I've had a number of friends who are in basically the same situation with me: mothers of young (or frequently homeschooling) children who also have a passion for birth and a desire to *someday* be a midwife. I've been trying to take it slow, but also seriously. Its a constant balancing act but with the mentoring of the midwife I was able to apprentice with, I saw a way that it could be done. My preceptor basically did just what we are attempting to do now, but she was doing it 25 years ago.
The following is a list based what I've learned from her example and my limited experience in the area. I like the way that I have entered the field so far. I personally feel like direct entry midwifery and training through apprenticeship is the way to go for mothers who do not feel that full, or even part time schooling will work for their family or their budget.
I've also included the approximate cost of the things I can.
1) Read, take notes, outline and annotate Holistic Midwifery Vol 1 and Vol 2 by Anne Frey (about $290 on amazon). Also get the Diagnostic Manual and Healing Passage (another $200)
2) Take a class on birth assisting or midwifery skills lab. Birth Assistants NW has a good class but the AAMI Skillslab is also really good. ($450)
3) Watch midwifery skills training videos like those from BirthJoy Midwifery.
4) Take NRP, CPR, AIDS/bloodborne pathogens training. Karen Strange's class is basically the only way to go and that is $220. CPR for Professionals is about $100
5) Start apprenticing with a midwife.
6) Work towards CPM designation through NARM.
7) Take additional classes/workshops/seminars (doula training, breastfeeding education, Rebozo, herbs, emergency skills, etc.) Classes are generally somewhere between $40 and can be upwards of $400-500. Keep a record of all trainings in a portfolio.
8) Take any additional classes required by the state for licensure (this may become the case in Washington state if certain advocacy efforts are successful).
I love the work at your own pace nature of this approach and how one can shift focus at any time. Right before I got pregnant with Elizabeth, I felt like it was a good time to share my time between my children and my work/training. Now with a new baby in the house, I'm obviously taking some time off, but I will soon be trying to take on a lesser load than I had when I was pregnant.
During my apprenticeship (I don't want to believe that its over, but I think it might be for now...), I felt so awkward every time I was asked what my plans for becoming a midwife are. It has been a process to really own the answer that feels the most correct for me. Maybe sometime soon I will be able to answer with confidence that I am a midwife in training on the 10-20 year plan to starting my own practice and becoming licensed. However, given how fulfilling my experiences during my pregnancy were, it just feels right to do it that way.
Who knows maybe that could be accomplished in 5 years? It will be interesting to see what the future brings...
Showing posts with label midwifery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label midwifery. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
A week in a full and joyful life
Every so often, I realize that I am very blessed in my life. I love that my family has a balance where I am able to pursue work that is meaningful to me and to be engaged with my children in their learning and play.
This last week, I've been busy with a project I've been working on. The midwife who attended Elizabeth's birth and I worked with as her student during my pregnancy is on the board of directors for the state midwifery association. She is working on a committee to reform the licensing laws in Washington to make it easier for the state to evaluate people's applications to become licensed. I've been working closely with her to develop the new paperwork. On June 5th, she invited me to go to the state capitol to present to the council that reports to the licensing board. Its been a dream of mine to work as an adviser on public policy issues so I've been really excited about and enjoying the opportunity.
I also got the registration forms for kindergarten for Willem. He and I both are leaning towards homeschooling but the elementary school is right down the street. I want to at least do what it takes to give him the opportunity if he wants it. I'm happy to continue his learning at home and we've been having a lot of fun with it. This morning he asked me, "What is the number before infinity called?" I'm impressed by that question!
In spite of considering kindergarten at the nearby public school, I did order the appropriate homeschool curriculum for Willem from Oak Meadow. I've been enjoying reading their books on learning and teaching theory and I am already better parent for it.
I was finally able to get the kindergarten forms because, Peter finally came home with the news that he will be staying for another year to finish his PhD. He had applied to a university for a job opening there but did not get it. We are not surprised but once he's finished with school, he will look so much more attractive to them. Right now, he has his name on 4 publications but by the end of the next school year, his name should be on 10 or 11 and he'll be Peter W. Alderks, Ph.D. He is also applying to another school in California but he expects that the result with be the same as with the first school.
