Thursday, May 30, 2013

Planning for Your Birth!

I want to apologize to Julie Olson and Katie Immel.  They submitted this great guest blog for the 2013 Blog Carnival honoring the International Week for Respecting Childbirth (last week) and I just now found it in my spam box.  Please welcome Julie and Katie.....



Planning for your Birth
by Julie Olson and Katie Immel


The day your child is born is a day you’ll remember forever, so it makes sense to put some thought and planning into how you would like it to go. It is important to keep an open mind during pregnancy, labor and birth, because things can happen that are outside of anyone’s control. However, your preparation, planning and goals will affect your experience and may alter the decisions that you make along the way. If you understand and give thoughtful consideration to your options ahead of time and communicate your desires to your care provider (and to the people who will be supporting you), you are more likely to have a happier and more satisfying experience.

Books, websites and discussions with friends can provide helpful information and serve as a valuable starting point, but a childbirth class offers you and your partner a dedicated time to focus on your upcoming birth, discuss information you have learned and put more concentrated effort into identifying and clarifying your desires and goals. 
Sometimes, parents believe they do not need to take a childbirth course because they are planning an epidural, but childbirth education is about more than pain management. Classes provide education on all kinds of topics, such as pregnancy wellness, the typical course of events in labor, your choices, what to expect after the birth and possibly newborn care and breastfeeding. This information can relieve fears and help you enjoy your pregnancy, birth or postpartum time more than if you go through it blindly. You also have a chance to connect with other expectant parents, learn you are not alone in this journey and maybe even meet couples who turn into lifelong friends.
Occasionally, parents believe they do not need to be educated because their care provider will be there to handle things. While in some ways it might seem easier to turn over decision-making to another person and be free from responsibility, there is no one else as invested in your birth experience or its outcome as you are. No one else will be taking your child home and raising him/her and no one else will feel the emotional impacts of the birth like you and your partner. Some decisions made for you by your care provider may not make a difference to you or may be beneficial, while others may leave you with doubt, regret or even trauma. You may look back at your experience and wonder if that intervention or medication was necessary or ask yourself “what if...” questions. Important future decisions might be affected by your birth experience, such as limiting how many children you have or resigning yourself to a similar birth with your next child. Your involvement in the decision-making, regardless of the birth experience or outcome, can have huge benefits to you for years to come.

Every woman is different, every baby is different and every labor is different. There are no absolutes and no hard and fast rules that apply one hundred percent of the time. Education can’t guarantee a particular outcome or ensure that your birth is all that you desire, but it can help you feel respected and empowered - and all families benefit from that.

Julie Olson is a mother of two, a DONA International Birth Doula, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator and the owner of Plumtree Baby, LLC, which provides printed materials and visual aids for childbirth education. Katie Immel is a mother of three, a DONA International Birth Doula and an ICEA Certified Childbirth Educator. She is an author and graphic designer for Plumtree Baby, LLC.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

An Amazing Waterbirth Video!


One of the most beautiful waterbirth videos ever!  From FiLm ViDeO Just for Laughs.  



"Like" them on Facebook




 

Sunday, May 26, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival: My Story ~ Why Childbirth Preparation Matters....

Welcome to Day #7, the last day of the Blog Carnival honoring
 the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  
We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education.


My Story~ Why Childbirth Preparation Matters...
By Patty Brennan

As I approached the birth of my first son, I remember thinking “I have a woman’s body—I imagine I can birth a baby.” Birth wasn’t an intellectual experience, I thought. One did not need to read books about it or take classes. I decided to trust my instincts and my abilities and I thought that would be enough.

What I did not appreciate is that birth takes place in a medical-legal-social context. Many influences come into play. If opting to birth in a hospital, one is opting for institutionalized birth. I was not prepared for that. And my husband, allegedly there to help, was, in a word, clueless. The experience was essentially one of endurance, similar to suffering a dental procedure and just knowing at some point it would be over. I was on my own and I felt scared.

What if I had known that …

  • I    need not have stayed in bed, on my back, simply because I had IV Pitocin and a fetal heart monitor strapped to my belly?
  • the Pitocin was probably unnecessary and would contribute to (if not cause) my son’s jaundice in the early days postpartum?
  • movement would not only help with the pain, but also help the labor progress?
  • just when I felt I couldn’t do it, I was almost there?
  • birthing at home attended by a midwife was a viable, safe option and one that would have been well suited to my “can-do” attitude?


