Nancy has her baby!

WELL DONE NANCY!!!!


My HypnoBirthing client Nancy gave birth beautifully and peacefully in her home birthing pool last week...on film!
She was being filmed by Bernadette Bos, writer and director of the Home Birth Diaries series on Discovery Health and Home. Berny is making a new series, which will air in the spring and probably be called Home Birth Stories.
Berny said she had not filmed a HypnoBirthing birth before and although I wasn't there, it seems that the relaxation and visualisation techniques I had taught Nancy really made a difference.
Nancy, who had a long and troublesome labour when her first child Rudy was born (and also haemorrhaged badly) was ecstatic afterwards. I finally got the news of baby Sid's birth during a school concert in which my son Leo, 12, was forming a humble but enthusiastic part of the school choir... a double joy!
She had a six hour labour, with surges beginning around 8am. She spent most of the first part on her birth ball and slid into her pool around 11.30pm. She breathed baby down; then towards the end of the second stage the baby's heartbeat began slowing alarmingly. So Nancy started pushing harder and baby was born 2.05pm. He needed a bit of extra care but was OK in five minutes.
Seems the heartbeat issues were caused by a KNOT in his umbilical cord which was tightening as he descended - yikes!
I know I am biased - but I feel sure that without HypnoBirthing, Nancy would not have had the energy reserves for the pushing, or the emotional composure to deal with this moment of alarm.

Is this the stupidest mum in Britain?

Mum's anger at lessons on breastfeeding07 Nov 2006

A MUM has sparked controversy after she was reported as saying she will take her seven-year-old son out of classes in a protest at him being given lessons on childbirth and breastfeeding.Val Bickley, of Barnard Castle, says her boy is too young to be taught about pregnancy and would rather the emphasis was on reading and writing, rather than childbirth.

And she is reported to have questioned why Startforth Morritt Memorial School, has lessons in breastfeeding, saying "it's disgusting".

But the school has defended its stance, stating the workshops have been successful in the past.Headteacher Linda Sams said: "The children have been studying the topic of babies and play and when the health visitor comes in she will be holding a workshop that looks at a number of things connected with this topic. She will be talking about how babies like to be close to their parents when they feed and she will discuss breast feeding."

It is a workshop that is being successfully delivered to schools across Teesdale and has been delivered to schools in previous years without any problems."We have offered an alternative activity for this child to take part in while the workshop is going on. Other parents are supportive and quite happy for their child to be included."Sandra Turner, from the Association of Breast-feeding Mothers said: "

The ABM believes that if, from a young age the child is taught the right way to breastfeed, then eventually, we will have a much healthier nation."

Breastfeeding over 6 months boosts mental health

Obvious if you think about it. Breastfeeding = cuddles with mum at home.

This is from Medical News:

Breastfeeding Boosts Mental Health31 Oct 2006 A new study has found that babies that are breastfed for longer than six months have significantly better mental health in childhood. The findings are based on data from the ground-breaking Raine Study at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, that has tracked the growth and development of more than 2500 West Australian children over the past 16 years. Researcher Dr Wendy Oddy said there was growing evidence that bioactive factors in breast milk played an important role in the rapid early brain development that occurs in the first year of life. "Even when we adjust the results to take into account other factors such as the parents' socio-economic situation, their education, their happiness and family functioning, we see that children that were breastfed for at least six months are at lower risk of mental health problems," Dr Oddy said. The study found that children who were breastfed for less than six months compared to six months or longer had a 52% increased risk of a mental health problem at 2 years of age, a 55% increased risk at age 6, at age 8 the increased risk was 61% while at age 10 the increased risk was 37%. The analysis is based on a scientifically recognised checklist of child behaviour that assessed the study children's behaviour at 2, 6, 8 and 10 years of age. Dr Oddy said that children that were breastfed had particularly lower rates of delinquent, aggressive and anti-social behaviour, and overall were less depressed, anxious or withdrawn. "These results are powerful evidence for more support to be given to mothers to help them breastfeed for longer," she said.