Here is a reprint of an article I wrote in 2007. It was published in the Birthkit, a former publication of Midwifery Today.
Path of a Midwife
I gave birth for the first time, well before the crack of dawn, on a chilly November morning in 1991. I birthed in the comfort and warmth of my own home, surrounded by people of my choosing, guided and supported by two loving midwives, also of my choosing. In the cold darkness of that November morning, not only was a beautiful baby boy born, so too was a mama, a papa and a midwife. It was a profound transition in my life.
I did not make this choice out of rebellion or fear of hospitals, but rather from my heart. I hadn’t read any “your path to better birthing” books or “what to expect” books. I didn’t want to. As a matter of fact, I just couldn’t imagine birthing any other way. I felt that my baby wouldn’t allow it.
Birth is a rite of passage for the whole family: For the partner, who has been there through the tender emotional outpourings, the queasy days, the first fluttering kicks, the frolics felt just beneath the ribs and, finally, the labor and birth—the grand event. For the baby, who is profoundly affected in ways that we are only beginning to recognize. Everyone is moved by this transition of life, from womb to room.
Pregnancy and birth are natural physiological processes that open and move through a woman’s body, mind and spirit. Pregnancy and birth are parts of the deeply personal and intimate journey involving every aspect of a woman’s being. This journey can be a time of great vulnerability and a time of great empowerment.
As a midwife, I have seen birth in all her unfettered force, unimpeded and oh, so safe. I have seen, while looking into many a woman’s eyes, in the midst of her lucid struggle, the eternal, universal recognition of her own strength. I have witnessed many a woman shift from “I can’t do this” to “I am doing this.” I have witnessed brilliant-faced partners awed and transformed while infused and bathed in the glow of the mama’s intense birthing energy. I have witnessed contractions, waves, primal rushes, uterine pulses and mamas moaning, singing, resisting, rocking and rolling right into birthing their babies. I have witnessed babies, wet and warm, born into the welcoming arms of the eagerly awaiting family. Through bearing witness and bea
ring babies, I believe that birth is safe.
For every woman birthing and believing in herself, a baby is born imprinted with the same self-confidence. Every baby born into an environment of safety and peace is a person imprinted with that same sense of peace. What better way to enter the world? I can imagine no other beauty or grace, aside from mothering, to which I can commit myself. I walk this path with all my heart, with every cell in my body, one baby, one mama, one family at a time.
As a midwife, I look forward to every prenatal. Yes, there are times when they are difficult. Yes, there are times when they are not warm and fuzzy. And I look forward to them all. I learn at least a little something at every prenatal. And with patience and compassionate observant listening, I learn lots. Here's a sketch of what a basic prenatal meeting looks like:
How long do prenatals last?
Prenatals typically last anywhere from 1-2 hours.
What do we do during a prenatal?
For the purpose of writing this out, I will divide the clinical aspects of the prenatal from the interpersonal aspects. In reality, all parts of our meetings together are interwoven, connected and integrated into creating a loving, safe environment in which mama and family is nurtured and everyone feels comfortable expressing, emoting and sharing. It is essential for me that trust between us is tended like a garden~ sown, watered, weeded, picked clean of pests and harvested. This goes hand in hand with tending to your belief in yourself as a woman, a mama and a birther as well as trusting birth in general.
Clinical:
*basic urinalysis
*blood pressure
*hemoglobin check, as needed
*palpation~ externally feeling the size and shape of your uterus; feeling your baby's growth and position; connecting with your baby
*measuring fundal height~ I measure, in centimeters, the distance between the top of your pubic bone and the top of your uterus (known as the fundus)
*listen to baby's heart; count beats per minute~ I use a fetoscope for this. I choose not to use a doppler. (Doppler use is another blog topic soon to come)
Nutritional Guidance:
I focus on nutrition because I believe it is the backbone of a healthy mama and therefore healthy baby. I encourage eating whole foods and every color of the rainbow. I share recipes and ideas for meals and snacks. I believe that eating healthfully is the single most important step a woman can take towards walking down the path of a comfortable glowing pregnancy and an optimal birth outcome. Choosing what you eat is one of the extrinsic factors affecting your pregnancy, your baby and your birth that you can control.
Getting to know one another/tending mutual trust:
As I discussed earlier, this is a key part of prenatal nurturance. When I invite people into my home to bear witness to my birth, I want to feel so very comfy with them. When I attend others births, I want to feel so very comfy with them. Much time is spent getting to know one another and sowing those seeds of trust. Together we become partners and comrades on this journey.
Information sharing:
I share any amount of information and answer what questions I can about all things pertaining to pregnancy and birth. If I don't know the answer to a question you ask, I'll say so. I'll research it with you. I'll learn and relearn. I'll say, "Thank you for teaching me that."
I'll eat up any information you and your family share with me.
Lending library:
I have books and videos I loan out to whomever is interested.
Laughter:
Very important clinical piece of prenatal nurturance.
"Laughter"
When the first baby laughed for the first
time the laugh broke into a thousand
pieces and they all went skipping about
and that was the beginning of the fairies.
~J.M. Barrie
And so much more than I can not put into words...
This evening as my family arrived home after an all day outing in a nearby town, my daughter exclaimed that "We went to a place where they make jam and papa bought A LOT of it." When I asked if perhaps he was hungry when they were there, she replied, "No. There were just many delicious samples and we tried them all." I thought, that's what I want to do, gather together midwives and we can give out free samples of prenatal nurturance. mmmmmmmm, delicious.
An hour and a half of deliciousness or a 10 minute intake of high tech space food?
Which would you choose?
I am a homebirth midwife in the state of Kansas. Also know as "The Freestate". I am entering the blogoshere in order to network and discuss and meet the many people in the homebirthing community. I have enjoyed reading a few homebirth blogs every once in a while. As I am a busy homeschooling mother of 3 and a midwife, my blogging time is limited. I look forward to connecting with more folks through birth talk.
Here is a poem that stretches across time, across birthing ideology, across all barriers. It is a gem of a poem by Carl Sandburg.
Being Born Is Important
Being born is important
You who have stood at the bedposts
and seen a mother on her high harvest day,
the day of the most golden of harvest moons for her.
You who have seen the new wet child
dried behind the ears,
swaddled in soft fresh garments,
pursing its lips and sending a groping mouth
toward the nipples where white milk is ready~
You who have seen this love's payday
of wild toil and sweet agonizing~
You know being born is important.
You know nothing else was ever so important to you.
You understand the payday of love is so old,
So involved, so traced with the circles of the moon,
So cunning with the secrets of the salts of the blood~
It must be older than the moon, older than the salt.
~Carl Sandburg
ring babies, I believe that birth is safe.
