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Illawarra Birth Classes

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25.01.2022 I will be launching Mumma Lounge next week, Wednesday 15th, 1pm if you want the Zoom details sent to you, let me know so I can add you to the email list

23.01.2022 We want to say a big THANK YOU to those families who joined us for birth classes via zoom! We are so grateful that you trusted us and joined us for a virtual class. We know it wasn’t an ideal way to learn or perfect time, we hope that you still learnt a lot and left the class feeling empowered and prepared for labour, Birth and postpartum We are now back teaching in person classes and we have one spot left for this weekend, Sunday 12th July

23.01.2022 UPDATE: EDITED TO INCLUDE QUESTIONS ANSWERED: Q: Does this change appmy to the neonatal ward? YES Q: Do these changes apply to Shoalhavem and Nowra hospital?... YES THE CHANGES ARE DISTRICT WIDE. Q: Are children under 16 years allowed to visit ie siblings? YES. Children under 16 can visit as long as they form part of the 2 visitors and must be in the care of another adult. So this would be 1 child under 16 with an adult only during the general visiting times.END OF EDIT. Here's the news all pregnant mamas, their families and doulas have been waiting for! We are very happy to finally share that as of Monday June 15, women are to be supported by up to TWO people during labour and birth. During the postnatal period, the partner is able to visit for unrestricted periods between 8am-8pm. Additionally up to 2 visitors at any one time are able to be present during the general hospital visiting hours from 10am-1pm and 3-7pm. The hospital will continue to screen and temperature take at the hospital and all visitors will be required to provide their name and contact number due to Infection Management requirement. Thanks for all your messages and queries mamas and to the BBI team, we feel we did our advocacy as well as we could Please tag your pregnant friends so they know what's going on!! #covid19pregnancy #wollongonghospital #shoalhavenhospital #birthrights #womancenteredbirth #maternityrights #justice #betterbirthsillawarra #betterbirths #doulas #maternityconsumer #maternityadvocacy

