#271 | June Q&A: Boundaries When Pregnant, Pre-eclampsia & AROM, Mobile Monitoring, Posterior Babies & Pelvic Shape, Placenta Consumption for PPH

Welcome to the June Q&A with Cynthia and Trisha! Today, we start the episode with all the romantic, hilarious, and random ways our community met their spouses, and we finish the episode with one woman's question to us: "If you were a dog, what kind would you be?" -- you'll hear us reach out to a friend on the spot to answer that question for us. In the regular version of this episode, we answer the following questions:

• Help! I am losing trust in my body after having experienced miscarriage. What do I do?
• My midwife told me I that my pelvic shape causes me to have back labor and a posterior baby. Is this true?
• How can I manage negative comments at work about pregnancy in general?
• Is artificial rupture of membranes a necessary part of induction for pre-eclampsia?

In the extended version of today's episode, available on Patreon and Apple subscriptions, we answer the following:

• Should you limit time spent breastfeeding to ensure a baby doesn't burn too many calories feeding at the breast?
• Do I have to be monitored continuously in labor for high blood pressure?
• Does consuming the placenta or cord tissue after after birth prevent postpartum hemorrhage? My midwife told me this is a biohazard. Is this true?

As always, we close with a round of rapid fire quickies! Thank you for your excellent questions and please continue to call them in to our hotline at 802-438-3696 or 802-GET-DOWN!

**********
Down to Birth is sponsored by:
Silverette Nursing Cups -- Soothe and heal sore nipples with 925 silver nursing cups.
Postpartum Soothe -- Herbs and padsicles to heal and comfort.
Needed -- Our favorite nutritional products to nourish yourself before, during, and after pregnancy.
Use promo code: DOWNTOBIRTH for all of the above sponsors.
DrinkLMNT -- Purchase LMNT with this unique link and receive a free 8-day supply. Be sure to use the unique link to buy yours today.

Connect with us on Patreon for our exclusive content.
Email Contact@DownToBirthShow.com
Instagram @downtobirthshow
Call us at 802-GET-DOWN

Work with Cynthia:
203-952-7299
HypnoBirthingCT.com

Work with Trisha:
734-649-6294

Please remember we don’t provide medical advice. Speak to your licensed medical provider for all your healthcare matters.

Transcript

She also let me know that I have an extremely narrow and long pelvis called anthropoid pelvis.

Supposedly, the anthropoid pelvis is more prone to posterior babies because the wider part of the opening is toward the back.

But I don't understand why this is such an important study. It seems like we're going we're getting a little too intellectual, trying to divvy up all the pelvises into shapes and be like, ooh, this one's bad shape.

It's just for medical textbooks. It sounds problematic and it sounds useless.

It's really frustrating to me that they speak so negatively about pregnancy, and it's like, I never get to enjoy the days when I'm actually feeling good, because there's always something --

this phrase, move with your machine is just terrible. It's awful.

I'm Cynthia Overgard, owner of HypnoBirthing of Connecticut, childbirth advocate and postpartum support specialist. And I'm Trisha Ludwig, certified nurse midwife and international board certified lactation consultant. And this is the Down To Birth Podcast. Childbirth is something we're made to do. But how do we have our safest and most satisfying experience in today's medical culture? Let's dispel the myths and get down to birth.

Hey, hello, and welcome to the June Q A summer. We're both sporting good tans from sitting out in the sun today.

Yeah, you know, well, sunburned girl, well, suntan.

It's a teeny bit red.

I always start off little bronze.

It'll be tan tomorrow. That's how it goes. The first time

I've never burned in the Northeast. You know, I don't use sunblock.

I do a little, but by the next day, it's tan. I don't really use much sunblock either, except on my face.

