13 Moons, York (2025)

28/12/2022

There is no such thing as a “natural induction”.

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“Natural induction” isn’t really natural. And it’s still induction.

I know many mamas and midwives that think they “have to” because of all the silly rules and regs that govern women’s bodies in some places. And I’ve heard the argument that it’s better to try a “natural” induction at home first, if the alternative is a pharmaceutical, and I don’t necessarily agree.

If we cannot respect the timing of a baby and the timing of the mama’s body, we aren’t really starting off on a very trusting foot. Add in endless herbs, and ni**le stim and castor oil and we begin playing God. We are saying that we need as ego humans is more important, and sometimes maybe it’s worth that risk.

In the end, induction at home often doesn’t go well. Wonky labors that need further assistance, babies that need help descending, uterus that needs help with excess bleeding, babes that need help breathing. Why are we surprised that one or ALL of these things might result from “natural induction”? And if luck is on our side, maybe terrible things don’t happen but we have to live with the fact that we forced a baby out before his time.

What am I proposing? I am suggesting that we let mama baby dyad lead the way, and if mom and babies are fine and thriving, leave them alone so that the hormonal process of birth can unfold. If mama and baby are not fine (for some reason that probably has nothing to do with being beyond the due date), then I will go out on a limb and say that a medical induction may be better/safer because of the advanced monitoring and surgical options.

Have you been told “natural induction” has no risks?

Love, Maryn ❤️

Photo of gorgeous Olivia and baby Atlas:)

28/12/2022

I have to agree, the ‘rarity’ of en caul birth likely comes from more medicalised care providers’ tendency to ARM (artificially break the bag of waters). Still, this is a beautiful photo ♥️

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So beautiful 💖

The reason this is so rare?

Some midwives and doctors believe rupturing membranes is a minor procedure which may accelerate labour.

Those who know the many benefits of leaving well alone see en-caul births much more frequently 😉

Posted • I was at a beautiful home birth recently where the baby was born en caul - also known as a mermaid birth, veiled birth or simply baby born in the sac.

This is super rare. They say 1:80,000. They also say the baby is born lucky 🍀

Normally a woman’s waters will naturally break (membranes rupture) either before or during labour. Sometimes the membranes are artificially broken by a midwife or doctor, often as part of an induction process.

However, the membranes can have a valuable role to play, keeping the baby and inside of the uterus free from infection and protecting the baby from the intensity of the contractions.

The recent birth I attended was so beautiful. The little baby actually broke her own membranes with her hand 💖

Beautiful photo Via

25/12/2022

This hit me harder than anything in recent memory.

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I’m not religious, BUT this poem resonates:

Sometimes I Wonder

sometimes I wonder
if mary breastfed jesus
if she cried out when he bit her
or if she sobbed when he would not latch

and sometimes I wonder
if this is all too vulgar
to ask in a church
full of men
without milk stains on their shirts
or coconut oil on their breasts
preaching from pulpits off limits to the mother of god

but then i think of feeding jesus
birthing jesus
the expulsion of blood
and smell of sweat
the salt of a mother’s tears
onto the soft head of the salt of the earth
feeling lonely
and tired
hungry
annoyed
overwhelmed
loving

and i think
if the vulgarity of birth is not
honestly preached
by men who carry power but not burden
who carry privilege but not labor
who carry authority but not submission
then it should not be preached at all

because the real scandal of the birth of god
lies in the cracked ni**les of a
14 year old
and not in the sermons of ministers
who say women
are too delicate
to lead

Kaitlin Shetler Poetry, 12.16.19

Photograph by Natalie Lennard (The Creation of Man, 2017)

24/12/2022

Christmas cookies 🎄 Ava made one that looks like Nora 😂♥️

23/12/2022

I get it... we need the message that we don't need to do or be more. Many of us grew up in cultural of family spaces where our value was based on something outside of us or sometimes we needed to achieve or become. Our worth wasn't inherent but rather earned.

