By admin, on May 9th, 2012
We are supporting The Feminist Breeder’s Mother’s Day campaign to help get life-saving birth kits to women around the world.
We would like you to join us.
According to The Birthing Kit Foundation, “Every 90 seconds, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth …many from infections acquired during childbirth”.
You can help by providing a “birthing kit” so that the women obtain necessary items to help ensure a healthier outcome for mom and baby. The birthing kit addresses the “7 cleans needed for a safe delivery.” The kits are basic with 6 items. A plastic sheet, soap, 2 gloves, sterile scalpel blade, 3 cords and 5 gauze squares. A simple kit that can save the life of a mother and her child.
Originally the campaign goal was to raise $300 but on Tuesday the post was updated and The Feminist Breeder had surpassed her goal. Now a new goal has been set and we are contributing $15 for every $100 in donations above the original goal. The best part is that only $10 can buy three Birthing Kits so for a small amount of money, you truly can make a hugeWe are supporting The Feminist Breeder’s Mother’s Day campaign to help get life-saving birth kits to women around the world.
We would like you to join us.
According to The Birthing Kit Foundation, “Every 90 seconds, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth …many from infections acquired during childbirth”.
You can help by providing a “birthing kit” so that the women obtain necessary items to help ensure a healthier outcome for mom and baby. The birthing kit addresses the “7 cleans needed for a safe delivery.” The kits are basic with 6 items. A plastic sheet, soap, 2 gloves, sterile scalpel blade, 3 cords and 5 gauze squares. A simple kit that can save the life of a mother and her child.
Originally the campaign goal was to raise $300 but on Tuesday the post was updated and The Feminist Breeder had surpassed her goal. Now a new goal has been set and we are contributing $15 for every $100 in donations above the original goal. The best part is that only $10 can buy three Birthing Kits so for a small amount of money, you truly can make a huge difference.
Please join us and help The Feminist Breeder reach a new goal of $1000. difference.
Please join us and help The Feminist Breeder reach a new goal of $1000.
We are supporting The Feminist Breeder’s Mother’s Day Campaign to help get life-saving birth kits to women around the world.
We would like you to join us.
According to The Birthing Kit Foundation, “Every 90 seconds, a woman dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth …many from infections acquired during childbirth”. This is especially shocking when so little is needed to change these statistics.
Some facts from the Birthing Kit Foundation website:
- Papua New Guinea was the very first country that received our kits in 1999. The need was great and the impact from the first 100 kits showed that at least anecdotally there was a significant reduction in maternal deaths.
- In Kenya 70% of women deliver at home and traditional birth attendants have no access to materials
- Ethiopia is a country of 80 million people in Sub Saharan Africa where 2.75 million women become pregnant every year and 93% deliver in the home. The issue of unhygienic births is of particular concern in remote areas where there are high rates of poverty.
- Afghanistan has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world, estimated at 1900/100,000 live births, and a lifetime risk of maternal death is approximately 1:9.
You can help by providing a “birthing kit” so that the women obtain necessary items to help ensure a healthier outcome for mom and baby. The birthing kit addresses the “7 cleans needed for a safe delivery.” The kits are basic with 6 items. A plastic sheet, soap, 2 gloves, sterile scalpel blade, 3 cords and 5 gauze squares. A simple kit that can save the life of a mother and her child.
Originally the campaign goal was to raise $300 but on Tuesday the post was updated and The Feminist Breeder had surpassed her goal. Now a new goal has been set and we (HealthyBabyNetwork.com) are contributing $15 for every $100 in donations above the original goal. The best part is that only $10 can buy three Birthing Kits so for a small amount of money, you truly can make a huge difference.
Please join us and help The Feminist Breeder reach a new goal of $1000. Donate here. Thank you for your kindness, compassion and generosity.
By admin, on April 18th, 2012
By Elizabeth Pantley, Author of The No-Cry Nap Solution
From the moment your child wakes in the morning he is slowly using up the benefits of the previous night’s sleep. He wakes up totally refreshed, but as the hours pass, littleby little, the benefits of his sleep time are used up, and an urge to to sleep begins to build. When we catch a child at in-between stages and provide naps, we build up his reservoir of sleep-related benefits, allowing him a “fresh start” after each sleep period.
As shown on the sleep chart below, as children age, the length of time that they can stay “happily awake” increases. A newborn can only be awake one or two hours before tiredness sets in, whereas a two year old can last five to seven hours before craving some down time for a nap. When children are pushed beyond their biological awake time span without a break that’s when they become fatigued, fussy and unhappy.rn to sleep begins to build. When we catch a child at in-between stages and provide naps, we build up his reservoir of sleep-related benefits, allowing him a “fresh start” after each sleep period.
