Ep 62: At Your Cervix

Explicit content warning

11/29/18 • 79 min

Birth Kweens

Buckle up for a thorough discussion about cervical exams, kweens! Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

What is a cervical exam and how are they performed
What’s being assessed in a cervical exam (i.e. dilation, effacement, station, cervical ripeness and position, etc.)
How to do a respectful cervical exam
Tips for how to make exams more comfortable for the person receiving them
Cervical exams during pregnancy – why they’re done and whether they’re actually necessary
The role that cervical exams play in inductions of labor and why it’s important to know your Bishop’s Score before starting an induction
Definition of a membrane sweep (aka – stretch and sweep)
The lowdown on cervical exams during labor, including the risks and benefits
The normal frequencies of cervical exams in labor in a hospital vs. birth center/home birth
Discussion about the recent change in definition of the start of active labor from 4cm to 6cm
Some myths about cervical exams and dilation in labor
The resources mentioned about the uterine infection chorioamnionitis
The pros and cons of the birthing person knowing the numbers associated with their cervical exams in labor
Discussion about how labor progress and cervical dilation are not always linear

Support our sponsor and get your own subscription to Ritual vitamins by going to Ritual.com/KWEENS.

Get yourself some Birth Kweens gear in our new online shop!

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Buckle up for a thorough discussion about cervical exams, kweens! Here’s what you’ll hear about in this episode:

What is a cervical exam and how are they performed
What’s being assessed in a cervical exam (i.e. dilation, effacement, station, cervical ripeness and position, etc.)
How to do a respectful cervical exam
Tips for how to make exams more comfortable for the person receiving them
Cervical exams during pregnancy – why they’re done and whether they’re actually necessary
The role that cervical exams play in inductions of labor and why it’s important to know your Bishop’s Score before starting an induction
Definition of a membrane sweep (aka – stretch and sweep)
The lowdown on cervical exams during labor, including the risks and benefits
The normal frequencies of cervical exams in labor in a hospital vs. birth center/home birth
Discussion about the recent change in definition of the start of active labor from 4cm to 6cm
Some myths about cervical exams and dilation in labor
The resources mentioned about the uterine infection chorioamnionitis
The pros and cons of the birthing person knowing the numbers associated with their cervical exams in labor
Discussion about how labor progress and cervical dilation are not always linear

Support our sponsor and get your own subscription to Ritual vitamins by going to Ritual.com/KWEENS.

Get yourself some Birth Kweens gear in our new online shop!

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Previous Episode

Ep 61: A Positive Induction Story

This episode is another great birth story! Our guest, Beth, shares about the birth of her daughter, Fiona. Beth needed to be induced, but with the help of her awesome husband, a supportive birth team, and a solid foundation of childbirth education she was still able to have an empowering and positive birth experience! She shares about the process of finding a supportive care provider (after being told that she’d haveto have a cesarean by her first doctor), hiring a doula, and navigating the process of an induction without using any pain medication.

Here’s where you can find the great birth affirmation cards that Beth mentions in this episode - http://www.amothersnaturebirth.com/store/p4/42_Pregnancy_and_Birth_Affirmation_Cards.html

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Next Episode

Ep 63: Decoding Gestational Diabetes with Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE

This episode we’re talking to Lily Nichols, RDN, CDE about gestational diabetes. Lily is a Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist, Certified Diabetes Educator, researcher, and author with a passion for evidence-based prenatal nutrition and exercise. Her work is known for being research-focused, thorough, and unapologetically critical of outdated dietary guidelines. She’s the author of two bestselling books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes. Here’s what we covered in our conversation with her:

How Lily got into this field (specifically, how the outdated approach to treating GD piqued her interest)
The definition of gestational diabetes
How GD is diagnosed, including the evidence for using A1C levels as a diagnostic indicator of GD in early pregnancy
The different classifications of GD and how each one is treated
Why having GD can be a big deal both during pregnancy and for the remainder of a pregnant person’s life
The potential complications and risk factors than can occur when someone has GD/high blood sugar in pregnancy
The potential negative consequences of chronically unmanaged blood sugar levels for a baby (both in utero/during birth and for the rest of their lives)
A discussion about standard GD testing methods and possible alternatives
Lily’s two blog posts about her own experience with the Glucola test
- https://lilynicholsrdn.com/why-i-drank-the-glucola/
- https://lilynicholsrdn.com/i-failed-the-glucola/
Another great article by Lily on common myths about GD - https://lilynicholsrdn.com/9-gestational-diabetes-myths/
A discussion about ketosis in pregnancy and whether it’s actually harmful for a developing baby
The important role that exercise plays in blood sugar management
How vitamin D supplementation can impact blood sugar regulation in pregnancy
The relationship between the microbiome and blood sugar control

Click here to check out Lily’s website and access all of the resources she has to offer (including some great freebies!). You can follow Lily on Instagram and Facebook and buy her two amazing books, Real Food for Pregnancy and Real Food for Gestational Diabetes.

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