Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom (110 page)

After most normal births, the baby can be placed on the mother’s abdomen and the cord can be allowed to gradually stop pulsating on its own. Babies often rest very peacefully while this is going on. They breathe gently and don’t cry. In fact, mothers and fathers sometimes worry that something is wrong when their babies are calm at birth. They’ve learned from the culture that a screaming, terrified newborn is
normal
. A nurse friend of Bethany Hays, M.D., recalled that at the first Lamaze birth she ever saw, she thought there was something wrong because the baby didn’t cry immediately! (Remember, that which is normal in this culture is not always that which is healthy. A generation ago, a limp, unresponsive baby was considered normal.)

Unfortunately, the collective emergency mind-set that permeates high-tech birth makes premature cord clamping the norm, not the exception. Conventional ob-gyn training argues that delayed cord clamping will increase a baby’s risk of hyperbilirubinemia (jaundice). But ob-gyns have no problem using Pitocin for labor induction or augmentation and/or epidural anesthesia—both of which have been conclusively linked with nonphysiologic neonatal jaundice. In fact, any drug given to a mother or baby is likely to compete with bilirubin sites on blood protein, thus causing more free bilirubin, which contributes to jaundice. In healthy full-term infants, and even in sick infants, there are untold advantages to delaying cord clamping until after the placenta has been delivered (or the blood vessels have stopped pulsating), which takes only one to three minutes.
⁵
For example, a study of more than 1,900 infants published in the
Journal of the American Medical Association
in 2007 showed that delaying cord clamping for a mere two minutes cut the risk of anemia in half and reduced low iron levels in the newborns’ blood by a third.
⁶
According to a review study published in 2009 in the
Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health,
delaying cutting the umbilical cord was shown to have numerous benefits (among them reducing the need for blood transfusions in the first six weeks of life) without additional risk to either the newborn or the mother—and it was found to be especially beneficial for preterm infants.
⁷
Yet early cord clamping is still the norm worldwide. (Everyone who cares about the health of babies would do well to read the extensive research about the benefits of delaying cord clamping plus the adverse effects of premature clamping compiled by my colleague obstetrician George Morley, M.D., and associates at
www.birth-brain-injury.org
and
www.autism-end-it-now.org
.)
⁸

POSTPARTUM: THE FOURTH TRIMESTER

The first three months postpartum are when most women go through enormous physical, emotional, and psychological changes that aren’t very well appreciated in this culture. Much of the controversy about sending mother and baby home from the hospital too soon has to do with the fact that for many women, their care and rest end the minute they get home. Though the hospital is often far from an ideal place to rest after your baby is born, it sure beats going home to a sink full of dirty dishes and a load of dirty laundry.

Your body also goes through some unexpected changes. For in stance, it is normal to sweat a great deal and have hot flashes during this time—it’s part of the readjustment process following the profound adaptations of pregnancy. Also, some women notice that some of their hair falls out from hormonal changes (it grows back). It is also normal to bleed for up to four to six weeks as the placental site heals over in the uterus. The other really common problem many women face is pain during intercourse, especially if they’ve had an episiotomy. Though many doctors tell women it’s okay to have sex after their six-week checkup, this may be far too soon for comfort. Aside from the episiotomy, the hormonal changes necessary for breast-feeding can result in vaginal dryness. This doesn’t mean (as some women fear) that you don’t love your mate anymore. It just means that you might need vagi nal lubricant until postpartum hormonal shifts are completed. You also may find that you’re so exhausted from being up at night with the baby that sex is the last thing on your mind.

On the other hand, a fascinating study by Marilyn Moran on do-it-yourself home birthers found that women who gave birth in an environment in which they were totally supported by their husbands and in which they felt safe being sexual actually experienced a marked in crease in their sexual activity postpartum. I find this highly plausible and deeply intriguing. It flies in the face of everything we’ve been taught about sexuality and birth— probably because what we’ve been taught (and therefore what we experience) has been deeply tainted by our cultural expectations. Modern high-tech birth environ ments, where more than a third of births are major surgical procedures, certainly do not encourage feelings of sexuality during or after birth. (A full discussion of this topic can be found in my book
Mother-Daughter
Wisdom
[Bantam Books, 2005], pages 99–100.)

If I was running the country, I’d make sure that every postpartum woman had full-time help for cooking and cleaning for at least two months after the baby was born and that she had time for a nap or two every single day. In some traditional cultures, women with newborn ba bies are often cared for by their midwives, mothers, or other women for two to three months after the birth of the baby. During this time, their only duties are to nurse, rest, and recover so that they can be fully present for their new babies.

Postpartum Depression

Maternal depression is frequently underdiagnosed. (About 10 to 15 percent of women are clinically depressed during pregnancy itself.)
⁹
Fully 80 percent of women experience the baby blues for up to two weeks after delivery. Approximately 15 percent of women will go on to experience some form of mood disorder postpartum, ranging from major depression to anxiety disorders such as panic attacks. If a woman has a history of depression, she is at significant risk postpar tum, and many women who suffer one postpartum depression will experience the same thing after each birth.
¹⁰
A 2009 study from Norway noted that some new mothers may mistakenly assume their tiredness in the first few months after giving birth is merely a side effect of poor sleep, when in fact it might be a symptom of depression.
¹¹
True psychosis occurs in only about one in a thousand births, and is characterized as being out of touch with reality, hallucinating, and hearing voices. It is considered a psychiatric emergency. One of my patients went through this process with minimal medication even though she had to be hospitalized for a time. She said that during that time, she healed a great deal of her past with her mother, father, and, as she put it, “my ancestors before me. It was as though I had to go into this darkness—that was somehow generations deep—so that I could be present with my baby.” Her inner knowing told her that her postpartum reaction was important and loaded with information and energy. By staying with the process and not reducing it to a “chemical imbalance,” she was able to heal fully—and, ultimately, so was her family. This is a striking example of staying present with and thus dissolving one’s pain body.