But here's the deal: how you are showing up right now? It's brilliant. It's beautiful. It's real, honest, and amazing. YOU ARE WHOLE. And this world needs you just like that.

You are made of star stuff. Even on your messiest of days, your light has the ability the change a person's entire perspective in a single moment. You are energy. You are a vessel for all that is good and beautiful in the world. And if that's not fu***ng magical, I don't know what it.

Follow me for more star shine talk, beautiful one ➡

21/12/2022

When I was a doula in the US, I was always incredibly annoyed when the nurse would hang the bag of Pitocin and say "this is oxytocin, the same thing as the hormone produced by your body." Whoa, whoa, whoa... not, it's not. Pitocin is a synthetic version of oxytocin, but it is absolutely not the exact same.

Then I move to the UK to study midwifery, and lo and behold, the bag appears again, this time with the word "OXYTOCIN" emblazoned on the front. What.The.Actual.F**k. Same contents as we had in the States, without the trade name.

So, I'm here to clear up this misunderstanding. Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for starting and progressing labour. Pitocin (US)/Oxytocin (UK)/Syntocinon (Aus) is a synthetic version of oxytocin used to induce or augment (speed up) labour. While synthetic oxytocin might trigger contractions, it isn’t identical to the oxytocin hormone produced naturally, and it certainly isn’t without risks.

When medically necessary, synthetic oxytocin is a way to get baby out before spontaneous labour begins. It can also be helpful to stop excessive postpartum bleeding, if medically indicated.

But used in labour, synthetic oxytocin actually increases the incidence of postpartum haemorrhage, adverse effects on term newborns, uterine hyper-stimulation, and even caesarean section. Synthetic oxytocin doesn't cross the blood-brain barrier, either, so the other benefits of naturally-occurring oxytocin related to self-regulation, endorphin release, and bonding are lost with the synthetic version.

When a birthing person's or baby’s health and safety are at risk, the benefits of induction or augmentation may outweigh these risks. Only the birthing person can decide this, though.

This is a clear breach of informed decision-making and needs to be corrected. This is just one more example of systemic coercion and gaslighting in maternity care.

19/12/2022

In a conversation today, a woman told me how her doula and her partner were fighting against the midwives in the kitchen the entire time she was labouring in the living room.

She had told her community midwife during pregnancy that she wanted a hands-off birth but would be OK with monitoring here and there, listening in, etc. But she basically wanted to be left alone.

Come her birthing time, a different midwife showed up, and apparently, this midwife was not having any of this "undisturbed", "hands-off" plan. The woman only learned of all that went down in the kitchen weeks later from her doula, her husband, and the midwife she had seen during pregnancy. In a postnatal visit, the midwife berated her for "putting herself at risk" and "doing dangerous things", telling her that she had "not informed her that she didn't want x, y, or z", and that had "caused problems" for the midwife, who was there to support her and do her job. According to the mother, who was an experienced birth worker, there was nothing "dangerous" about her labour except that it was a little long. Everything was otherwise smooth, baby needed no additional support, etc.

Folks, I respect midwives' knowledge and experience. I appreciate what they can bring to a birth, and I don't think they're just a random set of extra hands that is just as useful as a doula or a birth partner.

However, the birthing person is the expert on their own body and their own birth experience. They deserve to be supported in the decisions that they make. They do not need anyone's approval or permission to do anything. Decision-making is not to be shared with anybody but rather supported by those who are part of that birthing person's experience. That includes care providers. You don't like their choices? Not their problem.

17/12/2022

Let's talk about waters opening (I'm not a fan of the words "breaking" or "rupturing") in labour and birth. There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding around when this happens.

In about 8-10% of pregnancies, it opens before labour actually begins. The remainder will break during labour, or not at all. A baby who is born in its bag of waters is said to be born "en caul" (also known as a "veiled birth"). It's not an issue at all! Your midwife or you can gently break the sac and lift the veil over the baby's head, welcoming them to the world. In some cultures, it's actually considered good luck. 😊️

When your care provider breaks the back of waters, it's called "artificial rupture of membranes". It's usually done to induce or speed up labour.