The list (of what I did NOT know and the questions I did not ask) goes on. I experienced everything as a series of events that “just happened.” First this happened, and then that, and then that. It wasn’t until a couple of years later, after a pivotal chance encounter with a midwife, that I began to read about our cultural context of birth and came to understand that these events were, in fact, all connected, that each choice/decision had unintentional as well as intentional consequences.

Childbirth education is about CHOICES. If you don’t know that you have choices, you may as well not have any. You will, by default, give your power over to others. Today, one third of American women are delivered via cesarean section. Since surgery carries increased risks for moms and babies, it is imperative that parents make informed decisions and participate in their own care. Sadly, too many women are experiencing birth as traumatic. We (the educators, midwives, doulas, mental health professionals) know the causes and how to prevent that trauma. Engage in childbirth preparation! Regrets are not necessary.

Patty Brennan is the owner of Center for the Childbearing Year in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She has just completed production of a comprehensive series of multi-media Online Childbirth Preparation classes. http://www.center4cby.com




Saturday, May 25, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival: The Blending and Balancing of High Touch and High Tech: A New Way of Learning

Welcome to Day #6 of the Blog Carnival honoring 
the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  
We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education.


The Blending and Balancing of High Touch and High Tech:
A New Way of Learning
By Dianne Moran

My professional career began in 1974 and has been dedicated to helping, teaching and empowering expectant mothers and their partners.  As much as I have given of myself over the years, I am always surprised what I have received back two-fold.

A few years have passed since I began my career, but my passion for childbirth education is just as strong.  Every day I speak to colleagues who are worried about their jobs as prenatal, childbirth, breastfeeding and baby care educators.  They are fearful their departments will not survive cutbacks and budget woes.  They ask, "How do we get the higher-ups to understand that what we do is so important, not only to the community but to the hospital's bottom line"?  

We, as a group of passionate educators, need to rethink how we teach this new generation of expectant parents and that involves change.  Today's learners are much different than they were 40 years ago!  Not only do we have to change, but we also have to understand how this generation prefers to learn and get their information.  

Change is scary to all of us, however, as educators we have to step out of our comfort zones.  I do not want to see us losing “touch” with parents-to-be.  The basic information is the same, but it has to be taught differently in order to sustain their attention.  I believe now is the perfect time to blend high touch and high tech.  My goal and passion is to attract more participants and I truly believe with the ideas that float around in my head, it will!

Research tells us that Gen Y’ers are a group of people, used to exercising control.  They are experts at how they consume information.  They want to get in, get the information they desire and get out as quickly as possible.   Through research, I have learned:

This group:
  • Are digital natives where their parents are not
  • Have very short attention spans
  • Are resistant to lectures
  • Prefer instructors that are in action and not just talking
They prefer:
  • Visual stimulation
  • Creative thinking
  • Not to be locked in to straight lecture
  • Engaging, gaming activities
  • Sharing openly with others

So I had an "Aha!" moment…I was listening to Connie Livingston, a renowned researcher in the field of childbirth education, speak to educators about how we are losing that high touch aspect we all are passionate about as educators, to online learning and social media and how we are missing the mark with today’s learners.  Immediately a vision of bringing technology into the classroom setting came to me.  I saw each learner with their own device in the classroom, following along with the instructor.  They were involved and engaged because they had been provided with interactive tools.  They were using technology to learn and view evidence-based materials, along with information about their birthing facility.  It was at that moment I knew change was not only needed, but necessary!

I am piloting this idea in five prestigious facilities.  I want to know and understand from these learners, first hand, what they need to know and how they want to learn.  It will be interesting and I am up for the challenge to not only to learn for myself, but so I can share this valuable wisdom with my peers.

I know change is hard, but we have to keep reminding ourselves as educators, that is not about us – but those individuals we are so passionate about teaching.


