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10 Great Holiday Gifts Ideas for Mamas on Bedrest
December 13th, 2010Christmas is just over 2 weeks away and we here at Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond have 10 Great Holiday Gift ideas for Mamas on Bedrest.
1. Clean her house. In preparation for the holidays, you may want to offer to do a floor to ceiling cleaning of mama’s house, or you may offer to hire a cleaning company to do the cleaning. Either way, it will be much appreciated by mama and her family.
2. Groom Her Pet. Bed rest affects the entire family and the family pet is no exception. A Mama on Bedrest is confusing to a pet who may not have his regular companion or his regular care. Give the 4 legged family friend some extra TLC and it will no doubtedly warm mama’s heart as well.
3. Take Her Children to Enjoy Holiday Festivities. There are an abundance of holiday events to enjoy in every town in the United States. Here in Austin for example, the Flagship Whole Foods Market has ice skating on the roof terrace. Although Mama is sidelined, she would be thrilled to know that her children aren’t missing out on the fun. With so much “different” at home, children will also welcome the chance to go out and have fun.
4. Schedule Mama a Prenatal Massage. Bed rest is very hard on the body. Mamas on Bedrest often have a hard time getting comfortable and have more than the usual pregnancy aches and pains. A licensed, certified prenatal massage therapist will soothe mamas aches while also stimulating her circulation and lymphatic drainage. Mama will feel relaxed and refreshed.
5. Manicure/Pedicure. This is always a hit given that many mamas on bed rest can no longer reach their feet! Depending on your state’s laws, you may or may not be able to hire a licensed aesthetician to go to mamas home for her pampering. If a professional spa mani/pedi is not possible, offer to perform the service yourself. Mama will love it!
6. Get Mama Moving! It is important that mama not become completely immobile while on bed rest. While she may only have bathroom privileges, mama should be moving her body at regular intervals to avoid aches, pains, sores, stiffness and muscle wasting. Mama should check with her provider first, but if okay, she should perform modiied prenatal exercises, such as those on the Bedrest Fitness DVD, to keep her muscles toned and strong, to alleviate stiffness and to maintain overall conditioning.
7. The Shower Hug. Mamas on Bedrest have a wide variety of ambulatory privileges, but her body will continue to grow and change. To alleviate any breast discomfort, the soft, terry Shower Hugs provide comfort and support to mama’s breast. They can be worn in the shower or dry for added support, so we recommend buying at least 2.
8. Hot Mama Gowns. Mama may be on bed rest, but that’s no reason she can’t be fashionable! Hot Mama Gowns come in beautiful fabrics and and colors and can be worn by Mamas on Bedrest, at the hospital just after delivery and in the early post partum. Be sure to type in the promo code “BedRest” for an additional 10% off your order.
9. Sterling Silver “Mama” Pendant. These pendants are wonderful keepsakes and are made exclusively for Mamas on Bedrest. The Sterling Silver Pendant is embossed with “Mama” and each mama will receive birth stones to wear with the pendant after baby’s birth.
10. My Pregnancy DigiTime Capsule. This is a “must have” for new mamas! The My Pregnancy DigiTime Capsule is a flashdrive designed pregnancy memory book. Include ultrasound photos, songs, notes and special messages to the baby. What better way to capture all holiday happenings to share with baby later on ?
These are but a few of the ways that you can shower the joy of the season on Mamas on Bedrest. Which did you choose? What are your favorite ways to pamper Mamas on Bedrest? Tell us in the comments section below. Happy Holidays!!
Sleep and Pre-Eclampsia: 5 Tips Mamas on Bedrest can use to improve their sleep and avoid pre-eclampsia.
October 13th, 2010
Getting less than 5 hours of sleep per night early in pregnancy increases the odds of a pregnant woman developing pre-eclampsia 9.5 times in the third trimester. Women who get more than 10 hours of sleep per night early in their pregnancies increase their odds of developing pre-eclampsia by more than 2 times in the third trimester.
These are the results of a study carried out by Michelle Williams, a professor of epidemiology and global health at the University of Washington, and co-director of the Center for Perinatal Studies at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle. The results are presented in the October issue of Sleep, the official journal of Associated Professional Sleep Societies, LLC (APSS), a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society.
The study was not intended to identify the causes of the blood pressure changes, so Williams and her colleagues are not able to say why the changes occurred. Williams theorizes that changes in the body’s circadian rhythm may occur when sleep habits change during pregnancy, and that these changes may cause hormonal changes that affect blood pressure levels. While these are very important and interesting findings, everyone agrees that this is just the beginning and much more data is needed to understand why these changes occur.
