Water birth in the Twin Cities

The first family to have a waterbirth at Abbott.

Blooma loves hearing about and sharing the latest options in birth throughout the Twin Cities. So when we learned that waterbirth recently became an option at Abbott Northwestern Hospital, we had to give a little cheer!

A Coon Rapids mom claimed the honor of the first mom to deliver in a tub there, welcoming baby girl Kaelyn on Sept. 15.

“I can’t imagine what it would have been like without the water,” said the mom, Aimee. “It was so relaxing and a huge pain management tool.”

Most women who’ve experienced waterbirth say they couldn’t imagine it any other way. The benefits are immeasurable: easier movement during labor and delivery, natural pain relief, warmth and relaxation. And for baby, an “easier, more gentle transition from mother’s womb to an external ‘womb’ of water that is weightless, warm, wet and soft.”

Blooma families, we’d love to hear from you about your waterbirth experiences: What would you say to couples considering waterbirth? And where did you deliver?

If you’re deciding where to have your baby and birthing in the water is something you’re interested in, see below for other places in the Twin Cities metro that offer waterbirth. Your options are homebirth midwives, birth centers and various hospitals.

When making your decision, be sure to ask your specific care provider if he/she does water birth, how comfortable he/she (and the group) is with waterbirth, and what the success rate is of water births for the given group and/or hospital.

Hospitals:

• HCMC Midwives (Minneapolis)

• St. Joseph’s Hospital (St. Paul)

• Woodwinds Health Campus (Woodbury)

• Regions Hospital (St. Paul)

• Hudson Hospital (Hudson, WI)

Freestanding Birth Centers:

• Health Foundations Family Health & Birth Center (St. Paul)

• Morning Star Birth Center (St. Louis Park)

We’ve also heard that the midwives at Methodist Hospital plan to add water birth as an option sometime in 2012. If we’ve missed listing any other waterbirth resources, please let us know! And to learn more about waterbirth, head over to Waterbirth International for a slew of great info!

Love,

Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma

Health Foundations Birth Center is 1!

One year ago, Health Foundations Family Health & Birth Center became the Twin Cities’ first freestanding birth center. We are truly blessed to have this wonderful birthing option. Celebrate this Saturday at the birth center’s birthday party. The details:

Yummy treats, great door prizes and fun activities.  We are having an Open House to celebrate on February 26th from 2-5pm…everyone is welcome!  Questions?  Call the office at 651.895.2520. Learn more about us at www.health-foundations.com and join our blog at www.healthfoundations.ning.com.

Health Foundations Family Health & Birth Center
968 Grand Avenue
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55105

It’s always a great weekend to celebrate birth!

xoxox
Love,
Jenni, Sarah & the women of Blooma

Shanti Uganda Birth Center Update: It’s a girl!

At this time one year ago, Blooma owner Sarah Longacre was in Uganda helping to build a birth center— with all of your much-appreciated support.

Good news! The birth center’s first baby came into the world on Jan. 28, attended by three midwives. It’s a girl!

It was the mama’s ninth baby, and after the birth, she told the midwives that she had “never felt so cared for or welcomed.” Read the entire story at the Shanti Uganda blog.

We are elated for this mother, for the existence of this birth center, and full of gratitude for all that you’ve done to help support the building and ongoing operation of this birth center.

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti,

Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma

Beautiful birth: Erin + Uma

Congratulations to beautiful mama, Erin, daddy Carsten, and baby girl Una! Thanks for sharing your birth story— all the way from Berlin, Germany!—with us.

Much love

Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma

my water broke as i was arranging the dishwasher at 6 a.m. after which carsten and i proceeded to clean the house and laundry by instinct. after a couple hours and a talk with our midwife kathy we had a nice breakfast and headed to the birth center. contractions weren’t regular so kathy suggested we go out for a walk or some food, which we did. i called my mother while in the car and since she noticed i couldn’t get through my sentences a couple of times in about five minutes, she suggested we turn around and head back to the birth center. good advice mom, thanks—all systems were go.

