Wisdom and Births

It may startle a few of you to hear that some women CHOOSE to give birth alone. But truly, this is only startling to our 21st century medicalized birth culture. Giving birth at home was the 'norm' less than a century ago. And giving birth ALONE was the 'norm' for most of our human history. But, enough on that for now... here I'd like to introduce you to a few of the reasons women decide to give birth unassisted by any 'professional' provider - and how some of these reasons reflect a system that isn't supportive of birthing women. Choosing freebirth, or unassisted childbirth (UC), for reasons such as cost and inability to find or afford midwife reflect a situation in which the 'care system' is failing many women, babies, and families. Every woman deserves access to a provider of her choice at a cost she can afford. Period. Other reasons such as anger, resentment, and fear of the medical birth model again reflect our system's failings to provi...

Your heart emits waves of energy that others around you are able to 'sense' through their intelligent heart... We can communicate with our hearts! Your heart has thousands of sensory neurons, 40,000 actually , which send more information to the brain than the brain sends to the heart, says the Institute of Heartmath. They even say that this energy field, emitting from your heart, can be measured several feet from your body and can operate independently of your (cranial) brain... With a complex set of its own neurons, neurotransmitters, proteins and support cells... your heart is capable of acting as it's own information processing center. Your heart is a brain ! Your heart brain processes emotional information - the sensory neurons in the heart sense the emotional state of another being by picking up on the heart waves, the electrical wave output, created by the hearts of others. Negative emotions emit erratic, chaotic and disorganized heart waves ~ positive emotions e...

More and more mothers are recognizing the benefits of having a doula with them for their birth, you should too! What a birth doula does... A doula is a labor support companion trained in natural childbirth. A doula will help with physical and emotional comfort measures and can provide informational support as well. A doula does not make choices for you, regarding your birth, but will support you in the choices you feel are best for you, your baby, and your family! You can have a doula for ANY type of birth! A home birth, birth center, or hospital birth... even for a planned cesarean!  Here is my poetic take on what a doula does :) Doulas decrease the rates of various obstetrical interventions and improve a mother's satisfaction with her birth experience. With a doula as a member of your labor support team, you are: 28% less likely to have a cesarean section 31% less likely to use synthetic oxytocin to speed up labor 9% less likely to use any pain medication 34% less like to rate t...

Among the many pioneers and leaders in the field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology, one of my favorites is Dr. Robert Oliver, an MD who was at the front of the humanistic birth movement. Dr. Oliver passed in 2005, but his legacy and work still resonate throughout the birth psychology field. He served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health and passionately advocated for mother-baby centered care. Here is an excellent quote, one of my favorites, from a publication found in the Journal of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Health (JPPPH). What does it mean for every woman to have an 'assured uterus'? I think there is room for personal interpretation, but as defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, assured means: very confident; characterized by certainty or security. In this light, an assured uterus means that every mother is supported throughout her pregnancy in emotional, physical, and relational ways. That she feel...

There were plenty of leaking breasts, milk-drunk babies, and personal testimonies, but unfortunately there wasn't enough information. Click to watch the trailer! Like many birth and breastfeeding professionals, I've waited months for the newest documentary by Rikki Lake and Abby Epstein (and Dana Ben-Ari), the directors of the excellent birth documentary The Business of Being Born , and was hoping it would be just as insightful, empowering, and informative... in some ways it was, but overall I was disappointed with the lack of information. Beginning with the early breastfeeding experiences of various mothers, we continue through the first months and onto the first year with a diverse group of parents, couples, and babies. We are witness to the first latch, numerous breastfeeding and pumping sessions, tandem nursings, and preemie supplementation. We hear about a mother's experience with induced lactation, the changing sexuality of the breasts for one father, and from many g...

Breastfeeding truly is the best feeding! And if you needed any more reason to think so, here are some wonderful research-based and perhaps less well-known reasons to breastfeed!! If you have other ideas please share them in the comments below!!   1. Breastfeeding can decrease your risk of breast cancer.   This is a BIG one that I think we need to talk about more!  Preventing breast cancer is better than having to treat it!! A large meta-analysis of 47 epidemiological studies from 30 countries found a 4.3% (95% CI 2.9-5.8) decreased risk of breast cancer for every 12 months of breastfeeding.  Breastfeeding two children for two years each could conceivably reduce your risk of breast cancer by over 17%. [ PubMed ] (1) 2. And Ovarian Cancer.   A meta-analysis found that the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer decreased 8% for every 5-month increase in the duration of breastfeeding (RR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.90, 0.95). [ PubMed ] (2) 3. Breastfeeding will save you ov...