I'm just happy to know where we will be living this next year. I am very tempted to get a dog since the children want one very much and we have a perfect yard for one. We also have the perfect yard for a chicken coop and a rabbit hutch but I'll compromise on a dog. The children are also very much wanting a large trampoline and a playground set for the background. I've heard that they resell in this area quite quickly and for between 1/2 and 3/4 of the original purchase price, so I will admit that I am considering it.
Its been very hard for me wanting to live life to the fullest and create an enjoyable childhood for my children and to also know that nothing we do right now is permanent. I've decided that it is better to live like we are going to be staying here and move when its time to move and say goodbye to all we've built up and created here than it is to constantly feel like everything about our life is temporary. So part of me want to say, yes! Let's get a dog, a trampoline and a playground set, plant our garden, build a coop and raise chickens! The other part of me says that its too expensive, we won't get our money's worth and it will be such a hassle to move or sell or say goodbye to those things.
The baby is doing well though we are still struggling with her latch. Its either tight and uncomfortable for me or its more comfortable and she slips off frequently, swallowing a lot of air which is resulting in a good deal of spitting up and crying. Its not as stressful as the early days with my first child since I understand what is happening and am working with it. Every couple of weeks, we see a craniosacral therapist to help her open her mouth for a deeper latch and to promote proper growth of her jaw and face. We also see our pediatric chiropractor weekly. I'm looking forward to having some resolution with this, and I hope it doesn't involve a labial frenectomy to release her upper lip. We've been doing all the therapy in order to avoid that. I keep telling myself that if she is still spitting up and frequently gassy when she's 3 1/2 months old, I will seriously consider the frenectomy. I'm praying we can avoid it. Other than all that, I've been having a lot of fun with my play sessions with the baby. She's working on social smiles and is overall a pretty easy baby (either that or I'm getting better at this new mom thing).
So there you are, that is what is going on with us. We are well and happy for the most part. Peter and I are truly blessed to have each other. Our children bring us so much joy and appreciation for life and we have a great deal of fun teaching them. I can't say I grew up with a particularly happy childhood so I'm honest when I say that the last year has been the happiest of my life. I'm really looking forward to continue to build on the work of the last year to make the coming year (thinking along the academic calendar) even better.
This last week, I've been busy with a project I've been working on. The midwife who attended Elizabeth's birth and I worked with as her student during my pregnancy is on the board of directors for the state midwifery association. She is working on a committee to reform the licensing laws in Washington to make it easier for the state to evaluate people's applications to become licensed. I've been working closely with her to develop the new paperwork. On June 5th, she invited me to go to the state capitol to present to the council that reports to the licensing board. Its been a dream of mine to work as an adviser on public policy issues so I've been really excited about and enjoying the opportunity.
I also got the registration forms for kindergarten for Willem. He and I both are leaning towards homeschooling but the elementary school is right down the street. I want to at least do what it takes to give him the opportunity if he wants it. I'm happy to continue his learning at home and we've been having a lot of fun with it. This morning he asked me, "What is the number before infinity called?" I'm impressed by that question!
In spite of considering kindergarten at the nearby public school, I did order the appropriate homeschool curriculum for Willem from Oak Meadow. I've been enjoying reading their books on learning and teaching theory and I am already better parent for it.
I was finally able to get the kindergarten forms because, Peter finally came home with the news that he will be staying for another year to finish his PhD. He had applied to a university for a job opening there but did not get it. We are not surprised but once he's finished with school, he will look so much more attractive to them. Right now, he has his name on 4 publications but by the end of the next school year, his name should be on 10 or 11 and he'll be Peter W. Alderks, Ph.D. He is also applying to another school in California but he expects that the result with be the same as with the first school.
I'm just happy to know where we will be living this next year. I am very tempted to get a dog since the children want one very much and we have a perfect yard for one. We also have the perfect yard for a chicken coop and a rabbit hutch but I'll compromise on a dog. The children are also very much wanting a large trampoline and a playground set for the background. I've heard that they resell in this area quite quickly and for between 1/2 and 3/4 of the original purchase price, so I will admit that I am considering it.
Its been very hard for me wanting to live life to the fullest and create an enjoyable childhood for my children and to also know that nothing we do right now is permanent. I've decided that it is better to live like we are going to be staying here and move when its time to move and say goodbye to all we've built up and created here than it is to constantly feel like everything about our life is temporary. So part of me want to say, yes! Let's get a dog, a trampoline and a playground set, plant our garden, build a coop and raise chickens! The other part of me says that its too expensive, we won't get our money's worth and it will be such a hassle to move or sell or say goodbye to those things.