I do think, well, that that counts as using sunblock, yeah, but you gotta protect the face. You just have to. I have burned in Brazil and in um, Key Biscayne. I've burned terribly when I especially when I was like, young and just wanted a tan. And on day one, I'm like, my dad would always be, like, 15 minutes tops, on day one, you're building your base tan. I'd be like, I'm good, it's okay. I'd push it and end up with like terrible burns.

Oh no. Now I say the exact same thing to my daughters as my mother said to me, get out of the sun. They're going to be ruining the rest of the trip. It's powerful.

Yes indeed. So we asked a fun question on Instagram at the end of my hypnobirthing class. I love to when we're kind of wrapping up the class, I love to ask everyone to share something about themselves, and I say, if you don't know what to share, then tell me how the two of you met. And through the years, I've heard incredible, incredible stories about how some people have met. But anyway, maybe I'll share a little of that today. But anyway, let's, um, let's hear what some people have said to that. Okay, so I first want to just comment and say I got a kick out of how many, yes, of course, several, many, apparently, met online. A lot wrote, Tinder isn't Tinder. The one isn't Tinder. Just for hookups, yeah, isn't Tinder. Like I'll say, I'm in, I'm in Cincinnati for a night. Who's around? Isn't that what that what that one is? All right?

Yeah. But I mean, I guess one night can turn into a lifetime.

I think that's what happened. And I do wonder if those couples are particularly attracted to each other, since that was the basis of the beginning of their relationship, right? Like maybe they're still having great shouldn't

all couples be particularly attracted to each other? Yeah, but I'm

just saying it's the opposite of the couples where the love grew like they were friends. Oh, I see, and that's beautiful too, like you and Paul did each other for years. And, you know, yes, you were a little kid with a touch on the camp counselor, and that's, oh yes, I was. That's a whole different pathway into love. All right, so let's see a few of these. My first job, I was a hostess, and he was a dishwasher. The rest is history. Prom, 2011 Look at that. College high school sweethearts summer camp. There you go. There we go. I get that camp. He was a canoe instructor, and I led the creative

arts. You know, when you're 24/7 24/7 living in the same space. It can it can go fast. We

met at a pet store. He worked as a rep for a dog food company, and I was the cashier a lot at college, university classes in a bar. Oh my gosh, here we go. You ready for this? My grandma? My grandma married his grandpa at 89 and 90 years old. Can you believe that their grandparents fell in love at age 89, and 90 got married, and that's how they met. That's unbelievable. Isn't that beautiful? That's that is True Romance, right there. That is what that's why I do this, because some of these stories, one of my favorite stories, too, that I. Ever heard was the guy was on a boardwalk walking with his buddies, and she was on the boardwalk walking with her girlfriends the opposite direction. They were all coming toward each other. They were all about to pass each other, and he tripped over the towel she was dragging. That isn't that so romantic. That's just amazing. Okay, he was a musician and I was a belly dancer. Oh, this is so cute. So his best friend moved into the house across the street from me. That's so sweet. Oh, look at this. He was working in my small town from out of state. I was his waitress on my last shift. Ever

see? Destiny. They this couple met on Mount Kilimanjaro, wow, wow. And turned out they only lived two hours from each other in the US when we were 10 and 11 at my brother's Little League baseball game. See, I used to go to my brother's Little League baseball games and nothing i Yeah.

All right, all your brothers' friends liked you.

Yeah, they were, they were good. It's like growing up with a lot of big brothers at the hospital. I was a nurse in the ER, he was a firefighter. You got to see this. Listen to this. We met in college, but later discovered, I cannot believe this, that we were in the same first grade class.

