We have a number of t-shirts left from our World Breastfeeding Week event in Rolla on August 9. The shirts are a light sage green with dark brown printing. The printing says Breastfeeding: Baby Friendly, Mother Friendly, Earth Friendly. The back of the shirt has the logos of our three generous t-shirt sponsors: Town & Country Bank, Il Bacio Day Spa, and St. James Veterinary Clinic. The shirts are $10 each with a range in sizes of small all the way to 2XL. If you would like to buy one, please email me. ($3 shipping if you live outside of the area.)
Dr. Phil & Homebirth
The fact that Dr. Phil is looking for guests for a segment on homebirth is all the buzz on the internet lately. I seem to be in the minority in my views on this issue. This may sound abrupt, but basically I do not think any of us should spend one precious scrap of our energy thinking about, worrying about, or addressing this whole Dr. Phil show thing. I do not think it is worth our time.
Maybe I’m shortsighted here, but I’m not planning to think about it any more and I certainly haven’t been to the website to apply. I would not encourage anyone else to do so either. No one is going to have their attitudes towards birth, homebirth, midwives, whatever, made or broken by a segment on Dr. Phil. I don’t think this show actually has the potential to help OR hurt us. I think it is a flash in the pan, nothingness in terms of our energy or our cause. This is one of those “putting out fires” things that I like to try to avoid getting diverted into. It takes away from more important work we could be doing. Reminds me of Stephen Covey’s (First Things First) whole section about deciding whether things are either 1.urgent and important 2. important, but not urgent. 2. urgent, but not important. 3. not urgent and not important. I feel strongly this is an example of “urgent, but not important.”
Celebrate Mothers & Babies in Rolla!
Preparations are in full swing for a wonderful mother-baby fair at the middle school gym in Rolla, MO to celebrate World Breastfeeding Week. The event is from 9-1:00 on Saturday, August 9th and will have a wide range of vendors, nonprofit booths, a stroller derby, concessions, tons of door prizes, and more! Hope you will join us!
The Umbilical Card
A few weeks ago, I got a package of some adorable cards from The Umbilical Card. These cards are SO cute! I wanted to post a quick post to suggest you check out her website and get some for yourself (or for a doula, CBE, midwife, L & D nurse, or other special friend!). The cards have a pregnant belly side view and then a sweet little separate card baby on the inside of the card attached with a plastic umbilical cord. One thing that makes them extra neat is that the have real fabric, real bows, and real beads/cording for necklaces, which gives them mixed-media appeal. Really cute!
She also has “Lactationary” with nursing pairs and some with babies in slings. The cards are available with multiples as well. I love them!
New babies
I recently heard from one of my very first childbirth education clients announcing the birth of their second baby, a little girl. This client now lives many states away and I will likely never see them again (it has been a little over 3 years since our classes together). I was so delighted to hear from them, to read the birth story, to see birth pictures, and pictures of their sweet new little one. I feel so awed and grateful to be invited into people’s lives at such an important time and to form real connections with people that extend into the future, and the births of future babies like this. This is one reason why I love teaching couples privately, the opportunity for a deep and meaningful connection and an ongoing relationship can develop. It is truly special to be involved in people’s lives in this way.
Welcome to the world baby SGC! 🙂
Speaking of new babies, two of my more recent birth class clients had their babies in the last 6 weeks and another any day now. There are several new babies in my LLL Group as well. I love it. Congratulations to all the mamas and daddies! And, welcome to the world, new little ones. Welcome to the green earth. We’re so glad you’re here!
The art of birth
I love collecting and exploring creative analogies to giving birth. This one comes from Kathy De Bel’s essay in the most recent issue of International Doula:
“One may see birth like art, appreciated and respected by some, misunderstood and refused by others. It doesn’t always come out the way it was planned, but it is perfect just as it is. There are no mistakes in art.”
