Belly Mapping Problems

Women have contacted me lately with some frustrations doing Belly Mapping. (See Michelle's comment to the previous post.) I haven't been hearing the details of what the problem is, but it sounds like there is some confusion. I'd like to address that today.

Belly Mapping becomes easier the later in pregnancy the mother attempts it.
Here's a mom beginning her third trimester.
She lies down to relax her abdominal muscles.
She is exploring, deeply, what is in the lower part of her uterus. She is glad to find the round head. She has to reach deeply.

Think about what you find in the top of the uterus, and what are on each side and whether the lumps are different on either side.

Then take a doll and match the head. If the head is presenting, or leading the way out of the womb, then put the doll's head there.

Put the doll's back where the largest firmness is, the solid back.
Put the doll's feet where the most kicks are being felt.

Fine tuning comes with practice.

Try this and see if it makes more sense!

Dynamic body balancing weekend

Last weekend was really amazing. It started out with me having a meltdown into the magma of unworthiness. Forget "inadequate pelvis," my head, my heart, my whole life sucked. Maybe being on such a steep learning curve curve with life was getting to me. I really lost my peace.
Anyway, the Dynamic Body Balancing class was about to start and I felt that I was facing a cliff to climb to get my attitude together to attend.
Carol Phillips, the Chiropractor who teaches this mixture of methods, called to see if I had time for lunch Thursday. What a blessing. We sat at The Good Earth. Soon she was reassuring me with her story of how shaken her world became until she devoted herself to writing her book, Hands of Love.
Discontent with everything, she also left her practice and began writing...for 8 years (doing a quieter practice on the side). Her story made me feel much better.
Much of my angst is from going in too many directions. I surrendered myself to the weekend. It was the last of four weekend workshops with Carol.
How will I ever have time to practice these new skills? Right now, I have every day booked for my various projects. God would have to decide how this would work, if at all.
As I put on my coat to leave the house, I felt strongly that I had to go back and listen to my phone messages. Confession- I hadn't listened to messages for two days while I was in my snit. I heard those tell-tale etheric bells even as I heard a woman's voice tell how she was facing an induction for her VBAC at 42 weeks. Her baby wasn't engaged in her pelvis. Her first baby never engaged either. She and her midwives had noted that this baby was posterior so she had begun the techniques from Spinning Babies and saw a Chiropractor.

I headed over after class to see what we could do. Her baby had just rotated to LOT the night before, a lovely starting position - except that this baby was still not engaged. I bit my tongue rather than say she was at an increase risk for cesarean because her baby's head was yet above the pelvis (Stronge; and Shin; both studies say 12 x the risk for cesarean, Shin's study is for 1st time moms over 41 weeks). Well, its a second baby, I rationalized, that may be why the head was up. Early labor might yet bring the baby into the pelvis. Though I didn't think so. Her history indicated a torsion in her pelvis. She'd been in a car accident two years before when a woman ran a red light. So, we did a series of activities Friday night.

Sunday, just before the workshop ended, I got a call from the hospital.
She'd been induced the night before with IV Pitocin. Super strong contractions resulted. The Pit was turned off to let her uterus rest (and avoid a rupture). In the afternoon, the midwife broke her water to see if she could labor without more medication. No contractions came so the Pitocin was turned back on. Her cervix was 4 cm dilated (10 cm is fully open and ready for the pushing urge).
What could they do? I suggested a psoas release and Carol's famous three-some: the forward leaning inversion (again), the sidelying release and the standing sacral release. After the workshop, I called back and offered to come out to the hospital. Everyone was tired so a fresh face was welcome. They'd been at the hospital about 24-hours now.

Her labor was just revving up as I arrived. We went through as many of the myofascial release techniques as I could with her standing and contracting every 2-3 minutes. As she stood and leaned towards her husband, I noticed her sacrum and tailbone were pulled unusually inward. Bilateral pressure anteriorly on both insertion points for the sacrotuberous ligaments had a most beneficial effect. I did specific massage to relieve her TMJ, including inside-the-mouth pressure point release. Afterwards, she wanted to lay down on her side. Then I was able to do some cranial fascial release. For an hour, I followed her around like a sucker fish on a shark.