We found the class picture and made it part of our wedding favor. Wow. So they, they must have been in the same town and then moved and then, yeah, same college. Yeah,
yeah. At a bodybuilding show, he won, and I handed out the medal in trophy and slipped your number with the trophy while

he's standing there, practically naked. Look at this in the parking lot of a hospital I was leaving after a doula birth. He saw me walk out exhausted, and offered to buy me breakfast. Um, I, oh my gosh. Look at this one. I was four months pregnant, going through a divorce three months ago, he was there when I had my daughter at home. He listened to your podcast and read books to prepare Whoa, that is a very we were part of that love story then, weren't we? It's a very remarkable guy who meets a pregnant woman and steps in like that amazing lot of language classes in college, and I'm not surprised by that, because in language classes, you tend to be more social. You talk a lot. There's some laughter. You get to know each other Middle School. Work together at the 2016 Rio Olympics. I'm from Rio. He's from New York. I was a pro ballerina, and he was part of the backstage crew. I was 17 and he was 21 been together 11 years. One said it's she's with her boss. Then we have a bunch of tinders. Again, everyone's having things that's a little risky. The boss, he was a police cadet at the courthouse. I'm a defense lawyer, and we saw each other daily. Blind Date. I thought he was rude. He thought I was arrogant in a laundry room in college, working at Walmart night shift. We laugh about it. You can find anything at Walmart, cute. He's the brother of my best friend, Tinder. He flew to New York from Texas to meet in person for weekend getaway I planned with nights. That's a good profile photo. If you get someone to fly across the country to spend a weekend with you, I'll say saw him walking his puppy, and he asked and asked to pet her. He asked me on of course, the dog thing. Yeah, he knew that. He knew he would pick up. He knew he would, yeah, he got a puppy for that reason, a Burning Man festival in Joshua Tree. Love at first sight, jiu jitsu classes, teenagers, high school. I hated him. Actually got to know him in a college class on a role playing website. Well, you know, love and hate are very fine line. Do you Do you really think so?

I do. Actually, I don't think between us it is. We just love each other. We haven't really crossed into the hate territory, have we? No and we're not going to. We're in season five. Season Five, for God's sake, we're past the I don't know, in podcasting, it can't be a seven year itch. It's got to be like a six month itch for podcasters. It's a very intimate relationship.

Long Haul, baby, we're in it for the long haul. Worked in the same Research Institute. Okay? Two intellects programming camp when we were 16, more intellects programming camp. We met while playing a Quest game on the phone. He flew out from California to Colorado for dinner. Well, well, what's a Quest game?

I don't know. Wow, no idea. Jade, even though I'm not Jewish, that's Liz, my ex introduced us, then cheated on me, grateful for all of it.

Well, yep, it's all over the place. That's our let me it just goes to show you your your person could be anywhere at any time, and just keep your eyes open, right, all right. So should we get on to our questions now we shall we have some great ones as always. Thank you everyone for calling into our hotline at 802-438-3696, or 802, get down.

No, you have to go. Get down.

Oh, get down. Yeah.

Yeah, there's no other way to say those two words. Get down. That was a big, that was a big term in in the 70s. It kind of had, like, a lot of innuendo. It's ourselves with that. No, well, it's not like we remember hanging out together in the 70s. I'm just saying,

No, we were definitely not hanging out together 70s. I was barely born. No, but we know 70s music, and we know, we know about the 70s, and that was, like, a, that's a, that's a common phrase in 70s music, get down and it, you know, there's that meaning, yeah, it's in a lot of songs. It means dance, or it means, you know, get busy, if you know what I mean. I mean it means a lot of things. Yeah, it means a lot. That's why we like it. That's why we like it. And it means get down to birth. Hi,

ladies, just a quick question for you. I had a great pregnancy and unmedicated hospital delivery after taking the hypnobirthing class with Cynthia and now kind of looking towards my second baby, I have had one chemical pregnancy. I've had several friends lose babies, and I'm kind of losing that trust in my body and in this whole process, which I know is vitally important, especially for hypnobirthing. And I'm just curious if you have any tips or comments about regaining that trust and kind of knowing that your body is going to make a healthy pregnancy and have a beautiful delivery. It's just been a little bit eye opening, and it kind of popped that bubble for me of trust and ignorance. Maybe, I'm not sure. Um, happy to hear your thoughts. Thank you so much. Have a good day. Bye. Well, blessed, blissful ignorance, exactly.

