The decision to bring a child into the world is a deeply personal and transformative journey. With the evolving landscape of maternity care, many expectant parents are choosing midwives who specialize in home birth to guide them through this sacred experience. Home birth midwives offer a unique blend of medical expertise and personalized care, ensuring a safe and empowering birth experience.
The initial postpartum period, also referred to as the "fourth trimester," is a crucial phase in a new mother's life. It's a time of profound physical and emotional changes as she heals from childbirth and adjusts to the demands of caring for a newborn. While every postpartum experience is unique, there are a few essential points that can significantly enhance the recovery process.
Pregnancy is a time of anticipation and preparation, but it's also a period when healthcare considerations are of utmost importance. Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common bacterium that can affect pregnant individuals and their newborns. In this blog post, we'll delve into the significance of GBS testing during pregnancy, the standard treatments available, potential complications for newborns, and the implications of GBS disease.
Group B Streptococcus is a naturally occurring bacterium that can be present in the genital or gastrointestinal tracts of adults. While it doesn't usually cause problems in healthy adults, it can pose a risk to newborns during childbirth. GBS testing during pregnancy, typically conducted between weeks 35 and 37, helps identify whether the bacterium is present in the mother's body. This information is crucial in determining the best course of action to prevent its transmission to the newborn.
Intravenous Antibiotics During Labor: If GBS is detected, the standard approach is to administer intravenous antibiotics to the pregnant individual during labor. This treatment helps prevent the transmission of GBS to the baby during birth.
Risk Factors and Considerations: The decision to administer antibiotics also takes into account risk factors, such as preterm labor, prolonged rupture of membranes, and fever during labor.
GBS infection in newborns can lead to serious health complications, including:
Early-Onset GBS Disease: This occurs within the first week of life and can lead to sepsis, pneumonia, and other life-threatening conditions.
Late-Onset GBS Disease: This occurs between the first week and the third month of life and might result in sepsis, meningitis, and related complications.
Signs and Symptoms: Newborns with GBS disease might exhibit symptoms such as fever, difficulty feeding, breathing problems, and lethargy.
While GBS disease in newborns is relatively rare thanks to effective testing and preventive measures, it underscores the importance of early detection and treatment. Left untreated, GBS infection can lead to severe health consequences, making timely testing and administration of antibiotics during labor vital.
Group B Streptococcus is a prime example of the critical role that prenatal testing plays in ensuring the well-being of both pregnant individuals and their newborns. Testing for GBS during pregnancy, along with standard antibiotic treatments during labor when necessary, can significantly reduce the risk of GBS transmission and associated complications in newborns. By staying informed, seeking regular prenatal care, and discussing GBS testing with your healthcare provider, you're taking proactive steps to ensure a healthy start for both you and your baby.
The landscape of maternity care is evolving, with an increasing number of expectant parents seeking alternative options that align with their desires for a personalized and empowering birth experience. In this context, the role of midwives has gained prominence as a choice that provides both safety and emotional support.
The journey of overcoming infertility can be both emotionally and physically demanding. Finding the right support and resources is essential to make this journey more manageable and less isolating. If you're in the Columbia, SC area, you're in luck – this blog post compiles a range of local resources that offer valuable assistance, guidance, and care for individuals and couples navigating infertility challenges.
Bringing a new life into the world is a transformative journey that holds immense significance for expectant parents. As the birthing landscape evolves, more individuals are seeking ways to take control of their birth experiences, embracing options that align with their values and desires. Midwives have emerged as key figures in this movement, offering a unique approach to childbirth that empowers parents and celebrates the natural process of bringing a child into the world.
In recent years, there has been a noticeable shift in the way many individuals approach childbirth. With a desire for a more personalized and holistic birthing experience, the trend of home births attended by midwives has been steadily gaining momentum. This movement signifies a departure from the traditional hospital setting, highlighting a return to the roots of childbirth.
Pregnancy is often a wonderful journey filled with excitement and anticipation, but it's also accompanied by a plethora of information, some of which might not be entirely accurate. In this post, we'll take a closer look at some common pregnancy myths and provide evidence-based insights to help you navigate this special time with confidence.
Setting boundaries with well-intentioned through the first few days or weeks can be a healthy way to ensure the family is able to recover and bond as needed. It can feel difficult to set new boundaries, especially with family members. It’s important to remember that boundaries are not placed to harm your relationship or to cause feelings of harm to your family and friends. The intention is to help ensure that your new family has time to bond and recover from the overwhelm that birth often brings.
