Another brilliant way to see in the New Year. Thank you to my dear friends Julie and Matthew for their superb hospitality. I had one daughter in Honolulu watching the fireworks over Diamond Head on Waikiki, and my other daughter in Africa on safari, and both said NOTHING compares to New Year's Eve on Sydney Harbour. Often we say that we worry about the amount of money the fireworks cost, and we definitely worry about the animals who get frightened, and sometimes we say we would rather go to bed early, but when 'it's all happening' at midnight there is something very, very special about being part of this vibrant and wonderful city.

2012 – The Year of Creativity. One of the many phases of the New Year’s Eve symbol on the Sydney Harbour Bridge

‘A Time to dream – the dawn of the New Year with fresh possibilities’

Pelvis, practice perineum, lavender and rasberry macaroons and Vanessa, preparing for her third birth, at the last course for 2011.

It has been another wonderful year conducting my Birth Skills Courses in Sydney.  My last course for the year took place yesterday.  Thank you to all the doctors, midwives, hospitals and birth centres and past clients who referred pregnant women to my practice. Thank you to the women who attend, as with each course, I learn from you more and more to teach the women who will come after you. May I wish you all a happy and healthy 2012!

Lauren and Kate in the final class of their Birth Skills course.

 In the Birth Skills class I conducted last night we heard that one woman (who had previously attended the Birth Skills course for her two babies) had a 4.2 kilo and a 4.6 kilo baby – both natural births and no stitches or episiotomies. So for this woman it was possible, afterall, women’s bodies are made for childbirth. I also took some time to explain that some women will need an episiotomy, or  may have a small tear. The obstetrician or midwife will make a wise decision as to what is needed in different situations on the day.

The other aspect of overall women’s health I wanted the class members to think about is their own longevity and the need for physiological integrity of their pelvic floors. When the baby is being born, the birth canal (which is designed to stretched as the baby’s head is moulding and emerging) has been beautifully prepared for this moment by the powerful pregnancy hormones. It is still important to keep in mind the minimising of trauma and maintaince of function to the pelvic floor long after the childbirth is over. Hence prevention of long, drawn out pushing phases, assisting the birth with episiotomy sometimes, allowing the woman to tear a little t other times (maybe one or two stitches needed), and any other guidance or assistance the doctor or midwife gives on the day. So many women in previous generations had to cope with prolapse and other problems to the pelvic floor – admittedly, these women  often had 9 or 10 children- but we want to avoid those problems for you. 

Some pelvic floor exercises are important to do DURING pregnancy (the aim is NOT to tighten your pelvic floor but increase your awareness of the area), but they are far more important to do AFTER the birth. In fact, if you think about it the pregnancy hormones are trying to relax the pelvic floor in pregnancy and prepare the muscles and tissues to undergo enormous stretch during the birth…so tightening is not the objective here.  AFTER the birth, you can exercise and ‘tighten’ to your heart’s content…in fact, it will be important to do so. You will need this muscular support and integrity for many years to come. The pelvic floor has much to support in the body every day of your life and you need to keep it in good working order. This is what your doctor or midwife will sometimes have in mind when they intervene with an episiotomy. It may be for the baby, but it also may be for you and the long term functionality of your pelvic floor.

Pelvic floor exercises are still needed after a Caesarean birth as the woman has still undergone the effects of the  nine months of ‘softening’ hormones during her pregnancy.

Assoc Prof Jacqueline Centre presenting at The Garvan Institute

Today I went to a wonderful seminar on Osteoporosis at the Garvan Institute – 3 hours of incredible presentations by Professors and Associate Professors who are working at the cutting edge of research on this subject which affects both men and women ratio of 1:2, and begining as early as 40 years of age in some people.

The main message for parents was to make sure your children:

get lots of physical activity – running, jumping, skipping, hopping, climbing, balancing, exposure to enough sunshine as Vitamin D helps with bone and muscle function. There is not much Vitamin D in food, and yet Vitamin D is present in nearly every tissue in the body so it is very important to maintain the levels so that calcuim can be metabolised and absorbed adequately.

get enough calcium rich food for their daily allowance – 3 servings of dairy per day

avoid fizzy drinks

make sure they do not spend hours at the computer  playing ‘indoor games’ (especially when the children grow up to be teenagers and spend many daytime hours indoors or sleeping. Smoking and alcohol intake does not help either!)