22.01.2022 BIRTH STORY Congrats to Rach and Aaron, thanks for sharing your humorously written birth story about your baby’s speedy entrance into the world. I have finall...y written out the story. So for those who haven't heard all the details feel free to make yourself a cuppa and have a read. On the 19th of May I was ready to give birth. I had finished all my projects, finished up at work, I had the house clean, food cooked, birthing book read and I was just waiting (I highly recommend ‘Juju Sundin’s Birth Skills with Sarah Murdoch’ very helpful book for getting motivated for birth) . I had an idea of what I wanted to happen in the different stages of labour, I had thought through what pain management strategies I was going to try and even written out a cheat sheet for Aaron on how to handle me. I also did not want to start anything new at that point in case the baby came. I passed my time on a mate’s property just brushing and sitting with horses as this was the best thing to keep me sane as I could focus on building my connection with them through being not doing a skill I still haven’t mastered in so many area of life. By the 27th of May I was 8 days past my due date and starting to feel a bit over it. I am usually someone who likes to have different projects on the go and be working towards something. I was booked for an induction in three days’ time and I was quite worried about this as I had heard it made labour come on too fast for many people. I was planning to discuss this with Ellen at my next midwife appointment and see if we could push the induction date back as late as possible (I also highly recommend Hunter Midwifery group practice, I got to talk with at least four of the lovely midwives and they were all really lovely and supportive). That night think I woke 5 times with worries about the induction on my mind. The morning of the 28th I felt a bit better and decided to stop waiting for bubs and just jump into a new project and start a painting as I hadn’t painted in a long time. I was also looking forward to heading out to the horses that afternoon to meet up with some riding friends. While I was doing the morning chores, I noticed some sensations in my stomach much like period pain that came roughly every 20 minutes or so. At that point I assumed this was something to do with early labour, but I also knew that this could start days before you give birth, so I didn’t worry about it too much. I headed down the street to grab a canvas for my painting, a coffee plunger for Aaron and some snacks (If it was labour, I was definitely using that for an excuse to get more snacks!!) While I was down the street I started taking screen shots of the time the sensations were occurring. Once home I started my painting and messaged Aaron to let him know that things might be happening but stay at work for now as it may not be anything. I also messaged my sister Gina to see if she could come and do my hair I really wanted to wear two Dutch brains into hospital because they look awesome and the most practical way to deal with long hair in messy situations. Gina is also interested in working in Obstetrics and Gynaecology when she finishes her Medicine Degree so I figured it would be good experience for her too. I sat on my gym ball and started the base colours for the painting and getting the figures as I wanted them. While I did this the sensations because more frequent and intense but I knew I needed to stay calm and relaxed as this could be a long journey. Around 1:30 I realised this was continuing to get more intense and it was unlikely I would make it out the horses that day so I let my mates know. When Gina arrived she just sat with me and chatted while I painted and braided up my hair of course! I called Aaron from work around 3:30 but let him know it was nothing too bad and he didn’t need to freak out or rush (not that Aaron is the kind of person to freak out). I also contacted the on-call midwife just to let her know where things were up to. Once Aaron was home we all went for a walk with the dog and this is when I had to start breathing through the contractions as they were picking up in intensity by now. After the walk Aaron made sure the baby capsule was in the car and the all the hospital bags were packed. While he was out in the car I remember talking with Gina about something and then saying ‘Hmm I think I feel a little sick’. So she offered to get a bucket and I moved towards the bathroom when all of a sudden I projectile vomited all up the hallway. It was impressive - if I do say so myself, I even hit a photo frame that’s at least 1m from the ground! I had to yell for Aaron to come in and help us out. This was the next point that I had to add a new strategy to my contractions and started counting to 8 in a rhythmic pattern throughout each contraction. I remember laughing at the mammoth vomit and then having to count during the contractions and then thanking Aaron and Gina for cleaning it up for me. Aaron tried to encourage me to eat some dinner but I was not really able to eat much. I think this was around the time Gina headed off. By this stage I was also stepping with the contractions. Focusing on the beat of my feet, breathing, and counting to 8. I also got Aaron to stamp his feet and count in time with me. It worked really well to keep me focused, calm and get through each contraction. We were also timing the contractions on an app to see how long they lasted and how far apart they were. When I vomited for the second time (and landed it in the bucket winning !!) Aaron was worried I might he dehydrated so called the midwife again. She said to wait until the contractions were consistent in duration, were 3 in 10 minutes and I was making sounds like I couldn’t handle it before we went into hospital. She also gave my advice to keep sipping water, maybe have a shower or bath and try and relax my shoulders and hands during contractions. I remember yelling out to Aaron ‘You’re not stamping!’ when I had a contraction during the phone call because he had stopped stamping to talk to the midwife. So I added the relaxed hands and shoulders to my routine of stepping and counting and breathing. I am pretty certain that this is were I looked like I was imitating the Haka as I had bend legs, stepping from side to side, counting in rhythm and to keep my hands open I was shimmying them diagonally across my body. Aaron did a great job at not laughing and continuing to count with me. At one point he changed the numbers he was counting with from ‘1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and’ to ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5 . . .’ and I yell out ‘NOT 5!!!’ I was worried about the car ride to the hospital as I had tried sitting on the gym ball and could not get through a contraction without jumping up to step my feet. So I suggested to Aaron that we practice some contractions lying down and clap instead of stamping. This was ok for the first two but the third was incredibly overwhelming. It lasted for much longer than the others and was very intense I started to really feel the pain and thought ‘I cant do this’ for the first time and bellowed I’m sure people three blocks away could have heard. Once it was over I thought I needed to get my confidence back before trying to lay down or sit again. However, the next contraction was different. I felt the obvious ‘urge to push’ (it really does feel like doing a poo!). I knew this sensation was the 2nd part of active labour and was supposed to happen in the hospital. I tried to pant with my breath to slow the urge to push as suggested in Juju’s book but the natural mechanisms to push the baby out were much stronger. Aaron quickly rang the midwife and she asked to listen to my contraction. As the contraction was occurring, I recall yelling into the phone ‘I’m trying to suck me bum-hole up but it’s not working !!!’. On hearing my guttural vocalisations she suggested we try and get to the hospital immediately and pull over and call an ambulance if the baby came sooner. So my interpretation of ‘immediately’ is wasting 3-4 minutes running around trying to find my pair of slippers !! so that was the third pushing contraction. The fourth occurred just before I got in the car. The fifth happened in the car on Brighton Avenue Toronto and this was when my waters broke, and I am 90% certain that’s where the baby’s head came out. I was leaning over the centre console, so I didn’t crush the baby urging Aaron the pull over. Unfortunately, this piece of road has no where safe to pull over for another 500 meter. Once we got into the car park of Goffet Park I flung the door open and ripped the trackies off one leg (I’m kind of glad this was 9pm at night and no-one was really around! Also glad the trackies were Aaron’s pair not mine !). I remember seeing Aaron on the phone walking away and having two thoughts: Logical Brain he must be getting the street address for the ambulance. Emotional Brain where the heck are you going !?!?!. So in a car park in Toronto, right foot in the foot well, leaning over the centre console on my right elbow, left hand between my legs was where the the sixth and final push happened. I grabbed the baby with my left hand as she came out and remember seeing this little head just fall to one side and thinking ‘ah no ! support the head’. I pulled her up onto my chest and removed my shirt so she could be skin-on-skin. The baby cried immediately so I figured it was fine and the cord was looped behind its neck but was not around its neck. Aaron un-looped the cord and grabbed us a towel as the ambulance rocked up. And that’s how Miss Eden Iris Elton-Percival entered the world She weighed 3.125kg and was born at 9:01 on the 28/05/2020. The midwives guess my labour was about 4 hours of active labour but it’s hard to tell as the contractions never actually got to a consistent duration and frequency. Below is the painting that I never got to finish.