I love that she said that at the end, because, you know, ignorance is bliss, and we didn't. We didn't know so much, like when you and I were getting pregnant, even 20 years ago, people were not paying so much attention and tracking everything so diligently, like people's tracking their ovulation constantly and their LH surges and Knowing if they're pregnant so early, like it. I feel like that ignorance is a little bit of bliss. And I also just want to say that whether or not you conceive easily or not has zero to do with how you how your pregnancy and birth go. There's no correlation there. You know, you, you, you, you had me at when we got pregnant 20 years ago, because you made me realize that in June of 2004 I conceived Alex this very years ago, exactly 20 years ago, the only answer I have, well, first of all, I hope any listener knows they can take my hypnobirthing class that I personally get to know every single couple in class, and it's a pleasure when they call in and it's it's you do want to get the right class and the right support. And in hypnobirthing, we address the mind, because it's an incredibly important part of the birth before we get into the physiology, before we get into the birth plan, it's really the first component of the class. And you won't regret it people and like it or not, this is the work you have to do on your own. I wish I could give just the right pep talk and make everyone feel all the confidence and trust in the world, but that comes with learning the tools and getting informed. But you're in control of your thoughts, and that's sort of the responsibility you have. I see you're itching to say something. What is it? Well, like, what about the days when, and we know that one in five pregnancies miscarries, but like, what about the days when we just had a period a week late and you didn't really know what was happening? Like, we have to get back to that more if you don't, if we're, if we're not so so much in the left brain, as left brain as I always say, it's a little easier to just accept that this is because, kind of like the part of this is part of nature. It just doesn't work every time well. But I'm thinking of the part where she said, I'm losing that, that sense of trust. And I just want to say to her, you're not losing it, you're not losing anything, but the message to yourself that you're losing that trust is is going to mess with you. You can handle keeping your resolve. You can hand the thing is the self talk.

And we can decrease our exposure. We don't have to be looking at every woman who every woman's, you know, pregnancy test on social media or or taking a pregnancy test two days before we're expecting our our period. I know this is not easy, like, I know it's, it's very hard when this is what you want most of all, but we have to just get in the flow of nature. Little bit more and trust that these these parts, this is a normal part of the process. Not every conception goes on. It just doesn't you have to remind yourself that those thoughts actually have nothing to do with you or your baby. They're just thoughts, and we have to be careful not to allow ourselves to get haunted by everything we hear and everything we encounter. And how do we do that, yes, with education and information, but by really learning how to control our focus and pay attention to what we put our focus on. This is only happening because you're focusing on these disturbing thoughts. So how do we change that? That's one of the countless things that we address in in my hypnobirthing class. Check it out HypnoBirthingCT.com.

Hi, ladies. I just have a quick question about boundaries. I'm currently 18 weeks pregnant, and I have two female coworkers who are also pregnant and but they're about 10 weeks ahead of me. I also have two male coworkers whose wives are pregnant, so pregnancy gets discussed a lot at work. I've noticed, like, a more negative and unsolicited advice or comments from the two female coworkers and anyone else at work, and it's really frustrating. For example, the other day, one of them asked me, like, how I was doing, if I was, like, feeling very much pelvic pain because my bunk is kind of, you know, growing a little bit. And they and I just said, oh, you know, I'm doing good. I'm just just a little icky, but no issues. And the other one just kind of laughed at me, and is like, well, just wait, you know, like, that'll change. And they've also made other comments as well, just telling me, like, how uncomfortable they are, how in pain they are, and just all this stuff it's and just telling me to like, oh, just wait till you get to where I'm at and you're in pain constantly or whatever. It's really frustrating to me that they speak so negatively about pregnancy, and it's like, I never get to enjoy the days, and I'm actually feeling good because there's always something negative to look forward to, and I really want to have, like, positive language and just good vibes about my pregnancy and birth experience. So it's just again, it's just really frustrating. So I was just wondering how I should approach this with them in a kind but for my knowing I'm going to have to interact with them on a daily basis going forward, I would love your feedback and your advice. Thank you so much. Bye.