Bringing a new life into the world is a beautiful journey, but it's essential to be aware of potential risks along the way. Prenatal infections are a concern for expectant mothers, as they can pose risks to both the mother and the developing baby. In this blog post, we'll delve into the risks associated with common prenatal infections and explore treatment options to ensure a healthy pregnancy.
These words are relatively new for most of us, but they’ve had a huge impact on local businesses and medical care. As the wave of Coronavirus cases grows, the look of maternity and labor care is starting to rapidly change. If you are due within the next few months, you may want to stay up to date as local hospital policies change to prevent further spread of the virus.
Some providers have begun rescheduling prenatal visits and may be limiting visitors and children present during visits. As of this post (3/20/20), all local hospitals have imposed limits to the number of visitors a patient may have, and this includes limits during labor. Currently patients at any Prisma Health area hospital (including Prisma Health Richland, Prisma Health Baptist, and Prisma Health Parkridge) are limited to one support person for the duration of their stay. That one designated visitor cannot swap out with anyone else, and the visitor will be screened for illness prior to admission. Lexington Medical Center has now implemented a no visitors policy, other than the primary support person, who must have a bracelet. They are also asking the support person to stay on the floor to minimize the risk of transmission, but that is not absolutely required. All visitors here will also be screened prior to admission. I will attempt to keep this post updated as any policies continue to change.
These limits can clearly change your plans for labor. Extra family and friends are no longer allowed. This limit also eliminates the possibility of of bringing a doula or birth photographer unless there is not a birth partner present. This was no an individual physician decision, and at this time the hospitals report that your physician cannot overrule this limit. If you are due in the next few months and were planning to have a doula and/or birth photographer, now is the time to work with your support to create a backup plan.
Thus far, there have been no changes in birth outcomes if the mother has COVID-19, and it is not recommended to change protocols regarding care during birth due to this virus. Research has shown that the virus is not present in the placenta or amniotic fluid, and if baby is found to test positive soon after the birth, then the infection was caused by another person present or contact with a positive mother- the baby was not ill in utero and was not made sick in the birth process.
There is limited research that suggests pregnancy can be in some ways protective against this virus. This does not mean that pregnant people are not getting sick, but they often are showing only fewer symptoms or develop a weaker infection.
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that families still do skin to skin care after birth, breastfeed (if desired) , and keep baby in the parents’ room even if there is a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19.
Babies who contract COVID-19 have thus far had no severe illness. A few have mild cold/flu symptoms, but the majority have been asymptomatic. This applies for all children under 10 years old.
The CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) recommend continuing breastfeeding even if the mother and/or baby has COVID-19. Tests have not found the virus present in any tested milk samples from patients who are known to be positive. Continuing breastfeeding can help support baby’s immune system and help baby fight off the virus if it is present.
Here at Little Orchids, we are trying to adapt to still support our clients under these new hospital policies. As part of social distancing, we are encouraging families to schedule a virtual or phone consultation with us instead of coming to meet in our office. This allows us to still chat and answer any questions while reducing any possible virus spread.
We have also begun offering Virtual Doula Support. If your hospital is not allowing doulas during your birth, we’re offering completely remote pregnancy and labor support via phone and video calls. You can find more information about all virtual and remote support options on on our website.
Evidence Based Birth® released a completely online option for their Childbirth Class series. We are happy to help provide this option to families in our service area. We are also waiving the additional fee for booking a private class vs a group class. This online class option covers all the same information as the normal group class; learn more about the Evidence Based Birth® Childbirth Class here, and please contact us if you would like to book a class.
Several families have recently reached out to discuss how to possibly deliver at home instead of going to the hospital. We are doulas, and as such we have to maintain support roles only; we are not medical providers. We can attend births at home with you, as long as you also have a licensed provider present. If you need recommendations for local midwives, please send us a message! Some midwives are even accepting late transfers at this time due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
Hoping you all stay well!
So you're expecting a baby, and everyone is giving you advice.
"You need this stroller; it's a lifesaver!"
"Make sure baby eats every 2 hours!"
"Don't use that brand of diaper! You'll have poop explosions; they leak!"
"You have to encapsulate your placenta! I did, and it was wonderful!"
Wait, what was that about a placenta?