22.01.2022 We have spaces still available for our group class, Saturday 9th May! We would love for you to join us Our classes are being held via zoom at the moment, so you can stay in your pj’s all day if you like head to our website to book.

20.01.2022 Great news!! In light of the easing covid 19 restrictions, we are excited to say that we are back to face to face group classes Keeping you & ourselves safe is a priority, to help keep us all safe we will: * ensure we comply with social distancing requirements and limit class numbers to 5 couples. In the past we have occasionally allowed 6, we will be strict now, once a class sells out we won’t be able to squeeze anyone else in. To help make sure no one misses out we are sc...heduling more dates than normal. * sterilising equipment and surfaces before and after each class. * Asking if couples are unwell or showing cold and flu symptoms to not attend and join the class via zoom. * Plenty of hand sanitiser will be on hand Upcoming class dates- Saturday 4th July Saturday 1st August Sunday 30th August Saturday 19th September Classes are a complete one day childbirth education that will leave you and your partner feeling confident and excited about your upcoming birth! We are sooooo freakin excited to be able to see all the wonderful couples who come to our classes face to face and look forward to chatting all things birth & postpartum gorgeous @catfancote.capturingbirth

18.01.2022 Let's talk informed consent in pregnancy and birth. Swipe to see the difference. . Did you know that it is your legal right to give or refuse informed cons...ent for any/all procedures/treatments/interventions during your pregnancy and birth. Just as it is at any time. . Being pregnant or being in labour does not remove your legal right to informed consent. . But let's be really clear on what informed consent is and isn't. . Telling you what is happening is not informed consent. Adding an 'ok?' on the end does not make it informed consent. . Using medical language the birthing person does not understand, using fear-based tactics, coercion or putting pressure on to make a decision - not informed consent. . Informed consent must be given by a competent person (pregnancy and birth does not deem you incompetent), it must be given freely with an understanding of what it is be given for, it is valid for that procedure only (giving consent for an internal exam once does not mean you have given consent for all future exams) and can be withdrawn at any time. . Informed consent means having a conversation at your level about the risks, benefits and alternatives of whatever is being suggested. . Remember, you have the right to refuse consent and 'I do not consent' is a powerful sentence. No justification needed . What was your experience of informed consent during pregnancy and birth? . . . #informedbirth #informedconsent #birthmatters #birthmonopoly #hypnobirthingaustralia #hypnobirthingperth #perthmumsandbubs #pregnantinperth #duein2020 #duein2021 #dueinnovember #dueinseptember #empoweredbirth See more

