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DVD Review: Dance of the Womb

Apr3

DVD Review: Dance of the Womb: Belly Dance for Pregnancy and Birth
By Maha Al Musa, 2009
Red Polar Pictures
164 minute DVD, $49.95 (AUS)
http://www.bellydanceforbirth.com

Maha Al Musa has created a remarkable treasure for the birth world—an easy-to-follow, beautifully presented, step-by-step instructional bellydancing DVD called Dance of the Womb. Maha’s interest in Middle Eastern Dance was sparked by her Palestinian/Lebanese roots and she brings a lot of love and authenticity to her presentation of the dance techniques. Maha has also published a gorgeous companion book, Dance of the Womb (see previous review).

Dance of the Womb contains a 45-minute dance stretch warm-up. The exercises are comprehensive, gentle, and easy to follow. There are also six instructional dance technique chapters that cover specific beginning bellydance movements.

One of the special treats of this DVD is the included 50 minute video about Maha’s own homebirth journey with her third child (at age 46!). It also contains interviews with several homebirth midwives. The still photographs and birth footage are beautiful and brought a tear to my eye several times! Another bonus feature is a seven minute guided relaxation exercise.

Dance of the Womb is a great introduction to the basic physical elements of prenatal belly dance and also to some the spiritual and rhythmic aspects of giving birth. The DVD is a gentle and nurturing experience for both pregnant women and the women who serve them.

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Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this DVD for review purposes.

Birthing Room Yoga Handout

Mar10

In my classes, I teach a short little series of prenatal yoga poses called “Birthing Room Yoga.” I learned the series from the excellent video, Yoga for Your Pregnancy by Yoga Journal and Lamaze. My rationale for including the poses in all my classes is that while academic/intellectual information is useful (and is my personal learning style), birth happens in your body and not your head—-lots of us are uncomfortable with our bodies, so I try to get people to use their bodies a lot during classes. This helps women become comfortable with using their bodies, plus gets them out of their heads-space and into body-space, plus each exercise chosen has pregnancy or birth related benefits. Physical work is important for partners too—-birth is a physical event (both for the person helping and for the partner watching the pregnant woman work during labor).

I didn’t learn this series of poses until after my first two children were born. I was interested to see that I used all of the poses (or variations thereof—I also show a variety of variations during class) during my labor with my first son—even though I didn’t call it “yoga” or consciously “practice” during labor. I think that is a powerful reminder of the wisdom we carry in our bodies—as long as there is space and freedom in which to do so, this “birth yoga” arises spontaneously out of our own inherent wisdom, no training required!

Here is the Birthing Room Yoga handout I give with the pose reminders! The pelvic circles are particularly good and can be done seated on the edge of a hospital bed while having fetal monitoring.

Book Review: Dance of the Womb

Jan25

Dance of the Womb book cover

Book Review: Dance of the Womb: The Essential Guide to Belly Dance for Pregnancy and Birth
By Maha Al Musa, 2008
ISBN 978-0-646-48705-2
260 page hardcover book, $49.95 (AUS)
http://www.bellydanceforbirth.com

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE

Some books simply feel good to hold in your hands. Dance of the Womb is one such book: it is beautiful, both in content and appearance. While priced a little higher than some birth books, I cannot emphasize enough what a high quality book it is—-it is not a traditional trade paperback, it is of textbook quality and size. Hardbound with a lovely cover and endpapers, Dance of the Womb is packed with full color, detailed, step-by-step instructional photographs leading the reader through a “belly dance for birth” journey.

Dance of the Womb is divided into several segments. The first section summarizes the benefits of belly dance and explores the physiology of birth. The next section walks the reader through a series of gentle warm-up exercises while the following sections progress through a variety of different specific belly dance movements. Nearing the conclusion of the text is a segment about labor movements with positions. Each section of the book is lavishly illustrated with very clear, easy to follow, step-by-step photographs.

The author’s own journey through pregnancy, birth, and mothering is skillfully interwoven throughout the text as well as her own feminine passage into understanding herself as a complete woman. Interspersed with the photographs and belly dance instructions, is the exploration of the author’s pregnancy and birth experiences, her relationship with her own mother and her parents’ culture. The book contains her personal birth stories as well as perspectives on belly dance for birth from three midwives.

The author, Maha Al Musa lives in Australia. Her interest in Middle Eastern Dance was sparked by her Palestinian/Lebanese roots and birthplace as well as her pilgrimage to explore her heritage and reconnect with her long-separated mother. Maha has also developed a Dance of the Womb step-by-step instructional belly dancing DVD (sold separately, review to follow) that includes a video of her own homebirth journey with her third child. She is also developing a one day foundation course in “bellydancebirth” for birth professionals with a plan to go international in 2011.

