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I recently bought this book...Birth Skills (Juju Sundin and co-author Sarah Murdoch).
I've read a few chapters so far and it sounds fantastic! Really practical and common-sensical...and I love the emphasis on pain physiology...
Has anyone ever tried the techniques in labour?
Wish I lived in Sydney...would love to go to her courses...
Oooh I found out about this book about 2 weeks ago and didnt get it becasue i thought it was too late ;) One of my belly buddies had it but not sure if she used all the techniques although I know she had a "cheat sheet" with all the distraction techniques typed up that Im borrowing- sorry not much help but just wanted to say good luck and and happy reading!!!!
Thanks Tan
Wishing you all the very best for Friday...how wonderful!!!
May it be a most fantastic and beautiful experience!
By the way...your belly pics look absolutely fantastic!
Hey, i'd never heard of this book, i'm gonna check it out!
ITA on the belly pics! WHat is it with all you hot australian mommas!?
I read an article about her, it seems really good. I love the idea of all the 'shortcuts' - easy to remember little things to help you get through labour.
I definatley recommend this book to everyone! :D
I'd read a few things here and there about JuJu Sundin's birth skill classes and I came across the book yesterday and snapped it up. I have to say I'm already feeling 100% more confident about my labour! It's actually made me look forward to it!
She has some great ideas. I love how she does not deny there will be pain but that "you have to be bigger than the pain" and that the skills are progressive. If one thing is no longer working there are always alternatives to try or add, and the book has opened my eyes to all the options I have before asking for pain medications, which are still available but now way further down the line.
I love how she says to remember the things you do have control over, like what you do with your legs, arms, eyes and breathing. A very handy thing to remember if it feel like its getting beyond my control! I do have the resources, I do have the power! WooHoo!
Monnie, how are you going with the book? Are you practicing anything and do you have any favourites? I have to practice the vocalisation 'Ahhs' as I feel I'd probably hold back a bit but it sounds like this will be one of the big guns to use in labour. The book is also great for DP as it clearly defines everything that he is able to do for me/with me during the birth. :hug:
August - that sounds great! I really like the sound of it! Feel free to go into more details ;)
Email me so I have yr addresss and I'll be happy to send you something!
august18@bigpond.com
OH I'd love to hear more too. Can you please email me too hun. That is, if you don't mind.
My addy is in my profile :)
ooooo me tooooo, if you can be bothered... Understand if ur too busy.... I cant get enough reading about Birth/labour etc... Its like im on a constant buzz about it all the time.my email is in my profile too. Sorry if im being rude interupting.
Bigger than the pain is such a great visualisation...
I've also read this book and found it really empowering - sort of like equipping myself with a bunch of tools that I could pull out as needed. Once I finished it, I even went through it again and highlighted all the bits I wanted my DH to know about (theory and strategies) so he wouldn't have to read the whole thing. The best bit is Juju explains the theory/physiology behind each strategy so what might initially sound like a pretty strange/lame strategy actually makes lots of sense.
Now I feel much more confident that I have a bunch of things to try when the pain starts to build, and confident that my DH will also be able to suggest various strategies if/when I start to struggle.
Anyway, my due date is tomorrow and I'm already at 5cm dilation (no painful contractions yet though :)), so hopefully I'll be able to give you all an idea of how helpful the Birth Skills are within a few days!
I read this book and found it really useful during the birth of my first child eight weeks ago. The idea of matching the pain and using a new method of pain relief before the pain gets on top of you was really useful. I managed a forceps birth without an epidural and I think I was able to cope a lot better because of some of the techniques I learnt in this book.
Hi,
Just wanted to add that I bought and read this book about 4 weeks before the birth of my 2nd bub 8 weeks ago and I have to say it was invaluable! I used the techniques with great success and felt so in control right through the birth (ok well I started to lose it a bit at 9cm lol). I felt so out of control during my first sons birth so I was amazed at how effective it was to 'get bigger than the pain'. I managed so well that I (and my DH) was shocked when I was told I was 8cm when we got to the hospital. I was sure we had hours to go still because I was managing so well at home. I also thought the section on pushing was great as I felt like i really had no idea how to push effectively as first bub was posterior and I had no urge to push and he was pulled out with the ventouse after 2 hours of ineffective pushing. Anyway, no. 2 took 10 minutes to push out this time with a tiny tear that didn't require stitches (the part in the book about crowning was also great as this was also something I'd not experienced with no. 1). I have to say that I didn't really know what techniques i would want to use until the time came, so just kept them all in mind and wrote up a sheet of things for DH to suggest to me if I appeared to be struggling. I also made DH read the book cover to cover and then sit down and discuss what I thought I might need him to do lol! But he was fantastic during the labour and it really really helped a lot that he understood the techniques. Anyway, I can't reccomend this book enough. I don't know that I would have coped through the labour without it. I think it's definately worth the $$ even if you only have a few weeks to go.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone! I did Jujus birth classes before two labours and it gave me the information I needed to take control of the situation. The first time I ended up having an epidural reluctantly after a day of labour and no progress, but that day was really well managed in terms of pain as my husband and i used all the techniques. The great thing is that because of that I was really confident to have another shot at natural birth the second time around and after a seven hour labour I had my second daugher with no pain relief and feeling really confident and in control of what was happening to my body. I am giving the book to my sister in law. It's just so useful.
I sort of read this book (I admit I skimmed some of it) and liked at least that it added more tricks to my kit. I printed out some photos to prompt visualisations, packed juggling balls, chose music... in the end I didn't use any of it :lol: I did manage a drug free labour but mostly following my knowledge of the pelvis opening and breathing from what I learned in The Pink Kit. I would still recommend it though- having more options in my kit that I hadn't turned to yet really helped me feel I could keep going.
