarding who does benefit from continuous fetal monitoring, when it comes to certain higher risk complications. This is not what is happening in reality of US hospitals due to a variety of factors from big business of EFM, understaffing, lack of training and equipment to outdated policies, providers not keeping current or practicing evidence based care.

I don’t like to disturb a laboring mama when all is well, just periodically need to check on baby. Some mamas prefer the fetoscope but it can best be assessed with mama on her back, & most in labor don’t want to get out of tub and be on their back. I love using it in pregnancy, but in labor, find most prefer the doppler so mamas can stay in the tub, shower or any position they want to, & everyone can hear that most often reassuring heartbeat. Distressed babies usually tell us whether we use hands on doppler or intermittent monitoring - which also allows for freedom of movement and the enormous benefits of upward mobile positioning plus more contact with and support from your provider. Research also documents the benefits of continuous labor support (which can involve plenty of privacy if that’s what you need!). Being a midwife fly on the wall is often the best intervention in normal labor, who can be there if needed, otherwise keep the fly on the wall role- with a huge heart.

Assessing progress by outdated rigid parameters needs to go. According to evidence based birth, the definition of a “normal” length of labor that has been used since the 1950s based on the biased, flawed Friedman curve is obsolete. The new, evidence-based definitions of normal labor should be used, and the vague term “Failure to Progress” should be abandoned. Yet still used in many hospitals.
If the laboring mama and baby are both healthy, and as long as the length of labor does not qualify as an arrested labor, laboring mamas should be treated as if they are progressing normally, even if what seems to be slow and prolonged for the mama. Pregnant mamas - especially first time vaginal birthers should be given more time in the early phase of labor, making sure they keep well nourished and hydrated, mobile and active but also rested, and also well supported with a doula or doula like care. I have many more suggestions in my online course Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth & Postpartum, as this can be a challenge to mamas and their partners.


If you are wanting or needing an internal exam, six centimeters—not four centimeters—should be considered the start of the active phase for most people and caregivers should keep in mind that normal early labor (before six cm) sometimes includes a period in which there may be no change in dilation for hours. People may decide, together with their caregivers, to delay birth center/hospital admission until active labor. Similar with homebirth, but there is a more intimate relationship there between midwife and mama, with periodic contact in early labor being the norm.

Still, people are still being told to labor in bed, and give birth on their back. I can’t believe this is still happening despite not just common sense but loads of research about the harmfulness and risks to this practice.

Laboring and pushing your baby out on your back goes against gravity and trying to do so is more work and stress on your body and baby. Laboring and pushing with the force of gravity is less painful and all the more easier. Lying on your back also causes your heavy uterus to exert some compression on major blood vessels that go to the baby which can cause fetal distress, let alone to your upper body and head - why people don’t feel well on their back late pregnancy. It’s a position that was created by doctors not birthing mamas, who would be more comfortable in any other position when given the choice. As it’s a position best for the provider not the mama and baby. And that’s the best birthing positions - what feels best at the time to work your baby down and out. I go over these best positions to labor and help your baby come through your birth canal and into the world with demos in my Online Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum - sold separately or bundled.

Mamas need to be moving asymmetrically as they need to move working with their body and baby as well as using the force of gravity to help them guide baby down and out. The pelvis is three bones connected by ligaments and it can stretch to accommodate baby. It’s at is smallest capacity on your back. Pushing on your back is much harder as you have to work against gravity. Occasionally some mamas need to rest and can lay on their side, and some do want to birth on their back and it works for them. But the routine practice of insisting all mamas labor and birth on their back is harmful.

Good bye to forced coached pushing when fully dilated. If and when you are told you are fully dilated, rest, eat and drink if you need, get up and dance…but wait for the fetal ejection reflex (FER). When you wait for the FER, and naturally feel the urge to push, instinctively push, working with your body. It is a bit similar to pooping - think of what it feels like and what happens when you try to push it out for a prolonged period of time when you don’t feel the urge. Then think of how easy it is when you just go after feeling the urge. Some may need or want a little gentle guidance to get started but avoid forced coached pushing. It’s not evidence based because it’s harmful, associated with such problems as more swelling, tearing, fatigue, fetal distress etc. Honor the FER!

