#201 | February Q&A: Tongue-Tie & Bodywork, Cervical Exams, Ovulation, Postpartum Baths, Placenta Accreta, Forceps, Synthetic Fragrances, Tearing

I'm Cynthia Overgard, owner of HypnoBirthing of Connecticut, childbirth advocate and postpartum support specialist. And I'm Trisha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant. And this is the Down To Birth Podcast. Childbirth is something we're made to do. But how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.

We are having temperatures in the negatives here in Connecticut.

Deep in the negatives have you been outside lately?

Yeah, it's uncomfortable. My friend invited me to the dog park today with the dogs and I said I don't go for extended walks when it's under 20 degrees because the body never warms up I walked. I used to walk every Sunday through the year three mile walk every Sunday with a friend right through the year. And I noticed that in the winter, I would always eventually warm up and peel off my hat and peel off my scarf. But once it was 20 or below, I would never warm up I would you know get back to my car three miles later and be just as freezing as I was before the walk. So I don't intentionally go for walks when it's below 20.

Yeah, I did it. I did it the day before yesterday. And it was rough. It was like it's not that like that. When you breathe in your nose feels like it's freezing.

Yeah, your body is saying this is just wrong. And then everyone's like, why do you live in the Northeast? And you know, one, we have beautiful summers and we have fall and spring and that's amazing. That's fine. I just I don't under I literally I go to bed at night on these cold nights. And I think about how on earth do these animals survive outside? I do not understand how they can do that. How they must be outside 24/7 like that. And those temperatures. It makes me feel so sad.

I know. They curl up in a little ball.

Hopefully, next to another cozy animal. Yes. Hopefully.

Nice of you to worry about them.

I do I literally that's what I think I know. I think about it, too. I know. And our ancestors used to be outdoors like this with their babies. Let's remember that for you know. Yeah. So all right, let's we have tons of questions. So let's get started.

Hey there, Cynthia, Trisha. It's Lee calling you from Hawaii you already know how much I respect and love you too, and the work you do. So I'll get right to my question on wondering what knowledge or information you have about body work for newborns, especially in the realm of a repaired tongue tie and a particularly colicky baby. That's it. Appreciate you so much. Aloha. So Lee is us our self proclaimed oldest listener, but we can't really prove that. So if you happen to be older than late 70s. Call us. We want to know if if you want to take that title. But we love having Lee were very like minded. She was a big fan of Peggy O'Mara and mothering magazine in the 70s and 80s. So we've come along and she feels like you know, we're her people. And she lives on a beautiful farm in Hawaii, which we will someday have to visit.

Oh, yeah. You don't have to come in. Yeah. And you we just need a formal invitation only. Alright, so body work for babies. Trisha.

This is not this is a great question. And no, she asked this question because she has a new grandbaby. And so yes, body work is a really helpful component to the treatment of tongue tie because when the tongue is developing in utero, from day one, the tongue is connected to the whole body If so as the tongue is developing, and if it's tight and tethered, it can affect the muscles and the fascia from head to toe. Crazy. All right?

Well, yes, it does sound crazy. What do you mean? It's attached to the whole body? Do you mean like it's attached to one thing that's attached to the next? Yeah, yeah. You mean. So if there's tension in the tongue, it can create tension through the whole head, neck, spine, I mean, everything in the body is connected. So if there's a part of the body that's overly taut, it can influence the rest of the body. And that's why, and that's why babies who have tongue tie have more issues with reflux and constipation. And bodywork is really helpful part of the treatment to release that tension throughout the body. So what do you recommend cranial sacral, chiropractic, myofascial? You know, those are all three different components of bodywork that you can do they all, each, in their own way benefit, the release of tension throughout the body.