This is a very common situation for clients of mine, and I personally was in this situation because I was working at MasterCard when I was pregnant, and everyone loves to comment on pregnancy, but women in my class go through this a lot because my class this isn't a client of mine, but my class attracts the rare women who actually want to go through this as positively and non dramatically as possible, in a culture where women like to use birth as not a rite of passage, but as a badge of honor, because of like all that they go through. And the women who come to my class, I have so much I don't know admiration and affection for them and respect for them, because their big dream is to get through birth and say, yeah, it was doable. It went well. It was beautiful, it was good, it was fine. Not the women who want to say to their partners the rest of their lives, you don't know what I've been through. So when you have a woman who actually wants to remain positive and feel connected to her baby in a positive way, and then she's in society like at work, where we can't control who we're with, we're hearing these negative things. You can't help that you work with these people. So I just want to say I'm not surprised. It's the women more than the men who are doing that. It just underscores for you how different and special you are, that you want to go through this calmly and then it's just a matter of not engaging. Don't engage. Change the subject. Find your people to connect. The women in my class, the couples in my class, always exchange info and connect with each other. Find your people and stay close to them and have a wall up with everyone else, because they'll drive you crazy. They drove me crazy in my pregnancy at work. I just don't understand why people feel the need to project their like problems on other people or their experiences on other people when they're negative like that. What? Why? What's the point? What does it do for you?

It's kind of like how some women want to get together and talk terribly about their mothers in law, just because, just because it's a thing to do. And there are other women who who just they don't want to do that. They want to love their mothers in law, and if they do have a hard time with her, they still don't want to get negative about her. It's just a cultural thing. It's just a cultural practice. That's all it is. So it's tough because you're in the minority, so that it is something to feel good about. You have to work harder to find your people. When you find them, it's amazing. Feels incredible.

Great advice. Work is tough because you're really stuck with those people. You really can't choose them. Yeah, and you that just means you have to set stronger boundaries. And you know, they may not like you for it, but, oh, well, Oh, well.

Hi. My name is Gabby. I'm from Albany, New York, and I just had a question. I'm currently pregnant with my second kid, and I ended up developing preeclampsia in my first pregnancy right at the very end, in the event that I end up having preeclampsia again, and they want to reduce me, is it possible for me to refuse having an artificial rupture of membrane. Last time I waited as long as I could, and they still pushed for it. Basically, I was just wondering, how long? Is too long, and is it possible to decline and still wait, as you know, for a spontaneous rupture no matter what. Thank you. Bye. You think that's a new listener? I think so. Gotta be a new listener. Yes, everyone else is like screaming the answer.

No such thing is too long.

Don't let them do an amniotomy. We're super against it. I'm super against amniotomies. Yeah. So what do you do? You want to answer that one?

Yeah. I mean, it does not need to be part of an induction. If you are getting Pitocin, you are being induced. If you are getting cyber tech, you're being induced. You're getting a fillable you're being induced. But rupturing the membranes does not need to be part of that process to move the induction forward. You do want to leave your bag of water intact in order to help the baby tolerate the labor. It's really good for them to stay in that water. It's really good for their well being. It's really good for your contractions. It's really good for helping them be optimally positioned. As you know, there are only, like a teeny, tiny little segment of time where I might be in favor of breaking the bag of water, but that is a rare scenario. So the new listener, the newly pregnant woman, or the preconception women are thinking, so when should I let them break the water Trisha, okay, well, we didn't address that.

We did talk about it in the well, we oh, this will be coming out later. We will be talking about it in the Nancy Wehner VBAC episode, we have a little conversation about that.

