The "Mother Call"

This week I again had the honor of witnessing and guiding a young mom through her work of labor and birth......I cannot express the power and feelings present in the room when women are at their strongest and most glorious........incredible strength, beauty, tenacity wisdom and most of all love. A mother's love. Three simple words said so many times by so many people.
I have a great job.....a calling if you will. God has granted me this part of my life, however long it may be, to be witness of his perfect plan....can't say that enough.

Watching a woman work with her body and the design of it....easing through those hours of early labor which progresses ever so nicely into powerful active labor is always a wonderment. And when she gets just to that point of almost being done with her task....she starts the "mother call" . If she feels safe and undisturbed and in a perfect place she can "let go" and call her baby home. I must admit, when guiding women through that time I find myself brought to such emotion and respect and awe that I must fight back the tears for her......not feeling sorry, but feeling so incredibly honored to witness such a miracle! Yes, again I think! Just as He planned!

If you are not"privvy" to that call....you may think "oh my Gosh....how horrible for her" The loud moaning, the deep gutteral "aaahhhhhhh". But no, she is calling her baby.....calling her down
and out and into her arms. Maybe God planned for all of us at that moment of our birth to hear that sound and go towards it....For we should not discourage it but behold it as our golden moment......Ever so spiritual, powerful, miraculous......birth as it should be.

I welcome, anyone who is afraid to give it a try.......scared, discouraged.....Let us help you.....you will be amazed by your courage and power.....you have only just begun to tap into!

As midwives our strength is the ability to know what you need at each step of the way. No lie, no bullshit.....hard core facts and guidedance. And LOVE. Our hands and hearts are our tools. The best drug in town, I guarrantee it! For now.....Janet

You are Eve..........and other realities of our bodies and birth

Today when visiting with one of our moms at her visit..we were discussing the abundance of "information" out there about pregnancy and childbirth. Information is good...to a point.

It hit me like a brick! Every pregnant woman, you are Eve. What I mean by this is that our bodies and the way they work are just like Eve- the first woman ever to share our curves, our feelings and hormones and our ability to birth like we were born to do it! Yes, I do believe that for some women, their individual circumstances hinders their ability to let their body do what it so perfectly designed to do. Sometimes things don't go as planned.

However, for the majority of you healthy young women out there.....trust, please, that God has placed so many "safety nets"

The "Perfectness" of natural birth.......

In this photo you see mom & dad gearing up in early labor or the birth of their babe....walking through our courtyard at the birth center on a warm, summer night complete with crickets chirping and frogs croaking, they anticipate what is soon to come.

The Great Designer...Why Knock-Offs are never as good....

I am a firm believer that our mighty God, is the Great Designer. I mean, how can we as mere humans ever create anything that compares to His ever-beautiful works? ANd even those beautiful master art pieces some would say are God inspired, God lead, so to speak.

Now when it comes to the powerful birthing woman, well we know that the way in which God designed the body to work is pure perfect motion. Pure poetry. Pure awe-inspiring power. Most women have that super power in them. However, in today's maternity world we see so many women being before their body is truly ready. When a woman's body starts the process on it's own time, in it's own way it is amazing the power and the control you see. Now, we all know thatg sometimes for the mommas sake or the baby's sake, labor needs to insue and the only way to accomplish that is with induction of labor....I get that. I have no problem with that.

Natural Birth.....spelled out clearly.....

N- got that covered......(see previous post)



A is for....... Autonomy.....

T is for....... Total focus is on you

U is for....... It's all about "you"

R is for....... Realizing your inner strength

A is for....... Achieving your desires

L is for....... Letting go.....

Natural......naturally.

NATURAL BIRTH- Let's spell it out-clearly

N = "no" body but me can push my baby out, "no" way am I not gonna be in charge of my body, my birth, "no" thank you, I would really not like an episiotomy, "no" please don't take my baby away from me, "no" I would rather not be drugged on narcotics- could you help me through these contractions, please?, "no" I would rather have a midwife, please, "no" really I mean really a midwife please, "no" to nothing to drink in labor, gosh but I am so thirsty, please a drink of cool water please, "no" I really would rather not have so many hospital personnel in my room, discussing last nights happenings, please honor what I am doing right now......my birth...please, "no"I would really like to wait for my body and my baby to begin the labor process as long as all is okay, "no" to Pitocin, unless it's really necessary.....my baby thanks you......., "no" to anything but respect and love and gentle caring for me, please.......

Some things that should go with natural, loving birth.........tomorrow "A".....Janet

What Natural Birth Isn't.................

The term 'natural birth' seems to conjure up some pretty horrific pictures in the mind of many a woman who hear the suggestion to consider it for themselves. I think for some, their view of natural birth is the picture they have of themselves or their friend, under the influence of Pitocin induction of labor, strapped to the fetal monitor, stuck flat on her back in bed and left there by the Labor nurse.....writhing in pain, scared to death, miserable. Just waiting to dilate enough to get saved by the Epidural....Which is also what the Labor nurse is waiting for too. She wants you to have that dang epidural.. Makes her job easier because she has other patients out there, and it sure makes life easier when she can "nurse" you from the Nurses Station.

I am not saying that all Labor nurses are "bad" or whatever, it's just that in today's maternity world, there are way too many mommas and not enough nurses. So they can't stay in the room with you...can't treat you like you need and should be treated when you are traveling through this most amazing journey. Not their fault, they are just a product of the times.

Recently I was at our transfer hospital inducing a mom who needed to birth early at the hospital. (Thank goodness we have privileges there and can deliver our moms there when the need arises- our practice is blessed to have that option)You could hear moans and "crying out" sounds coming from one of the labor rooms. The nurses were commenting on the sound...."She wants to go "natural" with smirks all around ( as if that's a crime or a major inconvenience to them)........I asked them "Who is with her?" "Her husband," they said. I said "makes me want to go in there and help her". Really. It did. My heart ached for her.....knowing I had a skill, a god-given desire to assist, a need if you will, to help her. Her being any birthing woman.....because no woman should go through birth alone- her husband is there for support and love, but it really is his labor process too. He most likely feels (1)frightened for her, (2) inadequate in his capability to really help her (3) he just wants to have her pain go away........now. It's hard for dad's to see their woman hurting, scared, etc.

I knew I had something I could have offerred her. The midwife's skill, heart, hands, love of birth. And yet, I couldn't help. Wasn't my momma. I believe that the heart of the midwife, the skill, the caring, the truly empowering care has been for many a well-kept secret.

Well, I'm here to let that cat out of the bag...........For now, Janet