"To change humankind, it is necessary to change the way we are born." --Michel Odent

Becoming a mother changes everything in your world - including your body. Here we share images of our bodies during and after pregnancy so we can see what real women look like.

http://shapeofamother.blogspot.com/

PBS MUST SEE



Birth is one of the least understood and most important un-addressed issues in America today. Yet its impact on each of us is profound and long-lasting. The issues are not only physical but also psychological, political, social, ecological, and financial. In the United States alone birth is a $50 billion dollar-a-year unregulated industry. Our nation spends more per person on birth than any other. Yet all our technological sophistication has produced a model for birth that is by many measures a failure.*

BEING BORN takes us into the fascinating and little-known history of childbirth in the United States from the beginning of the 20th Century to the present. Childbirth practices have been altered more in the last 100 years than in all preceding centuries. As a result, what we accept today as "normal" bears little resemblance to the natural biological process that has evolved over millions of years.

BEING BORN tells the story of our attempts to control nature. This television special takes us on a journey that begins decades before women finally earned the right to vote. That was a time when many women and babies died needlessly and physicians were largely helpless to prevent it. Our journey continues throughout the 20th Century as we observe the advent of new medical tools, medicines, procedures and surgeries. Today most people expect all births to take place in a hospital under the control of physician-surgeons. Most American women are so fearful about giving birth that they happily turn the process over to outside "experts". Inductions and cesarean surgeries are regularly scheduled to fit the busy calendar of the modern woman and her doctor.

BEING BORN dramatically demonstrates that birth can and ought to be a developmentally significant process and an empowering and intimate experience for mother and baby. The solution to the question of how to achieve the safest and best birth for everyone lies in the thoughtful use of science and technology working in the service of biology and ancient wisdom. The challenge is whether or not we choose to take that path.

*1) Out of 39 industrialized countries, there are only 11 with worse infant mortality rates than the United States. Among those with better rates than the US are the Czech Republic, Cuba, and Northern Ireland (Source: March of Dimes)
2) The US rate of prematurity and low birth weight - which accounts for most infant death and long-term health problems - is the highest in the industrialized world and continues to rise.

Our Bodies Know

As women we trust that some day if we want to have a child we will become pregnant. We believe that we will grow a healthy baby. Most of us will go out and start taking prenatal vitamins and maybe stopping that caffeine intake, even before we become pregnant. But overall, we trust that our body will work with us and be strong and capable of growing that special someone we are ready to meet.

That same confidence that we have in getting pregnant does not exist for labor. The actual birth of the child seems to be a big unknown to many first time moms. Dr's often don't encourage women to trust in their body--or to listen at all. Did our Mothers and Grandmothers listen? Did they allow themselves to ignore how strong and capable they were? Little by little I see women who trusted there body would become pregnant lose confidence that they will know how to birth their baby. We must remember that the body knows how to create the fetus and how to allow the new soul to emerge.

As a post partum doula (ppd) my role changes daily as the transition into parenthood progresses. Wether it is your first child or your third, with each new addition there are shifts, concerns, and celebrations. I find that parents are all concerned about what will sooth their baby when it seems like nothing else will, how to know whether their child is eating enough, intimidated by that first bath, and EXHAUSTED.
I feel so strongly about the importance of post partum care. Families need to be supported, period. The transition into parenthood is a challenging one that often is glorified in a culture that doesn't fully support it. So what's a new family to do? Okay, here is the answer: hire a Post Partum doula. I promise she will help. You will get some sleep. You will have someone to talk to who will have answers to most of your new parent questions. She will be able to tell you about a lot of different experiences she has had with all different kinds of families....and you will not feel alone.
A ppd is there to help you with figuring out the how to's of a newborn. How and when to feed,sleep,bath,rest etc. She will be NONJUDGMENTAL of your choices, allow you to laugh and cry about all of this new stuff in your life, suggest several different options and techniques on how to care for yourself and your baby. The ppd will be sure that you have eaten, gotten some rest and that you remembered to shower. The ppd is likely to be seen as the baby expert as well as the personal assistant. If you are feeling overwhelmed with all of those thank you notes that need to be sent out she will work on them with you. She will be happy to return gifts, make phone calls, talk to you about the best baby products and even go and buy them for you.
When a family is supported by a ppd they have set themselves up for success. You will be amazed at what you can do as a parent with a bit of help and encouragment.

Smart Start


Everyday I talk about breastfeeding. I talk to moms about deciding whether or not breastfeeding is for them. I encourage women who "want to try it" to really commit and to use support to make sure that it happens. I also support women that choose not to breastfeed.

I know from the research that breastfed babies are smarter and healthier. I have seen the data. I know the data. This is not new or negotiable.

What blows me away though every single time is the relationship between Mom and breastfed baby. Moms who breastfeed learn so much, so quickly about what is going on behind the gaze of their new child. It takes patience and learning on both ends to get this art down--and when that happens a relationship has already been established.

I think that the way we come into this world really does matter. How we treat each other at the beginning of life makes a difference in what is to come. As a doula, I want to protect the doorway of birth. I want to protect the sacredness of the event. Would our world change if everyone actively engaged in conscious birthing?

Molimina--my life rhythm connection.

I'm not sure why or when it began but I can't remember a time when I wasn't fascinated by women's health. I can remember the feeling I had when my mother first talked to me about menstruation. I felt like I had been told an exciting secret. A secret about myself and all other women before me. A common link that you weren't really supposed to talk about. I was excited and I was going to talk about it to anyone who would listen. My interest was piqued-- I wanted to know what other secrets were around the corner.

I realized that what I was learning in health class was different than what I was hearing from my friends. It was still different than what my mother was telling me, and quite different than what Dr's were saying. Where was the truth? I started to surround myself with books that focused on science and psychology. I wanted to understand the cycles of womanhood, how the female body changes, conceives, gestates and gives birth. This subject wasn't so easy to come by. At least not in any noteworthy journals at the time. Why hadn't more studies been done? I realized that men were actually the only measure of all things scientific. I guess the very cycles that I wanted to understand would have "skewed the science." Bummer.
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What we see, we see
and seeing is changing

Adrienne Rich

What's a doula anyway?

My life is continuously flooded with this question! In a nutshell this is what a doula is:

There are two separate paths of being a doula. One is providing services as labor support and the other provides services to a family during the post partum period. Both concentrate primarily on mothering the mother.

Doula's are trained and experienced in childbirth. The doula's role is to provide physical, emotional, and informational support to women and their partners during labor, birth and often beyond. As a doula I offer advice on comfort measures such as breathing, relaxation, movement and positioning. I also assists families in gathering information and encourage you to investigate all of your options.

As a doula I specialize in non-medical skills and do not perform clinical tasks, such as vaginal exams or fetal heart rate monitoring. Doulas do not diagnose medical conditions, offer second opinions, or give medical advice. Most importantly, doulas do not make decisions for their clients; they do not project their own values and goals onto the laboring woman. The doula's goal is to help the woman have a safe and satisfying childbirth as the woman and her family defines it.

As a post partum doula I support families during the transition into parenthood. I focus on the needs of the new mother as well as the newborn. I often nurture the mother by offering practical assistance as well as emotional support, enabling her to recover faster and feel more confident in meeting the challenges a new baby brings. Post partum doula's are often seen as mentors who answer your questions and provide much needed assurance in a gentle, non-judgmental way, allowing families to develop their own unique parenting style.