It happens. The sensations of pushing and FER, fetal ejection reflex can be so intense that mamas initially may want to fight it, which makes it all the more harder. What we resist persists. When we dive in and lean into the sensations we birth.
Being in the water helps. Movement in asymmetrical positions & roaring like a lion helps, as does channeling your inner monkey, letting your primal take over. Relaxation & coping techniques to practice in pregnancy so you can just tap right in to them in labor are a huge help, as is bringing fun, joy, the primal & sensual, & enhancing pleasure using all your senses into the birth experience . But a complete change in mindset and perspective is key, as is my preparation. You can learn to use different language for the sensations of labor, instead of pain which implies illness and something that needs to be remedied, and to see them for what they are. You can learn to use other words for contractions, which imply tension and negativity, and the word contraction is not empowering, and does not fully explain what is happening. Yes, the top of the uterus contracts so the birth canal can open and expand, as well as push out your baby. So expansions are also happening in labor – that is really the goal of what you are doing – expanding so your baby can emerge from your womb to the outside world, and you can both be birthed as a new mother and baby.

Suffering is a choice. And you can chose to embrace your intense sensations for what they are, as healthy signs, what is needed to birth, what your baby needs to transition earth side - not that anything is wrong. I go cover this in much greater depth in my online Guide to Pregnancy, Labor & Childbirth.

Routine episiotomy in a normal birth is of the most harmful unnecessary procedures. It’s so not evidenced based care. And if you do tear despite prevention efforts (it can still happen), little tears heal fine on their own; if we have to do a repair we do try to put everything exactly or almost exactly how we found it. The perineal and vaginal area of a mom who has given birth vaginally before never looks exactly like it did prebirth. But we do our best! Sometimes there is some scar tissue that forms and definite changes from muscle stretching. These are our beauty marks and badges of honor.

Immediate and premature cord clamping is another harmful routine intervention that needs to be stopped. Just think about it. We did not cut cords right away for most of history. No mammal cuts the cord after birth. They just allow the normal natural physiological process to proceed instinctively…or they would have not survived as species.

The number one best recipient for cord blood is baby. 1/3 of baby’s own blood backs up into the placenta during birth. Baby needs to get it back - it is loaded with blood volume oxygen, nutrients, stem cells, antibodies and ingredients essential for transitioning from womb to world and long term health. If you want to donate or bank the cord blood, if baby is doing well at least wait 10 - 15 minutes so your baby gets most of it and there is still enough to bank.

Don’t let them convince you to have it cut ever after a minute because they are in a rush or tell you some misinformation that it’s not good. Clamping right away was probably invented for the doctor but now we know it’s harmful. Delayed optimal clamping can even be done after cesarean until placenta is birthed if there is no other problem.

I have way more info on this in my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition but make sure this is clearly communicated to your providers and written in your birth plan. Ideal is to wait until it stops pulsing completely, flat and white, and you can even feel and see that yourself. When all is well I don’t cut it until after the placenta unless they want a lotus birth.

The best intervention in normal labor and birth is no intervention. Beloved obstetrician Dr. Michel Odent goes further and says best intervention in healthy childbirth is to knit. Knitting keeps our hands occupied instead of trying to meddle and fix something that isn’t broken. Part of Hippocrates oath doctors have to take after training is “First Do No Harm.”

But knitting goes deeper. It is the calm presence of an experienced attendant who has seen it all, communicating to you with their body language to relax, all is well. Their calm is contagious and will make you feel more calm. Their heart, ears, eyes and mouth are open to listen, watch, support, encourage and help you as needed; and of course they can put the knitting down as appropriate, but the point is brilliant.

The ideal is birth attendants are there, so there with the laboring mama, especially towards later labor when sensations can get intense, but know that mama needs to feel private, safe and undisturbed to labor best, to not feel watched; so we try to leave her alone, on her own, until she needs us. Even then, we try to be in background so mama doesn’t feel watched, after doing needed assessments without causing much disruption, as a lifeguard just in case and there of course if more support is needed.