And chiropractic sounds alarming to some people who don't know too much about chiropractic, but they have pediatric chiropractic. And there's a technique I believe it's called Network chiropractic where they use the weight of the arm with the finger, the pressure that is equivalent to the weight of a dime, very gentle touching on the spine that just activates the nerves in that area. And that's very similar to the myofascial release. Exactly. It's not Yeah, it's not the kind of like neck cracking that you experience when adults go to the chiropractor and nobody wants to put their baby through that it's a much more gentle, much more gentle technique. So absolutely big fan of doing body work for that.

All right, let's listen to our next one. Hi, Trisha.

Cynthia. My name is Jessica. I am 37 weeks pregnant. And my question is about cervical checks. I'm wondering if there's ever a legitimate reason to get one at the end of pregnancy, when there are no signs of labor. I've heard and I know that you can be a couple centimeters dilated for a while. And it doesn't necessarily mean that labor is coming. So I'm wondering if there's ever a benefit to getting one at 38 3940 plus weeks pregnant? Thank you so much. Let me show is there ever I'm really trying to think. And the first thing that came to my head was like, oh, you know, if you really can't confirm whether it's breech, or vertex, but then there's always ultrasound for that. But if you're in a midwife's office, or homebirth visit and you can't have an ultrasound, then maybe you would opt for a cervical exam to determine that.

I just envisioned when I was a teen, and my neighbor's Collie was pregnant. And I'm like, Well, how preposterous wouldn't have seen for anyone, even a vet to show up with a gloved hand and insert themselves and be like, Okay, this is what we found out when we went in there. It's been so normalized for us. And I think the confusion is that for we went like for women, most women are pretty averse to having vaginal exams, but the data is so interesting, you know, my little bit dilated? How effaced am I? And I think that's what pulls us in. So it's been normalized, and therefore, this question seems logical, because it's like, well, it's done so much of the time. When is it making sense?

Right? I mean, well, suppose you know, bleeding, unexpected bleeding in labor is a good reason. But again, you'd probably look at ultrasound. What would they be looking for vaginally to see if the bleeding is coming from the cervix? As opposed to inside the uterus? Are you saying this? Yeah, I could, I mean, it could be any number of things. So it's kind of the only way to determine is to look, or feel or check. Also, like, if a woman is complaining of a lot of leaking fluid, but she doesn't think her bag of water broke her provider is gonna want to know, is that amniotic fluid? Or is it? Not? You know, is it just cervical discharge? So that could be another reason. But for the most part, there are a few reasons. And if you don't feel concerned, even if your provider wants to do a check, it's still okay to say no, and you might just do an ultrasound instead.

Did you mean to say cervical discharge instead of vaginal discharge?

Cervical, vaginal, same thing. What are one of the other I mean, they're different.

Is there such a thing as cervical discharge? Yeah. What is that? What from? What is it?

This is why we get off track what I mean, if I were listening to the show, I'd be like, What are they talking about? What do you what what Okay, well, so for cervical discharge, the inquiring minds need to know. We can't just say something like that and not explain it. What what discharge.

You could have your mucus plug. Well, we know that one. I'm your cervix, right. When you ovulate, you have cervical mucus when you just have like regular daily discharged Some of that's just your vaginal secretions. Right. Okay, fine. I mean, I'll let it go. Yeah. What do you do? You want me to say, I don't know, I didn't know there was a whole other thing inside of us that could produce discharge.

Hi, Trisha. And Cynthia, my name is Jackie, and I love your show so much. The first time mom and I just gave birth at home two weeks ago, it was an amazing experience. And I felt so much more informed and confident going into labor and birth after listening to your show for the last six months. My question is about breastfeeding and pumping. It's 12 weeks off before going back to work when my little guy will have to start daycare. I've been exclusively breastfeeding so far, and it's going really well. But I'm not sure when to start pumping and introducing the bottle, I wanted to make sure I established a bit milk supply based on what my baby needs. And once. I don't want to mess up the supply. But I also want to make sure I'm ready to send them off to daycare with plenty of milk. Can you talk a little bit about when to start pumping, how often to do it, and the best bottles to try out so that we can continue to breastfeed and bottle feed once the time comes. Thank you so much. Thank you for all the amazing work that you do, it helps so many women.

