Lessons from Kitty Birth: Using Placenta to Control Hemorrhage
by Jan Tritten

© 2010/2011 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved.

[Editor’s Note: This editorial originally appeared in Midwifery Today, Issue 100, Winter 2010/2011.]

I went to a totally beautiful and undisturbed birth today. Five of them, actually! The mother had the most natural births as we looked on, not disturbing her but just being “with woman.” With woman—with kitty. Mamma cat is used to Adam because she belongs to him, and I am a good friend of hers, as well, and she didn’t mind our presence at all. We watched as she had each kitten, ate each placenta in a gulp or two, and then slurped the cords like strings of spaghetti.

She was busy for two hours birthing, nursing, eating placentas and cleaning babies. A kitten would emerge, she would clean it and eat the placenta, and soon another would come out. She would lick each kitten when it was part way out, pulling it gently from her. I noticed that cat birth smells like human birth. It must be the amniotic fluid and placentas mixed with membranes and a little blood. There wasn’t the lavender or ginger smell used for hot packs though! Afterwards she nursed her kittens and they all rested on an oxytocin high.

This was a great reminder of how simple and straightforward birth can be. As midwives, Adam and I had our worries about her pending birth, since she presented many “risk factors.” She is a young and very small Bombay cat. Her age and size worried us, as she was huge and seemed overdue. Unlike her, the father was gigantic, another risk factor. When she went into labor we heard barely a sound other than the mewing of kittens as they were born and began looking for nipples. We took turns sitting with her and watching quietly, but not knitting as Michel Odent would have us do—we don’t know how to knit!

As she ate the placentas I realized that I have never heard of a cat, goat or dog hemorrhaging to death or even suffering too much blood loss. Humans have been so foolish in not following God’s plan, and we have probably sacrificed millions of women to hemorrhage over the last century when the cure was and still is right there within her body. I asked how many midwives had used placenta for hemorrhage control and how it worked. Everyone who had tried it said it stopped the hemorrhage immediately. Generally they just used a small quarter- size piece in the mom’s cheek. For bleeding while the placenta is still in, Gail Hart recommended using a bit of membrane or having mom suck on the cord, and both apparently have more oxytocin and other hormones in them than the placenta. I came to consider that if we use the placenta, membranes and cord as anti-hemorrhage agents that would make “active management of the third stage of labor” obsolete (see my editorial on this subject: midwiferytoday.com/articles/imicm.asp). Placenta is a natural part of the birth process, and using it reduces the chance of exposing motherbaby to the dangers of drugs like Cytotec and Pitocin. Let’s get this concept out to the world because we may be able to save many mothers if we do!

All this reminded me of a story I heard from one of the traditional midwives who came to a Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) conference. She told me that in her grandmother’s time, at least 100 years ago, women would have their babies with little fuss and usually in just a few hours. Her grandmother lived in Mexico, but this probably applied to women in many parts of the world. What have we done to birth? Good prenatal care should not be undermined by needless interventions. It is unfortunate to see so many aspects of birth as high risk when, as Sister MorningStar and I have said, the process is all about relationships. Most midwives I know believe that 90% of complications can be averted with good prenatal care. A woman deserves to be nurtured with love and care, but it is her birth, and you are an honored guest if she allows you to be there. We must change the paradigm of birth by accepting that every motherbaby has the right to loving care and respect in pregnancy, birth and beyond. Let’s show women the consideration we give mother cats and kittens. Believe me, momma cat received lots of love and attention in her pregnancy, and it showed in her beautiful births.

Jan Tritten Jan Tritten is the founder and editor-in-chief of Midwifery Today magazine and a midwife who was in active practice from 1977–1989. She became a midwife in 1977 after the powerful homebirth of one of her daughters. Her mission is to make loving midwifery care the norm for birthing women and their babies throughout the world. Meet Jan at our conferences around the world! [ PHOTO BY ANDREA NOLL ]   >  Editorials   Click here to read some of Jan’s Midwifery Today editorials.   >  Curriculum Vitae   1947 Born in Los Angeles, California. 1965 Graduated from Placer High School in Auburn, California. 1966 Trained for one year as a psychiatric technician. Courses included basic nursing, pharmacology, microbiology, anatomy and physiology, psychology. 1966–1971 Worked at DeWitt State Hospital in Auburn, California as a psychiatric technician. 1968 Graduated from Sierra College with an Associate of Arts degree. 1970 Graduated with honors from Sacramento State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Science. 1971 Earned Lifetime California teaching credential with fifth-year program from Sacramento State College. 1972 First daughter born in a hospital. It changed my life forever. It was an unsatisfactory birth experience, but I had a wonderful postpartum experience with 2-1/2 years of breastfeeding. 1976 Second daughter born. She was born at home with a doctor who talked me into a homebirth. The difference between the two births sent me on a path to do something to help women have positive birth experiences. 1976 Began training as a midwife. Because I was raising young children and running a business, and because there were no CNM schools in my area, becoming a CNM was not within my reach. 1977 Began attending births with the Birth Co-op in Eugene while organizing courses in our community taught by CNMs, physicians, nutritionists, etc. 1978 Began a midwifery practice, New Life Care, with a partner, Chris Howard, and apprentice Monika Dunsmore. 1979 Son born at home. 1980 Did a one-year program with Marion Toepke McLean, CNM. Four of us completed the program, which was modeled after CNM curriculum at that time. She took a year off from her practice to teach us and to go to our births with us. 1982 First group of midwives certified by the Oregon Midwives Council. Our board was composed of CNMs and physicians. 1986 Slowed down practice and started Midwifery Today magazine.

Midwifery Today on Facebook: facebook.com/midwiferytoday
Jan on Facebook: facebook.com/JanTrittensBirthPage
International Alliance of Midwives on Facebook: facebook.com/IAMbirth
Birth Is a Human Rights Issue: facebook.com/birthisahumanrightsissue
Midwifery Education: Caring and Sharing: facebook.com/MidwiferyEducation

View upcoming Midwifery Today editorial themes.

Don’t miss out on the great editorials in Midwifery Today. Subscribe today!