Birthing from Within vs. Bradley... - Page 2

[ebony_vbac]

i have no idea about bradley but i read bfw and loved the book especially cuz the author was a cs to vbac mom which is what i was planning on. i took a 4 hour bfw class and it wasnt helpfull at all. i learned how to withstand the pain of ice in my hand which has nothing to do with birth and i hung out with other couples one of which i tried to keep in touch with and that didnt happen, but i did love the book

[SublimeBirthGirl]

Originally Posted by zenma

I agree that you have to be committed to have a natural birth in a hospital, but don't agree with the opinion in parentheses. Perhaps in certain hospitals, in certain circumstances it's true that it would be unlikely to avoid interventions, but hospitals do vary and aren't all intervention-happy out of hand.

I've never tried the Bradley method, but found my BFW class to be an excellent resource and preparation for my natural hospital birth. Now I'm re-reading the book to find what I need to prep for my upcoming hospital birth and to keep it a natural one as well.

With my first pregnancy I'd read several books and learned plenty about the practicalities. A class that reviewed all of that stuff again wouldn't have worked for me. BFW does target my need to let go and gives me a lot of ideas about how. Some of it is hokey, but there are so many ideas and concepts to choose from, it's easy to pick and choose. (And the one thing that my BFW teacher taught my class that dp mocks ALL the TIME was actually the thing that really got me through and kept me going.)

There is one hospital where I live where, if your labor is perfectly average, you can be almost completely uninterfered with if you're with the right midwife. There is no other hospital (literally) where this is true in my area. And if your labor goes off average (if it's "too long" or if you're a VBAC mom or having multiples no matter how uncomplicated) then your chances of being left alone disappear.

And, FWIW, I don't consider EFM, IVs, NPO policies at all natural. I don't consider AROM, induction, augmentation, or pushing on your back natural (when mom doesn't choose to push that way). These things you can't get away from in any hospitals here but the one, and only if you're extremely average even then. And it's next to impossible to get away from mother/baby separation even in that hospital (whether taking the baby to another room for testing, or across the room for the warming table and testing).

[aguacates]

I did the BFW mentor training 3 years ago, but have never formally mentored classes. I kind of think that the BFW method works best for Pam England (who incidently I think is amazing). After watching her mentor the practiced upon couples, I feel like she almost practices as a birth-therapist. Therefore, it makes sense to me, that a BFW class would only be as good as the relationship between you and your mentor. I also kind of feel like mentoring BFW classes can seem gimmicky (ie tiger, coyote, birthart, footbaths, icewater) if you aren't getting the whole picture(whether due to a mentor you are not clicking with, or limited time, or whatever...). It is probably easier to organize these concrete exercises as mentors, than to communicate to each woman the ideas behind them. Does that make any sense?

[zenma]

Originally Posted by Ixcuina

Ok...so you must tell us what that was! Coyote, by any chance

i don't know what coyote is - do tell! is it in the book? i skip around the book a lot, just digging out what i want.

when we were practicing pain coping strategies, at one point the instructor kept saying, "arrive now.... arrive now.... arrive now" for a few minutes and it seemed pretty goofy, but i did use the concept (not the actual words) throughout my labor.

sublimebirthgirl, that's awful about the hospital situation in your area. and i'm sure it's even worse in other places, where mothers might not even have the slim options you've outlined. in my area there are several hospitals where a natural birth (per your description) can be had.

[jmmsunshine]

I have 2 children - DS born via c-s due to breech, DD born au-natural at a freestanding birth clinic. With DS I took the "hospital" class, with DD I simply read both books.

I decided not to take the Bradley class because, and I'm saying this with all love and respect for DH, there was no way i could see DH practicing with me and actually doing what the Bradley method suggested. I couldn't even get him to read the book. I knew that he did not think I could handle a natural birth, and that was a primary reason for my hiring a doula. I did appreciate a lot of what was in the book though, and found it helpful in re-confirming my thought that natural birth was possible and normal and if left alone, I could birth just fine.

