Going PAST your "due date".........

Yes ladies.....IT can make ya a little CRAZY....can't it!  Especially when the majority of the friends you have or the co-workers or people you run into are all having their labors  INDUCED  before their "due date".

They can schedule their birth day...."Your due date is December 17th.....pick a day the week of December 12th!."     Easy, huh?  You can make sure your nails are done, have your last great date night, worry less, have an straightforward, easy answer for all the inquiring minds....

"when  you having that baby, girl? You look like you're gonna pop any minute! When's your induction?"

Now, if you are one of our moms......you kindly and maybe timidly say..."My midwives and I are allowing my baby and my body to go into labor when it is ready....." 

                 And they will look at you like you are plum crazy!

"Girl....time is ticking!!!  Your body doesn't know what to do!! This is the 21st century!Induction is the norm, girl. Your'e abnormal! You need to go get that baby! No body in their right mind goes to their due date!...just crazy, I say!"

 You know what we say....."forgive them....they know not what they do..."  They have all drunk the koolaid!.....
 You know you are armed with knowledge and the faith that God has designed you pretty perfectly.  He set into motion a beautiful design and when it is allowed to unfold as He has planned, it works so beautifully......and, especially for you FIRST-TIME moms, you are so decreasing your risk of MAJOR surgery....the unnecessary cesarean section that may be your fate if your birth day is over-planned and over managed.


And as always, we preface this with....we watch our mommas and our babies carefully at the end of their pregnancies to assure all is well and that we have the luxury of waiting for the birth day to unfold as it will. Yes, because sometimes babies need to come sooner that later. And there is an end point....at least in our practice there is.  We want our babies out by 42 weeks......because we do know that placentas don't last forever....and risks go up and we are all about healthy moms and healthy babies.


So, mommas, know that we sympathize with you when you are a "momma in waiting...."
Know that you are doing the best for you and your babe and that when labor starts you just might be amazed at how your body can ROCK!


And remember, we got your back.


For now......Janet

God as the Great Giver of Life and Ultimate Midwife

I can only imagine what thoughts were running through Mary as she began her birth journey that wondrous night...She was young, unknowing. She must have sensed the need to be somewhere safe, warm and sheltered so that she could go about her task.  She had only the love and support from her faithful Joseph. God, the giver of life, her ultimate midwife did not let her down. There at her side encouraging, perhaps whispering to her....."Mary, like Eve, my beautiful child, you are so completely designed for this. Fear Not. I have planned this for you."
I am here to say that ultimately, most women need no help in working with their bodies to bring their baby out. Just this week, we witnessed that wondrous truth. A first-time mom began her labor at home and quietly worked with her body, the design of the Ultimate Engineer, she arrived to us, ready to push her love out.  She exclaimed...I don't know what I am doing".  We replied "Yes, you know exactly what to do, because you have been designed to do it..." She said..."I need to kneel down on the floor"  She did.  Next thing, her baby was presenting his beautiful crown.  And then, he was out. Beautiful and singing sweet sounds of life.

Now, I am not advocating that women, in their time of labor and birth, be alone, unassisted.  I believe that women need a faithful, trusted and safe midwife to be there, whispering as the Ultimate Midwife did so long ago.....We are there to keep her safe, to guide her instincts when the pain is such that she needs that guidance.

And, just like in nature, God's design, sometimes doesn't "do right". We can't understand it sometimes, but we accept it.  Like when the rains don't come, or they flood too much.  The sun won't shine or the earth moves too much. It is not ours to question. It is ours to assist.  To help make right. This is where our education, our experience, our love and our passion prevail. This is the work of the midwife.  With God's guidance and passion we work, steadfastly.......prayers are said, answers come. We are not perfect, but we are guided by perfection. He calls us to listen. To be.


"Praise God from whom all blessings flow...." 

For now...Janet