Now if you are a mama on bed rest reading this information, you may think, “Well I’m safe on that front. I’m in bed all day!” But one of the major complaints that I encounter in women on bed rest is that they can’t get comfortable, are often achy and that they don’t sleep well. Their sleep is fragmented and they seldom get restful, restorative sleep while on bed rest. This lack of restorative sleep is the major problem for pregnant women and what can lead to pre-eclampsia, elevated blood pressure, protein in the urine, extremity and facial swelling. Untreated pre-eclampsia can be fatal for women and their babies whether a woman is on bed rest or not.
So what can a mama on bed rest do to improve her sleep quality? Here are 5 suggestions to improve sleep while on bed rest.
- Establish a routine. Got to sleep and get up at the same time every day. Having a routine can help a mama on bed rest to remain organized and to spend her time well.
- Avoid naps if you are having trouble sleeping. Now this can be tricky. Because you are in bed, it is very easy to doze off during the day-especially if you aren’t sleeping well at night. But these “cat naps” will only make things worse. If you are having trouble sleeping it is even more essential that you establish a routine of going to bed and awakening and avoiding daytime napping.
- Massage. One reason that so many women are unable to sleep is that their muscles and limbs ache from being in bed. Some women are required to spend most of their bed rest time on their left sides, so as one can imagine, fatigue and body aches can set in. It at all possible and if qualified professionals are available regular massages are a great way for mamas on bed rest to relax as well as for those aches and pains to be soothed. Massage also improves circulation and lymphatic drainage relieving extremity swelling and the risk of blood clot formation.
- Exercise. I know, you’re on bed rest. That is why we developed Bedrest Fitness. Along with massage, moving your body is a sure fire way to improve sleep as well as to improve circulation and reduce some of the common aches associated with pregnancy. Bedrest Fitness is a set of modified prenatal exercises a woman can do while in bed on bed rest. For a limited time, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of Bedrest Fitness will be donated to Better Bedrest, a non-profit organization that provides micro grants to women on bed rest in financial need. Bedrest Fitness DVD’s are available here.
- Avoid caffeine, foods high in sugar and heavy foods late at night. How often have you eaten a heavy meal or a sweet dessert before going to bed only to be awakened in the middle of the night? This is due to the drop in your blood sugar that results from eating a meal or snack high in sugar. If you need a snack before bed, opt for something that has a low glycemic index, i.e. something that will fill you up, won’t weigh you down, and will require time for your body to break down keeping your blood sugar levels relatively constant. Low glycemic fruits and plain yogurt, celery and peanut butter, low fat chocolate milk are all examples of low glycemic snacks that will fill you up but not cause the dramatic drop in blood sugar during the night that can disrupt sleep.
A VBAC is Safer on an Indian Reservation than in a Major US Hospital
March 10th, 2010NIH Consensus Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Section
For the past 2 days, the National Institutes of Health has hosted a conference to develop a consensus statement on Vaginal Birth after Cesarean Section (VBAC). In the United States, nearly one in every three births is via cesarean section, a number that is more than double the 15% cesarean section rate recommended by the World Health Organization. The high number of cesarean sections in the United States comes in large part from repeat cesareans. The current NIH discussion is to determine whether or not a woman who has had a prior cesarean section should automatically have cesarean sections with subsequent pregnancies, whether or not VBAC’s are safe and in what situations should they be performed.
Proponents of VBAC argue that VBAC’s are safe in women who are at relatively low risk and when the procedure is performed by competent labor attendants (midwives) in a mother friendly environment. (For more on mother friendly childbirth, see MFCI.) Opponents say that VBAC’s pose unacceptable risks to both the mother and baby due to the risk of uterine rupture, hemorrhage, and potential death of both mother and baby. So who is right? Ironically, both sides because the success of VBAC rests in large part with where it is done and who attends that birth.
One with nature-The Indian Health Service
The March 6, 2010 New York Times published an article by columnist Denise Grady reporting on the successful birth rates at the Tuba City Regional Healthcare System in Tuba City, Arizona. This hospital is part of the Indian Health Service, A federally funded healthcare program that serves Native American Indians and Alaska Natives, and is run by the Navajo Nation. This small hospital which delivers about 500 infants annually has a 32% VBAC rate and an overall cesarean section rate of 13.5%, despite the fact that many Native American women develop gestational diabetes and hypertension during pregnancy which, if they were being cared for by the conventional US health care system, would make them more likely to have cesarean section deliveries. How is such success possible?
Parameters that contribute to a low cesarean section rate overall and to high VBAC rates
To Fully understand the success of Tuba City and other hospitals like it, one must look at how the the overall system is structured. There are 5 specific things that Tuba City has in place that allows for their success.
