Hi honey! I'm Anja and welcome to my video!
Today i'm going to be sharing my 10 top tips for avoiding a c-section.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button because i upload new videos every single
week and I don't want you to miss any! First a little bit of background
information about c-sections - so there are three kinds of c-section.
The first is an elective c-section. That means that you book a caesarean
in advance and that you know that that's how your baby is going to be born.
The second kind of c-section is an emergency c-section.
That means that you're given a general anaesthetic and it's a life or death
situation for you and your baby and your baby has to be born as quickly as
possible. The third type of c-section is an
unplanned one. That means that you're planning on, or hoping for, a vaginal
delivery but unexpected circumstances arose during labour
and it was considered safer to deliver your baby abdominally.
Unplanned c-sections are actually the most common type of c-section,
an elective caesarean is the second most common and the rarest form of c-section
is an emergency one. Sometimes, unplanned c-sections are
unavoidable, but often they are preventable, so let's
delve into my 10 top tips for preventing an unnecessary
c-section. My first top tip is to eat a balanced and healthy diet during
pregnancy- so make sure that you're getting five
portions of fresh fruit and veg each day that you're eating lean
proteins, whole grain carbs and drinking plenty of
water. A healthy body is going to work better for you during pregnancy
and the birth process. In pregnancy we can crave
junk food and sugary snacks but those should be eaten in moderation.
Pregnancy isn't an excuse to stuff your face
on crap food all day like a little piggy. I was guilty of this in pregnancy! I
craved loads of crisps, fatty fried things, loads of chocolate,
loads of sweets... then i was like "NO i'm not actually
eating for two" and the guidelines are that you should
be consuming about 200 to 300 calories extra in pregnancy per day-
no more than that! You should really be focusing on eating as healthily as
you possibly can. So look after yourself mama! My second
top tip is to factor in some form of daily exercise. Even if
that's a 20 to 30 minute slow or moderately paced walk that's
great! If you're active in pregnancy that
encourages your baby to get into the best head down position
for a smooth, comfortable and straightforward birth.
My third top tip is to avoid gaining too much weight in pregnancy.
Obesity is one of the main risk factors for requiring a c-section
delivery. The average weight gain for a pregnant
woman is between 25 and 35 pounds that's about 11 to 16 kilos. If you seem
to be gaining weight really quickly in pregnancy,
you might need to up the amount of exercise you're doing or cut down on the
amount of calories that you're consuming each day.
My fourth top tip is to get plenty of rest and plenty of sleep in pregnancy,
especially during the third trimester, because your body is working
so hard. If you're feeling really exhausted in the third trimester of
pregnancy, that's just going to mean that you'll
tire out more quickly during the birth process.
now there's no denying that labour is hard work! It's going to be physically
and mentally challenging for you. The more rest and more sleep you get
in the third trimester, the more rejuvenated and energized you're going
to be ready for your baby's birth. The more
energized and alert you feel during childbirth, the more energy that you've
got, the less likely it is that you'll
require a c-section because you'll be able to handle
each stage of the labour birth process a lot more easily.
My fifth top tip is to do yoga. Prenatal yoga gives your muscles
strength and endurance to have a smooth and comfortable birth
experience. In yoga, you practice certain postures which
strengthen your flexibility and balance and this can help you in
labour to get into and maintain certain positions to make
childbirth more smooth, comfortable and straightforward for you.
My sixth top tip is to not go to hospital until you're in active labour...
This means that you shouldn't be travelling to your chosen birth setting
until your contractions are coming about three to four minutes apart.
Staying at home as long as possible allows your labour to progress smoothly
and it helps your contractions to build up in momentum.
if you travel to your chosen birth setting before
you're in active labour, that can interrupt the flow
of the birth process. It can stop your contractions from
coming, it can decrease the momentum of them and it can just
lead to unnecessary complications and unnecessary interventions.
My seventh top tip is to avoid being induced.
Sometimes inductions are medically necessary but
if you've just gone passed your due date that's NOT actually a medically
justified reason to be induced and force your baby out before they're ready.
Inductions can double your likelihood of needing
to have a c-section delivery. When you're induced, your contractions are
synthetically stimulated and your contractions come fast and
furiously from the get-go. there's very little rest and recovery
time in-between contractions so that you can have a bite to eat,
have something to drink and just have a bit of a breather before your next
contraction starts- and because of the unnatural way that
induced labours progress, that can lead your baby to
being in distress because they don't get any rest and
recovery time between contractions either.
Your body, especially the muscles of your uterus, tire out more quickly,
they don't work as efficiently and effectively for you and that can then
lead to medical interventions- like an unplanned c-section. My eighth
top tip sounds like a bit of a tongue twister
couldn't say it properly so yeah my eighth top tip is to avoid
having an epidural if you possibly can. When you have an epidural it's like
you're temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.
You end up lying down on a hospital bed usually
semi-reclined or flat on your back and you can't use your legs.
To have a smooth and comfortable birth experience and avoid a c-section,
you need to be working with gravity during the birth process and getting
into gravity-friendly positions to help with the cervical dilation phase of
labout and help you to push your baby out into
the world. Gravity-friendly positions are ones like squatting, getting on all
fours, getting on your knees and leaning over
the side of something like the side of a bed, the side of a birth pool
and even walking about is great to do in labour to help your labor to progress
smoothly and to help your baby to engage with your cervix and then
be guided down the birth canal more easily. You can't get into any of those
positions if you've had an epidural and you're
paralyzed from the waist down temporarily-
so please avoid an epidural if you can. My ninth tip
is to access great birth support so communicate your wishes for a vaginal
birth with your care team and your birth partner so that they can
encourage and reassure you as your contractions get more and more
intense. The chances of having a c-section increase
if you feel frightened in labour and many women start to feel fearful in
labour when their contractions are getting more intense,
frequent and long-lasting. If you feel fearful in childbirth, your body
automatically releases adrenaline and adrenaline causes blood and oxygen
to be taken away from your uterus and your baby where it's needed the most.
It triggers a fight, flight or freeze response in your body because
your body's just responding to the
stress and fearful emotions so the more fearful you become, the less
efficient your uterus works and this can then lead to complications
and an unplanned c-section. That's why it's so important to have
great birth support and to have people on your side that
are encouraging you, telling you that you can do it, telling you that they're proud
of you, that they love you and to keep you calm and relaxed as your
contractions get stronger and more frequent.
My tenth and final tip is to do a hypnobirthing course.
Hypnobirthing teaches you how to relax in labour and how you can work with your
body to have a smooth, straightforward and comfortable birth experience.
hypnobirthing also teaches you what to expect during each stage of the birth
process, what's happening in your body during each stage of labour, what to
expect, how it's going to feel and how you can deal with each stage of
the birth process with calm and confidence.
You can check out my introduction to hypnobirthing video on my youtube
channel but if you're interested in finding out
more about my hypnobirthing classes and online hypnobirthing course,
you just have to click the links in the blurb beneath this video!
Thank you so much for watching this video today. I hope you found
all of the information useful. Don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube
channel because i upload new videos every single week and i don't want you
to miss any. Do share this video with a pregnant
friend of your's if you think that it can help them.
Take care lovely lady and see you again soon, bye!