Um, alright, so as I've probably said before, on the podcast, I think that when you are trying to pump to build up a supply at about two ounces a day is a good amount to pump extra. So I don't usually recommend storing more than two, maybe three for some women per day so that you don't get yourself into a position of oversupply when you're feeding exclusively at the breast making too much milk on a daily basis can influence how your baby feeds at the breast. So depending on how much milk you think you need before you go back to work, which is usually a lot less than people think nobody really needs a freezer full of milk before they go back to work, you really only need a day or two worth of feedings. And a day or two worth of feedings is probably eight to 12 ounces each day, because you're not gone for 24 hours, you're just gone for eight or 10 hours. So if you save two ounces a day over a month, that's 60 ounces. That's plenty if you save one ounce a day over a month, that's 30 that's still enough. So you really don't need to start pumping for a stash to go back to work for you know, maybe a month before your anticipated first day back to work. As far as introducing the bottle. You can do that anytime after three to four weeks. And you don't need to do it every day. Just do it here and there so that your baby is kind of used to it. Some people wait and wait and wait and they don't introduce the bottle until good until they go back to work. And sometimes those babies won't take it.

And what read what bottle do you recommend she had asked.

My favorite bottle for breastfeeding mothers is the even flow balance bottle wide based slow flow nipple. It's the best that's a mouthful. That's a lot. I have to look up the show transcript to get that one.

Even flow balanced bottle wide bass.

That's it. That's it. There's no more to that name.

slough law. Right there was more. Okay.

Hi, Trisha and Cynthia love your podcast. I have a question. I saw your posts on Instagram about iodine deficiency and pregnant women. And I was wondering what supplements slash vitamins would you recommend for pregnant women rather than taking a prenatal prescribed by a doctor?

Well, I think we both are in agreement that we want to try to get as many of our nutrients from whole foods as possible rather than vitamins. Although taking a prenatal is still recommended. Because unless we eat really, really, really well. It's still easy to be deficient in certain things. None of us are perfect eaters every day.

But a food based prenatal, not those prescribed ones typically.

Definitely not precisely the worst deals Absolutely not. Iodine. Iodine rich foods include. Seaweed is a great source of iodine and sea foods and especially shellfish like mussels, oysters, clams. Not everybody likes to eat those, but those are great sources. dairy and eggs are the other two really good sources of iodine.

So what supplements do we recommend rather than a prenatal just the usual like a food based prenatal with no corn, no fructose, no soy, no all of that stuff, no gluten.

Yeah. And then the things that people tend to be most efficient in are vitamin D, magnesium, and B vitamins. So like a B complex, a magnesium, vitamin D. And if you are really concerned about iodine or an iron two, that's another one. You can take an iodine supplement to.

Hi, ladies, I'm calling to ask about postpartum bathing. I've had three vaginal birth and have been told three very different instructions on what should be done. As far as bathing postpartum. I've had a hospital birth and personal birth center birth and a home birth and all different instructions on what to do postpartum. As far as bathing goes. I've never really heard you guys talk about this, though. I'd really love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.

So what is she talking about? Exactly?

I don't understand why women always have this idea. And they're told that they can't bathe postpartum.

You're kidding. Women are told that.

Yeah. Why? I don't know, is it? Well, you did start by saying you don't know why. And I'm like, why?