Age “Happily Awake” span of time between naps
Newborn 1 – 2 hours
6 month old 2 – 3 hours
12 month old 3 – 4 hours
18 month old 4 – 6 hours
2 year old 5 – 7 hours
3 year old 6 – 8 hours
4 year old 6 – 12 hours
As the day progresses, and the sleep pressure builds, a child becomes fussier, whinier, and less flexible. He has more crying spells, more tantrums, and less patience. He loses concentration and the ability to learn and retain new information. The scientific term for this process is “homeostatic sleep pressure” or “homeostatic sleep drive” . . . I call it The Volcano Effect. We’ve all seen the effects of this on a baby or child, as it is often as clear as watching a volcano erupt; nearly everyone has observed a fussy child and thought or said, “Someone needs a nap!”
As a child progresses through his day, his biology demands a sleep break to regroup, refresh and repair. If a child does not get this break the problem intensifies: the rumblings and tremors become an outright explosion. Without a nap break, the homeostatic pressure continues building until the end of the day, growing in intensity – like a volcano – so that a child becomes overtired, wired and unable to stop the explosion. The result is an intense bedtime battle with a cranky, overtired child, or an infant who won’t fall asleep no matter how tired you know he is.
Even more, a child who misses naps day after day builds a sleep deprivation that launches her into the volcano stage much easier and quicker. If she is missing naps and also lacking the right quality or quantity of nighttime sleep…watch out!
Newborns and young babies have a much shorter span in which their sleep pressure builds. They rapidly reach the peak of their volcano in one to three hours. This is why newborns sleep throughout the day, and why young babies require two or three or four daily naps. Over time, as a baby’s sleep cycle matures he will be able to go longer periods between sleeps. It is not until age 4 or 5 that a child is able to go happily through the entire day without a nap, and sleep research suggests that even through adulthood a mid-day nap or rest break is extremely beneficial in reducing the pressure in all human beings.
The Volcano Effect is not something reserved only for children! This biological process affects adults as well. Understanding this can help you interpret what is really going on in your home at the end of a long day, when children are fussy and parents are grumpy – resulting in a whole mountain range of volcanoes.
Sleep pressure can be exaggerated by environmental issues such as the previous poor night’s sleep, on-going sleep deprivation, or daily stress. What’s more, each person’s moodiness feeds off the others, causing contagious crankiness. And then you’ll find yourself losing patience and saying to your child, “I’m sorry, honey. Mommy’s just tired right now.” (This is a very telling explanation we don’t often stop to analyze.)
This Volcano concept brings to light one more important point: Quality naps can make up for lost night sleep – but extra nighttime sleep does not make up for missed naps, due to the homeostatic sleep pressure concept. Therefore, no matter how your child sleeps at night – great sleeper or poor sleeper — his daily naps are critically important to release the rising sleep pressure.
From the moment your child wakes in the morning he is slowly using up the benefits of the previous night’s sleep. He wakes up totally refreshed, but as the hours pass, littleby little, the benefits of his sleep time are used up, and an urge to to sleep begins to build. When we catch a child at in-between stages and provide naps, we build up his reservoir of sleep-related benefits, allowing him a “fresh start” after each sleep period.
As shown on the sleep chart below, as children age, the length of time that they can stay “happily awake” increases. A newborn can only be awake one or two hours before tiredness sets in, whereas a two year old can last five to seven hours before craving some down time for a nap. When children are pushed beyond their biological awake time span without a break that’s when they become fatigued, fussy and unhappy.rn to sleep begins to build. When we catch a child at in-between stages and provide naps, we build up his reservoir of sleep-related benefits, allowing him a “fresh start” after each sleep period.
Age “Happily Awake” span of time between naps
Newborn 1 – 2 hours
6 month old 2 – 3 hours
12 month old 3 – 4 hours
18 month old 4 – 6 hours
2 year old 5 – 7 hours
3 year old 6 – 8 hours
4 year old 6 – 12 hours
As the day progresses, and the sleep pressure builds, a child becomes fussier, whinier, and less flexible. He has more crying spells, more tantrums, and less patience. He loses concentration and the ability to learn and retain new information. The scientific term for this process is “homeostatic sleep pressure” or “homeostatic sleep drive” . . . I call it The Volcano Effect. We’ve all seen the effects of this on a baby or child, as it is often as clear as watching a volcano erupt; nearly everyone has observed a fussy child and thought or said, “Someone needs a nap!”
As a child progresses through his day, his biology demands a sleep break to regroup, refresh and repair. If a child does not get this break the problem intensifies: the rumblings and tremors become an outright explosion. Without a nap break, the homeostatic pressure continues building until the end of the day, growing in intensity – like a volcano – so that a child becomes overtired, wired and unable to stop the explosion. The result is an intense bedtime battle with a cranky, overtired child, or an infant who won’t fall asleep no matter how tired you know he is.
