All about gentle birth

[gulaysk]

Hi mommies and future mommies! I'm due to give birth Feb of next year with my second baby but I've already decided to go for gentle birth (water birth to be exact). Aside from the midwife specializing/properly trained on water birth, I also plan on having a doula to help me with my labor and delivery.

I did lamaze when I gave birth 11 years ago and it was an amazing experience. Gave birth sa hospital and my OB was very supportive about my decision to do lamaze. With this pregnancy though, I have my apprehensions about giving birth sa hospital kasi most of the time hindi in line sa gentle birth practices ang protocol nila.

How about you, fellow mommies? Please share your experiences/concerns about gentle birth. Better if you can share with us your birth team (OB/midwife, doula, where you plan to give birth, etc).

[MedChic]

I think this is a starting procedure here in the Phils. I saw some videos but its at US. One of my patients say her relative will do this, sa Laspinas area yun. No details yet, she heard the news lang din.

Keep us updated. Ano pa ba na research mo about this sis?

[gulaysk]

Are you referring to water birth sis or gentle birth in general? From what I gather online, fairly common practice/option ang principles ng gentle birth sa US. Pero dito sa Pinas, I think ngayon pa lang talaga nagge-gain ng popularity ang term na ito. But of course it has already existed/been practiced for some time (lamaze, Bradley method, etc). Yung water birth tingin ko ang relatively "new" option for those wanting a gentle birth. But meron na rin water birth ngayon sa St Lukes Global and Makati Med.

Excerpt from an article in Smart Parenting mag:

What is a gentle birth?

According to Velvet Escario-Roxas, a certified birth doula, gentle birth and breastfeeding advocate, the term "gentle birth" refers to a “safe, positive, empowering experience during the process of labor and delivery for happier, healthier babies and families.”

Certified childbirth doula, hypno-doula and placenta encapsulation specialist Irina Otmakhova has a more detailed definition on her website: “The birth can be gentle when the mother’s rights are respected and her birth preferences are met by her birth attendants. Her birth plan may include the details on the kind of interventions she chooses to have (or not to have any at all!) and who she would like to have by her side as a support team.”

This means that gentle birth is really focused on the rights of the mother (and her baby), and the kind of support they both receive.

“Gentle birth was actually a common thing in the Philippines, until there was too much medicalization of births,” Escario-Roxas adds.



In my case when I gave birth 11 years ago, the hospital I gave birth in wasn't really familiar with patients giving birth via lamaze so they didn't really know how to handle me and I was met with skepticism from the resident doctors there. I do have to say na super bait at supportive ng OB ko even though I was her first patient na naglamaze. Yung kapatid ko rin who gave birth 2 weeks after me practiced lamaze and labored for so long but our OB was just so supportive, hindi naging issue na i-CS siya agad. My sister gave birth to an 8.12 lb son sans anesthesia/epidural.

Also, I recently joined the FB group Gentle Birth in the Philippines. Nandoon ang resources about gentle birth. Iba-iba ang kwento nila, yung iba, successful VBAC na nagwater birth pa. You just have to find the right OB/health care provider na magiging supportive sa gentle birth decision mo.

[MedChic]

Macheck nga yan sis.. 🤗

[bitt3rswit]

I watched the video of The Business of Being Born. After watching it, and read some books about childbirth, I decided to have a gentle birth with a help of a doula. Will give birth in October. I hope I will have a positive childbirth experience.

[gulaysk]

^I watched that too. It's a must watch documentary about the important role of midwives in natural childbirth and their continuous marginalization. Eye opener din sa increasing medicalization ng giving birth na not necessarily for the benefit ng mother and baby.

Who's your doula sis and where do you plan to give birth?

I'm in contact with Doula Betty and Velvet but I've yet to sched our initial meeting.