January 22, 2012

Vaccination Information

I would like to share a resource for vaccination information that (for the first time) I can heartily recommend. There are dozens of books on the subject, and hundreds of websites. Mostly they are portraying one side or other of the debate. This does not help families make INFORMED decisions regarding immunizations. 

The book is “Make an Informed Vaccine Decision” by Mayer Eisenstein, MD, JD, MPH. I am an analyticalperson by nature and I thoroughly appreciate the “one vaccine at a time” approach throughout the book. The ingredients, the risks, VAERS reports, what each illness looks like , the risk in our population of acquiring said disease, etc. It’s all there, with citations. 

Posted in Babies! Babies! Babies! | Leave a Comment »

October 20, 2011

Natural vs. Un-natural

“The intrinsic intelligence of women’s bodies can be sabotaged when they’re put into clinical settings, surrounded by strangers, and attached to machines that limit their freedom to move. They then risk falling victim to the powerful forces of fear, loneliness, doubt , and distrust, all of which increase pain. Their hopes for a normal birth disappear as quickly as the fluid in an IV bottle.” ~Peggy Vincent -The Baby Catcher

Such truth here in this quote: birth can be “painful”. But the pain is NOT like stubbing one’s toe or breaking a leg, etc. It is a normal pain (and yes, there is such a thing). Much different than that of an injury, easier to cope with and rhythmic rather than startling and sharp. Contrast this to the normal interventions one receives in a hospital: IV “HepLock”, epidural needle, episiotomy, un-natural position for birth… etc. etc. etc.

There are very real emotional AND physical consequences of placing a woman outside of her familiar space while she is bringing forth her child.

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September 30, 2011

Touching me touching you…

“Our culture may be changing, but our evolutionary need for touch remains the same. Babies’ brains are designed to expect closeness and proximity — to be held for their safety, psychological growth, physical growth, mental growth, to aid and stabilize their physiological processes and keep their immune systems strong. Touch is not an emotional fringe benefit. It’s as necessary as the air we breathe.”
~James McKenna

I was at a family event yesterday and saw two mothers. One mama carried her baby in a Moby Wrap, tucked safely inside, sweet and snug as a bug. She had a diaper bag on one shoulder, and her toddlers hand held on the other side. They both looked content and happy. The other mother carried her baby in one of those big bulky infant carrier/carseats. Neither looked happy or content. Baby was screaming loudly, mom’s posture was twisted to one side – loaded down with diaper bag on one side and carseat+baby on the other.

I can’t say enough about how different the mother’s AND baby’s appearance and demeanor are when using a carrier versus a carseat. Try it! The benefits of wearing your baby are far-reaching, both physically and emotionally, developmentally and relational.

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August 30, 2011

Our Services

Dar a Luz Women’s Care offers homebirth services in these areas and private birth suites at our lovely freestanding center in Sedalia,Missouri. We also offer monthly classes including newborn care, breastfeeding, childbirth and sibling preparation. Our Mama Club meets monthly as well and explores a new topic with guest speaker each time! Call for a visit and come see us!

660-383-6059

Dar a Luz Women’s Care is pleased to also offer well-woman care as well as thyroid, non-hormonal fertility education and whole-woman nutritional support.

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July 29, 2011

Rant or Rave?

I just have to put this out there – to the universe, families I serve, etc. etc.

BIRTH BELONGS TO WOMEN and FAMILIES. It does not belong to midwives, obstetricians, anesthesiologists, etc. etc. etc. I get so tired of hearing about all the hoops pregnant and birthing mothers are made to jump through – “You must do XYZ at weeks 1, 2 and 3. And of course an ultrasound at 20 weeks to confirm dates and make sure baby is ok. Oh, and the quad screen. Of course you’ll want that.” FEAR, fear… FEAR.

Poor mother is sitting  there stunned, shocked, frightened, bullied… certainly with a continual onslaught of emotional and physical affronts during her pregnancy she will experience some – SOME – hiccup in her labor or birth. If we treated animals this way while pregnant entire species would die out and become extinct.

Sigh. Remember Mama: you are the ONLY PERSON ultimately responsible for your womb-baby. You carry her, you feed and nourish him. You ALONE birth this person into the outside world. Choose carefully those whom you would invite on your journey.

Posted in "V"BAC is for Victory, Fearless Birth, Mothering the Mother, Political Ponderings | Leave a Comment »

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July 29, 2011

At Home in Auburn

at home in auburn.

A really beautiful video of why one couple chose homebirth. (some nudity, might not want the kiddos watching without previewing) I love the interviews with couples, there is a whole series here of different couples, different locations, different reasons for choosing out of hospital birth. Enjoy!

Posted in Fearless Birth | 1 Comment »

July 14, 2011

Circumcision

This is a really hot topic. Your mother may be having a fit that you’re think of NOT circumcising her grandson, and your husband might not understand what the big deal is. Just remember this: He is your son, and YOU are making decisions for him that will affect him the rest of his life. Make the decision carefully, and without relying on emotional arguments or propaganda.

Here is some information to begin your research into making an informed decision regarding circumcision. Part Two of this video can be found by clicking the screen and going to YouTube.

This second video is quite graphic and should not be watched with young children in the room. It shows an actual circumcision.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=416_1218124584

If you choose to circumcise your son and are fully informed regarding that decision, I can refer you to a lovely Rabbi in the St. Louis area who does circumcisions in his office.