Even more, a child who misses naps day after day builds a sleep deprivation that launches her into the volcano stage much easier and quicker. If she is missing naps and also lacking the right quality or quantity of nighttime sleep…watch out!
Newborns and young babies have a much shorter span in which their sleep pressure builds. They rapidly reach the peak of their volcano in one to three hours. This is why newborns sleep throughout the day, and why young babies require two or three or four daily naps. Over time, as a baby’s sleep cycle matures he will be able to go longer periods between sleeps. It is not until age 4 or 5 that a child is able to go happily through the entire day without a nap, and sleep research suggests that even through adulthood a mid-day nap or rest break is extremely beneficial in reducing the pressure in all human beings.
The Volcano Effect is not something reserved only for children! This biological process affects adults as well. Understanding this can help you interpret what is really going on in your home at the end of a long day, when children are fussy and parents are grumpy – resulting in a whole mountain range of volcanoes.
Sleep pressure can be exaggerated by environmental issues such as the previous poor night’s sleep, on-going sleep deprivation, or daily stress. What’s more, each person’s moodiness feeds off the others, causing contagious crankiness. And then you’ll find yourself losing patience and saying to your child, “I’m sorry, honey. Mommy’s just tired right now.” (This is a very telling explanation we don’t often stop to analyze.)
This Volcano concept brings to light one more important point: Quality naps can make up for lost night sleep – but extra nighttime sleep does not make up for missed naps, due to the homeostatic sleep pressure concept. Therefore, no matter how your child sleeps at night – great sleeper or poor sleeper — his daily naps are critically important to release the rising sleep pressure.
~~~~~
From The No-Cry Nap Solution: Guaranteed Gentle Ways to Solve All Your Naptime Problems by Elizabeth Pantley (McGraw-Hill, January 2009). Here is the link for information and more excerpts: http://www.pantley.com/elizabeth/
By admin, on January 22nd, 2012
A guest post byJessica Austin – Vancouver Doula
Feeling supported, safe, and taken care of is key to having a positive birth experience. The biggest enemies of birth are fear and anxiety, which decrease mom’s ability to cope with the pain or discomfort of contractions, and can actually slow or halt the birth process altogether. You can read more about why birth support is important in my article, How Good Birth Support Leads To Better Births.
As a birth doula here in Vancouver, I find it fascinating to watch the interaction between couples during childbirth. It is more intuitive for some men than others to fall smoothly into a supportive role during the intensity of birth. Birth is challenging, and it can be difficult for men to watch the mother of their unborn child working hard, sometimes feeling helpless to contribute. Furthermore, no one really teaches them how they can help.
Thankfully, in Vancouver at least, gone are the days when the father was not allowed into the hospital birth room at all. It is great that we are birthing in a time when men are being allowed and expected to participate in birth. (Note: This isn’t true everywhere in Canada. A recent study was released showing some hospitals in Canada had been decreasing their encouragement of men and other labour support people in hospitals).
The problem is, providing nurturing support during birth is a new role for men, and it can be difficult for them to know how to best fill this role. On top of that, our culture barely talks to women about birth, never mind men! In the more recent past, men were only involved in birth as medical authority figures. Now that men are able and often expected to be mom’s primary support during birth, it’s important to help them figure out how.
Dr. Michel Odent, a popular obstetrician who has done a lot of research on birth, is well known for his position on the presence of men at birth. His position is that men do not belong at birth at all. He believes that having men at birth increases mom’s anxiety and contributes to longer, more difficult labours. His article, A Top Obstetrician on Why Men Should Never Be At The Birth Of Their Child, stirred up a lot of controversy on the matter.
I do believe women are more intuitively able to provide positive, calming birth support to other women during labour than men are (this is why so many women, even if they have supportive partners, choose to have a professional doula support them during birth). And I also believe Dr. Odent makes some good points in his article about men sometimes contributing to higher stress levels and therefore more difficult births.
However, I think the problem lies in a lack of resources targeted to men about birth. A woman who has a solid, communicative and supportive relationship with her partner will often find great comfort in having him at her birth, especially if he has a basic understanding of what a woman’s needs are during birth and he wants to participate. In fact, a Canadian study was released recently which showed that the presence of partners (men) in the birth room resulted in better birth outcomes and more positive experiences for moms.
For men to participate in birth in a positive way, they need to understand and embrace two key points:
1. Birth is for women. Really, fellas, birth is the one area where only the woman matters. It’s simply a fact! When it comes to men and birth, you are important in the sense that you have the potential of being an amazing birth support person for mom and helping her have a more comfortable and positive birth experience. You are important in the sense that the journey into parenthood is one you are making together, and you will be important in your role as father once your child is born. But during the birth process, the choices, needs and desires belong to mom. If you embrace that and remember you are there to support her and her needs at all times, rather than wanting to contribute with your own well-intentioned desires and visions, mom will feel much more powerful. And she needs that power to birth your child with strength and confidence.