Dance of the Womb is a great introduction to not just the basic physical elements of prenatal belly dance, but also to the spiritual aspects of giving birth and life as a woman. It is written with an intimate tone that makes the reader feel as if the author has reached out across the miles to form a direct, personal connection. This book feels like a rich treasure to hold and is a gentle, nurturing, encouraging, and enriching voyage for pregnant women or the people who serve them.

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Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review purposes.

Book Review: Birth Space, Safe Place

Jan15

Birth Space, Safe Place: Emotional Well-Being through Pregnancy & Birth
By Adela Stockton
Findhorn Press, 2009
ISBN 978-1-84409-165-2

102 pages, paperback, $14.95
http://www.findhornpress.com

Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE

Appropriate for first time mothers as well as women having subsequent children, Birth Space, Safe Place is a slim and succinct little volume with a sole center: emotional well-being throughout pregnancy and birth. This very specific purpose is what makes the book special. It focuses on creating the emotional space for a gentle birth as well as a physical environment conducive to gentle, physiological birth. However, there is a broad range of topics covered within this specific focus including pain, fear, support, the “cocktail” of labor hormones, avoiding physiological disturbances of the birth process, optimal fetal positioning, and blessingways.

The chronology of the book flows from “conscious conception” through making decisions about birth location, preparing for labor, support during birth, “the spirit of birth,” and “early parenting joys and griefs” which addresses birth processing and postpartum recovery. The chapter on “cleansing the past” briefly addresses prior loss and bereavement, difficult previous birth experiences, and issues of abuse. Each section contains brief personal anecdotes, some from the author and some from mothers she has worked with. The exploration of each topic is brief, but is an adequate overview.

The author is a “childbirth homeopath” and so there are several sections about homeopathic remedies for specific symptoms or concerns. Aside from the homeopathic content, I did not feel as if I learned anything particularly new from the book, however it was very nice to have information about a specific element of pregnancy and birth preparation all pulled together into one nurturing place.

Birth Space, Safe Place is very supportive of doulas—for both labor and postpartum—and also of midwifery care and homebirth.

The book contains three appendices, endnotes, references, a glossary, and resource listing. The book is written in the UK (author is in Scotland), so National Health Service care is assumed and that system of maternity care, midwifery, and homebirth. The first appendix briefly addresses differences in US and Australian midwives compared to the UK.

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And, make sure to check out my giveaway of Birth Space, Safe Place here!

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

Simply Give Birth: A Mini-Review

Nov30

Only about a week following my miscarriage, I received a review copy of a new book by Heather Cushman-Dowdee (also known as Hathor the Cowgoddess). I have a pile of birth-related books waiting for me to review. However, I found that this soon post-miscarriage when I go to read them, my heart just isn’t in it, and I set them down again. However, Heather’s book was a different experience. Titled Simply Give Birth, the book is a beautiful collection of powerful birth stories (mostly unassisted births). When I got the book, I thought, “well, I’ll just flip through this a bit, even though my heart isn’t in it.” Well, I was instantly entranced in spite of myself. I didn’t finish reading it that week, but I picked it back up the following week and read it all the way through. What a treasure. It was very, very good and I really recommend it.

As I have briefly referenced here, I was struck by how the experience of “unassisted natural home miscarriage” parallels that of unassisted birth. Immediately after my body released my little baby, I felt strong and brave and powerful and like, “wow! I did it!” even though the outcome was not what I ever planned for or wanted. I rarely see feelings like that expressed in the many hospital/D & C miscarriage stories I’ve been reading lately and I feel happy that I was able to give myself and my baby the gift of “letting go” in our own dear home.

Reading Heather’s introduction about telling a new story about birth made me think there are new stories to be told about miscarriage as well. She says about the stories she selected for her book: “…all birth stories…prove what can be done. We can birth our babies and relish it too. We’re not stoic or fanatical, we’re mothers doing what mothers have always done, giving birth; with grace and spirit, and chutzpah, and moxie…they shared their grief, their passions, their exhaultation, and their fears. It takes massive courage to write about this most personal of moments with such candor and intensity and then be willing to share…”

Simply Give Birth is simply amazing. If hope you are lucky and find it in your Christmas stocking this year. If you don’t, or if you just can’t wait to read it, pop on over to the website and buy it ASAP!

Awakening Your Birth Power

Sep2

25_ways_to_awaken_your_birth_power

“If you have heard enough birth ‘war stories,’ advice, and medical information…

If you are beginning to doubt yourself and to feel confused and worried about giving birth…

It is time to focus on something simple, positive and inspirational.