The baby is doing well though we are still struggling with her latch. Its either tight and uncomfortable for me or its more comfortable and she slips off frequently, swallowing a lot of air which is resulting in a good deal of spitting up and crying. Its not as stressful as the early days with my first child since I understand what is happening and am working with it. Every couple of weeks, we see a craniosacral therapist to help her open her mouth for a deeper latch and to promote proper growth of her jaw and face. We also see our pediatric chiropractor weekly. I'm looking forward to having some resolution with this, and I hope it doesn't involve a labial frenectomy to release her upper lip. We've been doing all the therapy in order to avoid that. I keep telling myself that if she is still spitting up and frequently gassy when she's 3 1/2 months old, I will seriously consider the frenectomy. I'm praying we can avoid it. Other than all that, I've been having a lot of fun with my play sessions with the baby. She's working on social smiles and is overall a pretty easy baby (either that or I'm getting better at this new mom thing).
So there you are, that is what is going on with us. We are well and happy for the most part. Peter and I are truly blessed to have each other. Our children bring us so much joy and appreciation for life and we have a great deal of fun teaching them. I can't say I grew up with a particularly happy childhood so I'm honest when I say that the last year has been the happiest of my life. I'm really looking forward to continue to build on the work of the last year to make the coming year (thinking along the academic calendar) even better.
Friday, February 17, 2012
Home of Uncertainty
My husband is nearing graduation from his 6 year PhD program. He's hoping to finish this spring or the end of summer at the latest. Because its not clear when he will finish, its not clear where and when we'll be going or even to what we'll be going--postdoc, job, unemployment? As the spouse of PhD candidate, I'm just waiting to hear when/where we'll be going. I used to be much more impatient about things like this and the uncertainty would be killing me. I guess I've mellowed a bit and now I'm more curious than anything else.
Everytime, my husband comes home and mentions another possibility for a job or postdoc opportunity, the first thing I do is locate the university and search for real estate nearby. I get an idea of whether or not our family would enjoy living there based on what I find. Some things I generally look at: homeschooling laws, nature attractions, access to organic and local agriculture, birth community, etc. So far I have surveyed places like Brisbane, Australia; Ithaca, New York; Provo, Utah; somewhere in Florida that I can't remember; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Humboldt, California. This is probably the most exciting and interesting part. Its fun to daydream about possibilities and exciting new adventures.
The flip-side is the fear of What if? What if he has a hard time finding a new position and we're stuck where we are? How will we get by? He'll lose his stipend Will he be able to get a job in another field when he's at the same time riducously overqualified and underqualified at the same time? Will he be able to find a position nearby so we wouldn't have to move?
Instead of making no plans, or making plans that are based on dreams, I'm trying to be practical and prepare myself for the possibility of a few months with no income. I've stock piled some food so if we have to go lean for a few months, then we're prepared in that way. I'm still planting our garden this year in hopes of getting some fresh vegetables without relying on the store. We're trying to save money where we can now so we can continue paying utilities and such.
I'm trying to grow my doula and family services business with plans to offer classes in Signing Time, and a playgroup and take a few doula clients this summer. I would really like to gain enough midwifery skills to be able to be paid as a birth assistant by the end of the summer. It will tricky to see how well that can work with a new baby. My husband and I will try our hand at equally shared parenting if this is the case. Hopefully the baby will transition between my husband and I easily enough. I've found that birth work with non-breastfeeding children works really well for an equal partnership, but breastfeeding will definitely complicate things. I'm hoping a combination of pumping and visits from baby and husband while I'm away will allow the baby to get exclusive breastmilk.
My husband's plan to bring in money and to share income requirements is to turn his woodworking and photography hobbies into an income stream. For the last year, he has been turning wooden pens and salt and pepper grinders. Next, he'll be branching out to turned wooden bowls and decorative boxes. Already there is a local retailer who would like to put his pens up for sale in her store and everything else will be put up for sale at Etsy (since Etsy is already overrun with pen turners!).
