Blissful Birth Overview

Blissful Birth

Blissful Birth is here to empower and nurture you through pregnancy, birth and beyond. Comprehensive, holistic childbirth education prepares you and your partner for your birth, mind, body and spirit. Birth doula care services nurture and empower you through the extraordinary experience of your birth. Classes in Chicago and northern suburbs. Visit us online for more information and for current class schedules. Blissful Birth~ embrace your birthright.

Product Description

Following on from "Joyful Pregnancy", "Blissful Birth" is a superb high quality double CD by the UK's best selling audio hypnotherapist Glenn Harrold and Janey Lee Grace, co-presenter of the BBC Steve Wright Radio 2 show. Janey is a mother of 4 young children, author of "Imperfectly Natural Baby and Toddler" and the Patron of the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers.CD 1 is an inspirational recording by Janey Lee Grace, which has two tracks to help you before and after giving birth. On track 1 Janey offers encouragement and advice for the last few weeks of pregnancy (taken from her own personal experience of four natural births) and explains how to prepare your mind and body for the birth you desire. Much of the pain of labour can be eased by simple visualisation techniques but Janey offers practical suggestions too. Track 2 is to be used post-natally to help through those first few days and weeks. Janey will give you tips as to how to nurture yourself and your newborn baby naturally.CD 2 also has two tracks to help you before and after giving birth. Both tracks are high quality hypnotherapy recordings combining powerful clinical hypnotherapy techniques with state of the art digital recording technology. On both tracks you will be guided into a wonderful state of mental and physical relaxation. Track 1 will help you prepare for the final stages of your pregnancy and giving birth and track two will help you after giving birth. At the end of each recording you will be gently brought back to full waking consciousness with a combination of suggestion and music.

Baby On The Way? Think Paternity Leave

Paternity leave is when a father-to-be takes a break from work upon the birth of the child. Although, there it is allowed for fathers to take advantage of this, the said leave is rarely paid. The state of California was the first state to offer a paid paternity leave in 2004.

The British government has approved a paid leave, giving fathers about $200 a week while on a paternity leave. Other countries like Sweden, Japan, Finland, Greece, Australia, France Spain, Blegium, Germany, Ireland and Norway are offering parental leave benefits. Although, in the United States, paternity leave is not paid, a lot of fathers are still taking day off and vacation when their baby is born.

Actually, not all fathers are aware that their organization or company is offering paternity leave. According to Monster Intelligence Father’s Day Survey, about 31% of fathers know about such work benefit. From that small percentage, only more than half of them or 58% actually used it.

In a survey by the Families and Work Institute in 2005, only 13% of employers provide paid paternity leave in the United States. This could be considered backward compared to other developed countries who are offering paid paternity leave. Take Italy as an example, fathers could have a leave for three months which still allows them to take about 80% of their salary.

Paternity leave is actually mandated by the law. According to the Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), a father of a new child, whether adopted or foster, could take an unpaid leave of not more than twelve weeks. After the twelve weeks, there should be no problems returning with your job. The employer must allow you to retain your position, salary, benefits, and work seniority.

However, not everybody could take advantage of this job-protected paternity leave. You could only take advantage of this is you have worked with your employer for at least 12 months or 1,250 hours. The paternity leave also applies if you work for a local or state federal government or any company that has more than 50 employees.

Companies can also have their own regulations about paternity leave. For example, there are some companies that refuse such benefit for employees who have crucial role in the company and those who are part of the 10% highest earning employees in the company. Aside from that, having your partner or wife working in the same company may also affect your parental privileges. The best thing to do is to coordinate with the human resources department about the benefit.

What do you get with spending time with your new baby?

Fathers who have taken advantaged of the paternity leave would say that the experience was wonderful. Taking time off to bond with the baby and the family, helps a father reconnect with a man’s commitment to his family.

A lot of factors contribute to a father’s refusal or inability to be with the child early in their lives, like sacrificing their income. There are parents who cannot extend their leaves due to the family’s economic situation. That is aside from that fact that some fathers on a paternity leave would often find themselves scrutinized by some of their co-workers.

But it is beyond that, paternity leaves will both benefit the father and the child. It is just a matter of making the government and also the public to understand that.

Paternity DNA Testing: Chorionic Villus Sampling for Early Pregnancy

If amniocentesis is performed at later stages of pregnancy, women who want to undergo paternity tests during the early stages are prescribed to have chorionic villus sampling or CVS.

The sample will be used to study the DNA, chromosomes, and enzymes of the fetus. It is often performed during the first trimester or 10 to 13th week of pregnancy. However, this procedure has also been prescribed to as early as eight week of pregnancy to mothers at special circumstances.

This procedure involves the removal of a small piece of placenta tissue, also called chorionic villi, from the uterus for laboratory tests. Chorionic villus sampling uses an ultrasound to pick the safest method and serves as guide during the sampling.

First, the abdominal ultrasound is performed in determining the position of the uterus, the size of the gestational sac, and the position of the placenta within the uterus. After which, the vulva, vagina, cervix, and abdomen are disinfected using antiseptic such as Betadine.

There are two ways to perform this procedure: transcervical or transabdominal method. Both methods are equally safe when done by experienced doctors. However, studies show that chances for miscarriage are potentially high when done through the cervix.

Using an ultrasound in guiding the process, the transcervical procedure entails inserting of a thin plastic tube through the vagina and cervix until it reaches the placenta. Then, the doctor will remove a sufficient amount of chorionic villus tissue for sampling.

On the other hand, the transabdominal procedure is done by inserting a needle which passes through the abdomen, uterus, and into the placenta. Ultrasound is also used in this process for guidance. The same amount of chorionic villus tissue is removed for sampling.

After removing the sample, this is placed on a dish and is delivered to the laboratory for testing. The test results may take about one to two weeks. Abnormal results may mean more than 200 disorders including Down syndrome, hemoglobinopathies, and Tay-Sachs disease to name a few.

Aside from prenatal diagnosis, Chorionic villus sampling is a procedure to identify chromosomal or genetic disorders in the fetus. In some cases such as the pregnant woman is 35 years of age and above, there is an abnormal first trimester screen results, or there is an increased nuchal translucency, this procedure is also recommended. However, chorionic villus sampling cannot detect neural tube defects and Rh incompatibility.

The risks of chorionic villus sampling are higher than amniocentesis. There are higher chances for miscarriage, infection, and amniotic fluid leakage. The amniotic fluid leakage can also lead to low amniotic fluid level – a condition known as oligohydramnios. If this condition is not treated, the child can develop a hypoplastic lungs or underdeveloped lungs.

Other risks include possible complications such as bleeding, infection, Rh incompatibility in the mother, and rupture of membranes. Symptoms of complications include fever and excessive bleeding and vaginal discharge.

In addition, it may also cause limb problems in the fetus although this is rather low when the procedure is performed after 10 weeks gestational age.