It is time to come back to center and listen to your own inner wisdom.

It is time to Awaken your Birth Power.”

I recently received a copy of the book and CD set 25 Ways to Awaken Your Birth Power, by Danette Watson and Stephanie Corkhill Hyles. The book is a collection of 25 short breathing meditations each accompanied by a beautiful (and sort of whimsical) drawing. The enclosed CD has 3 tracks–the first is called “awaken your birth power for pregnancy” and consists of the relevant meditations from the book read aloud. The woman reading has a pleasant, soothing voice with a slight Australian (?) accent. The second track on the CD is “awaken your birth power for labour and birth” and consists of 48 minutes of the relevant meditations from the book read aloud. The third track is an abbreviated almost 8-minute guided meditation. This CD would be perfect to listen to while in labor. The book and its gentle illustrations is a nurturing, confidence-inspiring, birth-power-enhancing, reflective, time-out for use during pregnancy or birth.

Reading it got me thinking about ways in which women awaken their birth power during pregnancy? How did you awaken yours? I’d love to hear about it and to write more about this topic!

I reflected on the ways in which I awakened my own birth power and my sense of confidence in my own inner wisdom. Here are the ways that I came up with when considering my own pregnancies and births:

+I read like a maniac 🙂 During my second pregnancy, I read a lot of literature about unassisted birth–though I didn’t have an unassisted birth (my midwife was there for 5 minutes of my son’s birth), I found the philosophies of unassisted birthers to be very inspiring.

+I maintained a daily yoga practice that included affirmations about my ability to give birth.

+I had specific dreams that reinforced my confidence.

+I journaled daily.

+I created birth art–needle felted birth goddess sculptures during my first pregnancy. Later, I drew womb labyrinth drawings–the labyrinth is a powerful metaphor for birth and I really connect with it. There are pictures of both of these on a very neglected other blog of mine.

+I talked extensively with my very birth positive friends–no horror stories from them!

+I formed my personal philosophy about birth and its role as a sacred rite of passage.

+My mother had a blessing way ceremony for me (with both my pregnancies) that made feel special and also confident and secure.

+The materials and philosophy on the Trust Birth website. I love their “what we believe” statement. It gives me chills!

+The book Birthing from Within–one of my all-time favorite birth books and a great birth power resource.

Nothing really worried me about my second birth or my ability to do so. I feel like I had a deep and true  and physical sense of confidence and trust in birth. During my second pregnancy, it became a *knowing* for me that I was a capable birth giver. I had complete trust in my body and my baby. With my first pregnancy, I remembering feeling like I was studying for the biggest test of my life–I did not yet have the deep and true sense that developed during my second pregnancy (actually, I think  developed as I read voraciously during the interim between my pregnancies). I also earned my certification as a childbirth educator during the interim between births and that also increased my confidence.

I attended a performance of Birth, the play, in St. Louis last weekend. While there, I picked up one of ICAN‘s flyers called “ICAN Birth” (sponsored by Hypnobabies). I think the flyer is an excellent resource for awakening your birth power, particularly the back panel with a list of things that, “if you were my sister, I’d tell you…” I’m going to order a bunch to give away in my class packets.

How do you awaken your birth power?

The Pregnant “Glow”

May16

Earlier this year I read the book A Dozen Invisible Pieces by a childbirth educator and mother of three. In it, she explains “the glow” that pregnant women have and I really liked her description:

[during all her pregnancies] I felt a special sense of energy exuding from within me…That energy, I believe, is what makes pregnant women so magnetic to those around them. It is what encourages the unsolicited comment and pearls of wisdom that acquaintances and strangers pawn off on pregnant women. It is what elicits a sense of awe from others who have yet to experiences pregnancy either themselves or with a life partner.

This alluring force is what prompts someone to place their uninvited hand on a pregnant woman’s rapidly expanding belly. Why do some people feel comfortable, and perfectly within their right, to reach out and touch, pat, or rub a pregnant woman’s abdomen? I believe it is because on a basic, evolutionary level, they yearn to absorb, or at least connect with, some of that mystical pregnant energy.

I think this explains it! I felt really “magic” when I was pregnant. It is one of the things that is so special about being pregnant–that feeling of being magic. When I was 39 weeks pregnant with my second, I told some of my friends at playgroup (who were saying, “this is probably the last time we’ll see you pregnant!”) that I wasn’t quite ready to be done feeling magic yet! I think the “glow” comes from that inner sense of magic.