Erin + baby girl Una

kathy checked and my cervix was already 4 cm open. she started the bath and i faced the first hour of contractions hanging and leaning on all these different apparatus — i felt a little gymnastics competition in me moving from event to event. i was 7cm dilated by the time i got into the bath, and spent the next three hours in the water making noises i didn’t know i could make. old sounds…sounds like a dinosaur, seal, and monkey come to mind. rrraaaaaarrrrr. carsten was a star — photographer, cold rag getter, massage therapist, positive-mental-attitude-counselor, etc etc. even though i managed a full 9-10cm dilation quickly, and was already pushing for hours, una was not coming.

i tried eating in the 2-3 minutes i had between contractions. i’ve never enjoyed an egg sandwich more in my life — it was my drugs. top it off with a now and then mouthful of haribo gummy bears to chomp on and chunks of chocolate to melt in my mouth through the pain and i thought i had a good reserve of energy. but no, no baby. i got quite lost and frustrated so kathy took me out of the bath and back to gravity, which i didnt like at all. gravity sucks. and i had a huge bag of urine visible on the outside of my belly skin that wouldn’t release. catheter time — nearly a liter of urine…who knew?! an hour later i was back in the water for the full on pushing phase.

it took another two hours to push, but it felt more focused and shorter than the first round. i understood the beginning-of-contraction pain and could get through each one and focus totally on the pushing. every time kathy put her hands in the water to show me where to focus my energy, she told me i was a brave, strong woman every single time, bless her. the mirror entered the equation at some point so carsten could begin to see a head. when we learned of her dark brown hair we laughed, surprised that my genes came through at all.

i began playing a rendition of name that tune. my game was called count that push and i announced that she would be out in 10 pushes. nope. okay, 8 more pushes. nope. i stopped playing then, took a new position, and in a few more pushes i was in the middle of the most intense sensation i will ever feel — i had no idea what was out or in or anywhere. carsten told me he could see her head while i was deliriously asking if i should keep pushing when all of a sudden kathy said look down and meet your baby. i looked down, and there was una, swimming below me. my little sea lion. i picked her up and couldn’t stop saying, “my baby my baby my baby my baby i love you i love you i love you…”

we all rested together soaking up this beautiful magical moment…she fed a little on my breast and then i gave her to carsten for some skin on skin time. lucky man, he got the first two rounds of sticky poo all over his chest. 🙂

i wish i could say the story ended there because it was a wonderful experience. in a way, let’s say the story did end there, because una was born as a healthy strong girl and that is the most important thing.

in another way, the story continued just as well… placenta delivery began painfully and ended that way too, unfortunately. the cord came but the placenta detached. i was given piton which begins labor contractions with an enormous amount of strength in order for the uterus to contract again to deliver the placenta. it wasn’t working, and this combined with being in gravity once again and having another catheter once again began to make me seriously pissed off. i was losing way too much blood without any progress. i stayed as positive as i could as i was transferred to the hospital, which is a lovely three-minute gurney-roll through the garden. then more piton! i negotiated for a general anesthesia; the hell if i was getting my other option — an epidural — after having had a natural childbirth!! carsten was great with una and stayed next to me until the surgery, which took only 40 minutes. the anesthetic was a perfect dose, i woke well and was not sick, and could now focus on my new beautiful family.

we stayed in the hospital for two nights under great care for all of us. since i had lost nearly two liters of blood i was hooked up to regenerative liquids. carsten made food runs for me — sushi, milkshakes, couscous, etc, while he enjoyed the horrible hospital feasts that reminded him of his east german childhood. he took una and i on wheelchair walks until i began to walk again soooooo slowly the day we left.

being at home is wonderful. una is eating and sleeping and pooping a lot and crying and hiccuping only a little. she is beautiful. carsten is arranging doctors and files and cooking and cleaning and helping me walk changing ulna, etc. he is amazing. my postnatal midwife is kathrin, a lovely german-irish woman who checks on us every day for 10 days at home. i’m all over the herbal remedies to give me energy again.

Believe in birth centers? This meeting is for you.

Word is just starting to circulate that two birth centers are opening in the Twin Cities in the next few months. We’re always excited about additional birthing choices for women! Birthing at a birth center isn’t the right choice for everyone, but for some, it’s the perfect option for those who want to birth with a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in a home-like atmosphere without actually being at home.

If you want to support birth centers as an option to birthing women, you may want to attend an upcoming meeting at Sen. Al Franken’s office to voice your support of birth center care being reimbursed by insurance. Here are the details that were passed along to us:

When: Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m.
Where: Office of Senator Al Franken
316 North Robert Street, Suite 615
St. Paul, MN 55101

* Kids are welcome.
* Rosemary Senjem will meet everyone in the lobby at 3:45.
* Please call Rosemary so that she knows who will show up: 651-429-4792 or 612-226-5101

Love,
Alisa, Sarah & the women of Blooma