There is a part of us that kind of hopes that this is what the summer will be like but that some good opportunity will come up for fall. If we find that job sharing and childcare sharing works, excellent. We'll know that the experiment worked and its possible and if it doesn't, then we'll be back to the stereotypical world of professor husband and stay at home mom (who has her part-time work on the side).
However, the ideals of radical homemaking and equally shared parenting are providing quite the emotional comfort in this period of uncertainty. Who knows what the future will bring, but we're pretty sure that whatever it is, we'll have the skills and know-how to keep going comfortably.
Everytime, my husband comes home and mentions another possibility for a job or postdoc opportunity, the first thing I do is locate the university and search for real estate nearby. I get an idea of whether or not our family would enjoy living there based on what I find. Some things I generally look at: homeschooling laws, nature attractions, access to organic and local agriculture, birth community, etc. So far I have surveyed places like Brisbane, Australia; Ithaca, New York; Provo, Utah; somewhere in Florida that I can't remember; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Humboldt, California. This is probably the most exciting and interesting part. Its fun to daydream about possibilities and exciting new adventures.
The flip-side is the fear of What if? What if he has a hard time finding a new position and we're stuck where we are? How will we get by? He'll lose his stipend Will he be able to get a job in another field when he's at the same time riducously overqualified and underqualified at the same time? Will he be able to find a position nearby so we wouldn't have to move?
Instead of making no plans, or making plans that are based on dreams, I'm trying to be practical and prepare myself for the possibility of a few months with no income. I've stock piled some food so if we have to go lean for a few months, then we're prepared in that way. I'm still planting our garden this year in hopes of getting some fresh vegetables without relying on the store. We're trying to save money where we can now so we can continue paying utilities and such.
I'm trying to grow my doula and family services business with plans to offer classes in Signing Time, and a playgroup and take a few doula clients this summer. I would really like to gain enough midwifery skills to be able to be paid as a birth assistant by the end of the summer. It will tricky to see how well that can work with a new baby. My husband and I will try our hand at equally shared parenting if this is the case. Hopefully the baby will transition between my husband and I easily enough. I've found that birth work with non-breastfeeding children works really well for an equal partnership, but breastfeeding will definitely complicate things. I'm hoping a combination of pumping and visits from baby and husband while I'm away will allow the baby to get exclusive breastmilk.
My husband's plan to bring in money and to share income requirements is to turn his woodworking and photography hobbies into an income stream. For the last year, he has been turning wooden pens and salt and pepper grinders. Next, he'll be branching out to turned wooden bowls and decorative boxes. Already there is a local retailer who would like to put his pens up for sale in her store and everything else will be put up for sale at Etsy (since Etsy is already overrun with pen turners!).
There is a part of us that kind of hopes that this is what the summer will be like but that some good opportunity will come up for fall. If we find that job sharing and childcare sharing works, excellent. We'll know that the experiment worked and its possible and if it doesn't, then we'll be back to the stereotypical world of professor husband and stay at home mom (who has her part-time work on the side).
However, the ideals of radical homemaking and equally shared parenting are providing quite the emotional comfort in this period of uncertainty. Who knows what the future will bring, but we're pretty sure that whatever it is, we'll have the skills and know-how to keep going comfortably.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
What has she been up to?
Its been a busy few months and I have neglected to do anything beyond posting a facebook update about the going-ons. If you've been following my facebook page, little of this will be new to you, but if not, be prepared for some surprises.
June
I was introduced to essential oils and found a wonderful community of women belonging to my church who are embracing the role of woman healer. The oils were instrumental in helping me treat a very stubborn and confusing illness going on with Belle and have become our go to form of treatment since then. In order to get the wholsesale prices, I signed up as a consultant and continue to get one or two oils sent to me every month. I haven't done much with the marketing to earn income, but who knows maybe that will change. If you are interested in getting the wholesale prices as well, let me know and I can help you get signed up.
July
In July, I learned more about one of my favorite companies. Both of children have loved Signing Time so the last few holidays, I've been collecting the Signing Time videos for them. When I found out about Signing Time Academy, my children were actually very excited to think of me as a signing time teacher and they loved getting the new signing time videos. The prices for instructors are really amazing compared to retail. One of the newest exciting things that is coming out of Signing Time is that they will be releasing digital copies of the videos to put on iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices. The instructor rate is awesome and Willem is so excited. I haven't been able to coordinate a class yet but I'm working on it. I think I'll be starting from my home, and then try the local community centers. Check out my Instructor page by clicking on the Signing Time Academy logo on the right sidebar and watch some free samples of the shows!