Prepare yourself to be empowered, have an advocate and birth YOUR way!







Routine Newborn Procedures

Many mamas who want a natural birth may not be as familiar with the the number of choices they need to make regarding interventions to baby postpartum. These are routine in many hospitals, with more freedom of decision making out of hospital at a freestanding birthing center or home with a midwife. Healthy babies are suctioned, all exams and procedures are done in the nursery, not by bedside, they are bathed, given Vitamin K injection and antibiotics in their eyes, and Hepatitis vaccine, and babies with a penis are told they need medical circumcision. Other procedures are pulse oximetry to screen for critical congenital heart disease not picked up on the mid pregnancy anatomy scan if baby had one, audiology screening, and the newborn screening blood test.

Healthy vigorous babies born vaginally can clear their own lungs and don't need suctioning - even with bulb syringe. That's not a gentle welcoming for them, but invasive and traumatic. Suctioning can be harmful to baby’s transition from womb to world, and isn't evidence based care. It's more effective and less harmful to do percussion and postural drainage or use ambu bag if needed. Most of the lung filled fluid is cleared with the big squeeze through the birth canal. The rest is absorbed into the body, and for ~ first 24 hours, baby spits it up, coughs or sneezes it out.

All routine baby exams and decided upon procedures can be done in room with parents. It’s an important part of bonding, nursing and sensitivity to baby’s nervous system. Baby needs to be skin to skin for warmth and comfort after birth, close to mama for nursing. There’s no medical reason for healthy newborn nurseries, with babies separated from parents in bright rooms in isolettes filled with strangers. Nurseries serve hospitals, not babies. If mama needs a rest, it can be done with baby in room cared for by another support person.

Babies born in hospitals are still be given unnecessary baths with chemically laden soaps and kept dry with toxic talc and artificially fragranced baby powder. The birth juice and meconium can be wiped with your own natural products by you or your partner, but there is no rush to wash off the skin disrupting the flora of good bacteria that protects baby’s health, and remove the vernix (the white waxy, cheesy protective material that covers baby’s skin) so most of it can absorb into baby’s skin and allow baby to receive its protective benefits. It is not only a skin moisturizer and softener, it’s also an antioxidant and skin cleanser with anti-infective properties. It regulates baby’s skin pH needed for health, helps control baby’s temperature and insulate the baby, so crucial after birth from womb to world. It might help babies latch, as the scent of vernix may trigger neural connections in babies’ brains needed for breastfeeding, and bonding with that delicious new baby smell. It also smells of mama, which can provide comfort to baby and enhance bonding after birth. The The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends waiting at least six hours — and if you can go a full 24 hours, even better to give the first bath. Since it doesn’t fully absorb until day 5-6, I’m not sure why the first bath can’t wait until then. Leave it on and even rub it in like body butter. Don’t let anyone wash it off.

Hepatitis B vaccine is given to prevent baby from blood born infection spread by contact with blood and body fluids like unsafe sex, IV drug use, accidental professional needle stick, and high risk communal settings. If baby has not had these sources of exposure, it can be delayed until prior to entering school, if you choose infant and childhood vaccinations. Refer to my blog on immunization for more info.

Vitamin K injection and Antibiotic eye ointment are given routinely to all babies born in US hospitals without considering individual situations. In some states you can refuse, in others it’s the law and they can report you to Child Protective Services - but these organizations have bigger problems to deal with and often the case is dropped after some unnecessary stress and aggravation. We don’t have these laws in most homebirth settings.