2. A calm birth is a good birth.As I mentioned above, stress is the enemy of labour. Mom needs to feel safe and calm at all times for birth to progress with its natural flow. The people in her birth space also need to exude calmness and confidence in her and the birth process. Men need to be able to really trust in birth, trust birth is normal and natural, and truly believe mom is capable of birthing your baby (she is!). Mom will feel it if you don’t, and it will contribute to increased stress and anxiety for her. Fears and anxiety about birth are normal, especially for men. It’s okay to ask for support, or bring on a doula to help make sure everyone feels calm and supported throughout the birth.
Our birth culture is shifting more to accepting the presence of men at birth as support people. As a result, men are needing explore ways to contribute to birth in a positive way, avoiding the potential negative impact attributed to them by Michel Odent.
There are limited resources available for men and birth. I think it is important to make resources and information available to men who plan to participate in birth. This means more than just having men tag along to prenatal classes and try to read a pregnancy book or two. This means providing access to information that speaks to men about birth in a way they can relate to, in a way that allows them to draw on their masculine traits to provide nurturing and trusting support to women during birth.
Birth Takes a Village offers a Prenatal Workshop for Dads once monthly in Vancouver, BC. The workshop focuses on how men can contribute to birth in practical and helpful ways. Men seem to like tasks, clear guidelines for “what to do”, “how to solve x problem”. Having a clear and concrete set of techniques to use during birth helps men stay confident and calm, and allows mom to feel supported and comforted during birth.
…
Jessica Austin – Vancouver Doula. Promoting gentle and informed birth culture.
For more information on the Prenatal Workshop, contact Birth Takes a Village at 604-700-4115.
By admin, on January 9th, 2012
Happy New Year! For all the new visitors to our sites, I just wanted to let you know a little more about us.
HealthyBabyNetwork.com is a network of sites that include helpful articles about pregnancy, birth and newborn care. We like to share products that are environmentally friendly and healthier alternatives for mom and baby.  We also offer many free downloads and services for women trying to conceive or those preparing for labor and delivery.
Our Ovulation Calendar is easy to use and will provide personalized monthly calendars to let you know when you are most fertile — giving you the best chance of conception.
Print out our Birth Plan and hospital bag checklist to make sure you have a good start on planning for the big day.
If your business is related to birth, eco-products for mom and baby or you have a blog or book that you feel would be of interest to our visitors, please contact us. We are happy to help those with a similar mission as ours — “Helping moms have the best birth experience possible“
By admin, on February 16th, 2011
When you are pregnant with #3 you think about how you could possibly manage caring for THREE kids when two can be overwhelming. You try to imagine who this little person will be and if their personality, appearance, temperament will be like the others. 
Then you meet them.
You can’t imagine #3 being any more amazing than they are – and they are the perfect addition to your family and you can’t imagine life being any different. As you look forward to the next few years, as busy as they will be, keep this list in mind when life with three presents challenges.
Here are some reasons why #3 is easier and more fun
- You aren’t #3’s only source of learning and entertainment. #3 will spend considerable time watching older siblings and play in close proximity with them giving you a bit of a break.
- #3 has more family members to cheer for first steps, first birthdays and other milestones.
- #3 has learned to “brush” their teeth and other tasks at 12 months because they observe and do EVERYTHING their siblings do.
- You KNOW that #3 will eventually sleep through the night and actually appreciate the nighttime snuggles knowing that this special time passes too quickly.
- You have been through croup, colic, colds, vomit and mystery rashes and know that as sick as a baby can get, they recover quickly and are back to smiles and mischief in no time.
- You’re experience allows you relax a little with the rules – most behaviors are developmental phases and having been through it a couple of times lets you truly know that “this too shall pass”.
- You have little helpers who are eager to help grab diapers, entertain the baby and even comfort #3 when they wake up crying.
- Although you have the largest collection of educational toys, you know that your parents were right when they said “they’ll spend more time playing with cardboard boxes and pots and pans” so that’s what #3 gets.
- You take advantage of nap time. It’s not the time for cleaning or laundry, it’s time for mom to have a nap, catch up on a reality show or connect with a friend.
- With #1 you really felt you were too busy to shower. By the time #3 arrives you have learned that monitors, swings, and excersaucers are all there to HELP YOU take care of yourself. You know the importance of self-care to be the best mom you can and have learned creative ways to do it.
Obviously three kids are much more work than two – some say “exponentially more” – but three can be a ton of fun regardless of the age differences between siblings. The older ones are becoming more independent and need less hands-on care and a new baby is such a miracle. Try to find the time each day to give some undivided attention to each of your children. Life with three will be busy but there is always time to give a hug, look them in the eye and say “I love you” – even if they are driving you crazy.
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