Comments on: “You Have A Small Mouth And A Tight Jaw, So…”

By: BusyBee

BusyBee — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:06:54 +0000

“Encouraging” is a funny word- it can be encouraging to be realistic. The best encouragment I got from my midwife was “I know it hurts, but that baby’s not coming out until you push it out.”

By: BusyBee

BusyBee — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:04:11 +0000

Ha- maybe before labor! DURING labor? No way for me! I can’t stand when people talk about a “peaceful birth”. If that’s what you had- I don’t want to hear about it! (jk of course) At my last homebirth I just got MAD and pushed that baby out b/c I wanted it OVER!

By: SistaC

SistaC — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:04:27 +0000

Jeez. Talk about misplaced information. Sphincter law refers to relaxing of the muscles, not the size of ones mouth. The correlation b/w a tight throat and tight bum.

“Ina May Gaskin describes the Sphincter Law in the following way:
o Sphincter muscles of both anus and vagina do not respond on command.
o Sphincter muscles open more easily in a comfortable intimate atmosphere where a woman feels safe.
o The muscles are more likely to open if the woman feels positive about herself; where she feels inspired and enjoys the birth process.
o Sphincter muscles may suddenly close even if they have already dilated, if the woman feels threatened in any way.”
http://prenatalyogacenter.com/blog/the-sphincter-law-and-childbirth/

Sure, if the mother was to relax more, the cervix would likely respond favourably. But I doubt being told that her mouth was too small would have helped in that quest.

By: Kelsey

Kelsey — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:27:48 +0000

LOL! Poor Julia Roberts!

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:47:24 +0000

Is a woman with a larger mouth or a slack jaw at greater risk of fecal incontinence later in life as well?

By: Andy (UK midwife)

Andy (UK midwife) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 22:44:40 +0000

Wot?
Never heard of that one. How can the cervix and jaw be linked? How can a midwife assess a woman’s jaw either? Nobody taught me the sphincter law or how to assess the tone of a woman’s jaw. On the subject though, how can anybody predict a woman’s birth progress anyway? And what is ‘slow progress’? Denis Walsh in the UK says that research suggests half a centimetre an hour is the average for a first pregnancy. The Studd Curve that has tyrranised labour care is wrong- and it’s not evidence based anyway- it is an arbitary rule dreamed up by a rural doctor who wanted a rough guide for transferring women in emergencies. Read ‘Evidence Based Care for Normal Labour and Birth’ by Denis walsh. He is a UK midwife who is a professor at one of the Universities. He is quite an inspiration. The book can be found on Amazon.

By: Jessa

Jessa — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:22:29 +0000

Good job Kelsey! I am all for proving people wrong! There is something so empowering about mother LISTENING to her body and not someone (i.e medical professional) who is NOT generally intune with someone elses body lol

By: Jessa

Jessa — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:19:14 +0000

I have to agree. Doesnt that equate to the power of suggestion. Just a thought. I would be afraid that thats the only thing I think of during my pregnancy, labor and delivery that it might end up happening.

By: Hallie

Hallie — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:44:16 +0000

huh???

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:22:54 +0000

I’ve consistently heard that if you keep your jaw relaxed and go for a “camel-faced” look, your cervix will take its cue from that and open easier. It’s not hard to turn that around and say that someone who’s unable to relax her jaw will also have a difficult time dilating.

It should have been clarified as, “Your jaw is tight, and this sounds weird, but that can affect your labor. During the next few weeks prior to delivery, work on relaxing your jaw and mouth. Look, it can’t hurt.”