I really liked the BFW book, but for (maybe) some different reasons than others. My c-s was devastating. The book prompted me to really think about the birth of my DS. It helped me to process that experience, and heal from it. It was work I really needed to do to 'clean the slate' so to speak before the birth of my DD. The ice cube exercise was the only thing I could get DH to do with me. And he literally 'did it with me' - he didn't "help" me through the exercise, he put the ice in his own hand. But that experience did help me to focus on relaxing in the face of "pain."

The book also helped me form a new picture of what I wanted labor to be - what was my definition of success. It helped me to make the decision to switch midwifes at 34 weeks and to decide that I didn't want to have a hosptial birth. (But Bradley gave me more of the hard core education to understand that was a safe choice.) DH and friends would say I was "hell bent" on a vaginal birth, and that concerned them that I might ignore a potential problem if I thought it might threaten my "ideal" birth. BFW helped me to accept the idea that sometimes, birth does not go as planned - that there are legitimate reasons for some interventions and even c-s, and I needed to do that to really release all my fears (like in the Bradley book) so I could have the labor and birth I wanted.

My labor and birth with DD were not what I planned - I planned for contractions to start out infrequently, get closer together and stronger, to get to the birth center, to labor a while, for my water to break at the end, to birth in the tub, and to essentially catch the baby myself or to have DH catch and for us to spend those first moments in peace. Instead, my water broke first, then contractions started every 7 min and were very strong. I got to the birth center with contrx every 3 min, but 6 hours into my labor I was dilated to 2, stretchy to 3. I did birth DD's head in the water (8 hours later), but she got stuck and I was moved out of the tub to get her out. I didn't get to hold her immediately because she didn't breath for the first 5 minutes. But, in large part to BFW, I felt fabulous because sucess was not defined as a birth that went according to my plan.

God bless you in your birth!

[DavinaT]

My Mam's neighbours daughter tried the Bradley (twins but no abnormalities or contraindications for a vaginal birth) but seemed to end up even more constricted from fear than she started out ( mainly fear of pain and injury tearing etc) and ended up with a c-section due to a protracted birth.

[Maggirayne]

This was cool to find, was wondering about these two methods yesterday! Our library has both books. I should read them and decide and see if I can get DH to read the one I think would work for us. He was a great help, but the L&D nurse did a lot helping me by pushing on pressure points(?) on my hips with my first baby. (I'm not pg yet, just planning.)

[lioralourie]

I have read both Bradley and BFW, they are both fine philosophies.

My newest love, though, is BIRTH AS WE KNOW IT, a dvd that did more for my frame of mind in one viewing than all the book learning in the world.

www.birthintobeing.com

there was a thread a while ago in Trading Post/Co-Ops where we all got a 40% discount on it...Fantastic bargain and GREAT movie. There's also an "Educational Version" with 2 shortened versions appropriate for introductions to natural birthing, inclusion in more general classes, etc.

[LeslieintheKeys]

Birthing From Within

I didn't do much reading on the Bradley Method, but I did read Birthing From Within. I thought it was great - so different from many of the other books out there. What I wanted for my baby shower was an activity where my friends would each paint a "birth picture" for me so that I could take them with us to the birth center for our son's birth. The baby shower activity didn't happen, but I did take some artwork with us to the birth center. I found a small watercolor painting that I bought years and years ago of a woman sitting in the sky, with the sun beaming its warms colors through her abdomen. The other was a batik we bought in Thailand of a bare-chested woman dancing under an orange (full) moon. With the artwork, candles, music, and soft light - I was completely comfortable. Once I got into that bathtub, I was giddy. We didn't do any BFW classes, but I took what I wanted from the book and used it - which was - thinking of birth as a process whereby I could successfully manage the pain through beauty, art, positive affirmations, and visualizations. Birth does not have to be a scary event full of pain. Thank goodness I realized this early on in my pregnancy.

