Ask the Pros
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week

Ask A Nurse
Labor & Birth

Preparing for Labor

I'm leaking some blood, is it normal?
Will massage help prevent episiotomy?
What is a mucous plug?
Is it possible to miss labor and undilate?

Labor and Birth

I've been having contractions for days, how much longer?
I really don't want an episiotomy, will the epidural affect that? What else can I do?
Can real contractions vary in length and time?
Will I have to have an episiotomy?
What does effaced and dilated mean?
The baby hasn't dropped yet, will I still have a normal birth?
What is a mucous plug?
How can I tell if my water is broken?

Pain Relief in Labor

What about water birth?
What is the best pain relief for a cesarean?
What is the difference between fentanyl, stadol and nubane?
Is there such a thing as painless birth?

Being Overdue & Inductions

Is it the sex or the orgasm that causes labor?
What can I do to start labor?
Does everyone go into labor?
Will induction at 37 weeks prevent stillbirth?

Breech Babies

How safe is turning a breech baby?
My baby is breech at 7 months, is there a chance he will turn?

Cesareans & VBAC

What is the best pain relief for a cesarean?
Can I have a vaginal birth after two cesareans?

Place of Birth

Where is the strangest place a baby has been born?

Interventions

I had an extended episiotomy last time, should I schedule a cesarean?

Shirley Wingate, RNC, CD, is an OB/GYN nurse with 12 years experience as an obstetrical nurse and childbirth educator. She is certified as a specialist in women's health and is an experienced labor and postpartum doula in private practice. She is the founder and director of "Birth Matters Inc." a prenatal and parenting resource and support center. Throughout her career she has been involved in developing, teaching and expanding services in the community to educate families and support them as they face the changes, challenges and choices that childbearing brings.

She feels that childbirth is a normal, natural and wondrous occasion and has confidence in a woman's ability to listen to her body and trust her instincts during childbirth. She believes that a laboring mothers thoughts, ideas and concerns should be given the utmost respect and feels that all women are entitled to a positive birth experience with rich rewards and feelings of accomplishment. She has been published in "The International Journal of Childbirth Education" and was a contributor to Polly Perez and Deaun Thelan's book on doula programs. She is also on the advisory council for the guidebook "Having Children, The Best Resources to Help You Prepare." She lives in the Midwest with her husband of 21 years and has a daughter and two sons.