Pregnancy and Birth
Our mammalian instinct to prepare the birthing ...
What do we have to learn from other birthing mammals that can help the labouring woman? Michel Odent makes the case for de-humanising childbirth. At the end of her first pregnancy, Claire 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. When she walked out of the building, she had to sweep the pavement. The next day her labour started. Against all odds, Iona decided to stay at home for the birth of her first baby. She called me one afternoon as contractions forewarned her of the beginning of labour. Even before knocking at the door, I was intrigued by the noise of a vacuum cleaner. Between contractions, Iona was hoovering. During contractions, she was leaning on the back of a chair. Afterwards, I asked her if she usually did the cleaning in the middle...
Our mammalian instinct to prepare the birthing nest
What do we have to learn from other birthing mammals that can help the labouring woman? Michel Odent makes the case for de-humanising childbirth. At the end of her first pregnancy,...
An ecstatic freebirth and lotus birth experience
I first met Zoe, an ecstatic birth educator, when she booked a maternity session with me. From the moment we met we became friends, and she became my muse. I have a big interest in the different transformations we as humans go through, and I’m passionate about trying to find ways to document these pivotal moments in our lives. When she asked me if I would photograph her ecstatic freebirth, I didn’t hesitate to say yes. The birth space is where I feel at home. We then began talking about capturing the whole transformation of Zoe becoming a mother for the first time. Zoe shares her ecstatic freebirth I wanted to birth my son into the world through love and pleasure, for his journey to begin in peace and free of any trauma. Being trained as an ecstatic birth educator and witnessing many births unfold that the birther declared to...
An ecstatic freebirth and lotus birth experience
I first met Zoe, an ecstatic birth educator, when she booked a maternity session with me. From the moment we met we became friends, and she became my muse. I...
Birthing from within: how to prepare for a posi...
When I was pregnant, despite reading everything I could get my hands on I felt afraid, alone, daunted and unprepared for this rite of passage that lay before me. I knew the facts, but I did not know if or how I could give birth. The doctor and midwife team knew the exact proportions of my blood and urine, and listened to the butterfly beat of my unborn’s heart, but knew nothing of my heart, my deepest fears, those things which would have probably more impact on the birthing process than anything that they were testing. There was not time. It was not their job. I knew I needed to prepare, but how? Asking questions of those who had gone before me was a start. But their unconsciousness of their own birthing processes created as many new worries for me as it gave reassurance. And so I continued to read, haunting...
Birthing from within: how to prepare for a positive birth
When I was pregnant, despite reading everything I could get my hands on I felt afraid, alone, daunted and unprepared for this rite of passage that lay before me. I...
Mothering the Mother: advice for a healing post...
Many cultures across the world hold sacred the idea of a ‘lying in’ or confinement period after a woman has given birth. This period should be dedicated to restful recovery, where the new mother is expected to do little other than rest, eat, and feed and snuggle her new baby, while her family, friends, or hired help take care of her. It could be referred to as a ‘baby-moon’, a time to get to know her baby and give her body and mind time to recover and get used to her new role as a mother. The time of this confinement period varies across the world. For example, in China women are expected to be in confinement for 30 days, in Mexico for 40 days, and in India for up to 60 days. Looking at this practice from both a physical and an emotional point of view, I can see...
Mothering the Mother: advice for a healing postnatal period
Many cultures across the world hold sacred the idea of a ‘lying in’ or confinement period after a woman has given birth. This period should be dedicated to restful recovery,...
Donna Taylor explains placenta encapsulation an...
Placenta consumption, also known as placentophagy, has been documented as far back as 500 BC, so it’s by no means a new thing or a passing trend. However, with more women sharing their testimonies, it’s moving from being an ‘out there’ practice to something many women consider alongside hiring a doula, choosing a hypnobirthing practitioner or taking an antenatal yoga class. Back in 2008, Lynnea Shrief, founder of the Independent Placenta Encapsulation Network (IPEN), was the first person to offer placenta encapsulation services in the UK, in addition to her doula practice. She went on to create a comprehensive training programme which is continuously developing to enable birth professionals to safely provide the service in the UK and around the world. The main motivation for most women who decide to encapsulate their placenta is that they want to use the capsules to help avoid postnatal depression. Others, committed to a healthy...
Donna Taylor explains placenta encapsulation and its benefits
Placenta consumption, also known as placentophagy, has been documented as far back as 500 BC, so it’s by no means a new thing or a passing trend. However, with more...
Focus on the birth experience, not just the out...
