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Marion’s Message: A Time to Be Born

by Marion Toepke McLean December 1, 2004

In 2004 I served as midwife for a dear family. I thought a lot about the time to be born, as the due date came and went. Is there a time designated for us to come into the world? “For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven,” says the Holy Bible. “A time to be born and a time to die.”

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Photo by Alexandra Gorn

Freedom from Fear

by Piper Martin December 1, 2004

Aconite is a homeopathic remedy used to treat fear. It is such an intense and vivid remedy that situations calling for it are easy to spot. The individual’s response is usually equally vital, so you will know you have chosen the right remedy quickly.

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Prematurity Is Preventable!

by Amy V. Haas December 1, 2004

Adequate nutrition prevents prematurity in many ways: by boosting the immune system to prevent infections that can cause chorioamniotitis and premature rupture of membranes; by supplying the body with the nutrients to support a full-term pregnancy; by supplying the liver with adequate protein, preventing preeclampsia.

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Read more…. Prematurity Is Preventable!

Photo by Khoa Pham

Márti’s Homebirth in Hungary

by Ágnes Geréb September 1, 2004

While driving, I imagine myself a hundred times providing the services I think they expect from me. They probably want me to give my expertise and remain an outsider. I arrive just after dawn. The children and their nanny are asleep. There is fruit on the table. I haven’t eaten a thing for two days.

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Photo by Luis Ordóñez
Esquipulas, Guatemala

Antonina Sanchez Mendez

by Sarah Proechel September 1, 2004

Antonina Sanchez Mendez was born in 1952 in Guatemala. As with most women of her culture, her days are filled with physical labor. She has seven children and 11 grandchildren and is deeply connected to her community. She was 33 years old when she began her career as a midwife.

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Drugs in Labor: An Overview

by Sarah J. Buckley September 1, 2004

Protecting mothers and babies involves prioritising models of care that value drug-free labour and birth and that support laboring women in achieving this. The drugs discussed in this paper include opiates, inhaled analgesics, epidurals, sedatives and oxytocin.

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Read more…. Drugs in Labor: An Overview

Photo by Josh Bean

HIV & Pregnancy: What More Can We Do for HIV-Positive Women?

by Nancy Miller September 1, 2004

Maternal to Child Transmission (MTCT) is the primary mode of transmission of HIV to children. A pregnant woman needs to learn about MTCT and how to prevent it. If we care for HIV-positive pregnant women, we must commit to keep current in order to offer them and their babies the very best information and care.

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Photo by Jon Sailer

The Nesting Instinct

by Joy Johnston September 1, 2004

The nesting instinct takes a labouring woman into a quiet, unstimulating space so she can progress without interruption; it makes her cross when she is being hindered from doing the work she must do; and it will also allow her to change her plan, to move her nest, if she believes that is needed.

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Marion’s Message: Another Good Reason to Prevent Cesarean Section

by Marion Toepke McLean September 1, 2004

Disturbing reports about the risks of cesarean delivery have been issued for years. Recently yet another has been suggested: an increased risk of unexplained stillbirth late in pregnancies that follow a pregnancy ending in cesarean delivery.

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Photo by Daniel Thomas

Evidence Supports the Obvious

by Katherine Jensen September 1, 2004

“Evidence Supports Vaginal Birth.” I read the headline over and over. Do we need “evidenced-based” research to prove that vaginal birth is how we were designed to reproduce? What is wrong with this picture? What can we do to reverse this nightmare?

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Photo by Ursula Castillo

Knitting Midwives for Drugless Childbirth?

by Michel Odent September 1, 2004

Stress hormones inhibit the release and action of the hormone necessary to induce and maintain effective uterine contractions during labor and delivery. A good understanding of physiological processes leads the midwife to ensure that nobody is under the effect of adrenaline in the environment of a laboring woman.

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Photo by Anastasia Taioglou

Giving Birth and Being Born in Water

by Dr. Albin Thöni and Ludwig Moroder August 31, 2004

In every culture and religion throughout the world water is synonymous with the female aspect of life. Where there is no water, there can be no life.
Water is considered the symbol of fertility and also of eternal life. Human beings consist mainly of water, and before birth we develop inside the womb, swimming in amniotic fluid. We can therefore say that we are “children of water.”