Need a Doula in San Antonio?

Who needs a doula? Every pregnant woman can have a more positive birth experience by having a doula attend her birth!

First time moms greatly benefit from the presence of a doula. The experience of labor and birth is brand new and a doula can help reassure Mom and help her to work with the new sensations her body is feeling.

Moms giving birth in a hospital are especially helped by having a doula with them. A doula will act as an advocate between Mom and the caregivers to communicate her wishes and assist her in having the best birth possible. This is particularly important if Mom desires a natural birth without medical interventions, or if she wants to minimize their use. If medical interventions are necessary, a doula will educate the parents on their options and encourage them through the entire process.

Moms with a previous disappointing birth experience are much more likely to have a future positive birth with a doula present. This includes situations such as previously being medicated, labor induction, having to stay in bed during labor, unnecessary episiotomies, forceps or vacuum usage, long labor, c-section, breastfeeding success, and postpartum depression. All of these scenarios are shown by research to be dramatically improved by the presence of a doula.

In a recent study, (source) women cared for during labor by a birth doula, compared to those receiving usual care were

26% less likely to give birth by cesarean section
41% less likely to give birth with a vacuum extractor or forceps
28% less likely to use any analgesia or anesthesia
33% less likely to be dissatisfied or negatively rate their birth experience

As your doula I will provide:

• Assistance with birth planning, prenatal care, and birth partner preparation
• 2-3 prenatal visits and at least 2 postpartum visits, depending on the need
• Availability for phone consultations anytime during pregnancy and afterwards
• Continuous labor support from early labor (as needed) throughout the immediate postpartum period
• Suggestions and support for pain coping techniques, positions during labor, calm birthing atmosphere, awareness of Mom’s changing needs
• Assistance with parent-infant bonding, breastfeeding help as needed
• Newborn and Mom care advice and assistance throughout the postpartum weeks

My experience:

• Certified Doula with Childbirth International since 2006
• I have experience as a doula with home birth, hospital birth, epidurals, cesarean section, high-risk pregnancy, VBAC, teen moms, breastfeeding problems, and more
• Certified Baby’s First Massage Instructor
• Mother of 6 children : 2 hospital births and 4 home births (including 3 water births)
• Extensive breastfeeding experience – total of 12 years between 6 children so far
• Herbal/natural remedy knowledge for both pregnant moms and babies/children
• Personal experience dealing with miscarriages – I can help with miscarriage care and emotional support if needed

Please Contact Me if you need a doula in San Antonio and are interested in my services.

Beautiful Home Birth baby boy

By now, every doctor and parent in America has heard the news: breastfeeding is best for babies. What’s not-so-old news is the growing body of evidence demonstrating that commercial infant formulas are simply not good enough. While commercial infant formulas are commonly perceived to be the medically recommended second-choice infant food after breastfeeding, the World Health Organization (WHO) actually states: “The second choice is the mother’s own milk expressed and given to the infant in some way. The third choice is the milk of another human mother. The fourth and last choice is artificial baby milk.”

Read the rest of this important article here. Then send me your comments! I have breastfed all of 7 of my babies, but I have also struggled with various breastfeeding issues and have made the difficult decision to supplement with formula. I have great compassion and empathy for moms in various situations and for moms who want to breastfeed but run into difficulties.

One of my very favorite things to do as a new mom is to relax into a comfy chair and breastfeed my newborn baby. Having a 7-week old baby gives me lots of time to indulge in another of my favorite pastimes – reading. I have breastfed my 7 babies for 18 mos, 2 yrs, 4 yrs, 2 yrs, 18 mos, 9 mos, and 7 weeks (so far). These moments are some of my most cherished memories! Breastfeeding hasn’t always been easy for me, however. I have struggled with an increasing pattern of low milk supply starting with my 4th baby, and had to give my 6th baby formula supplements starting at age 3 months. Through these experiences I have developed a strong compassion for and a desire to help other mothers who struggle.

So when I read this article about mothers who choose to exclusively pump their milk and feed it to their babies from a bottle rather than breastfeed, I have mixed feelings. Part of me questions why a mother would not want to breastfeed their baby, since the majority of my experiences have been so positive with my own children. But another thing I am slowly learning as I grow older (and hopefully wiser) is that people are different, and have the right to make different choices in their lives. I have to really admire moms who, for whatever reason can’t or don’t want to breastfeed, are making the time-consuming choice to pump their own milk in order to give their babies the best start possible.

