The prenatal care and education has been given. The relaxation exercises have been repeated over and over again. Instructions for the timing of a contraction are neatly typed on a paper taped to the refrigerator. A list of “who to call” is taped beside it. All the preparations are in place and labor begins.

 Read more…. The Atmosphere Of Homebirth

I have a passion for birth. I also have a passion for cooking. To inform myself about birth I digest what I can from professional journals and soak up midwifery wisdom from those who are really in the bedroom “with birth.” But mostly I listen to and spend time with women. When I want to try something new in the kitchen, however, I experiment. Occasionally, I have the desire to visit with the great chefs of our time. Julia Child is, of course, a favorite. To my surprise, her words struck me as a midwife one evening.

 Read more…. Lessons Learned From A Great Chef

The environment is the surroundings in which we live and act. We also use this term to refer to the natural world that is affected by human activity. We can think about how the environment affects birth. For example, how does bright light or a crowded or empty room affect the birth process? But, we can also think about how birth affects the environment. What does a birth do to the space and the people that take part in this activity? Whose space is it? Is it sacred?

 Read more…. From Birth Hut To The Garden Of Eden

There are many ways to help protect the birth environment. One is by educating women about what to expect and what to try to avoid. It is all about informed choice. I am a nurse, homebirth midwife and the childbirth coordinator at a small, rural health center in Maine.

 Read more…. Protecting The Birth Environment

Whatever the mother tongue, the reference to death is typical of a certain stage of labour. My own observation of births on both sides of the Channel, both in a home-like hospital (Pithiviers, France) and at home, are confirmed by detailed reports of births throughout the world, in the past and at present. However, the expression of a fear of death has rarely been studied, even by such acute observers as Grantly Dick-Read, the author of Childbirth Without Fear (1955).

 Read more…. Fear of Death During Labour*

A few weeks before I gave birth to my first child, I woke up in the night sweating and frightened. I had dreamed that I was lying in a pool of blood and had just given birth to a little lamb. A friend told me of a dream that she had before giving birth; someone was chasing her, she lay on her back and was pricked by a thin stick and a stiletto heel.

 Read more…. Fearful Fantasies

I listen carefully as women speak about their fear of giving birth and the courage it will require. At times, it seems women think that fear and courage are mutually exclusive; that if they feel afraid they will not be able to act courageously to give birth in the way they might hope. Recently I was at a baby shower for a doula client. Each woman was asked to tell her last birth story in three minutes.

 Read more…. Sharing The Stories

I’ve been a student of midwifery for about eight years now. During this time, I have gone from two to four children, had the privilege of attending 26 births and taught many childbirth classes. I’ve seen a lot of different birth environments, and I’ve had some time to think about what makes a positive one. I’m sure the right answer is most anything does! Certainly, we can look at the factors that are embraced by the majority of birthing women and make some loose assumptions.

 Read more…. Anything Goes

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, courage is a noun meaning “ability to overcome fear or despair.” Notice fear has to be present in order for courage to exist. The English word “courage” is derived from the French word for the heart, coeur. Finding the heart to continue doing the right thing in the face of great fear inspires others to become nobler human beings. In midwifery, we see women and men facing their fears in birth; we ask them to have faith in the face of no evidence. We demand that they are bigger than the circumstances and, when they conquer, we get a renewed vision of how life can look when our fears don’t stop us. This is the source and inspiration for our own courage.

 Read more…. Courage

All my homebirth clients find me by word-of-mouth, but I was amazed when word had spread as far as Romania!

 Read more…. A Home Away From Home Birth

“I don’t think a 25 percent cesarean rate is too high.” The words jolted me to attention. The speaker is a woman I respect: my cousin, a family historian, who has farmed with her husband in the Midwest for decades. I forced myself to overcome my prejudices and listen to her seriously. “Not if it saves women from what my niece is going through,” she continued.

 Read more…. Marion’s Message: The Necessary Cesarean

In the Western world, Norway is the country where most babies are breastfed. More than 98 percent of babies born at term (37-43 weeks) are breastfed when leaving the maternity ward. At three months of age, 88 percent of the babies are breastfeeding; at six months, 80 percent still breastfeed; and even at one year, 40 percent of the babies still get breast milk (Spedkost 2003).

 Read more…. Norway: The Breastfeeding Top Of The World