Hemorrhage

By Midwifery Today

Hemorrhage is a collection of articles previously published in Midwifery Today magazine. This volume covers ways to handle postpartum hemorrhage, such as using the placenta to stop a bleed, as well as ways to prevent hemorrhage from occurring. Filled with information from the brightest minds in natural childbirth, such as Michel Odent, Jan Tritten and Robin Lim, this e-book is a must-read for all midwives, midwifery students, childbirth educators, doulas, nurses, doctors and anyone else in a childbirth profession.

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: “Preventing Postpartum Haemorrhage” by Michel Odent
Chapter 2: “Postpartum Hemorrhage in Bali: A Day at Bumi Sehat” by Robin Lim
Chapter 3: “Hemorrhage!” by Susun Weed
Chapter 4: “Hemorrhage: Stay Close and Pay Attention to Your Mothers” by Judy Edmunds
Chapter 5: “Seven Hours Postpartum” by Jenna Hull
Chapter 6: “Hemorrhage during Pregnancy and Childbirth” by Marion Toepke McLean
Chapter 7: “Thinking Green” by Marlene Waechter
Chapter 8: “Hemorrhage in Childbearing” by Marion Toepke McLean
Chapter 9: “Putting an End to Women’s Global Slaughter: Bleeding to Death” by Michel Odent
Chapter 10: “Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage by Respecting the Natural Process of Third Stage” by Beth Anne Moonstone
Chapter 11: “Lessons from Kitty Birth: Using Placenta to Control Hemorrhage” by Jan Tritten

• Language: English
• Publisher: Midwifery Today
• Release date: Dec 14, 2013

Midwifery Today

Midwifery Today publishes a quarterly print magazine for midwives and other birth professionals. We also put on two or more conferences each year, publish books, e-books and offer a free e-mail newsletter.

Book preview

Hemorrhage

A Collection of Articles from Midwifery Today Magazine

Edited by

Nancy Halseide

Copyright 2013 Midwifery Today, Inc.

Published by Midwifery Today, Inc.

Smashwords Edition

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Cover photo by Emily Robinson

emilyrobinsonphoto.com

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this e-book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work that went into compiling this e-book.

Disclaimer

This publication is presented by Midwifery Today, Inc., for the sole purpose of disseminating general health information for public benefit. The information contained in or provided through this publication is intended for general consumer understanding and education only and is not intended to be, and is not provided as, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Midwifery Today, Inc., does not assume liability for the use of this information in any jurisdiction. Always seek the advice of your midwife, physician, nurse or other qualified health care provider before you undergo any treatment or for answers to any questions you may have regarding any medical condition.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Preventing Postpartum Haemorrhage by Michel Odent

Chapter 2: Postpartum Hemorrhage in Bali: A Day at Bumi Sehat by Robin Lim

Chapter 3: Hemorrhage! by Susun Weed

Chapter 4: Hemorrhage: Stay Close and Pay Attention to Your Mothers by Judy Edmunds

Chapter 5: Seven Hours Postpartum by Jenna Hull

Chapter 6: Hemorrhage during Pregnancy and Childbirth by Marion Toepke McLean

Chapter 7: Thinking Green by Marlene Waechter

Chapter 8: Hemorrhage in Childbearing by Marion Toepke McLean

Chapter 9: Putting an End to Women’s Global Slaughter: Bleeding to Death by Michel Odent

Chapter 10: Preventing Postpartum Hemorrhage by Respecting the Natural Process of Third Stage by Beth Anne Moonstone

Chapter 11: Lessons from Kitty Birth: Using Placenta to Control Hemorrhage by Jan Tritten

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CHAPTER 1

Preventing Postpartum Haemorrhage

by Michel Odent

Copyright 2013 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today, Issue 105, Spring 2013.

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The prevention of postpartum haemorrhage is an ideal topic to illustrate the usual discrepancy between the perspective of modern physiology and the legacy of tradition.

According to the physiological perspective, the delivery of the placenta is a result of the peak of oxytocin a woman is supposed to release after the birth of the baby. A Swedish team headed by Kerstin Uvnas-Moberg has demonstrated that immediately after giving birth, a mother has the capacity to reach a level of oxytocin that is still higher than for the delivery itself (Nissen et al. 1995).

Knowing the vulnerability of oxytocin release, which is highly dependent on a great number of factors, particularly environmental factors, we must wonder what kind of environment can influence this special hormonal peak just after the birth of the baby. This is, in the current scientific context, a way to phrase the right questions regarding the delivery of the placenta and its possible complications. To answer these questions I am influenced by the lessons of clinical observation, which are supported by the lessons of modern physiology. The first positive factor is that the mother has given birth to the baby through an authentic fetus ejection reflex, rather than a second stage of labor associated with the need for voluntary movements (Odent 1987). After the birth, one of the conditions is that the mother is not cold. Regina Lederman found that the level of adrenaline can return to normal as early as three minutes after birth (Lederman et al. 1985). She has therefore demonstrated how crucial this short period of time is and confirmed what can be learned from practical experience. When asked what to prepare for a homebirth, I only talk about electric radiators and extension cords, so that warm blankets or towels are constantly available. If a woman is shivering just after the birth of the baby, it simply means that she is not warm enough.

Another condition is that the mother is not distracted when discovering her baby. The mother needs to feel the contact with the baby’s skin, to look at the baby’s eyes and to smell the odor of her baby. Any distraction can bring her back to our planet and inhibit the hormonal peak. One cannot make a list of the countless distractions that can interfere during this phase of labor. Some of them are special to our society. For example, a woman has forgotten the rest of the world while discovering her baby. Suddenly a telephone rings. The mother will come back to our planet and will not release her vital peak of oxytocin. Other distractions are quasi universal, such as cord cutting before the delivery of the placenta. In general, one can claim that, according to modern physiology, the newborn baby needs its mother, particularly during the critical minutes following birth, while the mother needs the baby. It is an interaction between the two obligatory actors during the period surrounding birth.

The lessons of modern physiology are in complete contradiction with our cultural background since, for thousands of years in all human societies we know about, mothers and newborn babies have been separated and the initiation of breastfeeding has been delayed. In other words, it has been routine for a long time to neutralise the maternal protective aggressive instinct. The nature of this universal mammalian instinct is easily understood when one imagines what would happen if one tried to pick up the newborn baby of a mother gorilla who has just given birth.

It would take volumes to review all the invasive perinatal beliefs and rituals that have been reported in a great diversity of cultures. As early as 1884, Labor among Primitive Peoples by George Engelmann provided an impressive catalogue of the one thousand and one ways of interfering with the first contact between mother and newborn baby. It described beliefs and rituals occurring in hundreds of ethnic groups on all five continents (Engelmann 1884).

The most universal and intriguing example of cultural interference is simply to promote the belief that colostrum is tainted or harmful to the baby and that it is even a substance which needs to be expressed and discarded (Odent 2003). The negative attitude towards colostrum implies that, immediately after the birth, a baby must be in the arms of another person, rather than with his or her own mother. This is related to a widespread deep-rooted ritual, which is to rush to cut the cord. Several beliefs and rituals can be seen as part of the same interference, all of them reinforcing each other.

Western Europe is not a stranger to these universal rules. In Tudor and Stuart England, colostrum was openly regarded as a harmful substance to be discarded (Fildes 1986). The mother was not considered clean after childbirth until the bloody discharge called lochia had stopped flowing. She was not permitted to give the breast until after a religious service of purification and thanksgiving called churching. Meanwhile, the