zwangerschapsgym 1.

Gister ben ik voor de eerste keer met Barbara naar zwangerschapsgym geweest. Omdat zij (en anderen) het verslag hiervan ook willen lezen is deze blog entry in het engels geschreven.

Yesterday it was the first "papa-evening" at the pregnancy gym course that Barbara is taking. This means that I had to come along :).

At the start of the meeting the teacher asked every father-to-be what he expects at the labor, in one sentance. I do have an image of that in my head but it still is really hard for me to describe how I imagine it will be. So, I didn't really have an answer and didn't really no what to say. However, it is a good subject for a future blog entry :).

After the round was finished, with most father's not really knowing what to expect or what to do, the teacher explained the labor process again. We have aready attended a meeting organised by the midwives (and I did some reading about it :)) before so it was not so shocking. Still, one of the questions I had in my head is how you know that it started? Here is what I leanred
- already some weeks before the actual labor starts, the mother loses the slime clog blocks the womb. So this does not mean the labor is starting soon.
- the mother can already have irregular contractions days before the actual labor starts, so if (some) contractions come at irregular interval then it does not mean the labor has started.
- labor starts by either a) contractions at regular intervals (e.g.\ every 18 - 20 minutes) or by loosing the fluid in the womb. The mother can recognize that she loses the fluid, and it is not pee, by trying to hold it up. If it is impossible to hold it up by contracting the muscles, it is the fluid and labor started. P.S. note that I still have the imagine in my head that when a woman looses her fluid then it comes out like turning over a bucket of water, but I guess it won't be like that.

Regarding the labor process itself she told the following. The labor can short (e.g. 4 hours) or long (e.g 12 hours). The first phase of the labor can take the longest, when the dialation is between 0 - 4. In this phase the contractions are relatively mild. When the dialation becomes bigger the contractions become more intense and more frequent. Already around 8 centimeters of dialation the mother may feel like pushing. However, this is not allowed and the midwife will shout 'don't push yet!' When the mother is fully dialated the baby starts to move for the exit and the mother can push. While the baby is fully in the birthcanal still, then it takes two steps forward and two steps back. This is good because it smoothly stretches the birthcanal. At one moment, when the baby's head is partially out, then it cannot go back anymore. This is called the 'staande positie' (standing position in dutch). And the midwife may notify the mother about reaching this mildstone. At one point the head is fully out and the baby turns to get the rest of its body out. This usually goes in one or two pushes as the body is smaller (less wide) then the head.

At least, this is the scenario if it goes allright. It can be the case that the baby poops in the womb fluid and then the mother has to go to the hospital immediately because it may be that the child swallows some poo and this has to be sucked out right after birth. It may also be the case that the baby is in the wrong position. When the baby is feet first it has to be taken out by a sesarian. Whent the baby is face (eyes, nose) first and not with the back of his head first, it may still be possible to give normal labor but this is not assured. In this case his face may also come out all flattened or bruised (no panic, his face will become normal again in the days after).
After the story of labor we learned some massaging techniques and breathing techniques for during the labor/contractions. We have to practice them at home (which means spoilage for Barbara :)).

Massage:
1. Massage by making circles with the palm of one hand on the lower back (wax-on, or wax off).
2. Massage by rubbing down with the palm of both hands. When one hand is down start with the next hand from the shoulder again. Do this for both sides of the back.
3 Massage by pressing tumbs, palms, or fists in the lower back of the mother, during the contractions. This is mostly used only when relieving the heaviest contractions.

Breathing:
1. breath long inwards through the nose and long outwards through the mouth
2. breath long inwards through the nose and two short outwards through the mouth followed by a longer one through the moutn
3. breat shortly inwards through the nose (1 second), and longer (2 seconds) outwards through the mouth.

Most women use the breathing techniques in this order with nr 3. used for the heaviest contractions, but the most important lesson for the mothers of the evening was that she should do whatever feels most confortable to her (for easing the labor), there is no normality. If shee feels more confortable with breating technique nr 2. during the heavy contractions she should just do it. Or. e.g. there is no 'you have take a shower to relieve the contractions', it is only 'a shower may brring relief but if you don't feel like it helps you, then no need to do it.

And the most important lesson for the father's to be was: during labor comfort the mother and do whatever she tells you to do, without argument.

I am looking forward to the next pregnancy gym :)