Midwifery Changes the World

This evening, December 11, 2011, Robin Lim of the Bumi Sehat Foundation was announced as CNN's 2011 Hero of the Year.  Midwifery truly changes the world.  Learn more about Ibu Robin and her work below.

Birth Song

I recently had the privilege of reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.  It is a beautiful novel built upon a Biblical story of Dinah, the only known daughter of Jacob.  It follows the stories of Dinah's four mothers and, later, that of Dinah herself.  The Red Tent itself is the place in their camp where women spend the three days and nights following the new moon (during their menstrual cycle) and where they give birth to their babies.  It is a place of ritual, healing, and sisterhood.  A truly inspiring look at honouring life as a woman.

The most inspirational part of the book, to me, was the birth song sung first by a midwife, Inna, then later by Dinah herself at both birth and death.  I hope you feel it's deep meaning as well.

Fear not, the time is coming
Fear not, your bones are strong
Fear not, help is nearby
Fear not, Gula is near
Fear not, the baby is at the door
Fear not, he will live to bring you honor
Fear not, the hands of the midwife are clever
Fear not, the earth is beneath you
Fear not, we have water and salt
Fear not, little mother
Fear not, mother of us all

excerpted from The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant 

©1997 Anita Diamant  

One World Birth: Save Birth, Change the World

Today is the official launch of the One World Birth website from the producers of the film Doula! The Ultimate Birth Companion.  We are so thrilled about the message they are spreading to families around the world about the impact that birth and birthing practices have on us all.  As doulas, we are excited to share the information from the many, many experts the One World Birth team have taken the time to interview.  As mothers, we are hopeful that we can teach our daughters and sons to view pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding as the positive life-changing events they are.  We can help make birth a positive experience for every woman and every family!  What will you do?

Why I want to become a Midwife

Some people ask me why I am so interested in pursuing midwifery. It is very simple. It is because I got to experience being a birth goddess! What is a birth goddess? A birth goddess is someone who is empowered and enlightened by their birth experience. She is someone who is able to climb the mountain of contractions and enjoy the exhilaration of reaching the top. A birth goddess embraces and takes control of her birth and gets to experience the ultimate moment of being a woman; becoming somebody’s mother. My natural birth experience was doubly rewarding because I had been told that I could not be a birth goddess. Because I had delivered my first two boys by caesarean section, I was told that I could not deliver a baby vaginally. This is a hard thing for any woman to hear. To me, it made no sense that there was something wrong with my body, when I had been nothing but healthy my whole life. It made no sense because my ancestors were all pioneer women who birthed their babies unassisted and had multiple children. For me, I was unwilling to accept that there was a limit to the amount of children I could have. I could not accept that I was supposed to bond with my newborn babies while feeling weak and in pain from having an incision across my abdomen and feeling that my insides were about to fall out. I wanted to birth my babies not have my babies delivered.

I cried when I discovered that I was pregnant with my third. The birth of a baby is not supposed to fill a mother with terror. When I was able to accept my pregnancy I began to read. I read books by Henci Goer and by the wonderful midwife, Ina May Gaskin. I read story after story of birth goddesses reaching their true potential through embracing their births. I realized that this was my birth and only I could create the experience that I wanted. The birth goddess began to stir within me. I surrounded myself with people who were supportive of my choice to pursue natural childbirth.

Before my labor began I would close my eyes and imagine the feeling of my abdomen contracting. I would focus my energy on feeling the contraction and picturing the uterus squeezing my baby down into my pelvis and feel my body opening up to release my baby. I would practice relaxing and focusing on the things that gave me comfort. I practiced squatting, rocking and letting the tension flow from my body. I enlisted my husband in my practice sessions by coaching him on ways to soothe me with touch and massage. I discovered that he could make me feel amazing by massaging my head. This sent shivers through my entire body and made me feel like I was floating. These practice sessions were much like an athlete uses to prepare their body for a competition.

By the time labor finally started I was so anxious to practice the techniques that I had tried and envisioned for myself. Everything went so smoothly in labor because I had anticipated these contractions for so long that I was anxious to feel them for real and wanted them to become stronger. The massage my husband had practiced with me was incredibly helpful with allowing me to relax. I labored for well over 24 hours and was grateful for the long labor as I feel that I would have felt gyped after all of my preparations to not have the time to fully experience the birth process and use all of the techniques that I had practiced. I was so blessed to be able to labor in my own home with the use of a birth tub and a traditional childbirth attendant to watch over me.