18.01.2022 \\ MEET THE TEAM // Alyssa is one half of Illawarra Birth Classes and owner of @cherish_birth. She is a wife, mum, friend, passionate advocate and lover of chocolate Alyssa has been attending births for over 7 years, a trained Doula for 4 years.

17.01.2022 One of the main things we try to remind women of is the power and knowledge they already possess. You are stronger and wiser than you know. The experience and innate knowledge of your matrilineal line is within you. The wisdom of generations of women who have birthed their babies is within you. It’s so easy in modern times to be filled with fear and doubt about birth but try to remember that everything you need to get through is within you already

16.01.2022 What happened when a planned homebirth turned into a hospital birth in the Temporary birth unit at Wollongong Hospital during COVID-19? This is a story of surre...nder, adapting, advocating for what you want in a hospital and being open to the unpredictable wonderful nature of birth. In the words of our featured mama Kelly Sparkes; While this birth did NOT go to plan, and certainly wasn’t the beautiful, peaceful home birth I was envisioning & had been planning for, it was an incredible birth. I am so proud of myself, my baby, my husband. We all worked together to birth babe in the place we felt safest at the time. Women are incredible! Absolutely incredible For the full story read below. Planned home birth turned hospital birth This was a planned home birth. We had hired a private midwife and had everything ready to go at home. When I lost some blood stained mucous plug on the morning of turning 36+4 weeks gestation, I messaged my midwife concerned. She reassured me that my body was just starting to do what it should, and that I very well could be pregnant still at 40 weeks. Great! I went about the day. (I did however make sure hubby grabbed the last of the birth pool supplies, some fairy lights, made sure everything was in order at home - I must have known!) 8pm arrived and I am relaxing on the lounge with my husband and 2.5 year old daughter when I felt a pop! I jumped up off the lounge and ran to the toilet yelling at hubby that my waters had just broken. Disbelief from us both made me comment that maybe I just wee’d myself instead! But no, the fluid kept coming. This was not the plan! After a phone call to our midwife, we decided that hospital was the best place given the gestation of babe & probable need for antibiotics. Around 10 minutes after my waters broke, I experienced my first very mild cramp. It was quite obvious that labour was going to start & babe was on the way! My parents came to collect our daughter, we took a beautiful *last* family photo together, had lots of cuddles and told her we were off to have her baby brother. We got to hospital and at 10:30pm I was examined to confirm waters had broken & told I was barely 1cm dilated, and cervix was 2cm thick still. They were happy for me to have a CTG trace to confirm babe happy, and just labour on. I think the CTG must have gone on around 11ish. Contractions were getting stronger & closer together. I don’t think they were consistent though, although it’s hard to know when you’re in the thick of it. I was feeling a lot of pain. My back felt like it was going to snap in half with each contraction. And some were lasting a lot longer than I was hoping. I was upright through this all, pacing the room, leaning over the bed which we had put all the way up, or over the bench. I found the only way to cope through them was to do large circles with my hips as they were happening. It seemed to be the only way to somewhat alleviate the back pain. I was desperate to get the CTG off & get in the shower. I knew that my only shot at surviving was to get the hot water on my back. So at midnight when the midwife came back in the room I said ‘I need this off, I need to get in the shower’. Despite the bathrooms not being connected to the birthing room, I found it fine - was only about a 10m walk to the bathroom. I stripped all my clothing off, directed hubby to turn the bathroom lights off & just leave the door slightly ajar for some light & got in the shower. My god, the best feeling in the world! The feeling of the hot water was absolute heaven! I got down on to my hands and knees and leant over a chair for support. Just rocking back & forth with the hot water over my back. It really helped! Whilst my contractions were still almost unbearably painful, it was made so much easier to cope with the feeling of the water taking away some of the back pain. I had a few quite strong contractions whilst I was here, and I remember thinking ‘wow, I can FEEL my cervix opening and baby moving down’. It was an amazing feeling as I never felt I was in tune with my body at all in my first labour. I would have been in the shower about 20 minutes when I had a strong contraction and almost pushed. I said to hubby ‘I think I’m pushing, something is different’. So he got the midwife who came in to observe me. Another contraction where I somewhat pushed, and felt drawn to bring my hand down to feel - I must have felt there would be a head there or something. I requested to get back to the bed as I was feeling this was my preferred place to push. I’m not sure why, I think because I pushed on the bed with my daughter and the position I was in took away my back pain. I think I was thinking that I would like to try that again and see if it worked. I was also thinking that I must be pushing at only 3cm dilated or something. It had only been 1.5 hours since I was told I was barely 1cm dilated. I made it back to the room & on to the bed in an upright sitting position and kept on pushing. His head was there so quickly and that ring of fire was intense! I was VERY vocal (something I later apologised for & was told I actually wasn’t that bad). But my god, it hurt so much. During my screaming and pushing I was saying ‘I want him straight on my chest, don’t take him to the open plan, don’t cut his cord’. I was reassured he would be brought straight to my chest. Isn’t is amazing what our minds are still capable of doing during such a primal act?! I was so aware of advocating for what I really wanted. 3 contractions & some strong pushing and out came his head, and very shortly after his body. He was put straight on to my chest & I gave him a good rub over as he took a little to take a decent breath. Wow, I’d done it. I was in awe of me, of my body, and my baby. How amazing that we worked together to bring him safely in to the world. The midwife asked if I wanted the injection to birth the placenta to which I declined. I think it was out with some gentle cord traction around 15-20 minutes later. Not a single tear or graze, which I was truly shocked to hear after such an intense & quick delivery. The cord wasn’t cut until 14 minutes when they needed to take him to the open plan. Babe was in great condition to start, but unfortunately developed some work of breathing that didn’t go away & we transferred to the NICU at about 2.5 hours of life for some care there. He stayed in NICU for almost 3 days with some breathing support then low blood sugars & establishing feeds. This was really tough for me, especially being a neonatal nurse & knowing all the ins & outs. But it also allowed me to advocate for him, and ultimately, my knowledge of it all & advocating for this was the only reason he was/is exclusively breastfed. While this birth did NOT go to plan, and certainly wasn’t the beautiful, peaceful home birth I was envisioning & had been planning for, it was an incredible birth. I am so proud of myself, my baby, my husband. We all worked together to birth babe in the place we felt safest at the time. Women are incredible! Absolutely incredible