The antibiotic eye ointment is to prevent sexually transmitted infections gonorrhea and chlamydia that could cause blindness in newborns after exposure in birth. It is given within the first hour of life during the most alert time of baby after birth, interfering with vision at such a sacred crucial time when initial bonding and breastfeeding take place. It is irritating to baby and disrupts the delicate balance of flora in their eyes which can lead to other infections. Needing to give antibiotics is not relevant to babies born to mutually monogamous parents who do not have these infections. Taking into consideration that one may not know for sure there is another secret partner, these infections can be tested for in a pregnant mama at term, and if negative, the antibiotics can be refused in good faith. If you do test positive for one of these sexually transmitted infections, you and partner can be treated and retested to see if cured, but it may be wise to consider the antibiotics for baby’s eyes, since exposure can happen again. Then you can delay the medication until after you and baby look into each other’s eyes, have some time for bonding and breastfeeding.

To give vitamin K to the newborn within the first hour of birth is to prevent a rare but serious blood clotting disorder called vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB). There is an early onset VKDB that happens within the first 24 hours, classical expression in 2-7 days, and late onset that usually occurs in 3-8 weeks of life. Our bodies need vitamin K to help the blood to clot when needed. Giving it to babies at the recommended dose via injection is currently evidenced based care, but still not a simple matter.

The American Academy of Pediatrics opines strongly in favor of it. The current evidence does support the injection, saying there is little risk other than rare potential allergic reaction, and that the benefits far outweigh the potential risks. The injection is mega dosed, with 20,000 times the amount new baby has at birth, 5000 times the recommended daily allowance. It is injected into the muscle, which is a more rapid route than oral. In its synthetic form, it is considered a class C drug which means its safety is unknown in pregnancy, risk cannot be ruled out, there are no satisfactory studies in pregnant women, but animal studies demonstrated a risk to the fetus or potential benefits of the drug may outweigh the risks. The package insert itself warns that it can cause sometimes fatal allergic reactions when injected into a muscle or vein, and is ideally take by mouth or injected under the skin. The synthetic medication contains concerning chemical preservatives. It is available, but not accessible in most hospitals without the preservatives, but the preservative free vitamin K still does have some chemicals to increase absorption. It is also concerning to ponder the impact of overdosing on a fat soluble vitamin that stays in the system, as opposed to water soluble vitamins in which excess is excreted out in the urine.

In formula fed babies, the risk of VKDB is negligible as the formula contains synthetic vitamin K. For babies who breastfeed, an alternative is the oral form of vitamin K, in which some protocols have not been as effective as the injection in preventing VKDB - although some of the increased risk was related to parents not administrating of all the doses. Vitamin K using the Danish protocol is just as effective at preventing VKDB, though not accepted by modern medicine and hospital practice in the USA. Several European countries have a licensed oral vitamin K available with varied protocols, for those who wish to decline the injection, which is most effective according to the research to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleeding in babies. Except the Danish protocol. The Danish protocol is preferred as it seems to be just as effective as the injection according to the studies. It is vitamin K1 - phytonadione: 2 mg orally at birth, the 1 mg once weekly for 6 months as long as breastfeeding is greater than 50% of the baby’s diet. As it is a supplement in the USA, it is not regulated, FDA approved or certified like the injection made from pharmaceutical companies, for preventing VKDB in new babies. That does not mean it is not effective or unsafe. Still many who decline the injection prefer it as a viable alternative. Finding it in the states can be a challenge, but some homebirth supply companies and midwives carry it. If doing this protocol, best to do with a feeding as vitamin K is fat soluble, to increase absorption.

Little research is available on the alternatives, such as breastfeeding mamas eating more vitamin K or supplementing (like with 5 mg daily) to boost levels in breastmilk and prevent the rare vitamin K deficiency in newborns.

But as with all other routine interventions in the entire healthy normal physiological process of having a baby, the more we study, the more we find their lack of benefit and increased risk, and that mother nature or the Divine intelligence that created it all did not get it wrong. Maybe there is a reason we do not know yet why newborns are born with low vitamin K that does not reach optimal levels until the eighth day of life, from the gut flora. Is it a deficiency if they are all born that way? I defer to Dr. Sara Wickham who has analyzed the research for over 20 years and even wrote a book on this subject alone. “Several thousand babies need to be given vitamin K in order to prevent each case of vitamin K deficiency bleeding (VKDB), a disorder formally known as hemorrhagic disease of the newborn. Unfortunately there is little research interest (as is so often the case) in questions such as 1- how we might be able to pick out the babies who are truly at risk rather than giving the universal prophylaxis and 2- whether and why it might benefit babies to have a relatively low level of vitamin K compared to adults.”

