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Photo by Yousef Espanioly
I began my journey to and through midwifery in 1980. Little did I know as a Bradley® childbirth educator that homebirthing is what lay ahead. If I had known, I don’t know that I would have continued!
Photo by Vitor Monthay
For this issue’s theme, we have gathered together some valuable information to tuck into your birthkit. From Gloria Lemay’s cautions about a rising trend in more unnecessary testing to a disturbing press release about the effects of formula feeding, we hope you will add it to your ever evolving midwifery knowledge.
Photo by Ahmad Odeh
So rarely in our lives do we have the privilege to be in union—nonseparate from another with a shared intent or purpose. Such is the opportunity during labour and birth. We must take notice and give ourselves permission to engage in this type of intimacy.
Photo by Leohoho
I can’t count all the births I’ve been to where the mother was relaxed and the contractions strong, and yet, try as it might, the cervix would not open.
Photo by Angèle Kamp
It is always tempting, when speaking or writing about complex philosophical ideas, to look for simple, everyday metaphors to try to make sense of and explain those ideas to other people. Often, what you gain in being able to express your thoughts, you lose in attempting to simplify thoughts that should not be simplified, or in trying to put boundaries around ideas that should remain fluid and unbound.
Photo by Tom Chamberlain
When a baby is gestating in the mother’s womb, neural circuits are being formed in its brain. This process begins in early pregnancy and continues as the baby grows, until by the time of birth the baby’s developing brain already contains millions of pathways and connections. Much of the information that flows along these circuits is cultural. As it develops, the baby receives enormous amounts of cultural information from the mother’s activities: when she goes to sleep, when she wakes, how she moves during the day, her speech patterns, her emotions, etc.
Bad news came among the holiday greetings in my mail this year. Two Oregon nurse-midwifery programs are closing their doors. This follows on the heels of other closures and downsizings, both locally and nationally.
Photo provided by author
Author walking the Xenia Labrynth in B. C. Canada
When I began my family back in 1969, I was studying psychology at the university. I had my ear to the ground, listening to what the Earth wanted of mothers at a pivotal time in our history. Feminism had sounded the drum and this mother’s heart was pounding. At last, women had the freedom to be all we could be and, oh, how we danced!
Photo by Sreenivas
At the end of her first pregnancy, Liliana was living in a hostel. One day she decided that the bathrooms and the corridors were dirty. She felt an urgent need to clean them. Then she left the building. She had to sweep the sidewalk. The next day her labor started.
It is unheard of in the medical management of “normal” labor. It is outside of all the medical parameters of acceptable patterns. Even within some midwifery practices, it stretches the patience of attendants past their tolerance point. But is it really bad? Is there anything truly abnormal about Failure to Progress? Probably not!
Breech presentation can be frustrating for midwives who don’t attend breech births, either because of the political situation in their area or because they haven’t had the training. Fortunately, studies show chiropractic, acupuncture and hypnotherapy can safely turn many breech babies. These alternative treatments can be tried at 28 to 34 weeks gestation before a medical version is an option and without the risks of version.
Read more…. Effective Alternative Treatments for Breech Presentation
This is a compilation of women’s responses from the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) e-mail list (names appear as requested by contributors). One woman asked a simple question to help persuade her friend: What’s so bad about cesarean sections? Almost 75 women responded. These are just some of their poignant accounts, which illustrate the reason that instinctive birth is so important. The further we stray from it, the more women lose, emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Read more…. Voices Of Distress: Women Speak About Cesarean Sections