16.01.2022 We love receiving feedback it means a lot to us when our families take the time in the postpartum bubble to let us know bub has arrived and how (or if) our classes played a part in their transition This was some recent feedback we received after a recent zoom class. We have appreciated hearing that couples are still finding the classes informative and beneficial to helping them prepare their body and mindset for their upcoming births & postpartum

15.01.2022 We love this image & we hope it resonates with you we also want to take this time to remind you that we still have a few spaces left in our May group class. These classes are now being done using Zoom, so you will attend from the comfort of your own home. We cover information about the temporary birthing unit at Wollongong hospital and the latest information around Covid-19. For all the topics we cover in our classes, pricing and how to book, you can check out our website

13.01.2022 Welcome earthside little one. @home_grown_photography

12.01.2022 I tried to do stories and a video but was too emotional to form decent sentences. Imagine being told your baby no longer had a heartbeat and was going to be bo...rn still. Now imagine having to birth that baby with only 1 known support person. Now imagine the feeling of grandparents, aunts & uncles not meeting that sweet babe. This is the devastating reality of local families right now. The government has relaxed restrictions, you can have visitors at your home, go to a pub, play at a playground, go exercise in groups...but you can’t have more than one person in your support team for a big life moment such as birth? Not even an exemption for a situation such as a stillbirth? This is not ok. Our families deserve better.