But okay, I do know why. Okay, because there's this concept that the cervix is still open, which it is after birth, it's not fully closed for a while. And that's why you're not really supposed to have sex. But the things don't ascend into the cervix through water. We know that from waterbirth studies. And that's why you can be in the water when your membranes have ruptured, because submersion in water does not lead to bacteria or anything from the water ascending into the uterus through the cervix. So maybe it's the recommendation because standing would increase the likelihood of maybe prolapse or bleeding or something like that. Do you think? I mean, are they just because you're you're a proponent of staying in bed for? I mean, I remember a woman wants to asked about giving birth at home on her first floor, and when can she walk up the stairs to her bedroom? And you said at least 24 hours? I think. So do you think it's coming from that kind of place? Just like lie down for at least a day? Or do you think it's I don't think it is because I mean, first of all, a lot of women take a shower immediately after birth, because they want to be, you know, if they're, if I have blood on you don't have to explain to us. So a shower immediately after birth, but I think it's more about taking a bath being submerged in the bath. But at the same time, we recommend that you put your perineum in a bath in a sitz bath that's good for the healing. So I don't understand why you can't be in a big tub. You can. I think the most important thing to be careful of is one that you don't overheat because you do have blood loss after birth. And if you get too hot and lightheaded, that's gonna be very tricky in the bath. And just being careful getting in and out because you're still a little unsteady. your center of gravity is altered right after birth again, so just be conscientious about getting in and out of the bath get make sure you get some support and you also don't need to be there's no There's no need to and there's nothing wrong with doing it if you want to.

Hi, this is Catherine, I have a scenario I would love to hear your take on. So I was really inspired after listening to your episode with Clayton living by Carly. And I'm very concerned about synthetic fragrance. And I actually have been for years, especially those to breathe plugins. So I have my six month old baby. And you know, we're we're often invited over to a very close family member's house nearby. And this family member uses those, like for brief plugins, and just about every single room. There's all kinds of sprays and deodorizers and sanitizers everywhere. And not only do my husband and I feel sick, for walking around the house, but I'm really concerned about exposing my baby to all those, you know, Xeno estrogens and hormone disruptors, etc. So without offending them. Especially Well, one half of the couple is very adamant about using these and things that makes the house smell nice. So without offending them or hurting their opinion on the synthetic fragrances. How can we without walking on eggshells Explain? Well, we can't really ever come over to your house until you take those things out of the wall. Thank you, bye.

I mean, this question really is less about the toxicity of for breeze and all these other crazy chemicals that people emit into their homes and more about how to manage the boundary and how to manage gently tell her that they don't want to bring their baby over to their house, because of the chemicals in the house. Like what do you know, gentle way of saying that. It's not easy, I guess

you just keep offering to make them dinner at your house for a while.

She said it was a family member. So my thought is, you know, I mean, who knows the relationship, if it really is a close family member, you're just going to have to have an open conversation and you presumably would care about their health as much as your own health. So you would just tell them, you try to set them straight about the harms of breathing in that stuff. But if you don't have that relationship, you could chalk it off to being quote, highly sensitive to smells, I did that I had an au pair who wore a very strong perfume when my son was very young. And of course, she was spending a lot of time holding him. And then she would, when I took him back, he would smell of this perfume, and it would just be so strong. And so I couldn't I couldn't handle it. I couldn't handle having it in my house. And I just had to say this is just you know, we believe that fragrances are not healthy to breathe. And I know that you I know that this is something that you really enjoy wearing. But it's just not I'm not comfortable with it. And it's I'm very sensitive to it and it can get a headache and I really don't want my kids breathing that. And it wasn't the easiest conversation but you just have to say it.

Absolutely, um, you know what, let's, let's spontaneously text Carly Heartway right now and see if she's available to just hop on the line and answer this herself. You want to do tell us how bad Fabreeze is? Well, let's see what let's see what her advice is. And by the way before while she's responding to my text, as our listeners may know, you and I hold two live classes every single month on Patreon. So we hope you'll all go check that out. We've got a nice community growing there are over 100 people already. And Carly is one of our guest speakers in March. So she's going to do a whole talk on toxicity especially as it affects pregnancy and fertility. And if you're hearing this episode after March 2023, you're going to be able to watch the recording as soon as you're in our Patreon platform so you can sign up before and attended live with us or sign up after and watch the recording. Alright, she says she can hop on so let's get her on the line to listen to this question.