August
In August, I had a big brainstorm that would put all my passions into one endeavor. All it required was $30,000, a full time commitment and becoming a business owner. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out if I could make it happen. The idea was that I would create a play and learning center in my town where parents of infants to primary aged homeschoolers could come to share learning activities. They would have access to a complete learning environment and a trained facilitator to assist them in finding activities in line with their goals and current interests. In addition to the playspace, parents would be able to connect with one another and learn from the variety of classes, workshops and seminars that would be regularly offered. Connections would be made during playgroups and families would gain support networks among other families in the community. A quiet room for breastfeeding and consultations with doulas and lactation consultants would be available. A small boutique would sell the essentials of attachment parenting. I was going to call it "It Takes a Village" and it would be awesome. I'd have a space to teach my Signing Time classes, be able to facilitate the Play and Learn groups I fell in love with during my graduate program and be a happening cool spot for parents in the community.
And then...
On my 7th anniversary, I found out I am pregnant with our third baby.
This was a complete surprise. We're talking highly unlikely for dates. It was so unlikely that my midwife commented on it. I've heard that sperm can live up to 6 days within a woman's reproductive tract, but our case would have been 7 days. With my pelvis and joint concerns, we are excited but also rather concerned as well. I'm redoubling my efforts to address those concerns so it can be a healthy, as comfortable as possible pregnancy.
September
Also just before I found out I was pregnant, I put in an application for a scholarship to become trained as a birth doula. I had this feeling that I was ready to take my birth training to the next level and that meant contacting my midwife who told me that when I was ready I could tag along to a birth with her and doing the birth doula training. Unfortunately it didn't work out with my midwife, but two other midwives are keeping me in mind. I also ended up getting the scholarship for the birth doula training, so in September, I spent 4 days getting trained by Penny Simkin and Teri Shilling at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations.
After the training, one of the local birth doula collectives offered me a spot to cover the northern part of the region and I became a Doulaville Doula! Its great to be apart of a community of doulas from the beginning. Its like I have built in mentors.
At this point, I'm hoping to attend the three births required for certification before the new baby is born. I don't know how realistic that is, but I have until March/April. If you know of a pregnant mama expecting in the North Puget Sound who is in need of a very affordable doula, please send her my way!
October
So far this month, I finally followed through with my post Midwifery As a Calling.
Birthing in Zion: The LDS Midwife, Doula and Birth Professional Directory is now a reality! A companion Facebook community has been made to go along with it. You can "like" LDS Midwives, Doulas and Birth Professionals on Facebook to keep up to date with an amazing group of faithful, Christian women.
The part of the directory I am most excited about is the opportunity for LDS women to list themselves as volunteer peer support doulas. By doing so, they make themselves available to sister Latter-day Saints in their communities to provide the type of labor support that has been happening informally for centuries. The response has been inspiring and I hope that we can start seeing midwives and doulas listed in each stake (geographical divison) of the church.
In addition to all these things, I'm still busy and involved with my three non-profits.
A project I am working with Solace for Mothers on is Voices of Trauma. We are collecting stories from women who have experienced traumatic childbirth and compiling them into a book focused on causes/predictors of trauma, healing and prevention.
With CIMS, I am now the Grassroots Advocates Committee Co-Chair and I am on the national leadership team. Most of my work recently with them has been putting out the e-CIMS, the organization's quarterly email newsletter. If you aren't yet subscribed, do it! Its always full of great information and opportunities to be an involved birth advocate.
As you can see, I've been busy and will continue to be so in the next few months. The good news is that I'm not starting a business while pregnant! Maybe someday, it'll work out to see that vision realized. Until then, I will continue loving the little naked people who just ran into the backyard, the little one growing inside me, and doing what I can from my home to move forward the goal of woman-centered, mother and baby friendly maternity care throughout the world.
June
I was introduced to essential oils and found a wonderful community of women belonging to my church who are embracing the role of woman healer. The oils were instrumental in helping me treat a very stubborn and confusing illness going on with Belle and have become our go to form of treatment since then. In order to get the wholsesale prices, I signed up as a consultant and continue to get one or two oils sent to me every month. I haven't done much with the marketing to earn income, but who knows maybe that will change. If you are interested in getting the wholesale prices as well, let me know and I can help you get signed up.