Dianne Moran RN, LCCE, ICD is the manager of Program Development for Customized Communications Inc. where she develops new products for the company, which involves constantly learning new things, thinking of cutting-edge materials and programs, and acting as a visionary for the future success of the company. Her passion for what she does matches the passion of the women she talks with on a daily basis in the field of obstetrics. As a former labor and delivery nurse and childbirth educator, she can relate to my peers. Dianne loves to help them problem-solve and develop new and unique educational products for their patients.  One of Dianne's favorite roles with the company is traveling and meeting with the educators and managers at hospitals all over the country. There are special bonds and friendships made that have enriched her life as well as inspired her to continue strong in what she does: educate patients to enhance their lives.





Friday, May 24, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival: Lights! Camera! Childbirth Education!

Welcome to Day #5 of the Blog Carnival honoring 
the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  
We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education!


Lights! Camera! Childbirth Education!
by Michal Klau-Stevens


Contrary to popular belief, watching reality birth TV shows like “A Baby Story” does not constitute childbirth education.  Women should understand that while you feel like you are watching a birth from inside the delivery room, what you are really watching is a highly edited soap opera.  The woman giving birth has often had her labor artificially started, sped up by drugs, optimized for filming schedules, and managed to conform to hospital schedules and regulations (and carefully overseen to avoid lawsuits because everything happening is captured on video).  The boring parts end up on the cutting room floor, and the exciting, scary, or emotional parts have been hyped up with tension-inducing music and quick-cut editing.  A process that has really taken up to 24 hours to transpire has been whittled down to a half-hour snippet of tantalizing mom-to-be “birth porn” meant to excite women who have no other way of viewing birth from a more realistic perspective.

Quality childbirth education is the next-best thing to actually observing another woman giving birth. 
You learn how your body naturally works to birth a baby, techniques to prepare you for the physical and mental work of labor, and common interventions that might become necessary and why you might or might not need or benefit from them.  You gain an understanding of the issues surrounding giving birth in an environment that is more accustomed to processing you through a system than providing you with individualized care, and you learn methods to give you the best chance of getting quality care suited to your specific needs.

You also build your community by sharing a common experience with other pregnant couples.  That social support is priceless during pregnancy; a time that can be challenging, nerve wracking, and exciting.  As important as it is for you, it can be even more important for your man, who may not have anyone else to connect with about his concerns and needs for the birth of his child.

Seeing more realistic images and videos of real births, having a teacher who can answer your questions, making friends, and learning good information and skills are hallmarks of a good childbirth education experience.  The real thing is NOT like what you usually see on TV!  Birth is a situation where the less drama you have, the better.  Childbirth education helps you be a NO DRAMA MAMA!




Michal Klau-Stevens is the President of BirthNetwork National, an expert on consumer maternity care issues, a Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator, and mother of three active boys.


Thursday, May 23, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival: What I Didn't Expect

Welcome to Day #4 of the Blog Carnival honoring 
the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  
We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education!

What I Didn't Expect
by Elly Taylor


I like to be prepared. Childbirth was no different. My husband and I paid for eight weeks of private classes with a renowned educator and she was fantastic. I felt empowered. The birth went to plan. We were all set up to be a happy family.

It’s what I wasn’t prepared for that bought us undone. I didn’t know until a decade later, after years of research and working with other parents, that what undid us is common for most parents: having a baby changes you and it changes your marriage. We’ve had to repair ours over and again since.

As a mother, I became deeper and wider. Not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well. I found it hard to put words to this and the lack of words caused a silence between my husband and I. Silence became distance. Distance became disconnection, disconnection became differences and these caused conflict. According to researcher John Gottman, this is common for 92% of parents.

As a relationship counsellor, I noticed a pattern of relationship distress with my clients too: disillusioned with unmet expectations, overwhelmed by unanticipated needs. Riding an emotional rollercoaster, in a different car from their partner. Feeling like they were changing for the better, but their partner for the worse. Partners felt the same way. Each blamed the other for what neither of them were prepared for.

Childbirth educators have a tough gig. Nothing can prepare parents adequately for parenthood. No course can possibly equip parents for all that parenthood means. And yet it’s an exciting time in childbirth education. Because it’s changing too. In Australia, new research is emerging that parents are asking for information: on birth options, on parenting, and on becoming parents. We now have knowledge on what makes a family flounder or thrive and proof that this new information makes a difference: Gottman found two 40 minute sessions improved relationship quality and reduced Postpartum Depression by 60%.