The nurse-midwife came in and offered to check her cervix for dilation. The mom was laboring internally and didn't answer. The doula and I had been with her that hour and we said we couldn't discern a change, though the contractions were closer and quite strong. So the midwife left saying, just let me know...
The very next contraction brought the urge to push. The nurse was there and asked if she should check. Yet, the mom felt no downward pressure and her sacrum was still pulled anteriorly. The next contraction came and again I said, well, the sacrum hasn't come out yet. The mom still complained of the same discomfort she was having from the head being on her bladder.
The third contraction was quite different! The sacrum flared out and I smiled at the nurse, now her sacrum has come out. Now this could have been the fetal ejection reflex (Michel Odent) or it could have been that the ligament release let the sacrum become free to move.

The midwife returned and found a bit of cervix left, but baby was coming down. She went from 4-10 cm during the hour I did the body work. She coped so well I wasn't sure she was progressing; it was easier for her to cope in transition than when she was first on the Pit getting to 4 cm, probably because of the tension in her pelvic floor and sacrum from her car accident. Suddenly, she was getting relief and felt hope. Ultimately, she had to push very hard to bring her baby out. He was quite a good size.
The nurse and midwife were pretty impressed. I guess it could have been a coincidence. I don't think so, though.
Thank you, Carol Phillips, for all you've taught me. I'm pretty sure it saved this mom from having another cesarean. It took all four classes. TMJ and a tight psoas...I think these were the issues. The TMJ can pull up the sacrum or something... let me check my notes... Anyway, never underestimate the fascia!

What a fun way to learn. Take the class during the day and go to a birth in the evening. God arranges everything!
Carol is returning to St. Paul, Minnesota in 2010. Here's Carol's schedule:

2010 Dynamic Body Balancing Workshops with Carol Phillips, DC
Each 20-Hr workshop is $400/$450 with CEU's

To reserve your seat, click here.

Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota
Level I February 12th-14th
Level II April 9th-11th
L III Pregnant Women and Babies July 19-20th?
Level IV October 1st-3rd
Level I December 3rd-5th

Annapolis, Maryland
Level I March 12th-14th
Level II April 30th-May 1st
Level III August 20th-22nd
Level IV October 15th-17th

Thanks giving

Thank you to all the mamas and babies and papas and siblings and nurses and midwives and doctors and doulas and childbirth educators and yoginis and lactation consultants and public health workers and authors and painters and singers and bringers and pot luck cookers and visiting home nurses and hucs and apprentices and hypnobabiebirthingteachers and prayers and hopers and givers and takers and everyone all around the world.

Funny! More breech coincidences

Ok, this is getting weird.
I got a series of calls from three women who are all friends in WA state looking for support for the one of them who is at term (pregnant and due) and whoses baby is suddenly breech. They wondered if I knew of any breech resources in Washington state. Well, sorry, I didn't actually. Portland, OR and Vancouver, perhaps, but not WA itself.
I opened my email, didn't even have to do a search, and found a link to this Breech Birth in Seattle and Washington State blog.

And here's a blog for fun... fun to midwives and birth junkies, anyway. WithWoman.co.uk/

Teri posted my breech update pics!

Ok, the topic of breech is so daily in my life right now. I wish I was done with my other projects to travel somewhere for more training. Somethings up. At least we are working on a related project....more on that when its manifested. I got another call today from a birth educator, out of town, looking for a breech-skilled provider. Just what those skills are does need to be discussed.

Today, Teri's Passion for Birth blog post with a couple of my midwife partner, Emme Corbeil's photos of our other partner Clare Welter, CNM (the footling here) and Sylvia Kosloski, CPM (my own midwife!) with me at our Midwifery Now! (MN!) Breech Update showing the cardboard pelvis I made the day before the workshop. Teri said to friend me on Facebook and learn the Cardinal Movements of Breech ... er, ah,
ok, I guess that's an assignment for me. Didn't mean to steal the honor, as other midwives are more qualified! Meanwhile, here's Teri Shilling's blog http://childbirtheducation.blogspot.com/2009/11/mega-pelvis.html

The person who really describes breech cardinal movements well is UK Midwife Jane Evans. She explained the best starting position for the breech is Right Sacral Lateral (Transverse in our country's English). That's just the opposite for a head down baby. Very enlightening!

The baby starts on the right.
When the hips enter the brim, they may be transverse then. Even if they're coming in posterior, the baby will rotate around to the anterior by the ribs, if there is no touch, and no obstacles to the cardinal movements of the baby (such as lying on one's back) during the movement through the pelvic floor.


The mother is on her hands and knees most often for safety. We show the pelvis as if the mom is standing simply because of the size of adults and showing a room full of midwives.