In the end the reason for the slow labor was because my baby was being born bottom first and was unable to put the weight on my cervix to allow it to open up. With a bit of gentle pushing I was able to fully dilate and as my baby’s body slid into my hands I experienced the full exhilaration of becoming a birth goddess as I, who was supposed to be incapable of natural childbirth, birthed my baby breech with two caesarean scars. He was absolutely beautiful and I got to be a part of it. I was not drugged. I was not cut. I was fully awake and aware of my body’s tremendous power. The endorphins that flowed to my brain as I held and bonded with my child were overwhelming. I could not have imagined the triumph that I would feel with childbirth.

The memories of my son’s birth day have driven me to want this experience repeated. I thought I could be satisfied by watching shows of mother’s giving birth to their babies. However, I tried to watch a birth show on tv and became so angry that the mother was not in control of her birth and looked so scared and in pain. Interventions were given to this mother to “help” her with labor. My mind screamed out, “NO, this is not how birth is supposed to be.” In the end the result was a beautiful, screaming baby but the mother was not empowered. She experienced so much fear and pain that her body fought against the contractions. This was nothing like my birth. I cried for this mother and her birth experience.

I could not stop hearing of mother’s birth experiences. So many of them were unlike mine and mother’s commented again and again on the pain of labor. I thought, “Yes, I do remember the pain and getting to a point where I felt I couldn’t go any farther, but once I pushed my baby out and felt the rush of adrenaline the pain was instantly erased and seemed so insignificant”. I began to wonder how could I help women to feel empowered by birth? I wanted others to experience what I had. I realized that the answer is very simple. To be empowered by birth women need to be in charge of their births. Mothers need to prepare their minds and bodies for birth by educating themselves about their bodies and knowing why their doctors make the decisions that they do. I am on the path to midwifery so that I can help mothers to know their choices and help them to be in charge of their births.

I hope to become a doula as well, while I continue my midwifery training, because I feel that doulas are a wonderful resource to mothers in understanding how to labor with their bodies and in preparing mothers to be strong through their labor and birth. The advice I have for expectant mothers is that you need to prepare for your birth long before labor begins. “Birth is an opportunity to transcend. To rise above what we are accustomed to, reach deeper inside ourselves than we are familiar with, and to see not only what we are truly made of, but the strength we can access in and through Birth” (Marcie Macari).

Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices - Intro: Safe and Healthy Birth

Beginning today, we will explore the six Lamaze Healthy Birth Practices. Look for them all to be featured here! In addition to the videos on each practice, we've also included a link to a .pdf handout on the topic. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it here.



Download the PDF document ~ Birth - As Safe and Healthy As It Can Be

Honouring Birth

"Attending births is like growing roses. You have to marvel at the ones that just open up and bloom at the first kiss of the sun but you wouldn't dream of pulling open the petals of the tightly closed buds and forcing them to blossom on your time line." — Gloria Lemay

A doula friend of mine shared this wonderful quote with me today.  I can't think of a better attitude to have as a birth professional.  Birth is meant to be honoured as an emotional, spiritual event that has it's own timeline.  To force it is to go against the very core of nature.

The Difference Between Doulas and Midwives

Probably the most common question I am asked, as a birth doula, is whether I deliver or, catch, babies. While the answer may seem simple enough, no we do not catch babies, it is easy to see how one can be confused. After all, doulas are wholistic, as are midwives. Midwives promote breastfeeding and natural childbirth, as do doulas. The difference is, midwives are clinically trained to provide medical care to healthy expectant mothers and their babies. Doulas are non-clinical professionals who provide emotional, physical and informational support to expectant mothers and their families. The following video starring a midwife, explains perfectly the difference in our two roles.

Video - The Facts About Waterbirth

***Please Note: Some information on this video can be contradicted, for the latest information on waterbirth please visit http://www.waterbirth.org.  This is not a production of Waterbirth International.

Water birth facts

Stay on your feet!

Both of my children were born in a hospital setting.  My first child was born after nearly every intervention possible and never breastfed.  My second child, with a doula in attendance, was a natural birth in hospital and I took as much of the following advice as I could - interestingly enough, before I had even read it!

