Empowering births and new parents, through pregnancy, labour & birth and beyond.
The power of each surge
Flows through me
Like water.
Washing off my skin,
Taking my breath away,
Bringing forth life… And
Opening me up.
Stripping away the layers and layers
Of holding back
I leave my body
Surrendering and merging with my baby’s soul
Hovering around me.
Come my love I say…
It’s time. Let’s emerge together…
As a baby is born
A mother is born also.
Words and photo by Charlene Yared West.
Pregnancy Awareness Week takes place annually and this year’s theme was about empowering parents for their journey to birth. I was there representing Relax Into Birth, talking about doula care and relaxation techniques. Many thanks to Sister Lindsay Donnachie, Carline and Vaughanine for arranging such an inspiring event.
Sister Donnachie reminded women about their invisible bejeweled crowns on their heads and that no matter how their births turned out – or what turn they took, natural or caesarean, that they would still, no matter what, be the queen of their own births. She emphasised that what really mattered was how the mother viewed her birth and that in order to have a positive experience, she needed to empower herself with information and to know her options. She welcomed all attendees and speakers to the event.
Sister Emma Numanoglu of Breastfeeding Matters was first up and is a lactation consultant extraordinairre. Her talk focused on debunking myths around the subject of breastfeeding. Emma’s heart and soul is in her teaching and consulting and those who have been touched by her kindness can attest to that. Nothing is too big or too small – Emma will help you! Did you know that you don’t have to cut out any major food groups while breastfeeding? You don’t have to go gluten free or dairy free (unless medically indicated)! And, did you know there is science behind the use of cabbage leaves for sore, engorged breasts? Also that Jungle Juice is not helpful for anything except a sugar overload and does not help with supply issues… only a good latch can ensure that baby is getting milk… and milk being extracted from the breast helps to increase milk supply. Emma shared these titbits with us and more…
Next up was Dr Jacky Searle. One of the most gentle, aware and intuitive doctors in Cape Town, her talk focused on choice and birth. She made attendees aware of the choices available in pregnancy and birth and how to navigate the landscape of those choices in Cape Town and within the limitations of medical aids. Practical and always so encouraging, Dr Searle empowers women daily in her work life and beyond. Births with this fine doctor are always Beautiful.
I was next in line and my talk was entitled “Empowering women through doula care and relaxation techniques”. Doula care is often misunderstood and so my talk opened with an explanation of the doula role through pregnancy and birth and how it differs from that of a midwife. I also shared some tools for relaxation, excerpted from the Relax Into Birth course.
Next up was Liesl Hansen from Johnson and Johnson, who spoke about the benefits of massage in pregnancy, labour and the postnatal period in her talk; “The first touch of love.” When it came to baby massage, she handed out dolls for the parents to practice on, which was just so much fun and so informative! Who doesn’t love a good massage and these parents left feeling equipped to give their babies some extra tlc through massage. She was assisted by Lisa Townend of Holistic Baby – Baby Massage Classes, a certified infant massage instructor.
Last but not least, Jenny Spiro of Nurture One delivered a very interesting talk entitled “Start out right… And sleep tight.” She emphasised the importance of catching the sleep wave to assist your baby to sleep as best as possible. She also showed parents a very clever way of using the amazing Nurture One nesting pillow to put baby to sleep. The pillow cleverly mimics a womb-like environment and gives newborns much comfort.
Here are some other pics from Saturday’s fun event:-)
And here’s one of my son and I; my inspiration to do this work in the first place… Dearest Leonardo… Funny face selfie 😍:
See you at the next pregnancy event! Wishing you a wonderful birthing day, no matter what turn it takes ❤️❤️
I’m about to share the the latest statistics from 2017 for the Birth Options Midwifery team – and they are unbelievably good!
The team is comprised of Glynnis Garrod, Susan Lees, Angela Wakeford and Bernice Jehring Down.
Birth Options Independent midwives can attend both home and hospital births at Vincent Pallotti and Melomed Tokai with gynae/ obstetrician backup at those allocated hospitals. Ayla Nowell of Birthing Naturally, another wonderful independent midwife, has back up support from Vincent Pallotti and Constantiaberg Mediclinic. So women have the option of birthing at home with the support of Independent Midwives (with gynae back up support in case of emergency) as well as to birth at these allocated hospitals under the care of an independent midwife (with gynae back up support in case of emergency). We also have traditional midwives in Cape Town, who use various government hospitals for back up support. It pays to know your options and that you have choices available to you!
It says a lot about these doctors at those hospitals (Vincent Pallotti and Melomed Tokai) and their view on promoting a natural approach to birth, where caesareans are only called for when necessary. This is a rare breed of doctor in South Africa and should be taken into account when choosing your care provider/back up gynae.
Independent midwives specialise in normal, low risk pregnancies and birth and will do all within their capacity to help you have the most positive birth experience, whether that is a natural, vaginal birth or a necessary Caesarean in the end.
Without an independent midwife, you will have hospital midwives attend to you in private hospitals. Hospital midwives change shift, so you might have multiple midwives for the duration of your labour and birth time. Hospital midwives are also not allowed to deliver babies, (but sometimes they do as a baby may come quickly!:-)) as that role falls to your obstetrician, who is called to come in when you are near being fully dilated. Many hospital midwives are underappreciated for their hard work and loving care of mothers in labour, and burn out can be a very real challenge facing all birth workers.
My wish is for women in South Africa to start seeing independent midwifery care and doula care for Pregnancy and birth to be the norm, so that we can also lower our exorbitant rate of 90% caesareans in the private sector… Of which most were likely not necessary… and, to choose their doctors and hospitals more carefully too. You only have your one birth, so make choices that will facilitate a good birth experience without regret in the end.
So, without much ado, here are the fabulous stats from Birth Options.
Birth Options Midwifery Team Statistics 01/01/17 – 31/12/17
So there you have it. In a world where unnecessareans are on the rise, it helps to know your options and who will support you in your preferences.
And remember, no matter what turn your birth takes, there are no unnatural births. ❤️
Please help….Milk Matters’ donor milk stocks are terribly low and right now they do not have enough milk to pasteurise on Monday to meet their current prescriptions, and nothing yet to pasteurise on Tuesday. They were feeding 46 babies (orders still coming in!) at 11 hospitals on Friday, plus over the weekend, and no reduction in demand is expected next week. If you have milk in excess of your own baby’s needs, please consider donating it – it can save babies lives!
#donormilk #milkmatters #savingbabies