6 posts from March 2009

I got this post from Megan Davidson , one of our Blog Experts, in my email box this week. I am thrilled that she wanted to share her favorite resources.  Megan is one of those people who stockpile information and resources.  Whenever she goes to a birth with a new OB, she updates me with her thoughts.  I have learned that she has great judgment. Without further ado: here his her list. (Megan has her own Expert Page with her advice- as do all the Blog Experts).

I’ve always enjoyed reading birth stories. I turned to Spiritual Midwifery, Heart and Hands and A Child is Born when I needed inspiration or intrigue--some proof that nature exists and can not be nullified--testing my own reactions to the descriptive photos of women in the squatting position, hands on their babies heads. I stole away my mothers copies of these books and kept them in my library. Even before I knew I wanted to be a mother I knew I wanted to give birth. I sensed that there was something in the experience that I needed, that it was a curative process for a woman, that it was a way of being granted audience with some mystery. My uterus is heart shaped with horns, bicorniated, with two separate but connected chambers, this only presents a problem in some pregnancies, and in the gestation of my first child offered him little space to maneuver out of his sitting frank breach presentation. We had an external version, spent weeks in Chinatown with Dr. Huo, did countless pelvic tilts-- but prayers, tinctures and teas did not turn the boy and at 38 weeks he was delivered by c-section. I feel in love with Ezekiel immediately, enjoyed a great start to breast feeding and recovered quickly. We were out of the hospital in a few days and though I was depleted and cold, I remember that time as holy. His strong spirit and beautiful face enchanted us. That said, I felt the effects of the lack of privacy, lack of personal power and the medication deeply, and was resolved to change the way my next child came into the world. I felt that something had been done to me and I wished I had travelled to Tennessee to The Farm. I will never know if this cesarian was medically necessary, if it was defensive medicine or life saving intervention.Here is the story of how our second child, Uma was born.I had done a lot of research about VBAC and was confident that statistics indicated that I would be a great candidate. I knew that if I chose a hospital as my birthing place I would ...

A Doula Story documents one African American woman’s fierce commitment to empower pregnant teenagers with the skills and knowledge they need to become confident, nurturing mothers. Produced by The Kindling Group, a Chicago-based nonprofit organization, this powerful film follows Loretha Weisinger back to the same disadvantaged Chicago neighborhood where she once struggled as a teen mom. Loretha uses patience, compassion and humor to teach “her girls” about everything from the importance of breastfeeding and reading to their babies, to communicating effectively with health care professionals.