There are now clear guidelines for parents to give them the best possible start for their new family: don’t expect things to ‘get back to normal’; it’s up to you to work together to create the ‘new normal’. Muster up a village: ask for help, accept it, direct it. Become emotionally intelligent – you’ll need it for parenting. Negotiate so your differences bring you closer together instead of push you apart. And finally, stay connected with each other. 

Because the bond between you is the foundation of your new family.

Elly Taylor is an Australian relationship counsellor, columnist for Practical Parenting magazine and the Sydney Morning Herald, and author of the book Becoming Us,Loving, Learning and Growing Together. Her passion is including fathers/partners more in pregnancy, birth and parenting and facilitating whole-family bonding during the perinatal period. Elly conducts workshops for parents and birth professionals both in Australia and internationally. She lives in Sydney with her gorgeous firefighter husband, their three children and a rotation of pets.


Wednesday, May 22, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival ~ How Childbirth Education Helps Women!

Welcome to Day #3 of the Blog Carnival honoring 
the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  
We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education!

How Childbirth Education Helps Women
by Kathy Morelli

Childbirth is a transformative emotional and psychological event. Women are transformed into mothers, men become fathers, marriages & partnerships are transformed into families. It is a full mind-body event, bringing in all aspects of a person's self-hood: physical, psychological and emotional. Some women are interested  in a natural birth experience, and  many others are emphatic this is not their personal path. Woman have the right to choose how they wish to manage their childbirth experience. All are valid personal choices.

From a public health perspective, childbirth education, like sex education, is an essential component to overall reproductive health. The latest Listening to Mothers (LTM III) research indicates that 30% of women surveyed indicated their provider seemed rushed during their visits. A community-based, professional childbirth education class provides an important component to public health. 

On a personal level, research shows that women want the childbirth education process to increase awareness about the physical aspects of what happens during pregnancy and birth. They want to increase awareness of how their birthing institution manages the birth process and want to learn specific coping skills for pain management and strategies to manage their emotional responses. In addition, research shows that women want help in reducing their anxiety and fear about the birth process and about becoming parents of an infant. Research indicates the socialization aspects of the shared group experience is personally helpful to many women and their partners.

However, in childbirth education, one size does not fit all. In the  LTM III survey, a portion of the participants had chronic conditions before they became pregnant. One in eleven women (9%) were diagnosed with either Type 1 or 2 diabetes, 11% were diagnosed with gestational diabetes, 8% reported taking medication for high blood pressure, and 13% reported taking medication for depression.

So, it's important to note that there is a certain portion of the population that may need more individualized care in childbirth preparation than others.  Those who have pre-existing anxiety or depression, those who are managing chronic pain, often need more individualized and personalized support.

Childbirth education touches women on multiple levels: physical, emotional and psychological. It is a good community intervention that serves people in their healthcare.   


Kathy Morelli, LPC, is a licensed marriage and family counselor in Wayne, NJ. Kathy specializes in helping women and their families with the emotions of birth, pregnancy,  postpartum and in the adjustment to parenthood. Author and blogger, she is the author of the BirthTouch® series of books on motherhood. She writes at her own blog, BirthTouch®,  is co-hosting the  Postpartum Support International's May 2013 #PSIBLOG Hop, and has served as a Guest Editor for the Lamaze Science & Sensibility blog. Visit her at birthtouch.com and kathymorelli.com  

For more information on the IWRC, click here.

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival ~ Why Childbirth Class?


Welcome to Day #2 of the Blog Carnival honoring the
International Week for Respecting Childbirth!  
This Blog Carnival is focusing on the importance of Childbirth Education.


Why Childbirth Class?
By Nancy Houser, AAHCC Childbirth Educator and Doula

Having a baby is one of the most amazing, most momentous events in your lifetime and one of substantial change!  Pregnancy evolves, a baby grows within.  You have nine months to prepare for childbirth, for parenthood, for becoming a family!  It is a time of preparation to learn all you can.  Educate yourselves through reading, asking questions, and most importantly choosing a childbirth class series to attend. 

