As luck would have it, I was able to attend not one, but two special births in my home province of Alberta the fall before last. One was for my sister, who gave birth to the cutest nephew that anybody ever had, and whose story I posted a few weeks ago. The other was for a friend of mine who… Read more →
I don’t blog too much about cesareans, as most of my focus is on educating women on how to maximize their chances of having a healthy vaginal birth and there is only so much time in the day!
However, one of my favourite topics is the importance of delayed cord clamping. Normally when I speak about this topic, I speak about it in the context of normal vaginal birth. Most of my clients choose to leave the umbilical cord intact until after the placenta has been born and it is clear that the baby has received all the blood, oxygen and nutrients possible from the life-giving placenta, and after the family has had some time to bond with the baby and had some time to come down from that post-birth rush. However, recently, I captured this rare footage of delayed cord clamping during a cesarean and couldn’t resist sharing it!
Though the cesarean rate in our country is way too high (close to 30%) and many of them are thought to be unnecessary, in some rare circumstances they are a good option to have access too. For babies who ARE being born by cesarean, it is definitely still possible to delay cord clamping in the OR!
The following video is only 47 seconds long, however, this baby actually had the cord left intact for about 90 seconds. Encourage your hospitals keep to keep getting more and more patient with this process to maximize the health of babies born both vaginally and by cesarean!
Check out the cool video above of delayed cord clamping during a cesarean to see it in action!
Side Note: you can learn more about the importance of delayed cord clamping during our upcoming Wise Woman Way of Birth doula training course. Our next series is starting ONLINE Wednesday March 17th to Wednesday June 2nd, 2021 7-9pm (pst). View details and sign up here.
I sometimes have clients say to me, “I understand that hospitals have higher rates of intervention, but I’m hiring you and a great midwife, so won’t that protect me? Aren’t I getting the best of both worlds that way?” No. No, no, no. NO! On the one hand, yes, hiring a midwife and a good doula who will help you… Read more →
The birth of Fenya is one I will always remember as a doula. The birthing woman and her partner were strong and committed to questioning the status quo and making choices that felt right for them. Here’s an excerpt from their birth story which touches on how I helped them as their doula. (You can read their full birth story here):… Read more →
Dear [partner, mother, father, sister, friend], I understand you have some concerns about my plans / wishes to plan a home birth, and have asked for some resources to educate yourself on the topic. You can find a LOT Of information about the research on home birth safety in the article “The Science Behind Home Birth Safety“. Reading the summary… Read more →