Connecting Hello.

Can you hear me? Yeah, perfectly. Okay. Sorry, guys. It's not working on a computer. That's

the fun time.

Okay. Thank you for spontaneously jumping into our q&a. Yay. Okay, so Robbie, I know you have dinner plans so we're gonna keep it quick. We got a question that you should be answering so everyone who's listening they might know who you are already. But this is Carly from heart Carly Hartwick, of clean living with Carly on Instagram who was featured in episodes 177 of our podcast, very loved and shared episode. And we just mentioned where you're going to be with us in one of our live stream classes in March. So I can't wait. We have a question that we want to hear your take on. Are you ready to listen?

I'm ready. All right.

All right. So just so our listeners know we just played it for Carly off the record so that you guys don't have to hear it twice. Okay, Carly, you just heard the question. What do you say?

It's a common one. And I think, first of all this mom is dead on for being concerned both for her health, her husband's health, but mostly for her babies. So, pound for pound, your children are going to breed more air, drink and eat more and even have like more skin relative to our bodies as adults. So that in itself is concerning, because they're going to be exposed to even more toxins relative to their body weight than we are. And we know without a doubt that exposure to heavily scented things like synthetic fragrance like the air fresheners, the sprays, the plugins, they are directly linked to respiratory problems in babies and children, including asthma, including allergies, so she's right to be concerned. And I think she just has to come at it from a place of not judgment. Because ultimately, let's operate under the assumption that these, you know, people don't know how harmful these things are, because I would I would argue that most Americans don't. So I think there's a way to approach it in a very compassionate way. You know, she could be very direct about it, while still being kind and empathic and, and just say, you know, I've learned a lot over the last few years about how certain things including synthetic fragrance affect my health, you know, I know that for me, I get really bad headaches, or I feel like I need my inhaler, when I'm exposed to things like this. And, you know, we are very cautious about the things that we're exposing our baby to, because we want to set them up for a lifetime of health and really protect them from things like asthma and allergies. You know, we've noticed that you have some plugins, and I know they're common in a lot of other places as well. And we're just going to ask that when we come over, can you please unplug them and and put them somewhere else. And that will make a difference, I promise you. Now if they're just sprays, right, and they're not just the plugins, that's going to be a little bit harder, but I think coming at it from almost an educational standpoint, and you know, some people fight back, and we can absolutely give you some articles to send them because a lot of people are still skeptical. But I think this is a time where you're just gonna have to exert your, your boundaries, it's apparent, and it's not going to be the first time or the only time you're going to have to do it. But if it came down to it, and like I had a family or friend in my life, who joked it off or said, oh, you know, they're gonna be fine. I was fine. And I was exposed to all this, you know, we hear that that rhetoric all the time, then I would just make it a little bit clearer and say, unfortunately, we're not going to be able to visit. Because, you know, ultimately, I can't hold my breath that long, right?

And then my job is what may be the end, if they're six months old, they're gonna be crawling soon, you know, I'm not sure when she submitted this question, they can easily run up to a wall outlet, unplug it, and got a lead the damn thing, right, they get some of that into their mouth. So I think if they're open to it, sending them some information, if they're on social media, you could be a little, you know, passive aggressive, but a little more indirect and share some, some educational posts about it. You know, I do that sometimes with people in my life. But if they're not going to respect that, then I think that they visit you at your house. And I think that's okay. And I think that's ultimately where we have to be I have asthma, and I've dealt with in my whole life. And I can tell you, it sucks. So anything you can do to not trigger breathing issues and your baby, you got to do it. And you just got to kind of be Mamabear and come at it from a place of compassion. And then if they left you off, which they might, then you have to make that decision about just maybe not visiting at their house, which is but then you're hosting dinner for the next couple of years.

Yeah. And hey, it could be a potluck, and they can bring something to of course, from now on, we'll meet at my house and you will be bringing dinner. That's the that's the compromise.