Yep, I used it - fantastic.
I used the "ahhhhh" sound and banging stress balls together and it does work.
In the end after a three day posterior labour, I did have an epidural and forceps but as Juju says if you know you've tried your best, then you can't be disappointed with your labour. I was ecstatic after mine and there is no way I would have lasted as long as I did without those techniques.
Wow, this sounds like an awesome book - I've only just found this thread! Might need to get my hands on it when it's my turn. I did HypnoBirthing, and you can never really have too many tools to get into 'the zone'!!
Im going to go against the trend
I have not personally used this book, however I have read it
I found the references to birth and the 'pain' of birth very obstetric
there is discussion in the book as to why the uterus hurts...but the uterus does not hurt, it is not designed to feel pain, the cervix is where the sensations of labor come from
all the talk about the immense pain you will suffer is not empowering it is causing the creation of birth doubt in your mind and increasing your dependence on your care provider in labor
also the talk about stomping your feet to move the adrenaline out of your body...you ought to focus on not getting to the point where you have that much adrenaline, and stamping your feet increases blood flow to your extremities and away from your uterus and your baby
most of the stories in the book are obstetric births
sorry I give it the thumbs down
Oooh, thanks for that first-hand perspective, Natalie - I'll give it a miss, as I definitely do not subscribe to the 'given' of pain in labour and birth...and for this reason hated my second (first was non-pregnant) reading of Kaz Cooke's Up The Duff and So, You're Going To Be A Dad!
Always interesting to read other perspectives.
Blue Daisy - what word(s) would you use instead of "pain"?
:)
intense, overwhelming, opening, stretching :)
but I dont think pain and natural labor/birth ought to go together
if a woman expects to feel pain she will find it somewhere, if a woman does not expect pain in birth she will interpret the sensations with no preconceived notions of what she has been told she should feel
but in saying that labor can be painful it can hurt alot, but not for everyone all the time at any given birth
a frightened woman will feel pain, a relaxed woman will feel intensity of new muscular sensations
a woman who has medical intervetion feels pain, a woman who has no intervention experiences labor and birth at a rate and level that works for her and her baby
sorry dont mean to rant :)
I could go on all day ;)
Fiona, Natalie has a really good thread in another thread about 'pain' in labour and is in the process of having a book about it published :) There are some posters in there who can corroborate her 'story', myself included ;)
Funny you should post in here today Nat - I was doing some yoga stretches today and was thinking about you and thinking I haven't come across your posts recently!!!!! How weird!
I was also watching this book on ebay just recently and am wondering now if I should bother. I have New Active Birth but feel like I want something else as well but not sure what! :) Might have to have a search around for another option methinks! Are the yoga options in your book for birth similar sort of strategies??? if that makes sense! My brain isn't all that switched on tonight sorry!
Janet's other book, Waterbirth, is a good read, even if you don't plan on having one - just for her word on labour etc :)
Thanks Maya - not sure if I want to get a VBAC specific one or just birth based! They are excy so I might go to the local library on Wednesday and see what I can dig up and order.
Yep, I borrowed mine from the library :) If there is something you want and they don't have it, ask them to order it in for you (I mean, if one preggy woman wants it, how many others would, too?). Check the library catalogue (usually they have an online one) and maybe another library in the same group has a copy they can send to your branch.
hey Tan
big congrats for your impending :hug: number 2 baby :)
how exciting :hug:
my yoga book does work on the strategies I get on my soap box for ;) with a focus on breathe awareness and how yoga benefits
its on my webpage
I absolutely love this book. My husband and I used it for both my labours and I had active drug free vaginal births. This is also the book that I recommend to every single pregnant women at work and home. I love it. Keep reading and more importanly get your partner and support people to read it or give them a cheat sheet so they know what to do and what you want during labour. Best of luck and enjoy reading.
I also agree with Natalie. I read it and really you can't open a page in the book without seeing the word pain in bold print! I did calmbirth and found their techniques worked for me, I found it really helped me to not fear labour and to embrace the experience and the sensations, while focussing on breath and visualisation of the cervix opening and the baby moving down.
After having a very long, difficult birth with DD (she was fully posterior and I pushed her out with no intervention and no drugs), I wanted some strategies up my sleeve to help with DS as I had it in my head that he was going to be posterior too, so I borrowed Birth Skills at the recommendation of my midwife, as she has a whole chapter on posterior. I have to say, I did the stomping and it worked beautifully - I found once my contractions started I had to be on my feet but didn't want to pace through them - I ended up leaning on a windowsill and stomping. As they intensified, I focused on an object (a blue ofice chair I could see) and I then progressed to sending my breath towards the chair (the 'aah' breath that Juju talked about), but stomping through eash one. Once I needed something more, I ended up in the shower, still leaning on the rails and stomping, and breathing the pain down the plug hole. This all really helped until I got to the transistion stage, and I also went from 3cm to fully dilated in just over an hour. I didn't pay much attention to what Juju said about pushing, and I just went with what my body felt like doing (although, the first few bearing down urges I tried to ignore, because in my head there was no way I had dilated that quickly so again, I thought DS was posterior and I was tring to push at 6cm).:
So, for me, her techniques worked to get me through the first stage of labour. Although, I have to say, both of my births have been empowering - the first one was due to the confidence my mw had in me and my ability to deliver DD posteriorly (is that even a word?)
I love the book, but find some of it really repetitive! I loose my place (and my interest) frequently, and I'm struggling to find the motivation to pick it up again. But the repetition is hopefully what makes it stick in your mind on the day. I have also read Active Birth by janet balaskas - but as that was in the 2nd tri, I've forgotten much of it now.
That it - I'm hitting the couch with a cramming session! :D