Placenta Encapsulation is a way of ingesting the placenta, and it's a decision that's gaining popularity. It may sound bizarre, but the placenta is filled with hormones that can benefit many new mothers.
Labor can be an intense, stressful time. Many people go into the birth process with a "birth plan," or a list of ideals they wish to stick to. These are often well researched ideas the family is comfortable with. But what happens when suddenly your doctor comes in and says those ideas need to change? Whether the doctor suggests additional interventions or even talks about changing the type of delivery, sometimes births do not go as planned. How can you make such a potentially huge decision during a high-stress, vulnerable time?
Your doctor may recommend scheduling an induction of labor for many reasons. For some this can be a welcome suggestion; you get to know more definitively when you will meet your new baby! For others, induction can be a scary or unwanted option. No matter how you come to the decision to induce, there are a few things to consider.
Whether you've been trying to conceive for months or you've just found out you're expecting a surprise, one of the first decisions to be made is who to go to for prenatal care.
In many areas, the main options for maternity care providers are Obstetricians and Midwives. Sometimes Family Practitioners attend births as well. In our local area of Columbia, SC, the choice is mainly between OBs, Certified Nurse Midwives, and Licensed Midwives.
So what's the difference between them all?
Having personal, in-person doula support through your labor is an investment, and people may be surprised at cost of hiring a doula. The prices doulas charge varies widely, often anywhere from $350 to $1,200 or more. With such a wide range of prices, many families may feel that they cannot afford a doula. While the total cost might seem daunting, there is a variety of creative options you may be able to draw from to cover the fee.
You may have seen the case report from the CDC making the rounds on social media lately claiming that a baby developed a dangerous Group B Strep (GBS) infection because the mother was ingesting placenta capsules. While this study seems to call into question the safety of placenta encapsulation, there are a few points to note:
Correlation does not automatically mean causation.
While the CDC has documented the illness is thought to be caused by the mother ingesting the placenta capsules, that has not been proven. The CDC themselves state that other family members could also be the carriers responsible, and the mother could have become infected after her initial negative test.
The mother's breastmilk tested negative for GBS. If the infection did not stem from the birth, it is unclear how the mother was then passing along GBS bacteria for baby to become infected.
Placenta Encapsulation is an unregulated industry; it appears that the encapsulator from this study may not have followed proper safety procedures.
The CDC report states that the placenta in question was dehydrated at temperatures between 115-160 degrees Fahrenheit. If this is correct, then this placenta was not prepared in a safe fashion capable of killing off harmful bacteria. Temperatures must be held high enough and long enough to properly destroy any grown bacteria.
If there were any signs of active infection at the time of birth or soon after (and generally at least mother or baby are presenting with fever or other signs of infection), then the placenta should never have been processed. It is never safe to consume placenta products with an active infection present.
Strong Disinfectants- All of our non-disposable equipment pieces are cleaned and sanitized both before and after each use. They are washed, rinsed, soaked in a 1:10 bleach solution, allowed to air dry in a closed area, then wiped down with a hospital-grade disinfectant and allowed to completely air dry. The hospital grade disinfectant that we use is a virucide, bactericide, tuberculocide, and fungicide. It kills HIV, Hep- B, Hep-C, TB, MRSA and Norovirus and meets or exceeds blood-borne pathogen standards.
Disposable Protective Equipment - We use disposable equipment as much as possible to reduce the risk of cross contamination between clients. Disposable equipment that we use for each client includes gloves, plastic food aprons, hair nets, booties, safety glasses, cutting boards, and face masks.
Safety Screening- If there are signs of infection in mother or baby, then we do not perform an encapsulation. It's just not worth the risk.
Scheduling Checks - We never have more than one placenta in our possession at any given time. We are very careful to not overbook so that there is no possible chance of accidental mix-ups. The placenta products you receive are 100% definitely made from your placenta.
At Little Orchids, we want you to be completely confident in your decision to encapsulate with us. We welcome any and all questions you may have! You've grown your placenta for the last 9+ months, and it is something you plan to ingest; it is important to feel safe with who will be processing the placenta.
Our encapsulator is a Certified Postpartum Placenta Encapsulation Specialist and is also a certified ServSafe Foodhandler and certified in Blood-bourne Pathogens training. We adhere to these stringent training protocols for a reason: it allows us to deliver a safe, quality product each and every time.
If you have any questions about out placenta encapsulation services or our training standards, please contact us today!