For anyone considering this as an option, I would caution you that exclusive pumping may work for some women, but it is also very likely to be difficult to keep up a full supply over a long period of time. Supplementation may be necessary at some point, and that needs to be something the mother seriously considers at the outset. But for those who don’t see breastfeeding as an option no matter what, exclusive pumping and bottle feeding the breastmilk to your baby is obviously much better for the baby than giving formula.

What do you think about this? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Contact me here.

My due date was January 18^th. I felt good right up until the end, so I wasn’t anxious to have the baby early like has happened some other times. People told me I was “tiny” for most of the pregnancy, even both of my midwives said that I carried small and once they felt the baby they both said that I hid the baby very well. But during the last month I did gain a few pounds, and could tell that the baby was growing a lot – and then I had two people tell me in the last couple of weeks that I looked like I could be having twins! I also noticed for the first time ever that my belly button was sticking out, which should have been a clue to me that this baby was going to be big. I enjoyed my round pregnant belly more than ever before, because I didn’t have quite as much fat hiding it this time. And although I was very glad to get to meet my baby, I was almost sad to give up my pregnant body, and that felt very strange!

On Wednesday, January 20^th I visited my midwife for a checkup, and asked her to check my cervix. I had had my husband check it for me a couple of times, and I was curious because he seemed to think that I was dilated between 3-4 cm, which was farther than I had ever gone before the beginning of labor before. My midwife said that I was 3 cm, but then she did a little bit of massage, and at the end she said I was about 4 cm dilated. I was really expecting my labor to be short because of this, at least I was hoping! I also had a chiropractic adjustment after my midwife appointment that day, and then we got groceries at Costco before coming home. After coming home my daughter and I took a walk with my mom, and then came back home and ate dinner. While sitting at the table I had a few Braxton Hicks contractions that felt a bit different, and once I even had to run to the toilet because the contraction was making me feel incontinent! This had never happened to me before, and I started wondering if something was going to happen that night. After dinner I took a short nap.

Every night the children kept telling me that they hoped we would wake them up that night for the baby’s birth. I tucked them all into bed that night with the same prayers, that God would send our new baby to us very soon! And because I had taken a late nap, I didn’t feel tired and wanted to watch a movie, so we watched Love’s Enduring Promise together. This was fun, since we haven’t watched any movies together in several months. I was still feeling BH contractions, but nothing that indicated any progress as of yet.

At midnight after the movie was over, I decided to go take a shower and try to get some sleep. I remember praying for peace during my shower, I had been praying a lot for God to give me peace and take away any fears about my labor. I also noticed a small amount of bloody show when I went to the bathroom, and I came back downstairs to tell my husband. I knew it might just be a result of the exam though, so I didn’t get too excited yet. After showering, I laid down and listened to my Hypnobirthing CD. I stayed in bed until about 2 AM trying to sleep, but the contractions were just strong enough and distracting enough to keep me from sleeping. My bowels were also cleaning out, which I knew could be a sign of labor. At some point I began watching the clock, and they were coming about 5 minutes apart for at least 30 minutes or so. Looking back, I decided to count my labor as starting somewhere around midnight.

Right after 2 AM I got back up and came downstairs, I just couldn’t relax enough to go to sleep, and I had decided that I was definitely in labor. I talked to my husband about calling the midwives and our support team, but he said something that made me decide to wait awhile, and I’m glad I did. Later on he said that he hoped that he hadn’t made a mistake by encouraging me to wait – he didn’t want to deliver the baby without help! I spent about 2 hours working on paperwork at my desk and doing a few things on the computer. I wrote in my daughter’s journal, and also wrote my son’s birthday letter which I hadn’t done yet. It was good to distract myself, although I also kept track of the contractions on a piece of paper during this time. They were not extremely regular, but somewhere around 4-6 minutes apart, and I was starting to feel the need to stop what typing and concentrate through them.

By about 4:15 the contractions hadn’t gotten any closer or much stronger, so I decided to go back upstairs and lie down. My husband hadn’t been to bed yet, and I also wanted him to try and get some sleep if he could. So I laid in bed again until 5:30, trying to relax and watching the clock while he slept.

The contractions spaced out some for a short time, and went from 10 to 8 to 5 and then finally to 3 minutes apart by 5:20 AM. At this point I knew it was time to call everyone, because I could tell they were progressively getting stronger as well as closer together. So I woke my husband up and had him call our birth team. I requested that my midwife come right away, I was still anticipating a fairly short labor once it really got going and wanted her to get there soon. I paced the bedroom floor for awhile, and then sat down on the birth ball and leaned against the bed, reading my book of scripture verses and meditating during contractions. My husband did a few things, but then he sat down behind me and started using the vibrating massager on my back during contractions, which felt really good.