Surprise episode, two surprise episodes coming up in July. Yeah.

But occasionally, if the mother wants it, and she is very near fully dilated or fully dilated, and she's, you know, bearing down and pushing, and there's a bulging bag of water there, and the baby's head is kind of just like you can feel it up there, but that bag of water is like getting in the way of the head, really pressing on the cervix. Sometimes, just helping that bag release can bring the baby's head down. The baby is born really quickly, but that's totally optional.

I mean, the woman who's saying So then, how does the bag of water ever break? Oh, well, it breaks when it decides to break exactly you don't. It doesn't have to be done, just like it isn't done for the other mammals and it wasn't done for probably any of your ancestors.

Hi, Cynthia and Trisha. I recently gave birth to a six pound, nine ounce little boy, and had a very long, difficult labor and pushing stage after my birth, my midwife told me my baby was a sunny side up baby, which played a huge factor on how my delivery went. She also let me know that I have an extremely narrow and long pelvis called an anthropologist pelvis, which makes birth more difficult. So I was very lucky. My baby was as small as he was, she later on said that with my pelvis shape, I will most likely always have posterior babies, which makes me a bit anxious on future births. So my question to you guys is, do you have a lot of experience with the anthropoid pelvis, and do you have any suggestions on how I can prepare for my next birth? Thank you.

So technically, there are four types of pelvic shapes. Gynecoid being the most common. Gynecoid, gynecoid Pelvis, yeah, it's like ground pelvis gynecoid,

yes, okay, and anthropoid is like the second most common pelvic shape, and it's more like an egg shape and the pelvis. We're talking about the pelvis, yes, bones of the pelvis.

Yes, the the the inside of the pelvis. Okay, so the shape of your pelvis obviously affects how your baby's head fits into the pelvis. So there's again, four types. The the platyppoid type of pelvis is more narrow and flat and very uncommon and the most often associated with the need for surgical birth according to the textbooks

Void, like a platypus.

Yes, like flatter. Okay. Never problem with this. Yeah, really, no, never, okay.

This is standard education in midwifery and obstetrics, pelvic shape type. And we were you, we were actually taught in midwifery school and definitely taught in obstetric school to determine the shape of a woman's pelvis by digital exam.

You can write, you know, feel digital, meaning fingers. Fingers. Yeah, thanks. However,

we cannot put too much stock in this, because we know that the shape of the pelvis changes in pregnancy. We know that the pelvis moves in pregnancy. We know that relax and changes the pelvi shape. We also know that pelvis done by a clinician is not very reliable, and we also know that the baby's head position has so much more to do with how it fits through the pelvis than anything else, and the baby's head molds so you just can't make a determination about whether or not a woman is going to have a posterior baby or a C section or an easy birth based on the shape of her pelvis. It just all seems like a useless study. And by the what's the fourth kind Android, Android, supposedly the anthropoid pelvis is more prone to posterior babies because the wider part of the opening is toward the back.

So I don't, I don't love that the midwife said anything. I think if I were the midwife, I never would have I don't think we should ever say to women, oh, all your births are going to be like this, because we should petition, that's right. And also, as for the woman, like the cat's out of the bag. Now I would just say to the woman, if now that your midwife said that to you. Okay, so be it. So be it.

And she might be wrong, by the way, yeah, of course, she might

be wrong. And if the baby's posterior, the baby's posterior, and if it is that, it'll likely twist on the way out and be anterior anyway on the way out, just so, so be it. But I don't understand why this is such an important study. It seems like we're going we're getting a little too intellectual, trying to divvy up all the pelvises into shapes

because of that shape, it's anatomy, right? So they're studying the anatomy of the body, and then they determine it is totally subjective, and it's not like your pelvis fits into one of these four categories. Precisely, you might be a little bit between a gynecoid and a platypoid pelvis. You could have any shape of the ridiculous words, I will tell you. It is a chapter in my midwifery textbook sitting right

here on my desk. I have no doubt, and I was taught that we should know a woman's pelvic shape and size before she gives birth, so that we have some sense of how she's going to give birth.