Women with any history of depression or psychosis should be sure they discuss this with their health care provider before the baby is born, since the right treatment can prevent the problem from becoming se vere. Antidepressant medication has been shown to be helpful in some cases. Women with moderate to severe PMS may be at increased risk for postpartum depression, especially those who feel their best during pregnancy and who respond well to natural progesterone. In this group of women, taking progesterone as soon after delivery as possible is often very helpful.
¹²
Estrogen has also been used successfully.
¹³

Consuming adequate amounts of omega-3 fats also decreases the risk of postpartum depression. In fact, omega-3 fats can be used to treat postpartum depression (1,000 to 5,000 mg per day). It’s also essential that women keep their blood sugar normal. (Low blood sugar exacerbates depression, and it’s very common.) The best way to do this is to be sure to start each day with a breakfast that contains healthy protein and low-glycemic-index carbohydrates. (See
chapter 17
, “Eat to Flourish.”) Good choices would be eggs and whole-grain toast or oatmeal with protein powder in it. There is also a wide variety of bars and shakes available for those who don’t have the time to cook. A good multivitamin-mineral supplement is essential to help the body manufacture the neurochemicals involved in mood balance, including serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins. Adequate sleep also goes a very long way toward helping maintain mood. (Please see the Program for Creating Optimal Pregnancy in chapter 12, page 451—all of it applies to the postpartum period.) The bottom line is to reestablish the individual and nutritional hormonal balance that supports emotional stability.

Postpartum depression is made worse by any sense that the birth was not what the woman had hoped for, or that she has somehow failed. A woman from Europe wrote me the following: “I’m the mother of a daughter who is now one and a half years old who was born by cesarean section. This cut changed my relationship with my body a lot. Even now, sixteen months later, I still do have the feeling of being wounded, not so much in the physical body, but in the energetic one. So much physical and emotional pain is connected with such an operation. I know quite a few women who’ve had the same experience, and there’s even a support group in town.”

Labor that doesn’t turn out the way you planned can be very traumatic to the mind and body, and women can be left with a type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A great deal of unfinished business may live in our bodies concerning our labors and deliveries if we weren’t fully supported. This is because, on some level, we know that many of these surgeries or procedures may not have been necessary if our circumstances, our thoughts and emotions, and our environments in labor had been different. In these cases, I recommend approaches that help clear the energy body and reprogram the subconscious mind. Examples include hypnosis, EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing; for more information, see the EMDR Institute’s website at
www.emdr.com
), meditation CDs using binaural beat technologies (especially Hemi-Sync products from the Monroe Institute; see
www.monroeinstitute.org
or
www.hemisync.com
for more information), and Psych-K. Psych-K is a process developed by psychotherapist Robert Williams using whole-brain integration techniques to communicate with your subconscious mind to change those subconscious beliefs that perpetuate self-sabotaging habits and behaviors. (For more information on Psych-K, visit the Psych-K Centre’s website at
www.psych-k.com
.) Individual healers and therapies can also help (see the Intuitive Guidance section of the Resources).

Significant unfinished business with a woman’s own mother at the time she gives birth can also increase the risk of postpartum depression. Sharon had her first baby at the age of twenty-nine. About one week postpartum, she became severely depressed and was considering giving up breast-feeding. I helped her stick with it, which enhanced her self-esteem a great deal. She sought help with a psychiatrist for about six months and eventually pulled out of her depression. She later told me that she felt that the depression was directly related to the fact that her mother, an active alcoholic, simply couldn’t be present for her during this critical phase of her life. She said, “She wasn’t present for me when I was born because of her drinking, and she wasn’t present for the birth of my son for the same reason. Nevertheless, something deep within me really wanted her there, and so I invited her to come and help me out after the baby was born. But she wasn’t reliable, never could get it together to help me with anything, and ultimately, I ended up mothering her as well as my new baby. It’s so painful to have to give up the fantasy that somehow you will one day find the mother you never had.”

A woman can have a similar reaction if her relationship with her father is unsatisfactory. What it boils down to is this: When a woman gives birth, the process releases enormous energy for renewal and heal ing. Something deep within her longs to connect with and heal her own family. If her relationship with them is lacking in some way, this healing feeling will be height ened. The contrast between what could be and what actually is can add to a sense of loss or grief that contributes to depression.

Regardless of your circumstances, every woman needs to realize that having a baby is the real “change of life” and that she may not be fully prepared for this stressful time, especially if she lacks support. In my experience, most women don’t have nearly the support that they need during the postpartum time. Many are sleep-deprived and exhausted. I remember that after my first child was born, I left the house to go get groceries when she was about four days old. I closed the front door and walked out onto the porch. Then I remembered, “Oh, God, I can’t just leave. I have a baby.” In a moment of panic, I realized that I had altered my life forever and that there was no going back. We were preparing to move at the time, and each day my husband would come home from work and ask me how much I had gotten done. I told him that it was all I could do just to keep the baby fed, get some rest my self, and prepare meals. I was too exhausted and stressed out to do anything else. On top of that, I couldn’t seem to get motivated to go into overdrive, as I’d done so effectively for so long in my medical training. But I didn’t understand this, and neither did my husband, so my “fourth trimester” was not a healing time, to say the least.