Yeah, it is. If you want to be around my baby, you know, here's what has to happen. I've had to have conversations with people in our life about their laundry soap, because they would hold and snuggle our daughter and then she would reek of tide. You know, and it was like, I was just gonna say this is this is just the beginning. Like you're going to deal with this with people. And maybe even someday with your own daughters. I struggle with that with my daughters all the time. They want to wear fragrances, they want to use Tide Pods to wash their clothes. And you know, you got it you you have to teach them. And you have to have the conversation and sometimes they have to learn for themselves. Right, which is what I just went through with mine. But yeah, it's like, Get get used to it because it's going to be around it's coming. You're gonna keep encountering it.

So that's great, Carly, thank you so much for hopping on. You're welcome. Everyone will appreciate that. Have a great dinner. You too. Bye. Bye. We got so many great people in our pocket to make this podcast better. You know, so much better. So good.

So great job.

All right, next one.

Hey, ladies, I've got a quick question for you. This is a first birth and I saw my doctor yesterday for my 20 week appointment and wasn't trying to talk me out of going unmedicated, which I plan on doing. So it's giving me all the fear based info to make sure I was just fully prepared. And one of the things she mentioned was pairing and that if and more likely, when I tear, I'd be sewn up unmedicated and feel everything.

So I'm just wondering if you guys have any thoughts on this when you get a chance, and how I should factor that into my decision making. Thank you so much for everything.

So basically scaring her over the concept of tearing and, and saying, Well, do you really want to have a totally natural birth, because then it will be painful when we stitch you up. But the vast majority of women don't tear or have a first degree tear the vast majority. And it's a non issue. So I don't think that's the nicest thing that that provider is saying, that is not a reason to encourage somebody to have a medicated birth, that just in case you tear, you will won't feel the stitches then first of all, use a local if you have to. That's what you do if they tear and it requires stitching, which much of the time it does not a first degree tear, and many second degree tears don't require any stitching and stitching and actually heal better without that if they do you just do a little injection of lidocaine. So it's really a totally, totally bad reason to encourage somebody to have a medicated birth. You know, let's just do the easy thing and schedule a C section instead.

Right? And then we can just avoid it all.

Hi, my name is Safi and I just got diagnosed with a partial placenta previa, my OB lies that my husband and I refrain from vaginal intercourse until it resolves or if it doesn't resolve, after till after birth. And I was just wondering, like, how much truth there is to that? And if it will actually cause the placenta to severed connection to baby? And just what risks Am I facing? And if you could just let me know that would be great. Have a good one.

So this woman has partial placenta previa, the provider says don't have sex until it resolves or until after the birth. I am curious to hear your take on this Trisha. Because not knowing if that's good advice. It sure feels like a power trip that one person can tell a couple of months to have sex. And that is a really long time to have sex. And by the way, just have sex after the baby is born. Yeah. I mean, that's a really hard time for people to have sex women aren't in the mood to have sex sometimes for months after the baby is born from recovering from being exhausted. So is there anything to that refraining from sex? And also this partial placenta previa Come on? It might not resolve until seven or eight months. What do you say to this? Yeah, I mean, so first of all, now we're talking about potentially a year of no sex between a couple which is not going to be very healthy for the couple, and pelvic rest, which is how it's referred to in the medical community is the term for not having sex during pregnancy. Okay, I

have to jump in. I have to because I didn't know that they have a negative word for all the good things. And they have a positive word for stupid pelvic restaurants really, really nice. Sounds. What does that mean? Like a yoga pose? They have all the wrong terminology for the definitions. All right, go ahead. Okay, anyway, so pelvic rest falls under the category of activity restrictions in pregnancy, so bedrest is also in this category. So many women are told that they need to go on bedrest if they're at risk of preterm birth, or if they have twins or if they're bleeding, and the science and the evidence really does not show that that is effective at reducing any bad outcomes in pregnancy, and it actually actually puts mothers at risk of bad outcomes like blood clots, and depression and loss of muscle, which is not good for anyone. Well, so pelvic rest falls under this same category. As far as the research goes, it is so there really is no good evidence that you need to avoid having sex with a placenta previa, especially a partial previa, which isn't even necessarily covering the cervix.