Newborn screening checks a baby for serious but rare and mostly treatable health conditions at birth. It includes blood, hearing and heart screening. The newborn screening blood test may screen for up to 50 diseases, including phenylketonuria (PKU), sickle cell disease, and hypothyroidism but know it is only a screen that leads to more testing to confirm or more likely rule out the rare diagnosis. It has a high false positive rate, as there are more than 50 false-positive results for every true-positive result identified through newborn screening in the United States. This means baby tests positive on the screen but do not actually have the disease. Screening is mandatory in and funded by nearly all states - despite the varied diseases for which each state screens; although most will reluctantly allow parental refusals on religious and other grounds, and such refusal does not usually engender civil or criminal penalty. The American Academy of Pediatrics opines strongly about the importance of the screening, but it does not control the different conditions screened for by each state. You or your partner can certainly hold and comfort baby during the blood test which hurts for a few moments.

The American Academy of Audiology supports early identification, assessment, and intervention for all types of hearing loss in infants and young children to minimize deleterious effects on speech, language, education, and social/psychological development. The screening should take place by an audiologist at 1 month of age and does not need to be done after birth. It is not an invasive screening and can be done in your room by your side, so if you gave birth at the hospital it can be more convenient doing it there. Or you can take baby to an audiologist by one months of age if you choose the hearing screen.

Pulse oximetry screening is a simple and non-invasive procedure used to measure how much oxygen is in the blood and has been found effective in screening for critical congenital heart disease (CCHD) in newborns, if done within 24 hours after birth. Current evidence supports consistent accuracy for detection of CCHDs in newborns by pulse oximetry screening in addition to prenatal ultrasound and clinical examination. Overall, early diagnosis of CCHD with pulse oximetry is judged to be beneficial, identifying disease that may be treated and lifesaving, and potential harms associated with false-positive tests are not serious, but stressful, while missing CCHDs and other serious diseases detected by hypoxemia without pulse oximetry screening can lead to serious consequences. It is interesting that this is not the position of other institutions such as the United Kingdom National Screening Committee and the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health. Further research is required to understand and improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the screening and its algorithm. Some mamas do not want this philosophical standard medical approach of looking for diseases, prefer to address the issue if baby shows signs, and have Divine faith that whatever happens is meant to be.

Medical (non-religious) circumcision is the most controversial routine surgical procedure done mostly in the US on babies with a penis, prior to discharge. The vast majority of boys in world aren't circumcised. There's no evidence to justify this routine procedure on medical grounds & its risks are downplayed. The American Medical Association classifies it as a non-therapeutic procedure, as it has no proven benefits and risks outweigh them. The American Academy of Pediatrics has never, in its over 75 years of operation, recommended routine newborn circumcision. The foreskin is a normal, sensitive, functional part of the body, protecting the head of the penis from urine, feces, and irritation; it also has an important role in sexual pleasure, as it has specialized, erogenous nerve endings, gliding and lubricating functions. For a thorough analysis of the literature, science & research, potential risks & alleged benefits, cultural/religious roots & human rights bioethical issues see here.
THIS ISN’T ABOUT PAST, HOW WE WERE ADVISED MEDICALLY OR CULTURED TO DO. IT’S ABOUT DECISIONS MOVING FORWARD.

I like to promote informed choice, question routine status quo, and help those interested in studying the data and what factors create opinion and dogmatic policies, as well as encourage those who wish to ponder this topic with a more critical eye and make their own decisions about their baby’s health care.

Educate yourself & make an informed decision about what you want or don't want for YOUR baby, with my online Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Postpartum. And in adjunct, my Natural Birth Secrets book 2nd edition, as in many cases, it is totally safe and appropriate to investigate natural alternatives.