Why childbirth classes?  To gain knowledge, eliminate fear, ignorance, anxiety;  discover the amazing natural physiological process of labor and childbirth; experience confidence in yourself as you and coach learn the intricacies of physical, emotional feelings as pregnancy evolves into labor and birth;  how essential and vital nutrition is; relaxation techniques to enhance your ability to handle contractions; choosing a care provider who is there to serve your needs; positions and guidelines to assist you in remaining attuned to your labor; importance of natural coping measures: massage, warm compresses, soothing effects of warm water, loving voice of your coach during contractions;  confidence of partner  in the role of “advocate” and “coach”;  choices in obstetric procedures and care regarding:  obstetric tests and technologies, anesthesia and medication, cesarean sections; and  becoming confident and empowered in your abilities to birth your baby in the best and safest way possible no matter what the circumstances! 

Attending childbirth classes enables a connection with an educated, experienced instructor whom you can trust and depend upon to meet your individual needs. The late Dr. Robert A. Bradley, obstetrician from Denver CO and author of Husband Coached Childbirth and creator of The Bradley Childbirth Method, believed that the close relationship shared by the coach and expectant mother could “do more for a laboring woman than any amount of medication ever could”.  He believed, through attending childbirth classes, coaches and expectant mothers could learn to labor and birth their babies naturally, with dignity, as animals do through their “God-given instinctual abilities”. Educate yourselves to be active participants, active decision makers in your pregnancy and birth! Pregnancy and childbirth is the beginning of a lifelong commitment to your child. Aspire to achieve all the knowledge you can, explore the array of childbirth methods to enable you to choose the program that exceeds your expectations so you can be well prepared for this miraculous moment, the birth of your child!  

Childbirth knowledge eliminates ignorance.  Childbirth knowledge enables both men and women to become empowered active participants making informed decisions in every aspect of their child’s birth, their child’s future! 

Nancy Houser, AAHCC is the mother of five adult children and has been a certified Bradley Childbirth Educator and Bradley Doula since 1982.  She has provided past services as both a birth and post partum doula, assisting expectant couples in Ohio, and now providing Bradley childbirth classes to expectant couples in Stafford, Virginia... She is also a published free lance writer, and speaker for parenting groups.  Contact her at: nchbirthn5@yahoo.com or through the Bradley Method website: www.bradleybirth.com.

Monday, May 20, 2013

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival! Rethinking Childbirth

Welcome to Day #1 of the Blog Carnival honoring the International Week for Respecting Childbirth!  This Blog Carnival is focusing on the importance of Childbirth Education.



Rethinking Childbirth
By Kathy Bradley 



Why is change so hard?  It is a question I often ask myself, but I guess if I were to answer my own question I would have to say it is because we like the familiar.  The things we are used to, things that we have become comfortable with.   To make a change requires use to enter into the uncomfortable ZONE.  It requires us to step out and do something different then what we have done before.

I entered the birth arena as a Certified Childbirth Assistant, the year before DONA became an entity.  After a year or two of working with laboring patients I decided to become a Certified Childbirth Educator.    I embarked on teaching basic female anatomy, stages and phases of labor, showing the “birth” video that made some husbands cringe, and much more over a 12 week period.   I was the pregnant couple’s lighthouse into understanding and learning about birth. The internet didn’t even exist.

Most educators that have been teaching 10 or more years can say they have seen a decline in attendance to childbirth classes.  Today’s pregnant mamas are years ahead in technology then where I was when I was pregnant  (1989) and a good number spend a lot of time educating themselves during their  ten month growing period . 

Some professionals feel that the decline in traditional class attendance is due to the vast amount of information that can be found by other modes.  I taught for 14 years at a major hospital and I can still hear my manager’s voice.  “What can we teach them that they can’t read in a book or get off the internet?”  My answer always was “We may not be able to teach anything new, but as the experts we can make sure they have accurate information and that their personal questions as answered.”

I believe we always will have some form of classes but feel we are moving into a time that demands a more personalized form of childbirth education.   Ponder the thought of merging the profession of childbirth educator with the doula.  Many of us have been doing this for some time.  It really goes hand in hand.  I call this “merge” the Childbirth Consultant.  Our world is always changing, but the process of giving birth never changes.  How we educated and impart information may change, but what they need to know never changes.