I think a good retort for the doctor in those moments is I won't have sex for the next year if you won't.

Perfect. I just think it's like anything we need to use our common sense. So if you're actively bleeding, maybe you're not having sex at that time. If you are just like when you're like, many months pregnant, we're a little bit more cautious and careful about how we have sex if it feels uncomfortable because you feel like you're hitting cervix, you know, take it easy, like try different position, go a little lighter, do something different. Maybe you just have some oral sex for a while like deuce. Use your good judgment, but you absolutely do not need to follow a recommendation that says pelvic rest because you have a partial placenta previa, the evidence does not support that. And you should call your doctor out on that and say, Show me the evidence.

All right, I think it's quickie time.

Okay, hold on. Let's find the quickies. Okay, here we go. Can I get admitted to the hospital without a cervical check?

You can they have to admit you by law. So yes, but, you know, the question is what they say what they say to you, too.

Well, how are you to admit you have I have to admit you because, I mean, they can say you're not my birth. Mom, come back and tell there's a woman in labor. If you if they can tell that you're in labor, you are there too soon. So yes, they can that's you can you can decline.

Yes, you can decline and you can simply say well, I'll just wait right here and triage until you feel ready to move me into the room because you're not touching my cervix. And there you will labor and triage and then eventually we'll move you and that's not a good look for a hospital.

Okay, what can you do to resolve postpartum GI issues and bloat? So gi gastrointestinal issues I think she's probably talking about constipation. That's not uncommon, postpartum High fiber foods and hydration really important. So starting your day off with warm a warm liquid. More a tea or coffee or water with lemon is a great way.

I think coffee is a stomach irritant. I don't think I would recommend coffee.

It does get your bowels going though. Well, yeah, but I don't think in a good way. I mean, if I wouldn't recommend it. I don't think it's I don't think but yes, you're right it would but for gi I think herbal tea and or water with lemon is definitely unstart They're good for every human for sure.

It's really just about fiber, getting a lot of fiber into your diet, getting a lot of fiber into your daily diet and making sure you're staying hydrated. So some of the best foods for that are prunes are great. Prune Juice is great dried apricots, apples are an excellent source of fiber. They have pectin, pears, those are great too.

Trisha, you have that great pear recipe where you cut up pears you made it for me with like, little olive oil, lime juice and salt. Right, honey, and honey, you slice up a pear, you cover it in lime juice, fresh lime juice, and then you sprinkle sea salt, Himalayan pink sea salt on it. And then you drizzle it in local honey and olive oil. Thank you olive oil too. Yes, delicious. Okay, but with the olive oil, everyone, the oil makes it so that it's lasts a little longer energetically, you know, gives you a little bit of fat, so it lasts longer. Okay. What if you've had a postpartum hemorrhage in the past? How likely? Are you to have it again? And are you more likely to have it again? The answer to this really depends on the reason you had a postpartum hemorrhage. So it depends on the cause. But in general, if you experienced postpartum hemorrhage, you have a three to five fold increase in recurrence, especially if it was a severe postpartum hemorrhage, then it's more likely to recur.

Do keep in mind before we move on to the next Quickie, do keep in mind that postpartum hemorrhage is over diagnosed. And that's because they've made Pitocin routine. So they often use it under the guise of the assertion that you're hemorrhaging when in fact, they really aren't waiting around to even see if you are. So just keep that in mind. We don't really know with many women, if they actually did hemorrhage, or if they were just told that.

That's right. And there are things that we do in birth that can cause postpartum hemorrhage. So that's why I said it really depends on the underlying cause.

