Hypnobirthing Classes, Part II

You would think that after the second time attending our birthing class I would remember how to get there, but of course, before our 3^rd class I went the wrong way and we ended up 10 minutes late. I blame the so-called “baby brain” that affects women in the 3^rd trimester, or possibly it is the steadily decreasing amount of sleep I am getting each night. Whatever it is, Joe is very distressed over the fact that my memory hasn’t been the best lately, especially considering that he isn’t the best at navigating…

We started the class with a discussion about nutrition during pregnancy. Being that we are a multicultural group, it was interesting to hear how greatly advice regarding nutrition can vary from country to country. For example, Koreans and Japanese eat raw fish throughout their pregnancy. In US, we are warned to eat fish and seafood in moderation, but Koreans often increase the amount of fish and seafood they eat during pregnancy because research shows that it has a positive impact on the baby’s intelligence. While protein is encouraged, Koreans are encouraged to limit the meat that they eat. Note that Koreans do not consider fish meat. This can cause a lot of confusion for vegetarians that visit Korea. Most Koreans also take iron in addition to their prenatal vitamin, whether they need it or not. Once they know the gender of their baby, they eat certain foods to make the baby more attractive. Eating fruit while you are pregnant with a girl supposedly makes her prettier.

All Koreans, no matter their size, are told they should gain no more than 12 kilograms (approximately 26.5 pounds). If you gain more than that your doctor will probably tell you that you are fat (Koreans are pretty blunt about weight), and sometimes they will refuse to give you an epidural or won’t allow you to have a natural birth (in Korea a natural birth is defined as the absence of a c-section). Korean babies are typically a little bit smaller than western babies, but I have heard that this is changing as a result of increased hormones in their foods. At our last ultrasound (5 weeks ago), the doctor informed me that my baby’s head was small (the baby definitely gets this from Joe- my head was huge when I was born) and that her arms and legs were very long. Actually, the length of her arms and legs pushed her due date up by almost 3 weeks. However, Korean babies are known for their large heads, and Koreans in general have much shorter arms and legs than Caucasians.

Our next topic was birth plans and what they should include. A birth plan expresses your wishes (pre-labor, during labor, and after the baby is born) to your care provider. Unless the baby is born early or we have to be transferred to a hospital, we shouldn’t need a birth plan. All of our care providers have worked with Lisa (our doula) before, so they are very familiar with what her mothers want.

These are the highlights from our discussion on birth plans:

- Korean males are typically not circumcised until they are 9 or 10 years old, and about 50% of the male population in Korea is circumcised. Doctors don’t like to perform the procedure on infants because they believe it traumatizes them.

- Vernix, the white stuff that is all over babies after they are born is actually very good for their skin. No lotion compares. It is much better for the baby’s skin if you don’t give them a bath for 24 hours after they are born in order to allow the vernix to soak into their skin. I apologize in advance to my daughter that all pictures of her during the first 24 hours of her life will include the sticky white substance!

- It is better for the baby not to cut their cord until it has stopped pulsating. This ensures that the baby has the maximum amount of blood in their system when it is cut. If you want to save the cord blood, the cost is around $2000 in Korea. This can potentially help if your baby develops certain disorders, but it does require the cord to be cut immediately.

- After the baby is born it takes a while for the mother’s milk to come in. I guess the Germans swear that Guinness helps speed the process along, the Koreans say that seawood soup does the trick, and many European countries encourage new mothers to drink red wine. I am thinking the Guinness option sounds the best!