💥 Let's be clear: this isn't necessary!!! I'm sure there are situations where it might be helpful, but in the vast majority of cases, it's just another attempt to control and manage a process that is otherwise proceeding normally.

Read my blog post this week to learn more about the pros and cons of AROM: www.13-moons.co.uk/the-journal

15/12/2022

Enough said, my loves. Enough said.

Schedule a Discovery Call through my website at http://www.13-moons.co.uk.

14/12/2022

The ACM, MANA, and NACPM defines physiological labour and birth as “one that is powered by the innate human capacity of the woman and fetus’’. No induction. No augmentation. No ‘assistance’ with ventouse or forceps. No coached pushing. Allowing the birthing person the time and space needed so they and their baby can navigate the labyrinth of birth.Sounds easy enough, right? Just watchful witnessing. Unfortunately, this happens less often than it should, but there are things that can be done to stack the cards in your favour. Hopefully, this list proves helpful to those who are looking to have an embodied, powerful, and positive birth experience ❤️.

11/12/2022

Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that those care providers who are trained in and practice from a clinical, risk- and fear-based mindset have a progressive lack of distrust around birth.

The medical industrial birth complex...

- Knows conception happens and are fairly confident manipulating the different variables to support fertility.
- Mostly trusts that the body can grow a baby
- Starts to distrust that the pregnant person's body and baby will initiate labour at the "right time"
- Increasingly loses confidence that the birthing person's labour can and will progress on its own and that how it unfolds is what is needed for that person's body, birthing experience, and baby
- Doesn't trust that a birthing person can push a baby out without coaching, perineal "protection", extra lubrication, or even "assistance" with an episiotomy, ventouse, or forceps
- HOLY HELL absolutely does not at all, in any way, believe that the birthing person can birth the placenta without traction and fundal massage or stop bleeding without artificial oxytocin or other cocktail of drugs

And do they realise that their anxiety about the third stage (combined with the flapping about with rubbing the baby down and hats that block important pheromones) is actually transferring to the person who has just given birth? And that anxiety increases adrenaline levels, which blunts what would have been high levels of oxytocin. What would those high levels of oxytocin done? Caused additional contractions that would result in the birth of the placenta and helped to stop bleeding.

It's all absolutely inane.

If you don't trust birth, DON'T BE A MIDWIFE OR BIRTH WORKER. The birthing person's body knows what it's doing.

09/12/2022

Is your partner unsure of how to support you in birth? Here are ideas:

1) Water, food, and wee. You need to stay hydrated in labour, so your partner can offer you a sip of water or electrolyte drink after every couple of contractions. It's also a good idea to snack periodically to keep your energy up. Yoghurt, nuts, fruit, peanut butter, and energy balls are quick and easy.

It's also important to keep your bladder empty in labour, so your partner can encourage you to try to wee every 2 hours or so.

2) Physical support can take many forms, and what the you prefer may be different throughout labour. Some options include massage, using a rebozo, hip squeeze, oxytocin-inducing holding and affection, or a cold cloth on the forehead or neck. There may even come a point when the you doesn't want to be touched at all. Just follow your lead, then they'll be ace!

3) The environment that you are birthing in can have a significant impact on the birth process. Low lights, low voices, a comfortable temperature, music, and fewer disturbances can all be helpful. Protect the birthing space!

3) Understand you birth plan and back you up if needed. You're going to be working hard in birth, and you might encounter a provider who suggests things that aren't on your plan. Your partner can help by reiterating your preferences and asking questions about all options available.

4) Encouragement: Although some birthing people appreciate excited encourage akin to a football coach in a World Cup match, in my experience, the quiet, gentle, trusting support is more aligned with what works in birth. Partners should match the birthing person's energy and

4) By breathing with you and reminding you to use low vocal tones, your partner can help you get on top of some of the more difficult contractions/pressure waves.

13 Moons

28/12/2022

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