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Handling postpartum issues naturally gives the mother more control and is generally less invasive then going to a doctor. Make sure the mother knows when to seek additional medical care. Read more…. Herbs for Mother’s Care Postpartum
Not much can be more horrible than a disease that turns our lovemaking and the milk that pours from our breasts to nourish our babies into means of transmitting a lethal virus. I invite you to become passionate about knowing about this disease so you can help women protect themselves and their babies from it.
Photo by Sonja Langford
Helen defied traditional knowledge. Traditional care would consider Helen, having her first baby at 44 years of age, high risk. Traditionally, homebirth would be considered very risky and waterbirth as pain relief inadequate. Helen had no complications. Her 24-hour labour was neither exhausting nor debilitating.
Photo by Jiyeon Park
My students and I don’t anticipate the placenta will be pushed out for 30 minutes after birth. The “mood” is maintained. We offer the mother a warm herbal tea. We don’t disturb the attachment that happens naturally or push sucking at the breast. I have used this method for years, with less than a 1% haemorrhage rate.
This article is excerpted from the book, Voices of Maya Midwives: Oral Histories of Practicing Traditional Midwives from the Mam Region of Guatemala. Este artículo fue extraído del libro, “Voces de las comadronas mayas” Read more…. Berta Juárez Fuentes
Author with her daughter, Tiffany, and Umbi.
Photos provided by author.
I delivered my son after a journey that had spanned 14 years and taken me down a road filled with disappointment and distrust….Words have such a strong and lasting impact. It’s so important to support a positive experience in pregnancy and labor. I will be eternally grateful that a midwife provided this for me.
Photos by Caroline Brown
Early in my rural practice, I worked with a physician who insisted, “Mother Nature knows what she’s doing.” I watched one woman go four weeks past her very certain due date. Another went six weeks past the day we were certain she was due. I was a wreck. But my mentor was right. Mother Nature does know what she’s doing.
If you have on your shelf the English version of the book, titled History of Childbirth: Fertility, Pregnancy and Birth in Early Modern Europe, you will miss the analogy transmitted by the original title and the importance of the pages on the history of beliefs about the duration of pregnancy. Read more…. The Tree and the Fruit: Routine versus Selective Strategies in Postmaturity
With increasing information about the potential hazards of immunizations, many wonder whether it is safer to be immunized or risk contracting a disease. This dilemma becomes real for the woman of childbearing age who discovers that she is non-immune to rubella.
Read more…. To Vaccinate or Not to Vaccinate: Rubella and the Adult Woman
Photo by Federico Plevak
Avoiding repeat cesarean means becoming skilled in evaluating and caring for women who desire VBAC and educating about the risks, benefits and alternatives to both repeat cesarean and VBAC. Furthermore, midwives need to know how women heal after cesarean delivery and what they can do to foster the healing process.
Read more…. Holistic Evaluation of Healing After Cesarean Birth
Photo—Caroline Brown
The timing of birth has major consequences for a baby. Too early or too late can mean the difference between life and death. Or so we have come to believe; and it’s undoubtedly true at the extreme ends of preterm and postterm birth dates. Read more…. A Timely Birth
Photo by Simon Wilkes
Govinda called me around 9 am to say that Leela’s waters had broken at 1 am. They had had a very gentle and beautiful night together and had even been for a walk and quiet sit outside around dawn. By the time I got there, Leela’s contractions were already five minutes apart, getting stronger and closer together.
