“Home birth? I wouldn’t have a home birth because of the mess. Yuck!” For years, decades really, I have heard similar comments. In the early 1980’s, when I first heard statements like this, I was confused: I had seen of lot of planned home births and they weren’t particularly messy. (But, toddlers eating spaghetti? Now that is messy!) Then I saw my first hospital birth. And ...
Touch, it is our earliest and our most communal sense. Whether we are a floating embryo, a tumbling toddler or a middle aged midwife, we all sense touch. Even if we are blind, or deaf, or deprived of the sense of smell or taste, we still know touch. From Bali to Bahrain, touch is both sanctioned and regulated by religion and culture. Human greetings are made ...
Over forty years ago, when I was a kid in Missouri, I would walk from Hixson Middle School, over to Webster Groves High School to attend modern dance classes. Some of the dances where tightly choreographed, some were looser, improvisational. In dance class and after school practice sessions, I studied movement, memorized steps, and sequences. More importantly, I learned to pay careful attention to the moment, ...
In 2017, Local Care Midwifery (LCM) attended 31 births. Of these, 29 babies were born vaginally and two were born by Cesarean Section. The Vaginal Delivery Rate for LCM clients in 2017 was 94%, and the C/S Rate was 6%. (That's 6% compared to a US C/S rate of 32% and a NYS C/S rate of 34%.)We had 26 clients that entered labor planning to birth at home* and except ...
If you could magically go back in time and tell your former-self something, what would it be? And how would you say it so that the message would be truly heard? There are two separate issues: what to say and how to say it, and one is important as the other. Working as a midwife, I often hear women say “I wish I’d know…” “No one ...
Have you ever been a first time parent? Have you ever lived with a newborn human? If so, I am curious how you dealt with visits from family and friends in those first weeks after your baby’s arrival. Also, I wonder how you balanced your needs for privacy, getting help, being independent and staying sane. Here are the questions: What was helpful? What decidedly not helpful? ...
Like most people, I bet there have been times in your life when you had some good habits, maybe eating well, regularly getting exercise, praying or mediating every day. And there have been times when you didn’t do so well. If you once had a healthy regular routine and now you don’t, how do you return?
Most days, like most people, my husband and I eat bread. For several years now, I have been making that bread. Actually I have been making bread since I was old enough to stand -sourdough rounds with my mother, sandwich bread with my aunt, biscuits with my grandmother. In my teens and twenties, heavy, hearty breads of whole grains were my passion, with the occasional light, ...
2017 Numbers A new year is here, 2018. Like many of you, I find myself simultaneously looking forward and looking back. What did I do last year? What should I have done? What should I have left undone? What will I do this year? What should I do? What should I leave undone? As one year ends and another begins, I look over my ...
Better late than never? It is mid March 2017 and I am just posting the 2016 Local Care Midwifery Stats. The quick report: 32 birth, 97% Vaginal Delivery rate/ 3% C/S rate. Open the post for more details.
