Archive for March, 2010

1) Position. Vertical positions are less painful and ease the delivery. Lying on the back is a sure way to improve pain and have a longer delivery. It’s really necessary lying down, choose your left side.
2) Environment. The more personal, silent and respectful ambiance, the easier and happier birth is. Nothing can substitute the lack of freedom and warmness. A woman should have at her disposal music and any personal object. And most important of all, the people she wants by her side.
3) Massage. A relaxing massage can improve enormously the back pain during labor. Circular massage on the lower back can be done by the partner or the doula.
4) Movement. Walking is an important ingredient in any delivery. It facilitates the delivery and lessens the pain of contractions, besides controlling anxiety.

5) Breathing. The breathing should be deep and slow, up to the nose inspires and out the mouth. It improves the supply of oxygen to the baby.

6) Tools. Water is a wonderful tool to sooth and/or accelerates the birth process. Being immersed in a bath tub or under a shower it provides much relief.

How far does violence extend, how do we determine exactly who is responsible for the violence that children are seeing on television and in music.  What about video game’s, who is taking the responsibility for the violence and awful things that, are occurring right before the eyes of the youth today?  Many politicians are looking to eagerly blame the media and entertainment industry.  Is that the correct place to lay the blame?  Perhaps parents are the people ultimately to blame.

More parents today than ever before are working longer hours just to stay afloat financially.  This alone results in phenomenal numbers of children being left with a television as the babysitter in charge of teaching right from wrong.  How does a child learn the difference between right and wrong, when their parents are nowhere to be found?  Where does the parents’ responsibility to parent a child and the governments’ right to parent a child merge?

Does the government even have a right to parent children?  Should the government be allowed to determine what is appropriate for all children to watch, or should that be ultimately left up to the parents to decide on their own?  There have been television shows, movies, musical artists, and even books banned because the government does not approve.

Where is the line drawn in who controls what the children are watching?  Is it really up to the parents, or is it left to the children to decide on their own?  When did parents lose the ability to control what their child watches, and when did the parent become subject to the child’s own opinion?  While some advances in technology have been wonderful, there is also much effort by the government to control what a parent does with their own child, and it is this more than anything that has caused controversy on a civil liberties basis.

There have been several inventions and developments that are able to help parents monitor their children; from the v-chip to programs that log instant messenger programs.

These developments are great for the parents looking to monitor their child themselves, but what about the music industry.  Most parents are constantly told that the violence their child is exposed to is the fault of the music industry.  The blame is placed on the singers and producers for releasing the music.

Much blame is placed everywhere but the parents for taking responsibility for their own children and determining what is best for them.  With politicians attempting to punish some area of the entertainment industry each time a national tragedy occurs, it puts a major crimp on the ability of parents to decide for themselves what is acceptable for their child and what is not.  Many are left to allow their child to choose from the options that are left, once the government has omitted the choices that are bad.

Is this censorship, or helping raise children?  Many seem to think it leans heavily towards censorship, a place the governments should not be treading.  Many others tend to feel that it should be a high priority of the government to protect everyone from something that can potentially be bad, without even giving people the option to make their own decisions.

The issue as to what extent the government should intervene with the way in which we live our lives is hotly contested, and it works in a much larger circle than just the control of our children.  Should the government take a step back, and allow society to use its freedoms and powers for self regulation, or is there a need for intervention to ensure the greater good and justice for the welfare of society as a whole?  For the time being, it seems as though the most pragmatic approach relates somewhere in the middle, although it will be interesting to see developments in this area over the coming years.

What is the best position for them to come out? This is important to know because by “best position” we mean the easier and safer for him and for you.

The best position for your baby to be born is, first of all, when you are in labor and, second, when he is upside down, with the back of the head slightly toward the front of your womb.

In this position, the baby perfectly fits into the curve of your pelvis and it is easy for him to move gently down during labor.

When it comes to the lower part of your pelvis, the baby turns his head a little so that the widest part of the head is in the widest part of your pelvis.

Then, the back of his head can slip down from your pelvic bone; his little face will pass through the perineum, which is the tissue between the back of the vagina and anus.

When the baby shows up from the vagina, he has the back of his head facing toward the front of your abdomen. He is looking backwards compared do you.

In this position the labor is often shorter and easier.

As a college student, I am always looking for ways to save some money. If you’re a college student reading this, I suggest trying to rent textbooks instead of buying them. Chegg.com is a website that offers textbook rentals so you don’t have to buy a onetime used book! Textbooks aside, I have found that I spend most of my money on food. In order to cut this down, I have gotten into the habit of preparing lunch or breakfast the night BEFORE I need it. This way, the laziness of the morning won’t get in the way of your money saving plan. Also, I suggest taking out money from the bank rather than bringing an ATM card with you. While ATM cards are very convenient, it is too easy to keep taking money out. If you take $40 with you and leave your ATM card at home, the most you could possibly spend is $40. This is a good way to monitor your spending.

Some babies go down to the pelvis with the back of the head turned toward the spine of the mother. That is the opposite of what they usually do, with their back towards their mother’s womb.

This is called a POSTERIOR position and can lead to a series of events:

• Your bag is broken at the start of labor
• You have a lot of pain during and in between contractions
• The labor is slower
• You may need forceps or vacuum (a suction apparatus) to help your baby to be born.

The close proximity between the bones of the baby’s skull and the mother’s spine can be very uncomfortable. In this case, the best position for the labor is all four, with hands and feet. In this way, the baby is away from his mother’s relieving the back pain.

When he reaches the lower part of the pelvis, he needs to rotate 180 degrees to be in the best position for birth. This may take a long time, or he may decide that he will not turn! In this case, it will be born with the little face looking at his mother. Or he may need external help.