From here on I didn’t time any more contractions or pay much attention to the clock, and eventually I totally lost track of the time.

I was still sitting on the ball when Mom arrived somewhere around 6:15 AM, and then my midwife came shortly after. My husband had been filling up the birth pool but we had both forgotten about it, so it was nearly full and way too cold! This was a disappointment to me, I was afraid it wouldn’t be ready soon enough for me to get in. But I didn’t have time to worry about it, because the contractions were getting stronger all the time. My midwife took my husband’s place with the massager for awhile, and then suggested that I get up to use the bathroom. My friend/doula arrived just as I was getting up, and I remember feeling bad that I didn’t greet her, but I needed to get to the toilet before another contraction came. I called my husband to come in the bathroom with me, and he hugged me and talked to me through several contractions on the toilet. The other midwife also arrived while I was in the bathroom, and I was happy that everyone was there who was supposed to be there.

I really wanted to get in the pool at this point, but it wasn’t ready yet, and it took me a few minutes to decide what I should do. But eventually I went back to my bed and laid down on my left side with the body pillow for awhile. My midwife came and talked to me through some contractions, and my husband came and went during this time because he was still working on preparing the birth pool. I asked about my friend/doula a couple of times, but she was working on getting the video camera ready. When she came, I asked her to hold my hand and right away I felt really good about my decision to ask her to be at my birth. I also asked her to pray for me, which she did several times during the next couple of hours, and I loved hearing her voice and feeling her touch. I remember being concerned about her being comfortable, and wanting to know if she had found a good place to sit and if she was comfortable.

After awhile my midwife (I think) came and told me that the birth pool was ready if I wanted to get in. Part of me just wanted to stay in the bed, the contractions were getting very intense and I was hoping that the baby was nearly ready to be born. But after a couple more contractions, I decided the pool sounded really good after all. I don’t know what time I got in, but I do remember looking at the clock not too long after getting in and it was almost 8:00, and my midwife offered to go and wake up the girls (I thought they would already be awake but they weren’t) to come in and be my doulas too.

The water took the intensity out of my contractions for a few minutes, but then they started really building up again. My daughters came in and my strength was renewed by seeing them and their beautiful excited smiles. I asked one of them to hold the picture of all 6 children for me to look at, and at some point my husband asked her to recite some scriptures for me. The girls both rubbed my arm a lot, and I really appreciated seeing both of their faces now and then when I opened my eyes. I kept them closed most of the time, for some reason I drew a lot of strength from hearing everyone talking to me, but I preferred to keep my eyes closed. One thing that I think is funny now is that my husband started rubbing my ear lightly during one contraction, and I actually liked it and asked him to do it again the next time! For some reason it was a really good distraction for awhile, I guess just because it was a different sensation than I was used to.

My time in the birth pool seemed very short in some ways, but in other ways it seemed like an eternity. I didn’t want the midwives to check my cervix unless truly necessary, so we didn’t know how far I had progressed, but I feel like my transition period was longer than most of my previous births have been. I could have easily been distressed by this, but I had so many people giving me their strength and support through their words and touch, and I was focusing so much on my scriptures and prayer, that I didn’t take much notice of the time that was passing. I started vocalizing through all of the contractions at some point, it really seemed to help to make some noise.  I was briefly tempted a couple of times to ask them to check my cervix, but as soon as another contraction came I would forget about it, and now I’m very glad that I didn’t ask, because it would probably have been discouraging to know. I also remember at one point my friend/doula telling me that the video camera was set up (the battery had been low and I think she felt really bad about it) now. I was glad to hear that, but to be honest, at that point I didn’t really care whether it was there or not.

The contractions kept getting stronger and closer together, and I almost felt like I was outside myself at times, watching my labor and being my own doula, trying to determine how far along I was and how much longer it would be. When I started feeling more pressure during the contractions, I knew the time was close and I wanted so badly for it to be over with, that I started talking about it and saying that I wanted to push the baby out. I think I was hoping that by saying it out loud, I would cause it to happen faster. But when my midwife suggested that I could try a little push during a contraction, I could tell right away when I tried that it wasn’t quite time yet. I even put my own hand down there a few times to see if I could feel the baby, I felt it moving down so much that I was expecting it to be right there. I could feel something, but it wasn’t the baby’s head, and I was confused by what I felt until they told me it was probably the amniotic sac bulging that I was feeling. I knew she was correct right away, and although I was slightly tempted to ask them to break the water, I also knew that would make the contractions even more intense, so I didn’t ask.