And the box wouldn't support a person moving through it if it were on its side. So the pictures are not exactly how it'd go, but they show the general idea.

The baby turns to face a hip as the chest comes into the pelvic floor and the first bun appears. The first bun to appear is the anterior cheek. When the buns are one above the other, you see one before the other rather than both at once, its reassuring of success with the arms.

After the birth of the hips the umbilical cord appears. It is easy to see if the cord is happily pulsating. It is easy to see if the baby's tone is good. But do not touch the cord to bring down a loop.
The baby rotates again and faces the spine as the shoulders enter the pelvic brim. The arms, often over the chest, drop out in this position. The baby is still not touched. The midwife may be going crazy with desire to touch the beautiful child or to check the cord by touch. She'll get over it. Don't touch.

The baby pulls the knees up to the belly and this brings the chin to the chest. The baby is likely to drop out now or with the next contraction. Remember, you are watching the umbilical cord and tone of the baby to assess health.
As the baby drops from the mother the midwife or doctor quickly catches the baby. This is the appropriate first touch.

In this way, the baby's work to rotate through the pelvic floor is not interrupted. Disturbing the baby increases the likelihood of having to rescue the baby from extended arms.

Anyone hoping to catch a breech has to know the specific ways of releasing stuck arms or the extended head. Just because touching the breech is one common cause of extended arms or head, it is not the only cause. I'll leave that information for another venue.
I have only had my hands on a few breech babies that needed help and am fortunate to have studied and studied, and practiced and practiced with dolls and pelvis and a very astute senior midwife before needing to put those lessons to action. We are fortunate to have some good breech How to's in print:


B BREECH BIRTH, book by Benna Waites






Breech Birth Woman-Wise by Maggie Banks, Publisher Birthspirit Books, New Zealand, 1998 ISBN 0 473 04991 0

Coalition for Breech Birth Conference

Life made sure I went to the Coalition for Breech Birth Conference in Ottawa, Canada.



Robin Guy and her Coalition co-madres joined efforts with UnderstandingBirthBetter.com Midwife Betty-Anne Daviss. They brought several top breech experts to Canada to share their hope to continue vaginal breech birth on Earth. Starting with Dr.s Andre' Lelonde and Robert Gagnon of the SOCG and ending with Ina May Gaskin, I also got to meet Jane Evans of the UK.

Jane reminds me so much of my late partner and friend, Jan Hofer. They both so get birth and what's important without getting lost in the mental maze, and at the same time, Jane Evans explained breech cardinal movements so well that several of the OBs were saying that now the lights were on. Now they got it and would be trying hands and knees breech birth when they got back to their cities.
Dr.s Frank Louwen and Anke Reitter came with cheerful stats on knees and elbows position (hands and knees, but without straining the wrists). Of 300 breech births with mothers using "knees and elbow" position, only 2 needed help with extended arms and head, even the footlings. Even the primes. This correlates perfectly with midwife observations of hands and knees breech births. Hands-off-the-breech really means hands off. They also didn't touch the baby, basically until trying to catch the baby in mid air before the baby hit the mattress. Hands-off doesn't mean don't touch until the umbilical cord is out, but rather until the head has just come out past the parietal bones and you prevent a fall.

So check these resources for current breech conversations
Society for Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada Guidelines for Vaginal Breech Birth
Stand and Deliver
http://www.breechbirth.ca/Welcome.html
http://www.birthinternational.com/product/book/bk846.html
Hands off the Breech by Jane Evans
http://supportdrfischbein.blogspot.com/
http://video.who.int/streaming/rhl/breech_web.wmv
http://www.abreechinthesystem.com/home.html
http://enjoybirth.wordpress.com/2009/09/25/unexpected-cesarean-due-to-surprise-breech-baby/
http://blog.givingbirthnaturally.com/2009/06/vaginal-breech-birth-socg.html

and of course, www.SpinningBabies.com The Breech info has been reorganized, made simpler, but more detailed.

Have fun surfing, there's lots more, but I have to go make dinner...

Fun w Belly Mapping

This post from an expectant mother's blog lifted my spirits today.

"We also got to find out our baby's position in the womb (called belly mapping). S/He was enthusiastically responding to our hands. So our baby's back is on my left side and the knees & feet are up against my belly's right side (which would explain all the kung-pow action going on over there). And the head is down!"

They feel the baby responding to their hands, and to their hearts. Wonderful!! What and extra blessing with Belly Mapping !

http://theswensonfamily.blogspot.com/2009/10/two-more.html