Thank you to http://homebirthwaterbirth.com/home.html for this insight!

If the hospital is your choice...and you want a natural birth.... This will be helpful to know.

STAY ON YOUR FEET In the hospital the first thing they do is issue you one of those ugly backless nightgown-things, and show you to a bed, like any other patient. But you are not "sick" when you are in labour, you are doing a job--an important job, that of bringing forth a new life.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, then, because you have an important job to do.

STAY ON YOUR FEET and keep walking because sick, weak people are the ones who need to be in bed. Try to think of yourself as a client, using a service, not a patient. Keep upright and keep walking, so you feel freedom to move and not confinement.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, because that raises you up to eye level, where you won’t be looked down upon.

STAY ON YOUR FEET like a capable, healthy person, confident and in control.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, because gravity helps the baby to move down, pressing on the cervix, shortening your labour.

STAY ON YOUR FEET because there is less pain when the weight of the uterus is not pressing on your back.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, because when you lie down, the very bed you lie upon offers resistance to your pelvis, which is doing its best to open up for the baby.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, walking, walking, walking through the contractions, rocking, rocking, easing your baby lower and deeper into the birth canal.

STAY ON YOUR FEET so the doctors and nurses can't keep invading your body with their painful vaginal exams. They have to ask you to lie down for them, and that puts you in control!

If you STAY ON YOUR FEET they'll only be able to do things when you're ready to let them.

If you STAY ON YOUR FEET, you can look them in the eye, say no, and walk away.

STAY ON YOUR FEET, walking, refusing a lot of unnecessary vaginal exams, until you realize your body is pushing.

How long can you stay on your feet? Well, if you like, you can push while you are standing, or you can go down into a squat, and deliver your baby like that. You don't need to lie down to have a baby!

Does that surprise you? Did you know that lying on your back, with your legs in stirrups is the WORST position to be in when giving birth? It’s bad for the mother and bad for the baby, but the doctor needs you on your back because it makes his job easier.

Hey, wait a minute! Whose job should be made easier? There are three very important players in this birth scene: There’s the woman in labour, in pain, struggling to give birth to a new life, pushing with all her might to get a human being through her pelvic bones. No, we won't worry about her discomfort, we can give her some drugs. There’s the baby, who may be oxygen-deprived if the mother lies on her back causing fetal distress. No, don't worry about him, we'll resuscitate if we have to. Then there’s the doctor, who is being paid --well-paid --to catch the baby. Let’s make sure he’s comfortable! Does this make sense?

Staying on your feet and walking isn't just good sense physiologically - working with gravity instead of against it - more importantly being up and about affects how you feel about yourself. A simple thing like staying out of bed makes you feel more capable, confident, and ready to take on the challenge! Lying in bed makes you feel more like a weak, sick person; like a little girl, dependent upon others instead of an adult doing the most grown-up, womanly thing she can do.

Pick up any book on childbirth that shows you the inside view of the baby’s birth. It shows the mother on her back. Now turn the book sideways, and note the angle at which the baby emerges when the mother is upright. Which would be easier?

The doctor likes it better that you are on your back because it makes it easier for him:

to do an episiotomy -- which he won’t need to do if you are upright, because the weight of the baby is not resting on the perineum;

to use forceps to pull the baby out -- which he won't need to do if you are upright because you will be able to push more effectively;

to get the baby out faster -- which he won’t need to do because the baby won’t be distressed from the lack of oxygen it would experience if you were on your back;

to keep close watch on the mother’s blood pressure -- which isn't as much of a concern when she is upright and in control and not exhausting herself from ineffective pushing, or getting dizzy from the weight of the baby pressing on the major blood vessels.

It may not seem like a big deal, pushing the baby upwards, but think how hard it is to work against gravity for easy things. Yesterday I was hammering a nail up above my head, and I found it hard pushing that 16 ounce hammer up into the air each time, much more tiring than nailing something lower.

In fact, if your doctor thinks it doesn’t make that much difference in pushing against gravity, agree with him: since he says it’s no big deal, let him work against gravity, catching the baby from beneath while you give birth comfortably low, reclined in an armchair.

So, the moral is -- Stay on your feet!