Faulkner Jeanne - Complete Illustrated Birthing Companion A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Birthing Plan for a Safe, Less Painful, and Successful Del

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating the Best Birthing Plan for a Safe, Less Painful, and Successful Delivery for You and Your Baby

Amanda V. French, M.D.

Gynecologist, Brigham and Womens Hospital and Boston Childrens Hospital Clinical Instructor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School

Susan Thomforde, C.N.M. Jeanne Faulkner, R.N. Dana Rousmaniere

Contents

INTRODUCTION
Congratulationsyoure pregnant! Now what?

Chapter 1:
WHATS YOUR BIRTHING STYLE?

Part Two
Your birthing options: what they are, why they may or may not be right for you, pros and cons, and how to prepare for each labor path

Chapter 2:
UNMEDICATED, VAGINAL BIRTH AT HOME

Chapter 3:
UNMEDICATED, VAGINAL BIRTH IN A BIRTH CENTER

Chapter 4:
UNMEDICATED, VAGINAL BIRTH IN A HOSPITAL

Chapter 5:
EPIDURAL, VAGINAL BIRTH IN A HOSPITAL

Chapter 6:
INDUCTION OF LABOR IN A HOSPITAL

Chapter 7:
VAGINAL BIRTH AFTER CESAREAN (VBAC)

Chapter 8:
PLANNED CESAREAN BIRTH IN A HOSPITAL

Chapter 9:
UNPLANNED CESAREAN BIRTH IN A HOSPITAL

Chapter 10:
MANAGING THE PAIN OF LABOR

Chapter 11:
CREATING YOUR BIRTH PLAN

APPENDIX
A TRI-BY-TRI GUIDE

Now what?

What an exciting, awe-inspiring time in your life, filled with the magic and wonder of the tiny life growing inside of you. From the moment you first laid eyes on that positive pregnancy test, youve no doubt been thinking ahead to the day youll get to meet your little one. Whether this is your first baby or your fourth, youre bound to have tons of questions about what lies ahead. You may be filled with worry, fear, excitement, anxiety, and everything in between. Maybe youre wondering what kind of mother youll be or how youre going to get through labor and delivery.

Rest assured that youre already doing whats best for you and your babyeducating yourself about what to expect during your babys birth, so you can have the safest, most satisfying, and most successful delivery. Consider this book your go-to guide for getting there. In the pages ahead, youll find a comprehensive look at everything you need to know to take the fear and anxiety out of your birth experience. This book will empower you to take charge of your birthing experience, giving you the confidence and conviction that youve put the best possible plan in place for the right birth for you.

Sometimes the best-laid birth plans dont go according to plan. Maybe youve prepared for an all-natural delivery but need to have an emergency Cesarean section. Or maybe you planned to get an epidural, but arrive at the hospital already 10 centimeters dilated, ready to start pushing. Thats why this book covers all the options out therefrom natural delivery to C-sectionfrom an unbiased viewpoint, presenting you with the information youll need to prepare yourself for any eventuality. Well give you an insiders perspective on labor and delivery in our Real Deal and Inside Information sections, where our labor nurse, Jeanne Faulkner, tells you what really goes on in a labor and delivery room.

The more you equip yourself with information about all the potential options for giving birth, the better prepared youll be if you suddenly find yourself needing to shift gears at the last minute.

Heres what this book is not: Its not intended to be a comprehensive guide to your pregnancy. Instead weve focused on your babys birthbecause we simply couldnt find a book that adequately prepares women for what to expect in any given birth scenario. So we decided to write it ourselves.

Were moms like you. It wasnt that long ago that each one of us was reading every pregnancy and birth book we could get our hands on. Collectively weve given birth to twelve children of our own, all in varying stylesfrom water birth to hospital birth with an epidural.

Amanda French, MD, FACOG, is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who completed her training at Boston Medical Center. She has been employed in both private practice and academic medicine teaching residents and students obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston and Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. Currently Dr. French is a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist for Boston Childrens Hospital and Brigham and Womens Hospital and a clinical instructor for Harvard Medical School. She has delivered more than 1,000 babies over the course of her career and is the proud mother of two energetic little boys.

Susan Thomforde, CNM, is a practicing certified nurse midwife who trained at the University of Utah. She worked in hospitals for ten years and has spent the past seventeen years delivering babies and providing gynecological care at the North Shore Birth Center in Beverly, Massachusettsone of only two free-standing birth centers in the state. Shes been called a midwifes midwifeto her, the highest compliment there is. She has helped train many nurse midwifery students, helping to ensure that midwifery stays alive and well in the United States. Susans three babiesnow wonderful young adultswere delivered by her sister midwives.

Jeanne Faulkner, RN, spent almost twenty years working as a registered nurse in labor and delivery departments in Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, hospitals. Shes still a nurse and has been writing full-time for magazines, newspapers, and websites for ten years. She writes Fit Pregnancys Ask the Labor Nurse column (which won Min-onlines Best of the Web, best blog of 2012) and contributes articles about global maternal health and womens issues to the Huffington Post. Shes also the chairperson for advocacy for CARE (a global humanitarian organization) in Oregon and writes for many publications about the work it does to alleviate poverty. Her children include three daughters, a beloved niece, and one son.

Dana Rousmaniere has written about pregnancy and parenting for years, as managing editor of Fit Pregnancy magazine online and for popular pregnancy, parenting, and womens health sites and publications such as Good Housekeeping, Womens Health, Babble.com, and CafMom.com. Shes also the author of North Shore Baby, a field guide for parents living north of Boston. Her first two babies were delivered in a hospital with an OB/GYN and an epidural, and her thirda 10.5-pound (4.76 kg) baby!was delivered in a drug-free water birth at a birth center.

In the chapters that follow, well introduce you to all of your options for giving birthfrom traditional to alternative. Well present the pros and cons of each option and offer helpful tips and tools for deciding on a birth plan that suits you best. Well talk about what happens when things dont go according to plan, so youll be prepared for any eventuality on the day of your delivery. Well walk you through creating your own birth planfrom deciding on big-picture birthing styles to nailing down specific pain-management techniques. Well guide you through every step of the way, showing you what to expect, so youll be more than prepared for the big day. From managing the pain of labor to choosing a health care provider and assembling your birth team, youll learn all the ins and outs you need to know to have an empowered birth experience.