Not only, it sounds problematic and it sounds useless.

Why should we go into any woman's birth with a notion of how that birth is going to go? How harmful is that based on something that's subjective in the first place? I mean, so interesting. It really is. It's just interesting that they do this, I think, post birth, you know, when a when a woman has a posterior baby, or she's had a C section, in some way, it's easier for a provider to write it off based on, Oh, you, you know, you have this type of pelvis, and that's just easier to justify a surgical birth, right? Lot of poied, I just run, really, the woman was probably just not given enough time, and she, you know, it's what she said is, I was, I was fortunate to have a small baby. I know I heard that, and we have to get rid of that. We have to get rid of that belief, because could have had an eight and a half pound baby the same. It just doesn't matter that much. The weight of the baby just doesn't matter that much. I just like to simplify all of this. We're humans, we're mammals. We're all meant to conceive and have babies, and we're best off trusting that and just letting the rest go, especially if we have a good, trusted provider in the room, then we're fine. We're covered.

There's a very important reason that a baby's head is that the bones of the baby's head are not fused, that they are move, and they can move a tremendous amount, and that baby's head can shape change to fit whatever type of pelvis you have, right?

That's it for the regular questions. If you're with us on Patreon, any Tier or Apple subscriptions, if you just tap that subscribe button, you will automatically get our extended episodes without ever having to do a thing. It'll show up right in your podcast feed, and you will never hear an ad again. What do you want to say? Let's also just mention that because Apple changed the way that episodes are downloaded onto people's phones, now that you should, even if you are not subscribing, you should add automatic downloads on your phone for Apple so that you get every episode downloaded to your phone. You don't have to remember on Wednesday at 5am to go looking for us, it'll show. Right up, right? All right, so let's move on to our extended questions. And if you're not with us on Apple subscriptions or Patreon, then we're moving on to quickies. But we hope you're with us.

Be with us. Be with us.

All right, it is officially quickly time. Yeah, Quickie, Quickie, quickie. Let's get into a quickie mindset. By

the way, we have we get fan mail. Now it's called fan mail, where anyone can text us. Unfortunately, we can't text them back. Okay, so we so women tend to text us and ask questions, and now we just get questions that it's not voicemail.

Oh, great. I have a place to ask questions. All right, maybe we have to do an episode, or maybe instead of quickies sometime. All right, so are we ready for some quickies? We're ready. Okay, here we go. First one. Does beet root juice work to prevent preeclampsia. Well, so, okay, so beets are beet juice. Beet root juice is associated with lower blood pressure, but that does not mean it's going to prevent pre eclampsia. So might it impact your blood pressure? Yes, but preeclampsia is about more than just high blood pressure, right?

That's interesting, because it's like saying high blood pressure causes preeclampsia, and you're saying high blood pressure isn't what causes it. It's the effect of of preeclampsia. It's it's a symptom of it, right, right?

Exactly. Okay. Next, are there any risks to the placenta taking longer than one hour to be born? Potentially, if a placenta is taking a very long time to be born. That could be because there is like an accreta, and then there's risk to that, but not necessarily. So what the time is not the issue. The issue is, why is the placenta not being born? I have a cervical terror. How will this affect the second birth? Had a cervical terror in a prior pregnancy or prior birth probably won't affect anything at all. Is she thinking stitches? Scar tissue? She must be and the stitches are gone at this point, maybe there's a little scar tissue. But that should be fine. It should not I would not worry about that.

Okay. Next, if I'm dilating at home, but labor is not progressing, when should I go into the hospital? You shouldn't. You shouldn't go the hospital.

If I'm done, what did it say if I'm dilating at home, if, if I'm dilated at home, but Labor's not progressing? When should I go to the hospital?