1. Midwives attend most of the vaginal deliveries.
Midwives are more likely to “wait it out” if a woman is having a long labor and the baby isn’t in distress than to recommend a cesarean section. Midwives never induce labor, a process known to increase the likelihood of a cesarean section becoming necessary. Midwives are trained to assist women during childbirth process rather than to try to control it.
There is additional incentive amongst Native Americans to avoid cesarean sections. Many Native American couples wish to have more than 2 children and are educated about the dangers of repeat cesarean sections. Additionally, Native Americans believe that incisions are a threat to the spirit of the person being cut, so surgery is something to be avoided as much as possible.
2. Any and all family members are present and welcome.
In Tuba City as well as within any Navajo community, a laboring woman is never left alone. Not only will her partner be present, most likely her mother, grandmother, aunts, cousins and any other female relatives or family members. The laboring mother is constantly massaged and offered sips of water and small bits of food. With all of this support and her own prior exposure to labor and childbirth, the laboring mother has no fear whatsoever of her own labor and delivery.
3. Easier Adherence to ACOG VBAC Guidelines
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists hs issued guidelines for VBAC’s. An obstetrician and anesthesiologist should be present or very quickly accessible while a woman who has had a previous cesarean section is laboring in the event that she requires and emergent cesarean section.
While many community hospitals have been unable to meet this criteria citing cost prohibition of maintaining professional staff on call at all times, hospitals on Indian reservations have had no such problem. The Tuba City Hospital is located within the property of the Navajo Indian reservation. Many of the physicians who work at the hospital either live on the reservation or within minutes of the hospital. Many doctors who are on call may actually go home while a midwife attends a birth because if they are needed, they can be at the bedside within minutes.
4. No Threat of Malpractice litigation
The Tuba City Hospital and its doctors are federally insured against malpractice because it is a federally funded facility. Hence the obstetricians are not as concerned about being sued if complications arise or about increases to or complete cancellation of their malpractice premiums.
5. No threat of wealth
The professionals that staff the hospitals in the Indian Health Services are paid flat salaries; $190,000 to $285,000 annually for the physicians and $80,000 to $120,000 for midwives. Since the staff is not paid per procedure, there is no incentive to do more and potentially unnecessary procedures.
“Conventional” Wisdom
In conventional western medicine, childbirth is a procedure to be managed and controlled. In most US hospitals, laboring women are not allowed to move freely because they are hooked up to fetal monitors. They labor in bed and primarily on their backs-the least comfortable position in which to labor.
A woman is not allowed to have anyone she pleases at her side and many times is alone during her labor process when the doctor or nurse needs to “check her progress.”While many women hire doulas, many US hospitals still try to and successfully block their presence in the labor and delivery rooms.
Many more interventions are involved; from intravenous fluid administration, to epidural anesthesia, to labor induction with oxytocin, an episiotomy (a surgical incison in the perineum to allow passage of the baby without tearing. Not usually needed but frequently done “just in case.”), to forceps and/or vacuum extraction of the baby to cesarean section. The natural process of labor and delivery is now seldom allowed to “play itself out.”
Why is there such a disparity between the two methods?
In this era of Health care reform and in the midst of this contentious debate, the Navajo nation is a blatant example of less being more. The United States spends more money than most industrialized nations for health care and yet we have some of the sickest, most obese citizens in the world. We also have some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the industrialized world. We are in no way, shape or form getting what we are paying for.
If the United States truly wants to lower cesarean section rates to be more in line with WHO recommendations, if it wants to improve VBAC rates and if the US truly wants to improve maternal, fetal and infant mortality, we have to change how we do things.
- Births should be attended to by the most qualified attendants-midwives.
- In uncomplicated situations, labor and delivery should be allowed to progress naturally at their own times.
- Women should be allowed to move freely during labor and to have anyone they need present. Cultural and religious traditions should be respected.
- Treatments and interventions should be administered on a case by case basis and not as standards of care. Interventions should be kept to a minimum and not be performed as a defense against litigation.
- Monetary incentive should not be given to providers for more interventions, yet providers should be assured of adequate compensation for their skills.
Most physicians in our current health care system would balk at these recommendations because these would represent sweeping changes in the way they are trained, how they practice medicine and most especially in the way that they are paid. However we Americans, especially we women, have to ask ourselves how much longer are we going to put up with and pay into a system that clearly does not have our best health at its core?
It will be interesting to see what the NIH consensus comes up with. Quite frankly I am not all that encouraged that much is going to change, but the fact that there was even the discussion means that we are moving, ever so slowly, in a more positive direction.