Posted in Babies! Babies! Babies! | 2 Comments »

July 8, 2011

Get your art on…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My tween daughter says this all the time, in reference to my choice of clothing. I don’t know what she’s talking about for sure, but I think it has something to do with my mostly drab and boring wardrobe. That’s not, however, what I’m referring to!

I’m hosting what I hope to be the FIRST annual art show here in Missouri to benefit Missouri birth centers and out-of-hospital midwives. SO… GET YOUR ART ON!

If you are a midwife, doula,mother, father, brother, sister, grandma, grandpa… you get the point… and have created or think you might want to create a piece of art to commemorate one of “those” moments in the mother-baby-birth world, PLEASE consider participating. The art may be shown only and returned, offered for sale, or donated for auction later that evening.

(which is free of course complete with those fancy-schmancy tiny finger cakes that taste good but are much too small?)

And here’s the FUN part (I get to get a new dress for this!!!! Errr…. wait a minute… maybe that’s not such a….):

A formal, black tie event will follow the public art viewing! The evening event promises to be full of fun, probably at my expense :) , and ticket sales will benefit what I hope to be the beginning of a free-standing birth center in the Warrensburg/Sedalia area (look for an announcement later on this!). The art auction proceeds will benefit my wonderful preceptor/friend/midwife extraordinaire Rachel Williston of A Mother’s Love Birth Center.

Tickets to the event are going to be little over-priced, like any decent fundraising event is, but will be worth EVERY SINGLE PENNY if you want to see options for birthing women in our state broadened and every woman served by the Midwifery Model of Care! I promise you the food will be amazing, hormone-free, locally grown fare, and there is talk of some fabulous door prizes as well.

If you would like an invitation to the evening’s event, please drop me a line at birthbeautifully [at] gmail [dot] com with your postal address and I will get one in the mail to you pronto!

Click HERE for a flyer and entry form if you have art to share… and come on… EVERYBODY has a little art in there! So get your art on and share it with the world!

Posted in Mothering the Mother, Political Ponderings, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »

July 5, 2011

Gunnarr’s Blanket

(Gunnarr has the traditional Scottish spelling and is pronounced “gun-er”.)

I began an afghan for Gunnarr before he was born. Of course we didn’t know if “he” was a boy or girl so I chose a lovely green color – organic cotton – a lovely yarn and a challenging pattern for my knitting skills. Certainly doable though. I’d been knitting for a couple of years and knew all of the stitches.

Well.

It just wouldn’t come together. I tried and tried, frogged and frogged… and only NOW, with his 9 month birthday looming, is it nearly complete. It was quite a journey, but of course, so was his pregnancy and birth. I’ll blog about the pregnancy another time, but for now will talk a bit about his birth.

I had the MOST lovely home labor I could have dreamed of. Predictable labor pattern, totally what I wanted with my husband at hand, in the water, candles.. music… got the 10 cm and felt like pushing after about 6 hrs. I couldn’t believe how fast it was going! :)

And I pushed. And Pushed. And PUUUUSSSHHHEEDDD. Nothing. Changed positions, used homeopathics, contractions hard and strong… the little fellow wouldn’t budge.

Now, of course we hasn’t a little fellow at all. :) He weighed 10 pounds and 8 ounces and was 23 inches long! But I’ve seen 10+lb’ers be born slick as a whistle, easy and in a state of bliss… it just wasn’t happening for me.

6 hours later, Gunnarr plugging along just fine, he was born surgically in our local hospital. He was fine, I was devastated. Even though I made the decision to transport, even though he was ok and so was I (physically) it really REALLY hurt.  A few months later I attended a butter birth… big baby whose mother I now call my friend… and she had MY birth. And it hurt again.

Then today, as I am finishing up Gunnarr’s afghan…. it suddenly started just falling into place… the last few stitches, the edging… all of it. And it hit me: “This doesn’t look exactly like I envisioned it but it still is a nice little blanket!”

Sometimes crap happens. Sorry for using that word, if it offends anyone. But it does. And it’s messy, and it stinks, and well… who wants it? Not me! But it happens. So we clean up the mess and move on. And once in awhile, something beautiful turns up in spite of it. :)

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June 26, 2011

Weed Woman

I earned that title from my little brother. I guess he noticed that I’ve always been draw to plants, the outdoors, herbs… I recall standing at our back porch and seeing “elephant ears” (as we called them) growing along the foundation of our house. Mother was madly hacking at them, a “weed” she called them. It wasn’t until years later that I learned they were the marvelous burdock. Plantain, lobelia, Queen Anne’s Lace, mullein,  chickory… all “weeds” with healing properties that grew in our back yard.

When I was 15 I got my first paying job – at a greenhouse. I had to nearly bribe the owner to give me a try… he didn’t think I could muscle the bags of dirt that would need unloaded weekly. He gave me a try, I earned the job and then some, not knowing until the end of the first week if I was staying or not. The paycheck was a welcome bonus.

And so today, I still find myself turning toward the plant, the herb, the essential oil: to make tinctures, salves, food. And nearly every herb my family needs for common ailments can be found in my own backyard. Why not schedule an herb walk in YOUR backyard? Find someone who knows herbs, and ask them to show you. You can learn with field guides, as I did, but it is much easier to recall names and uses if someone tells you in person.

Here is a Missouri Guide from the University of Missouri Extension Office to get you started.

Posted in Nutrition | 2 Comments »

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