Movement and pain
A brief quote from Biance Lepori an Italian architect who specializes in the design of birth rooms:
“Even pain dissolves with movement; pain killers are a consequence of stillness.” (emphasis mine)
This architect specifically designs rooms that support physiological birth–birth that unfolds accords to the natural biological processes of the woman, on her own timeline, and under her own power.
I emphasize active, normal (physiological) birth in my classes. I feel like the use of movement is one of the single most important ways we have to embrace labor and its rhythms and also to support healthy, physiological birth. Though I teach a variety of positions for labor and birth, “birthing room” yoga poses, and encourage practicing them, I believe that the movements you need during labor come from within and arise spontaneously during labor, not from specific training and practice. The key is the FREEDOM to use movement in the way you need to (many women end up being denied the right to free movement during labor 😦 ). The benefit to practicing different positions and movements prior to birth is that you gain a “body memory” of how to move your body in labor supporting ways.
Birth Talk Podcast
Late last month I participated in a fun podcast interview with childbirth educator Donyale Abe of Birth Talk. You can download the podcast here. We had a great time chatting about birth, fear, homebirth, educating women, ACOG’s statement against homebirth, and our passion for birth and for talking with other women about birth! The audio is a little difficult to hear sometimes when I am talking (maybe that is just on my computer).
As a funny side note, the whole reason this blog ended up being called “Talk Birth” instead of “Birth Talk” is because when I went to get a gmail address, “birthtalk” was already taken. So, I settled for my second choice, “talkbirth.” Later, I set up this site/blog and called it the same thing as my gmail address for consistency 🙂 Then, several months after that I ended up making contact with Donyale via some blog posts I’d made and discovered during our emails to each other that lo and behold, SHE was the person who has the “birthtalk” gmail address I’d originally tried to get! How funny!
Lamaze: Pregnancy, Birth, & Beyond
In addition to the Healthy Birth guides I posted about in my last post, I also received my first shipment of Lamaze’s new publication, Lamaze: Pregnancy, Birth & Beyond. This magazine is excellent! I was very favorably impressed. It is brief, but provides an excellent, positive, overall overview of pregnancy, birth, and early parenting. I found myself thinking that if I could give only ONE handout in class, this would probably be the one to choose, since it neatly touches all the important bases and in the tone of confidence, trust, and respect that Lamaze does so well. There is a particularly good article called “Position Statement” that reviews the pros and cons of 11 different positions for labor. It has great photo illustrations as well as clear, accurate information.
I was really pleased with this magazine. The articles are clearly written and easy to understand and takes a clear position on the normal, healthy nature of birth. I also appreciated the articles for new parents about taking care of yourself after the baby’s birth, safe sleeping, and breastfeeding. It is important to remember the continuum extends from pregnancy, through birth, and on to breastfeeding and newborn care! Childbirth educators can sign up to receive their own free shipments of these magazines here. It is published once a year, but shipped quarterly.
There is advertising for disposable diapers as Huggies is a sponsor of the magazine, but absolutely NO formula or bottle advertising, which, of course, is no less than I’d expect from Lamaze and their philosophy.
Speaking of Lamaze, I also really enjoy their basic guide, Giving Birth with Confidence.
Healthy Birth Guides
I recently received a shipment of The 2008/2009 Guide to a Healthy Birth published and distributed free of charge by Choices in Childbirth in NYC. I ordered a stack of these nice little booklets for only the cost of shipping ($11 for 50 booklets). I really like the content and plan to distribute these in my birth classes and encourage other educators to do the same. The emphasis of the booklet is on being an informed consumer and it also touches on the politics of birth and the business of birth, which I really liked. The end of the booklet has an article by Dr. Harvey Karp about the 5 S’s. I particularly enjoyed the chapter called “The Purpose and Power of Pain in Labor.”
All in all, this is a fantastic and nearly free resource and I’m pleased to have them available! Check them out yourself! (You can also download the booklet for free as a pdf.)
I first learned of these booklets from the wonderful Passion for Birth blog.
Talk Birth 