And for us, the parents:

adequate weight bearing exercise – gravity is your friend (strolling with the bub in the pram is not enough – the bones need and like resistance!)

adequate calcium intake and vitamin D: visit osteoporosisaustralia.org.au and link to osteolink for recipe ideas (from December 1st 2011),again get adequate sunshine. My friend Liz Noble in the US says to buy and eat all the greens in the supermarket that are lesser known – like kale for example. There are many options for those who don’t eat or drink dairy.

minimal alcohol, no smoking, no fizzy drinks

prevent obesity, as vitamin D gets trapped in fat cells and can’t be used properly by the body for bone integrity. Being too skinny isn’t ideal either

And for the grandparents:

discuss HRT, testing, fracture risk, lifestyle, other medications, supplements  etc with your GP

adequate calcium (supplements if necessary) and Vitamin D for appropriate for age – check with GP and pharmacist

lifestyle – the right sort of exercise, decrease alcohol, no smoking, decrease salt, no colas or fizzy drinks, adequate protein (but not too much) - check website activehealth..nsw.gov.au for local suitable exercise groups (again, a stroll around the block is not enough). Do 10-20 jumps per day (contract your pelvic floor!)

falls prevention education – google this topic for local venues

seek medical therapies to help, start with your GP

empower self with information, awareness, seminars, newsletters, action, visit www.osteoporosisaustralia.com.au; ring  1800 hotline to talk to a health professional about osteoporosis, talk to your GP, and pharmacist. Check with podiatrist about  foot and ankle function as well as corns and calloses for safe exercising, check with physio about balance issues.

*the main message from today’s seminar was ‘the patient is at the top of the osteoporosis management pyramid, and the health professional remains at the bottom’. Get up! Get involved. Get informed! And try to prevent or at least manage well this condition that already, as I type this text, affects millions of Australians.

GRAVITY IS OUR FRIEND, RESISTANCE EXERCISE HELPS EVEN MORE! BONES ARE LIVING ENTITIES. Growth and regrowth is going on all the time. OUR WHOLE SKELETON IS COMPLETELY RENEWED EVERY TEN YEARS.

Think seriously about the bone health of you and your family throughout life. How about 10-20 jumps right now? How about everytime the commercials come on TV encourage everyone in the room to get up and stomp for 3 minutes. I’m going to be doing it over at my house, and as soon as I publish this post I am going to do 20 jumps!

The Potts Point Bird Spa...

I couldn’t help stopping to watch this bird having it’s daily bath on the ‘wet’ side of the fountain. Every feather was fluffed, sprayed, washed, preened, dried, fluffed again - and all this then followed by a nice little sleep in the sun on the other side of the fountain. Instinct is an incredible thing.

Anya, Edie, Kuk (looking more like Anya's sister than her mother!) and the team from the Kuk Thai

I met Anya’s baby Edie, at the local shops and heard a little of the birth from Anya. Anya had attended my Birth Skills course but did not make the last class due to the early arrival of Edie.

Here is some of what Anya had to say…

‘To my surprise my baby came 3.5 weeks early, the very day I was to attend my last Birth Skills class. Even so, I felt very prepared with the skills I had aready learnt. The contractions came fast and strong. To move my attention away from the pain, I rhythmically shook my tics tacs (I learned this in the first Birth Skills class with the distraction techniques), concentrating on the harsh, rattling sound. At the same time I was bouncing on the fit ball and also using the ‘ahh’ sound, increasing the volume to ‘match the pain’. In second stage I visualised the coffee plunger which helped tremendously and it got me through the pushing and crowning stage…’

Congratulations Anya, well done, and let me say again, your mother looks about 21! Thank you for permission to use the photograph. jj

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas at the Sydney Opera House was fascinating.

Here (ex) Justice Michael Kirby gives some personal insights regarding his

attitude to gay marriage, children etc, but also animal rights, the planet etc.

Watch out for this event in 2012 – certainly  thought provoking and affordable.