Breech then and now

Thirty one years ago I caught my friend's breech baby in Omaha, Nebraska. I was thinking of this Monday with a group of midwives and doulas at the lovely Mommy Fitness Omaha with Julie Summers and Kelly Langfeldt of Five Stones Massage and Birth Services. Kelly invited me down to present a Spinning Babies Workshop to the now thriving Omaha birth circle.

My friend's midwife was unexpectedly

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Why won't this labor start properly?

This post discusses onset of labor.

A woman is commonly considered in labor when her cervix is progressively opening and continuing to open. Stages of labor are the first stage of cervical dilation, the second stage of "pushing" or until the actual birth of the baby, and third stage which begins after the baby is out and until the placenta is out. A fourth stage of labor is described as the

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Flexion matters

The Anterior Positions and LOP
At Spinning Babies, fetal position matters.

Babies positioned on mother’s left side more often curl and tuck their chins more easily (flexion, flek’-shun). This makes baby’s head measurement smaller and lines up baby with the pelvis to be able to help in the birth process.

Flexion is more imporant than position. Muscles and ligament “balance” is more important

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A new start for active labor, a new question for progress

The new guidelines from ACOG

Recent changes in defining active phase of labor from 4 cm to 6 cm. This change is intended to help first time mothers avoid being given a cesarean when labor is simply slower than what was considered normal. Longer labors can certainly be normal. So when the question is asked, "How far dilated is she?" or "How far dilated am I?" the pressure for progress is

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