All right. Next is Vitex safe while breastfeeding? So vytex is an adaptogenic herb. And it is very good for helping to promote ovulation. It is generally considered safe and breastfeeding. We have a real lack of studies and information on herbs and pregnancy and herbs and breastfeeding but vytex the information we do have does indicate that it is safe during breastfeeding and actually can be helpful for milk.

So yes, go ahead.

How do newborn screening exams work at home? Do they have to be done exactly at 24 hours like what do you do if your baby was born at 3am? So So homebirth midwives have their own have their way of doing whatever newborn interventions need to be done at home, they will come back at 24 hours, they'll come back at day three or day four, the heel stick for the PKU and the other congenital tests that we talked about recently in our Patreon livestream. Those are typically done on day three or day four and homebirth. They could also be done on the day one visit around the 2424 hour mark, but it does not have to be strictly at 24 hours. So your midwives not likely coming back at 3am to do the, the newborn interventions but they all can be done at home. Why are VBAC candidates referred to as trial in quotations of labor since they're largely successful and safe?

Yeah, that again, with terminology, but basically, it's most providers who are supportive of VBAC or purport to be supportive of VBAC like to say, we always give you a trial of labor, which is like saying, we let you try to give birth. So I like this, she's calling out a really good one.

It's just bad luck, bad language, like a lot of the other things we talked about, like geriatric, it's just it's terrible language and it needs to be discarded. It's old language. We know now, that VBAC is very likely to be successful. So it really should be called planning a VBAC. But any of you back having or planning makes a big difference in the subconscious and in every other way.

Can I see a midwife instead of an OB if I am not pregnant? Yes, yes. Oh, and please do with that, Trisha, you've got dinner to go to I've got to never go to with my husband.

I do but we can't. We can't close without this last quickie. Oh, really? Isn't

isn't another personal question for us about our favorite karaoke song.

Yes, except this one says What's your guilty pleasure? Oh, oh, wow. hard one.

Oh, gosh, I wish I had more time to think about this is my guilty pleasure.

You got 10 seconds and counting to when I really think it's to get ready for dinner.

I think I know mine.

I don't know Do you know mine? Because I really can't think of any I'm sure I have some romance movies and foreign languages. Sure, but that's not a guilty pleasure now. No, I don't feel guilty watching those John de Florette. Like those are you know, those are?

Well, you just don't feel guilty about anything.

I do feel guilty. Are you kidding? I've got I would love to relieve myself of guilt. I feel guilty over nothing. It's not easy being me. But I can't think of anything good.

I felt a little guilty when I spend two hours in the bathtub.

Oh that's such good self care.

Two hours I've done it too many times.

I don't know how you enjoy doing that but I would I think that's wonderful

I don't it's not very productive I guess relax oh -

people a better response my guilty pleasure God how boring.

Let me ask Eric what would you say is my guilty pleasure question mark this is urgent

All right. I texted my husband let's see what he says he said sleeping Oh sleeping it

Yeah, I always feel the need to be productive or something i don't know i No matter how late I go to bed I wake up early in the morning there's just something in my brain that does not really want to let me sleep it feels too self indulgent even taking a nap when I need a nap it's just so hard for me to even fall asleep because I feel guilty the minute I even try it's not it's not a healthy thing. So I am so sorry to our listeners for not having a much better answer than sleeping that's so lame. Oh my god I might what does this say about my life there I should be about I should be doing far more things that I feel guilty about maybe we both need to do a lot more things we feel guilty because yours is sleeping and mine is bathing that's not good. We're gonna come we're gonna come back with a lot better guilty pleasures of pathetic we just lost everyone's respect.

Thank you for joining us at the Down To Birth Show. You can reach us @downtobirthshow on Instagram or email us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. All of Cynthia’s classes and Trisha’s breastfeeding services are offered live online, serving women and couples everywhere. Please remember this information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is in no way a substitute for medical advice. For our full disclaimer visit downtobirthshow.com/disclaimer. Thanks for tuning in, and as always, hear everyone and listen to yourself.