July
In July, I learned more about one of my favorite companies. Both of children have loved Signing Time so the last few holidays, I've been collecting the Signing Time videos for them. When I found out about Signing Time Academy, my children were actually very excited to think of me as a signing time teacher and they loved getting the new signing time videos. The prices for instructors are really amazing compared to retail. One of the newest exciting things that is coming out of Signing Time is that they will be releasing digital copies of the videos to put on iPad, iPhone and other mobile devices. The instructor rate is awesome and Willem is so excited. I haven't been able to coordinate a class yet but I'm working on it. I think I'll be starting from my home, and then try the local community centers. Check out my Instructor page by clicking on the Signing Time Academy logo on the right sidebar and watch some free samples of the shows!
 |
| In July, we took a family tour of South Lake Union in Seattle on a paddle-wheel cruise ship. Here's me and my not so babies anymore. |
August
In August, I had a big brainstorm that would put all my passions into one endeavor. All it required was $30,000, a full time commitment and becoming a business owner. I spent a good amount of time trying to figure out if I could make it happen. The idea was that I would create a play and learning center in my town where parents of infants to primary aged homeschoolers could come to share learning activities. They would have access to a complete learning environment and a trained facilitator to assist them in finding activities in line with their goals and current interests. In addition to the playspace, parents would be able to connect with one another and learn from the variety of classes, workshops and seminars that would be regularly offered. Connections would be made during playgroups and families would gain support networks among other families in the community. A quiet room for breastfeeding and consultations with doulas and lactation consultants would be available. A small boutique would sell the essentials of attachment parenting. I was going to call it "It Takes a Village" and it would be awesome. I'd have a space to teach my Signing Time classes, be able to facilitate the Play and Learn groups I fell in love with during my graduate program and be a happening cool spot for parents in the community.
And then...
On my 7th anniversary, I found out I am pregnant with our third baby.
This was a complete surprise. We're talking highly unlikely for dates. It was so unlikely that my midwife commented on it. I've heard that sperm can live up to 6 days within a woman's reproductive tract, but our case would have been 7 days. With my pelvis and joint concerns, we are excited but also rather concerned as well. I'm redoubling my efforts to address those concerns so it can be a healthy, as comfortable as possible pregnancy.
 |
| In September, Belle and I saw Rachel Coleman live in concert. She is the creator and personality of Signing Time. |
September
Also just before I found out I was pregnant, I put in an application for a scholarship to become trained as a birth doula. I had this feeling that I was ready to take my birth training to the next level and that meant contacting my midwife who told me that when I was ready I could tag along to a birth with her and doing the birth doula training. Unfortunately it didn't work out with my midwife, but two other midwives are keeping me in mind. I also ended up getting the scholarship for the birth doula training, so in September, I spent 4 days getting trained by Penny Simkin and Teri Shilling at the Simkin Center for Allied Birth Vocations.
After the training, one of the local birth doula collectives offered me a spot to cover the northern part of the region and I became a Doulaville Doula! Its great to be apart of a community of doulas from the beginning. Its like I have built in mentors.
At this point, I'm hoping to attend the three births required for certification before the new baby is born. I don't know how realistic that is, but I have until March/April. If you know of a pregnant mama expecting in the North Puget Sound who is in need of a very affordable doula, please send her my way!
October
So far this month, I finally followed through with my post Midwifery As a Calling.
Birthing in Zion: The LDS Midwife, Doula and Birth Professional Directory is now a reality! A companion Facebook community has been made to go along with it. You can "like" LDS Midwives, Doulas and Birth Professionals on Facebook to keep up to date with an amazing group of faithful, Christian women.
The part of the directory I am most excited about is the opportunity for LDS women to list themselves as volunteer peer support doulas. By doing so, they make themselves available to sister Latter-day Saints in their communities to provide the type of labor support that has been happening informally for centuries. The response has been inspiring and I hope that we can start seeing midwives and doulas listed in each stake (geographical divison) of the church.
In addition to all these things, I'm still busy and involved with my three non-profits.
A project I am working with Solace for Mothers on is Voices of Trauma. We are collecting stories from women who have experienced traumatic childbirth and compiling them into a book focused on causes/predictors of trauma, healing and prevention.