[Demeter_shima]

While I have not given birth YET...we finished our Bradley class AND I have been working the "Birthing from Within" book at minimum all along. A lot of the book really resonated with me; presenting a very spiritual and intuitive "connect with yourself" sort of approach. I am Pagan and a big hippy with most things, so this perspective on childbirth (a more primal and tribal one) hit home for me.
To be honest regarding Bradley, I mostly wanted to take the class for my husband. I was reading 8 books on birth and labor and birth-related issues before we even got pregnant...so I wanted to make sure my husband had a sure-fire way to absorb some information that would otherwise be difficult to explaian..as he can't get through these "text books" like I have.
I love the Bradley method because it gives good information regarding procedure, how to avoid interventions you don't want and it spreads EDUCATION on these issues; what I feel is at the very core of our deficiencies in the US regarding a mother's options.

I am glad to have both approaches...and heck..anything that gives you more options to handle something that important and life-changing is worth a look.
:

[vegmilkmama]

Bradley

My husband and I took Bradley classes, and I'm so thankful we did. I feel like we knew so much more and were so much more prepared than any of our friends having babies. We knew all the signs of different phases of labor, when to go to the hospital and to not go too early, why certain interventions are not good, nutrition to avoid pre-eclampsia, etc. We ended up going to the hospital after my water broke during early pushing, pushing in the car, and having our baby 45 minutes after arriving! Ok, that was a little close and brings up a good point. My husband was completely overwhelmed as coach and my only support. We had a doula from a nearby city but she didn't make it until we were at the hospital. My DH was so worried about timing contractions and where we were with that, that I don't feel he helped me to relax as we had learned in class and he forgot all about the signs of labor. I agree that having a doula help (trained in Bradley would be great but not a requirement) would have been ideal. I think we need to be surrounded by other women during birth! I will also read up on hypno-birth for next time. I think having the info from Bradley and the relaxation techniques found elsewhere will be the best of both worlds. What it all comes down to, though, is practice. You can take all the classes in the world but if you don't practice the techniques they won't help you. Bradley provided us with lots of different types of relaxation but we should have practiced more than we did. It's hard to learn how to let your body go and you want it to come naturally to you during labor. That's what we'll be working on for next time!

[mom2mializ]

Originally Posted by jmmsunshine

I decided not to take the Bradley class because, and I'm saying this with all love and respect for DH, there was no way i could see DH practicing with me and actually doing what the Bradley method suggested. I couldn't even get him to read the book. I knew that he did not think I could handle a natural birth, and that was a primary reason for my hiring a doula.

This was my big reason for taking the bradley class with my dh! Granted, my husband knew that I wanted and could do a NCB, but he definately didn't understand the risks that many interventions could pose. He wouldn't have been able to be my advocate without the Bradley classes.

The classes also did have relaxation techniques - and I found these only mildly helpful. It was nice to have a varried arsenal of techniques to help me relax. I also found it helpful to practice a little so that I knew what I was aiming for, what total relaxation feels like. However, I don't honestly think that relaxing before a birth will in any way prepare you for what it is like to try to relax through a million contractions. We only practiced a very little bit, so that we knew how each of the techniques worked.

I haven't taken a BFW class, but did read the book, and found myself rolling my eyes throughout. I didn't feel even slightly enlightened or enriched after completing the book. (but I respect and appreciate that it worked for others - just like while lots of people love water births, where as you couldn't drag me into a birthing pool when I'm in labor). I gather that many people are saying that the biggest benefit of BFW is the opening of the mind, connecting with our inner strength etc. I personally found Ina May's Guide to be far better and inspirational for this purpose... But I just don't go for that "artsy fartsy" stuff.

I WOULD, however, expect BFW to be very helpful when dealing with the pain of a disappointing prior birth and expectations and fears for the next birth.