Well, first, what she's, how does she know she's dilating? What she's she's dilating, but labor isn't progressing? I don't, I don't follow this.

She's dilated, but Labor's not progressing. So she's four or five centimeters, and Labor's not progressing. You just need to you need to give yourself more time. You need to change things up a little bit. You need to take a rest. You need to take a shower. You need to take a bath. You need to eat. You need to hydrate and stay at home. There's no reason to go to the hospital unless you want to go to the hospital. Fair enough. Does a pendulous protruding belly make going into labor naturally more difficult? My midwife has me questioning my own body's potential to give birth because of my big pendulous belly.

What's a pendulous belly?

So a pendulous belly is one that tends to hang a little bit over the pelvic bone, and the idea is that it can make the uterus a little bit harder to contract or a little harder to get the baby in the optimal position because it's too relaxed. This can sometimes happen with mothers who have had multiple pregnancies, but her midwife planting this idea in her head is not a good thing, and I would not worry about this, another example of midwives who talk too much, right?

Show off all the things they know.

If you were a dog, what breed would you be?

Wow, you tell me what breed I would be. I'll tell you what breed you would be.

You would be okay. I'm asking Zu because she's good friends with both of us.

You'll know Okay, she'll have a good answer. She immediately said, Okay, Cynthia, you Border Collie. Okay? I said, why? She has to tell us why first, all right, hang on. I'm telling her to call Border Collies. Are super hyper, very protective, hurting dogs.

I could see myself as a herding dog. Yeah, this is all based on her perception of a border collie.

Okay, okay, Zu, you're on the air with down to birth. Show no pressure, no pressure. Okay. If I were a dog, what kind of dog would I be?

You would be a border collie.

Why would I be a border collie? Run in circles? Why would I be Patricia thinks because they run in circles.

You basically need a job. Need. Job. You're hardworking. They need a job. That's true. You're smart beyond reason,

and you're loyal. I love it.

And Trisha said I'm a border collie because they like to run in circles. So right now, no,

I said I was questioning it, because they like to run in circles. Right now, you're my blood sister friend. You'll get the joke when you're the episode. Trisha is not you misinterpreted my risk.

Thank you, zoo for the Okay, now, now, now, here's time now, here's time for revenge. What kind of dog is Trisha? I'm like, wrecking my brain. I want to say German Shepherd. Oh, because it's like the same, but in a different, like, straightforward, you know, kind of like, buy the book. Like, smart as hell as well, but very protective, protective, yes, yeah, you know what I I, I am. I stand behind this. I'm going to find more reason in my mind. But i think i This is that's a good one.

All right, so I'm a Border Collie, I think, though, yeah. All right.

Thank you so much for that. My brother's border Carly just runs in circles all day. All right, Zu, you're the best. Thanks for being through Bye. All right. Well, that was

fun, yeah, then he lays down and chills. I knew she'd have an answer. That was good. She's so good.

All right, all right. Well, now we know what kind of dogs here. Well, I'm

Yeah, never been asked that before. I never thought about that before.

Definitely changes the self image a little bit.

Thank you for joining us at the Down To Birth Show. You can reach us @downtobirthshow on Instagram or email us at Contact@DownToBirthShow.com. All of Cynthia’s classes and Trisha’s breastfeeding services are offered live online, serving women and couples everywhere. Please remember this information is made available to you for educational and informational purposes only. It is in no way a substitute for medical advice. For our full disclaimer visit downtobirthshow.com/disclaimer. Thanks for tuning in, and as always, hear everyone and listen to yourself.

He chases his tail all day long. Is it?

What kind of dog? Border Collie?

Such a good dog, though, such a good dog. I love him.

You're not making them sound smart. No, he's so smart.

No one who chases their tail all day long is smart. He's a little he's a little hyper focused. 

Okay, what a feel good question. Thank God they didn't say cat.