I kept trying a little push during several contractions, and finally I felt a true urge to push, and almost immediately my water broke. I started screaming as I usually do at that point, and pushed out the head very soon, it seemed like it was right after the water broke but I’m not sure. Then I actually took a couple of breaths and someone told me to reach down and touch the baby’s head! This is very unusual for me, because I usually push the whole baby out in one push. I didn’t take long though, I was very anxious to get the baby out – so I pushed again and then felt the baby in my arms and heard my husband telling me to hold the baby. I opened my eyes, and heard everyone exclaiming about how much vernix there was, the baby was totally white with it and surprised all of us because I was 3 days past my due date. I took a minute or so to catch my breath, and then checked to see if we had a boy or a girl – and was so happy to see another girl! The umbilical cord was very short so I couldn’t bring her up on my chest too far, and also needed a little bit of help to move the cord out of the way to see that she was a girl. Everyone was laughing and happy, and the baby was crying loudly! She was born at 9:21 AM. I looked up and saw my mom standing there with a big smile on her face, and she was so happy that she had just walked in the door to check on me and saw her being born! I was really happy that Mom got to be there for that too. My husband caught the baby all by himself, with my midwife standing back to watch. He shared with me how neat it felt to have her face come out in his hands, he said it felt incredible to have the little squished face come into his hands and then take shape once it was out. He then felt for a cord around her neck (there wasn’t one) and caught her once I pushed again. I’m so glad that he was able to catch his own daughter without any help!

The midwives covered me up with a towel in the water, and then we invited our other children to come and meet their new sister. Our oldest son got to cut the cord, and they all stood there and watched us in the water for awhile, I was happy just to sit there holding her, I was so happy that the labor was over and so happy to have another daughter, just like we had hoped for! After the placenta was delivered they suggested that I get out of the water and onto the bed, the water was getting a little bit cold and she wanted to nurse. So we asked the boys to leave again, and I laid on the bed bare chested and we tried letting her lie on my chest for awhile to see if she would crawl up to my breasts on her own like I had read about and seen pictures of in a book. She did crawl up on my chest and was trying to find the breast, but then she kept stopping and finally seemed like she had given up. So when she was about 1 hour old we decided to give up on that idea, and I sat up in bed and helped her get latched on. She nursed for a long time on both sides.

After nursing, my midwife weighed and measured her and we couldn’t believe that she was 9 lbs. 4 oz, 22 ½ inches long, and had a 15 inch head! She said that she had only had one other baby with a bigger head, it was 15 ¼ inches and it was a 12 pound baby! I only had a little tiny tear, not big enough to need any stitches.

This labor was actually a bit longer than any of my other labors had ever been before, almost 9 ½ hours. Active labor didn’t start until about 4 hours before she was born though. And although I was wishing for a short labor, I was able to stay very peaceful and calm until almost the end because of the support I had around me. I am so thankful for God’s peace in my heart as well, which kept me from being concerned about the clock.

Is VBAC Delivery Allowed in San Antonio Area Hospitals?

VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) is becoming more and more rare in our country, and many doctors and hospitals are not willing to allow their patients to attempt it, even though the evidence does not support their position. With the national cesarean rate at over 30% and San Antonio’s rate up to 45% at some local hospitals, this is an issue that every pregnant woman needs to be aware of. Preventing a woman’s first c-section is of course the best route to take, but for those women who have already had one or more c-sections, it can feel as if they have no options but to submit to further surgery with each child.

The International Cesarean Awareness Network is an informational, supportive, and advocacy organization that is seeking to raise awareness of these issues and hopefully lower the rate of c-sections and raise the VBAC rates over time. ICAN has put together a database of hospitals across the country and listed what their VBAC policies are. The information was gathered by volunteers who called their local hospitals with a list of questions, and some hospitals were more willing than others in providing the information. Also, there are 3 labels that are given to the hospitals, and they can be a bit confusing. “Banned” is the easy one, this means that the hospital has an official policy which does not allow VBAC’s. “De facto ban” means that the hospital does not have an official policy banning VBAC, but in practice there are no doctors who will agree to attend one at that hospital. “Allowed” means that the hospital has a policy that allows VBAC’s. This does not mean that they are necessarily supportive of VBAC’s, however. Some of the hospitals were willing to give out the names of doctors who will attend VBAC’s, and others were not.

In a nutshell, what does all of this mean? Well, having a hospital that is supportive of VBAC is important and very helpful. But the bottom line is that a woman needs to have her doctor’s full support, or it’s not going to happen.