09.01.2022 For Caesearean Awareness Month we are sharing a video on the layers of caesarean birth. You may have seen this type of video around the Internet already but thi...s is ours Also just wanted to say again that midwives are present at caesarean births however only doctors such as obstetricians or trainee obstetricians perform the surgery. See more

07.01.2022 Happy International day of the Midwife! Thank you midwives Thank you for loving & supporting families through one of life’s biggest transitions. You are with families in the hardest and best moment of their lives, sometimes also the saddest. Thank you for continuously showing up, for leaving your stuff at the door so you can be present in the moment, for reminding birthing parents that they can do hard things & that they are strong. Thank you for choosing the career you did, we love you tag a midwife you love & appreciate @caught.photographics

06.01.2022 The drop in female hormones after birth is considered the single LARGEST sudden hormone change in the SHORTEST amount of time, for any human being, at any point... in their life. Get this - during pregnancy your estrogen and progesterone will increase to the level of taking almost 100 BIRTH CONTROL PILLS in one day! And then within a matter of three days after birth you're essential back to a baseline of what your hormones were before pregnancy - and even lower. So you can imagine this is a little like PMS on steroids! The drop in hormones you experience after pregnancy stimulates your body to produce a hormone called prolactin - which signals your milk-making glands to produce breast milk. Exclusively breastfeeding actually suppresses your natural estrogen and progesterone levels to keep your breast milk supply high and your periods away. If you do not breastfeed - prolactin levels will drop and you may experience a period as early as 6 weeks after birth. If you combine feed your baby your hormone levels will also change - prolactin levels and milk supply will drop slightly, estrogen & progesterone will rise and you may also experience a period while breastfeeding. WHY IS THIS SIGNIFICANT? A surge in oxytocin after birth and during breastfeeding compensates for the initial drop of estrogen and progesterone. Around 6 weeks those positive post-birth hormones can begin to fade and you might start noticing the effects of low progesterone and estrogen. These two hormones are key to making dopamine and serotonin, two neurotransmitters in the brain that are important in feeling calm and happy. So, with a reduction in post-birth hormones, progesterone and estrogen some women might start to experience the baby-blues. If this is you - please know it is completely natural to feel overwhelmed. Reach out, get support & find tools to help you through this crazy hormonal ride. WHEN WILL HORMONES RETURN TO NORMAL? Hormones can return to normal anywhere from 6 weeks- 6 months postpartum (depending on breastfeeding). Pregnancy can sometimes cause your hormones to go a little whacky! Seek support if your hormones do not return to normal, you experience delayed menstrual cycles after breastfeeding, are anxious, depressed, have low libido, chronic fatigue, weight gain, heavy menstrual cycles or other unpleasant symptoms. Functional Naturopathy

05.01.2022 \\ MEET THE TEAM // Amelia is one half of Illawarra Birth Classes and the owner of The Illawarra Doula. She is a wife, a mum, a friend, a philosopher and a lover of doggo’s. Amelia has been attending births for 10 years, and loves her work as a Doula & birth educator.

05.01.2022 Emma Isaacs is live streaming her homebirth over on Instagram if you want to see what birth could look like, go check it out

03.01.2022 We love hearing from our couples to let us know their baby has been born and how their birth went. We especially love getting all the photos of gorgeous squishy newborns (Our class on 31st August is sold out but we have a few spots left for September and October. Click the link in our bio to book )

02.01.2022 Does movement in labor help the birth process at all? That would be a yes! This is a great visual that I've shown my clients of how movement, before and d...uring labor, can help with baby position. All the sifting and moving and shaking, specifically with the rebozo, can help get baby in a more ideal position for birth. ___ by @babyfitnorwich #trulynatural #catchdat @cajunstork #deliveringjoy