A Peek Into Our Lives: Mooncup Competition

A Peek Into Our Lives: Mooncup Competition

I had to laugh

My latest client is a hoot, a no-nonsense woman - and so easy to chat too. She sent me an email to update me on her life and pregnancy and she says the following about baby kicking, and I quote "The baby has been kicking a lot – feels like an alien trying to get out." I really had to laugh at that, seems like such an apt description and something that I could strangely imagine :)

Birthday Blessings

It was my first baby's birthday! The first birth I attended as a doula was the 21st of March 2008 - I remember it so clearly. I was terrified and SO in awe. Was such an amazing and wonderful experience, thank you so much to the parents for keeping me updated on this little girls life.

I'm back!

So I have a new client, a wonderful couple - very successful business people in the South African market. Her husband has a baby from a previous relationship, the baby was born under very traumatic circumstances (baby is just perfect though) which ultimately led to the break up of the marriage.

He has subsequently decided that he does not want to be present at the birth - that makes my job even more important, though I need to be flexible should he change his mind on the day of the birth.

She is due in July - gives us a few months to bond. Mom is lovely and quite prepared, she has done much reading, albeit in the wrong places (What to Expect when You're Expecting) and such, though my recommendations have not fallen on deaf ears and she has decided to pursue a birth at Linkwood. The comprimise with her fiance is that she will stick with a gynaecologist who works from Parklane anyway.

I am looking forward to this process once again, and because I have fewer births I feel I will be able to concentrate somewhat better.

Wonderful to be back! :)

Taking a break

I am going to take a break, a month or so while my husband and I undergo fertility treatment. At this rate & after all the information I'm getting, I should start another blog! Thanks to those who read my blog, I will be back :)

Questions and answers

A fellow doula, and a wonderful one at that, asked me an incredibly thought provoking question this morning. It really made me think in what I truly believe in, and what I would justly fight for.

Curious question - how would you feel about a movement in to stop elective caesars (basically by law) - as in for no apparent true medical condition?

Would love to hear your gut reaction and your thought about it reaction.

My instincive response to your question - knowing the risks and so forth of elective c-sections is to say good and it's about time.

THOUGH my experience tells me differently and I feel that I believe more in informed choice rather than pushed choice. I feel that hospitals, healthcare professionals, and medical aids should rather spend their time educating mothers as to the risks of c-sections and the pro's of completely natural birth (none of this epidural stuff) than spending time trying to outlaw elective caesars.

I feel that if ALL mom's are completely educated about birth (and I mean COMPLETELY) then they would intuitively choose natural home based birth. There is so much stigmatism, mystery and mostly FEAR around birth - that if we took that away with education and revelation, then mothers would want to use their primal need to birth naturally.

So if we take away the choice of elective c-section, then I feel mothers would fight for it more - because they want the CHOICE. But education is the key for me!

Primal Mothering in a Modern World by Hygeia Halfmoon

While I comfort my current emotional standing with smoors and a cup of tea, I am thinking about credit due to the above book.

Hygeia addresses the issues of natural pregnancy, our emotional addiction to cooked foods and therefore the solution – fruitanariasm, unassisted childbirth, emotional addiction to destructive relationships, breastfeeding, home-schooling and such. All in all, the whole book is probably the most controversial I have ever read. I am not one to scare away from controversy but somehow this book made me wonder how one can argue by only giving one side of the story.

True, there are many parts of this book that I adore but more often than not, if there is a writer that I adore – I would match my viewpoints to their own. Though in this instance I am somewhat disillusioned in some of the arguments presented not because they are wrong – but they were not correctly debated.

Such as unassisted childbirth, though this would be my ideal birthing situation, unfortunately though it is not a reality. I thought homebirth wasn’t a reality until very recently, though I have thought long and hard about unassisted childbirth, and I believe in the village – I believe in women helping other women to birth. Therefore I believe in my midwife, doula and husband being available to me whilst I am in labour. Truthfully I shall ensure that I am the one to “deliver” my child but should my precious miracle need a little oxygen, I’m not against the midwife working some of her well trained magic.

I love the idea of primal mothering and I will use it in every circumstance that I can – I believe women should have more faith in their bodies and instincts and not rely so much on the medical institution. We are born to be mothers, and everything we need to care for our children is inside of us. Our own mothers need to help us to believe this, as well as our husbands – and most importantly you. Like I say, go against the flow.