Here is a list of the hospitals that are in ICAN’s database and the label they have been given. Next to each hospital I have listed any doctors or practices that were given as possibly supportive of VBAC. This information is subject to change at any time, please go to ICAN’s website for a complete and updated list.

“Allowed” Hospitals in San Antonio Area
Christus Santa Rosa (Dr. Nguyen)
Nix Health Care Center (Dr. Vanwingerden)
North Central Baptist (Northeast OB/GYN and Riverwalk OB/GYN)
Northeast Baptist (Women Partners)
Southwest General Hospital
Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital (Dr. Kuhl)
St. Luke’s Baptist (Lone Star OB/GYN)
University Health System
Frio Regional Hospital in Pearsall (Dr. Garza and Dr. Camero)

“De Facto Ban” Hospitals in San Antonio Area
Metropolitan Methodist
Baptist Medical Center
Central Texas Medical Center in San Marcos

“Banned” Hospitals in San Antonio Area
Hill Country Memorial Hospital in Fredericksburg
Guadalupe Valley Hospital in Seguin

Melody Rose was born on January 21, 2010 at 9:21 AM after 9 1/2 hours of labor, weighing 9 lbs. 4 oz. and 22 1/2 inches long! I had a wonderful peaceful water birth, more details to come soon!

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Author Unknown

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* I wrote these thoughts in 2005 after having 2 miscarriages within 3 months. The second one was especially physically and emotionally traumatic to me. I hope and pray that this sharing of my struggles and the things I have learned will be of some comfort to those who have experienced a miscarriage. I also hope it will help loved ones of the bereaved mother be able to better understand what she is going through.

Here are a few thoughts about what I have learned so far…

I have learned that I cannot predict when the grief will hit me, some days are great and other days I don’t feel like doing anything except moping and crying.  Some days I can look at a newborn baby and smile, and other days I can only look away and try not to cry.

I have learned that it is better not to push down the pain when it comes, but to face it and pray through it, and allow myself to cry.

I have learned that it is better when people bring up the subject and ask how I am doing, rather than ignoring it for fear of how I will react.  When they ignore it, I feel like my loss is being minimized and they have already forgotten. Regarding this, I  learned a couple of days ago that when no one else will bring it up, but I felt it hanging in the air so to speak, it was okay for me to bring it up even though it was hard.  As soon as I did, everyone offered their sympathies and wanted to hear more details.  And then the rest of the evening was so much easier!

I have learned that I need to protect myself. I have unsubscribed from almost all of my e-mail lists because I could not handle the talk about pregnancy.  I also decided not to attend a ladies’ meeting after I found out that my sister-in-law was pregnant, because I didn’t want to ruin her joy in telling everyone her good news, and I didn’t feel strong enough to be able to show my happiness for her.

I have learned that only people who have been there can truly understand, and it also seems that the pain of miscarriage fades with time and those people who had miscarriages a long time ago may not be able to understand either.

I have learned that I need to reach out for help. My family members (mother, mother-in-law, sisters-in-law) have not gone through miscarriages, so although they really want to help, they don’t know how. About a month afterwards, I wrote all of them an e-mail explaining that although I am doing better, the hurt is still there and I just don’t know how to ask for help when I need it. This e-mail really opened the lines of communication and I have felt much more cared about since then by my close friends and family.

I have learned that writing down my feelings really helps. I have a journal called “Teardrop Diary” which I have been using often. The poems speak exactly what I am feeling so many times, and I have shared a few of them with the family that I mentioned above. I also wrote down a detailed account of both miscarriages (14 pages on the computer) to put in my memory box with the other things I have, so that I will not be afraid to forget anything.

I have learned that having a tangible way to honor my babies is a very healing thing for me.  Along with my memory box, I also have put an angel statue in the flowerbed where we buried our baby, and planted a flowering plant there. I also want to eventually get a piece of jewelry with all of my children’s birthstones on it, and include a momento for each of my angel babies as well.

I have learned that what I really want from others is for them to acknowledge my loss and not ignore it or minimize it.  I have had two children die, it’s not just a failed pregnancy. I don’t expect people to know how to make me feel better, but just to keep praying and allow me to grieve in whatever way I need to.

I have learned at least a little bit how to comfort someone else who has gone through a miscarriage.  I will not leave them alone to grieve, I will not treat it lightly, I will not assume they are okay if they are acting okay. I will keep asking, keeping praying, and keep reaching out in whatever way I can, for as long as they need it.

Author: Brenda Minica – All Rights Reserved.