Peace and Goodbirth :)

[Guest guest]

From the Midwifery/Doula Newsletter I receive

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

~~~~~~~~~

 

 

4) Peace

 

Editor's note: In the face of these sad and trying times, it seems

appropriate to remember and honor the work of midwives, doulas,

childbirth educators and all practitioners of goodbirth who give their

time, heart, spirit and love so that our world, through peaceful

birth, may learn to be a place of harmony, repose and love. I chose

some peaceful stories to remind you of the high work they do.

In Switchboard you will find numerous letters received at Midwifery

Today late last week, speaking so eloquently, from midwives'

perspectives, of our American tragedy and how we can go forward with

hope and healing. Let's do that, one birth at a time.

 

If you'd like to share more of your thoughts, please visit the special

forum we created in the Midwifery Today Forums.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=64

 

====

 

I tried to learn as much as I could about the customs of Siene's home,

Samoa. During prenatal visits she showed me her beautiful bamboo birth

mats, and we chose the special " lava-lava, " a length of brightly

colored fabric that must be wrapped around the mother after birth. We

shopped together for the traditional food that men in the family

prepare for the birthday feast.

I was called to her labor at a wee hour of the morning. Male relatives

were in the kitchen cooking something that smelled wonderful. Other

relatives, including children, were in the living room playing and

singing to celebrate the event. When I walked into the birth room,

Siene was smiling radiantly, sitting on her special mats, surrounded

by the important women in her family. As another contraction began,

she reclined into her mother's arms, gave me a big grin, and proceeded

to voice her powerful yelling. When she was ready to push, she gave an

enormous effort and we had an 11-pound baby lustily making her

presence known in the world.

Later the grandmother announced that she had something important to

say, so everyone became very quiet. A relative translated while the

grandmother spoke to me: " When the Haoles [white people] came to our

islands, they took the babies away from the grandmothers. Now we have

come to this distant land, and this Haole woman has given back the

babies to the grandmother. " She then took my hands and kissed them and

said, " Now you are Samoan. " -excerpted from " The Language of Love " by

Valerie El Halta, Midwifery Today Issue 13

====

 

In the black of night on country roads with no invasive streetlights,

the sky was so clear we felt we could reach up and touch the countless

shining stars. In front of us was a blazing comet, streaking its path

across the sky. At the same time, another incredible celestial display

was occurring to the southeast, a staggeringly vivid lunar eclipse

that steadily turned the friendly white face of the moon a dark,

warning red. Wow. My attention was split right down the middle of two

major life events--one for a family ahead expecting their new miracle

of life and one playing out with unearthly glory in the sky above. I

stopped the car; I just had to.

When I turned off the car and its lights, [my daughter] Marion and I

stood there absorbing a sight the likes of which we will never see

together again in our lifetimes....

We arrived in plenty of time, the birth went beautifully, and a few

months later Marion received a thank-you card from the family

addressing her as " little midwife. " -Casey Makela, Midwifery Today

Issue 56

====

 

I had lunch today with a client who is moving to Georgia. She wants to

become a midwife after having experienced birth at home. She had had

three cesareans, two hospital births, and finally a homebirth.

This mother had a beautiful birth at home at age 41. Her 21-year-old

son and her 2-year-old daughter surrounded her in birth, as did her

mother, husband, and other children. Her birth was a beautiful, moving

experience, one of those peaceful events that gives us strength to

carry on as midwives.

She recalled that what touched her so much in labor were the small

things that now mean so much to her. She remembers most the times when

she would wipe her brow, and I would turn on the fan. She licked her

lips, and I gave her a drink. Her husband's knee was bothering him so

I gave him a pillow to cushion it as we knelt next to her while she

was pushing. She remarked that a midwife safeguards normality in birth

but does so much more--she tends to all the needs of the mother, be

they medical, emotional, or spiritual. -Lois Wilson, Midwifery Today

Issue 50

====

 

When I arrived at the farm at 11:30 pm, the yard light illuminated the

new-fallen snow. I entered the house through the creaky front door and

saw a young girl asleep on the big, cushioned armchair. I took off my

boots as silently as I could and headed for the only other light in

the house, a faint glow coming from a nearby bedroom.

It took some time for my eyes to adjust. The room was perfectly quiet.

I could see a toddler asleep in the crib at the end of the bed. The

midwife smiled at me, then at the mom. Dad was on his knees next to

the bed, waiting and watching. When a contraction came, mom wrapped

her arms around him and they rocked together in quiet harmony.

Mom accomplished pushing as silently as the first stage....In what

seemed like no time at all, the baby was crowning. Another small push

and her head was with us. Then one more push and this lovely family

expanded by one.

While the baby was being dried, she let out a small cat cry. The young

one at the end of the bed awoke. For a short time, the four of them

snuggled in the bed, getting to know each other while we waited for

the placenta.

As we left in the predawn morning, the house was dark and the snow

still slightly blue. When I finally reached my bed, I drifted off with

the knowledge of the peace that can come with birth at home.

-excerpted from " Silent Night: A Doula's Testimony, " by Debbie Young,

The Birthkit Issue 25

====

 

TO ORDER the issues mentioned above, go to:

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/MT13.htm

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/MT56.htm

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/MT50.htm

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/BK25.htm

~*~*~*~*

Midwifery Today: Each One Teach One!

 

The above was from:

o=o=o=o=o=o=o

MIDWIFERY TODAY E-NEWS

a publication of Midwifery Today, Inc.

Volume 3 Issue 38 September 19, 2001

Peace

Code 940

o=o=o=o=o=o=o

 

Pass E-News on to your friends and colleagues--it's free!

To , just go to:

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/.asp

o=o=o

 

SPREAD THE PEACE of goodbirth throughout the world: Inform yourselves

and your community about midwifery-attended birth. Join us at:

http://www.midwiferytoday.com

o=o=o