Kathy Bradley has been involved with perinatal education and health care since 1989. Her focus over the years has been providing education and support to women of all income levels.  As the founder and executive director of the former Childbirth Enhancement Foundation, she developed partnerships and training programs for community based doula programs with 14 hospitals.  She managed a $350,000 grant to provide low-income women childbirth education, doula and lactation support services in Santa Fe, NM.  She is owner of Childbirth Concierge and holds a degree in Communication and Public Relations.

As an Internationally Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Childbirth Educator, Certified Doula, and she serves on the Council of Licensed Midwifery for Florida Department of Health. During her career Kathy has made numerous appearances on TV programs focused on women and children’s health, has written or been mentioned in many magazines and blog sites, as well as developed many training programs for the para professional and health professionals.  The COPE (Community Outreach Perinatal Educator) Program is a very successful program she developed to meet the needs of birth workers in the public health arena.  She also worked with mom and and babies at Winnie Palmer Hospital in Orlando, FL for 14 years. Kathy has also, been in private practice since 1991 and resides in Rockledge , Florida with her five children.

Friday, May 03, 2013

The Evidence Says: Delayed Cord Clamping


One of the emotional touch points circulating in social media regarding birthing practices is the subject of delayed cord clamping (DCC).  Medical and nursing schools may not be teaching about DCC, perhaps in part due to the December 2012 ACOG Opinion2 that stated “Currently, insufficient evidence exists to support or refute the benefits from delayed umbilical cord clamping for term infants that are born in settings with rich resources.”

ACOG does support DCC in preterm infants.  “As with term infants, delaying umbilical cord clamping
to 30–60 seconds after birth with the infant at a level below the placenta is associated with neonatal benefits, including improved transitional circulation, better establishment of red blood cell volume, and decreased need for blood transfusion. The single most important clinical benefit for preterm infants is the possibility for a nearly 50% reduction in intraventricular hemorrhage.”
However, Dr. Mark Sloan, author of Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History and the Wonder of Childbirth, states that “medical habits can be glacially slow in changing.” http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=5730

A 2011 study3 of 400 full term infants found that delayed cord clamping resulted in improved ferritin levels and reduced the prevalence of iron deficiency at 4 months of age.  Added to that, dcc also reduced the prevalence of neonatal anemia at 2 days of age without increasing the rate of respiratory symptoms or need for phototherapy.  Conversely, early cord clamping has been linked to hypovolemia, anemia and low iron stores in the neonate.4

In 2009, the Academic OB/GYN Blog1 stated that “after some research I found that there was some pretty compelling evidence that indeed, early clamping is harmful for the baby.  So much evidence in fact, that I am a bit surprised that as a community, OBs in the US have not developed a culture of delayed routine cord clamping for neonatal benefit.

Mary Ceallaigh, Lotus Birth advocate and midwife educator was interviewed by the New York Post6 saying that the best reasons for a Lotus Birth is that there is complete transfer of placental/cord blood into the baby and allows for the mother and baby to focus on bonding rather than “who’s cutting the cord”.

We are just beginning to see a surge in evidence supporting DCC.  Initial research remains positive.  And as Levy5 stated, “the balance of available data suggests that delayed cordclamping should be the method of choice.

References

      1. http://academicobgyn.com/2009/12/03/delayed-cord-clamping-should-be-standard-practice-in-obstetrics/

2. http://www.acog.org/Resources%20And%20Publications/Committee%20Opinions/Committee%20on%20Obstetric%20Practice/Timing%20of%20Umbilical%20Cord%20Clamping%20After%20Birth.aspx

3.       Andersson, O. et al.   Effect of delayed versus early umbilical cord clamping on neonatal outcomes and iron status at 4 months: a randomized controlled trial.  BMJ 2011; 343: d7157.
4.       Hutchon, DJ. Immediate or early cord clamping vs delayed clamping.  Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 2012 Nov, 32(8): 724-9.
5.       Levy, T. and Blickstein I.  Timing of cord clamping revisited. Journal of Perinatal Medicine 2006; 34(4): 293-7.
6.       Lotus Birth trend keeps umbilical cord and placenta attached to baby for Days.  New York Post April 11, 2013.