Powerbirth Technique

I usually leave a woman alone with her husband in the early stages of
labor. I don't need to watch her and will usually just go into another
room and sleep (usually labor is in the middle of the night). I wake up
from time to time to listen to the baby's heartbeat and then go back to
sleep.
It's interesting that when I'm needed, I automatically wake up before
the mother even has to call on me. But, almost without exception,
when a mother reaches 5-6 cm dilation, she needs me to be in her
face telling her exactly what to do until she regains control of herself.
Then, most mothers do not want me to leave the room again.
You have to keep in mind that as soon as they are 5-6 cm dilated they
wish to begin to "press" down and will soon give birth, if allowed to
do what their bodies are prompting them to do.
If a woman tells me that she does not want to be checked internally
for dilation, I leave her alone. But, I do listen to the baby's heartbeat
more frequently in the last stage of active labor because of the
significant changes going on for the baby.
When a woman is out of control from fear, I help her by touching her
cervix gently and telling her exactly what she needs to do. Soon the
baby is born.
I had a woman once who didn't even want me to check the heart,
which I honored. But, that was because I "felt" that the baby was
okay anyway.
"Pressing" down when you're ready to because the cervix is ready
to let go of the baby is a means to birthing more quickly and more
safely, according to the way we are designed.
Too many women get cesareans in the hospital for this very reason-
they're not allowed to help because they might tear the cervix (not if
the body is telling the mother to do this), but it's okay to have major
surgery and cut a giant hole in the abdomen and the uterus?
Hello???!!!???

No woman has to change her birth plans if she follows her body's
signals during labor. PowerBirth is a complement to all other
methods of childbirth, not a technique in itself.
The success rate of hypnotized birthing is 70%, which means that
30% went into the hospital for epidurals or cesareans (15%). What if
the PowerBirth Principle had made the difference in the success rate
of these women?

If a woman wants a truly natural
birth, the only way she will get that is by giving birth alone without a midwife,
doctor, nurse, or doula. There will be no one present to tell her what to do or
what not to do- she will simply follow the promptings of her body during labor.

The only problem with that scenario is that she will at some point in her life,
either during her pregnancy or before, have heard or read something that will
affect how she gives birth. The only way for any of us not to be influenced by
someone else's teachings is for us to have been raised on an island away
from all civilization without television or books.

So, when midwives argue amongst themselves about what action is or isn't
natural during human labor and birth, scientifically none of us can be sure
which of us is correct.

Some midwives adamantly believe and teach that no one should ever tell a
laboring woman what to do, while others believe that when a woman cries
out, "Tell me what to do," that her job as a midwife is to help the mother by
telling her what has worked for countless other women who have birthed
before her.

I have seen thousands of women regain control of themselves when they
were told that it is okay to "press" down or make noise during the 5-8
centimeter, or phase of maximum slope (as described in Varney's Nurse
Midwifery textbook).

However, if a woman is told that she will hurt herself by doing this, and to
compensate is taught a technique of childbirth which prolongs labor for
hours longer than is necessary, that's okay too. That is, as long as she has
been told both sides of the issue.

PowerBirth is not about the midwife's power, it is not about manual dilation
of the cervix, and it is not about rushing birth. It is about eliminating the "Rule
of Ten" established by doctors a long, long time ago, which says that a
woman should never, ever be allowed to push until she is completely dilated
because she will tear or pulverize the cervix.

A woman will never bear down so hard that she will tear her cervix because
it will hurt. But, she can cut hours off her labor, help her baby get born,
decrease the pain, and regain control if she works with her body.

That is what PowerBirth is about!