With CIMS, I am now the Grassroots Advocates Committee Co-Chair and I am on the national leadership team. Most of my work recently with them has been putting out the e-CIMS, the organization's quarterly email newsletter. If you aren't yet subscribed, do it! Its always full of great information and opportunities to be an involved birth advocate.
As you can see, I've been busy and will continue to be so in the next few months. The good news is that I'm not starting a business while pregnant! Maybe someday, it'll work out to see that vision realized. Until then, I will continue loving the little naked people who just ran into the backyard, the little one growing inside me, and doing what I can from my home to move forward the goal of woman-centered, mother and baby friendly maternity care throughout the world.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Some thoughts on Homebirth Safety
It was from my son's birth experience when I began to learn how often needless interventions are pushed in hospitals. I succeeded in a non-medicated, almost intervention free (AROM at 6 cm) birth in a hospital practice of midwives using Hpnobirthing (TM). However I did not have supportive and respectful staff and ended up essentially fighting for the right to give birth under my own power without the midwives needlessly intervening.
From this I learned that they are businesses who want to maximize the money that comes in and they do it by rushing women through by speeding up labor and/or cutting babies out which because it requires more equipment, more staff, more procedures bills more. The whole system is set up not to promote health and safety, but to promote efficiency and billable procedures (which includes NICU admissions).
The more I learn about midwifery, the more I see how homebirth midwives understand a great deal more about the physiology of birth than hospital birth attendants. Birth really does work best when its left alone (in 90%-ish of situations). I've lived based on that stat. There's a 90% chance that everything will be just fine at home, transfer services work for the remaining situations (and I always lived 10 minutes from the hospital I would transfer to). Midwives are trained in these situations (and since I'm studying those situations now, I'm impressed with the depth of knowledge expected from then).
One of my favorite ways to think about the safety debate is that the meaning of "as safe as hospital birth" means mortality wise. Women and infants do not have a higher likelihood of dying at a homebirth than at a hospital. Its just as safe in that way. However, homebirth is actually SAFER when taking into account morbidity (other ill health that does not lead to death but might bring a person close...) To women wanting to avoid hysterectomy, abdominal surgery, complications from surgery or anesthesia, PTSD, higher rates of infection, the manual cutting of their vaginal openings or severe lacerations to their perineums, etc: homebirth is considered much safer. Researchers down plays the morbidity thing so much. Its like they don't believe that those experiences aren't bad enough that a woman would go to great lengths to avoid them.
From this I learned that they are businesses who want to maximize the money that comes in and they do it by rushing women through by speeding up labor and/or cutting babies out which because it requires more equipment, more staff, more procedures bills more. The whole system is set up not to promote health and safety, but to promote efficiency and billable procedures (which includes NICU admissions).
The more I learn about midwifery, the more I see how homebirth midwives understand a great deal more about the physiology of birth than hospital birth attendants. Birth really does work best when its left alone (in 90%-ish of situations). I've lived based on that stat. There's a 90% chance that everything will be just fine at home, transfer services work for the remaining situations (and I always lived 10 minutes from the hospital I would transfer to). Midwives are trained in these situations (and since I'm studying those situations now, I'm impressed with the depth of knowledge expected from then).
One of my favorite ways to think about the safety debate is that the meaning of "as safe as hospital birth" means mortality wise. Women and infants do not have a higher likelihood of dying at a homebirth than at a hospital. Its just as safe in that way. However, homebirth is actually SAFER when taking into account morbidity (other ill health that does not lead to death but might bring a person close...) To women wanting to avoid hysterectomy, abdominal surgery, complications from surgery or anesthesia, PTSD, higher rates of infection, the manual cutting of their vaginal openings or severe lacerations to their perineums, etc: homebirth is considered much safer. Researchers down plays the morbidity thing so much. Its like they don't believe that those experiences aren't bad enough that a woman would go to great lengths to avoid them.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Opening the Back
Jamaican midwives having a saying that when the back opens the baby comes. This is referring to the period of time around the fetal ejection reflex where the baby moves down to crowning and birth. Opening the back occurs when the sacrum moves backward to allow more room for the baby to move through the pelvis. Its amazing to learn how much space is gained by this--up to 4 cms in some places! I had never come across it before in any of the other reading I have done on birth. I thought this is so cool, I can share it here. Especially since I can even tell a personal story about it.