“... At least she's healthy; that's all that matters.” Those can be the most well-meaning, and hurtful comments a woman can hear after giving birth. Our society seems to have a strange relationship with pregnant women. When a woman is waddling around, her ever-growing midsection a sign to all those around her of the life she is bearing, we give up subway seats and parking spots, we hold open doors and offer to help with groceries. However, once that woman goes into labour, suddenly we no longer revere her, but fear her and what her body is going through; we have to try to contain and control the situation, so we start focusing 100% on the baby, leaving the mother's thoughts and wishes behind as emotional casualties. Somehow, in a matter of moments, this woman who was previously viewed as a dainty flower is now something to be man-handled and...
Focus on the birth experience, not just the outcome
“... At least she's healthy; that's all that matters.” Those can be the most well-meaning, and hurtful comments a woman can hear after giving birth. Our society seems to have...
Empowered Birth: the miracle that is the uterus
The topic of the uterus is massive, and having recently read Dynamic Positions in Birth by Margaret Jowett, it seems to me to be at the core of what we are working with as midwives with women during pregnancy and birth. I will continue discussing the uterus in the next issue as well because it is such an important organ that one column cannot do it justice. The uterus is the most amazing and underestimated part of the human body. It has evolved to have two functions: firstly, to be a safe haven, a lifeline and an incubator for the foetus during the nine months of pregnancy; and secondly, to propel the baby to the outside world. During labour, its job is to combine both simultaneously. It can repeat this process many times in a woman’s lifetime. In Jennifer Worth’s book Call the Midwife, she describes a mother with 22...
Empowered Birth: the miracle that is the uterus
The topic of the uterus is massive, and having recently read Dynamic Positions in Birth by Margaret Jowett, it seems to me to be at the core of what we...
How to celebrate the rite of passage into mothe...
Pregnancy and birth are such enormous milestones in any woman’s life, but as a culture we barely acknowledge them. Many other cultures have marked these important rites of passage with customs and rituals, finding ways of celebrating impending motherhood and birth. Our usual markers are medical: the pregnancy test, the dating scan, cutting the cord, the first injections; or commercial, in the form of the American baby shower. Even traditional religious rites such as christenings are falling by the wayside. For weddings we have engagement parties, hens and stags, wedding breakfasts and honeymoons; we have the giving and receiving of rings, and speeches. For birth, a far more lifechanging event, we have very little. In many traditional cultures, whilst young men would receive harsh initiations into manhood, women had none as it was acknowledged what a vast initiation childbearing was, both physically and spiritually. The mother-to-be would be guided by...
How to celebrate the rite of passage into motherhood
Pregnancy and birth are such enormous milestones in any woman’s life, but as a culture we barely acknowledge them. Many other cultures have marked these important rites of passage with...
Empowered Birth: rebozo after birth
Over the past couple of years, I have been attending training courses to learn about the shawl called a rebozo – a woven piece of fabric with beautiful tassels, bright colours and patterns. Due to the demand from people who would like to own their own rebozo, they are shipped from overseas by birth workers who have a relationship with the weaving families, and our knowledge of their usage in traditional midwifery in Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil is thanks in part to Naoli Vinaver – a midwife herself – who shares her culture. Rebozo ‘manteada’ is the technique used (also known as ‘sifting’) which moves a mother from her sympathetic or stressed state to her parasympathetic or calm state, so that she can relax, rest, and feel in control, able and intuitive in pregnancy and in labour. Having learnt the techniques in training, I then had to become confident and...
Empowered Birth: rebozo after birth
Over the past couple of years, I have been attending training courses to learn about the shawl called a rebozo – a woven piece of fabric with beautiful tassels, bright...
How water can help during pregnancy, labour and...
“Are you having a water birth?” “I’d like one, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed. My baby is measuring too big… Too small… I have strep B… I had a c-section last time… My blood pressure’s high… I’m overdue… There’s only one pool in hospital… I’ve got gestational diabetes… My partner’s aquaphobic!…” Being an Aqua Yoga teacher, I’m privileged to have been privy to the light-hearted birth chats between many pregnant women over the years. Many have clearly gained a great deal from the qualities of water week after week, and have groaned with dread at the thought of getting out of the swimming pool at the end of each class. Yet what still amazes me is the prevalent fear and doubt around birth choices – about what is allowed, including water birth. If you have immersed yourself in water while heavily pregnant, you’ll understand how wonderful it...
How water can help during pregnancy, labour and birth
“Are you having a water birth?” “I’d like one, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed. My baby is measuring too big… Too small… I have strep B… I...