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This article describes painted, wooden birth trays of Renaissance Italy and how the tradition strengthened social bonds.
Read more…. “Desco da parto” The Birth Tray and Its Cultural Significance in Renaissance Italy
An interview with a unique birth doula—a blind man who came to the work from massage therapy. Read more…. An Interview with Ray McAllister: A Blind Doula
Jennifer Mason—jennifermasonphotography.com
In this issue of Midwifery Today we celebrate the role of the doula. The articles in these pages feature doulas across the planet making a difference: from doulas who serve refugees in Austria to doulas incorporated into multi-disciplinary practices in Turkey to indigenous doulas here in US helping maintain their cultural practices around childbirth.
Sonnet to My Uterus. O gravid womb…
Melanie Ellison—devotedhandsdoula.com
A midwife who has practiced around the world ventures into working as a doula in London.
Complications can sometimes mar what seems to be a birth gone well. Learn about the sign of peripartum cardiomyopathy and its risk to moms. Read more…. Peripartum Cardiomyopathy: Snatched from the Hands of Death
I believe that doulas need to have some preparation for handling emergency clinical situations: not to take them on, but to be ready in case of an emergency. This is a somewhat unpopular view. However, doulas can never know what kind of situation they may find themselves in. For example, you may be the first to arrive at a homebirth, when the midwife gets a flat tire or, for some other reason, does not arrive in time for the birth. Read more…. The Doula’s Role
This doula and member of the Seneca Nation of Indians shares how she ensures that cultural aspects are included in the births of families she serves.
Jennifer Mason—jennifermasonphotography.com
Another sweet birth story.
In the summer of 2015, Europe experienced one of the largest refugee crises in modern times. My native Austria had not seen such a high influx of scared and traumatized people since Hungarians fled their homes in 1956. The country was utterly unprepared. When Angela Merkel asked refugees to come to Germany, 90,000 people remained in Austria, a country of 8.7 million. This represented a 1% increase in the population of people with no way to support themselves and who were forced to rely on state aid.
The author shares her three-stage model of birth, which she believes is a more accurate reflection of what acutally happens in the body during this physiological experience.
Kourtnie Scholz—kedocumentary.com
A doula shares her experiences with birthing women, and how what may seem ideal or not-so-ideal to her can be different from how a family perceives it.