I encountered this term in my copy of Holistic Midwifery Volume II written by Anne Frey. It is one of the texts in my midwifery program and covers extensively (its almost 2,000 pages!) the physiology and care of labor and birth.
I remember when this happened during Belle's birth. I even commented on it when I wrote her birth story. I didn't know the name of it then so I'm pleased to learn about it now. At the time I described it as:
I thought at the time that when I felt my hips spread during Belle's birth that something unnatural had happened. I still think that maybe my SI issues have something to do with this spreading. It happened so quickly--it was like my SI joints abruptly slid out as far as they could like sticky slide locks on a door. Perhaps they slid more forcefully and quickly than is typical when the sacrum moves and the back opens.
This phenomenon is only observed when upright birth is allowed. When a woman in laying on her back in bed, the sacrum is prevented from moving and the pelvis does not expand in conjunction with the fetal ejection reflex.
I don't recall feeling this happen when giving birth to my son. Not surprising, since I felt pressured into birthing on my back. The only way I felt that I had been able to reposition more comfortably as he was descending and crowing was by twisting my hips so that I was more on my side.
Someday I may find more detailed description of this phenomenon. It seems like it hasn't been described or investigated by researchers enough to know what is normal "opening of the back" and what is extreme. As it is, the term is hardly known except in some circles. Hospital birth attendants and medical researchers wouldn't see it because the vast majority of birthing women they see are on their backs. Upright/vertical birth isn't even an option in many hospital birth environments.
Have any of my readers heard of this? Care to theorize with me on the possibility of normal opening of the back and extreme opening on the back?
I encountered this term in my copy of Holistic Midwifery Volume II written by Anne Frey. It is one of the texts in my midwifery program and covers extensively (its almost 2,000 pages!) the physiology and care of labor and birth.
I remember when this happened during Belle's birth. I even commented on it when I wrote her birth story. I didn't know the name of it then so I'm pleased to learn about it now. At the time I described it as:
I felt tightness radiating down into my thighs and it felt like the bones of my pelvis and hip were being stretched outwards.I later thought that this might have something to do with the hip pain that lingered after that pregnancy. I learned that it might be SI dsyfunction (sacroiliac joint) and posted about it here. Finding out that it was an actually physiological process that is part of normal birth helped me feel that the strange sensation wasn't an injury but my body working as it was designed to.
I thought at the time that when I felt my hips spread during Belle's birth that something unnatural had happened. I still think that maybe my SI issues have something to do with this spreading. It happened so quickly--it was like my SI joints abruptly slid out as far as they could like sticky slide locks on a door. Perhaps they slid more forcefully and quickly than is typical when the sacrum moves and the back opens.
This phenomenon is only observed when upright birth is allowed. When a woman in laying on her back in bed, the sacrum is prevented from moving and the pelvis does not expand in conjunction with the fetal ejection reflex.
I don't recall feeling this happen when giving birth to my son. Not surprising, since I felt pressured into birthing on my back. The only way I felt that I had been able to reposition more comfortably as he was descending and crowing was by twisting my hips so that I was more on my side.
Someday I may find more detailed description of this phenomenon. It seems like it hasn't been described or investigated by researchers enough to know what is normal "opening of the back" and what is extreme. As it is, the term is hardly known except in some circles. Hospital birth attendants and medical researchers wouldn't see it because the vast majority of birthing women they see are on their backs. Upright/vertical birth isn't even an option in many hospital birth environments.
Have any of my readers heard of this? Care to theorize with me on the possibility of normal opening of the back and extreme opening on the back?
Sunday, May 15, 2011
My special Mother's Day
On Mother's Day this year, I attended a speech given by Ina May Gaskin at Town Hall in Seattle. There were over 800 people of them, many midwives and doulas but a surprising number of expectant parents. She spoke on her story as a self-taught midwife in the 1970s, described some of the keys to a healthy safe delivery and how important it is for those who care about birth to advocate for increased access to midwives and better obstetric practice.
At the end, it was opened up to the audience to ask questions. During that it became clear to me that Ina May is not familiar with Solace for Mothers as a resource for women who have had traumatic birth experiences. I should have gotten up and mentioned it but I didn't want to sound like an advertisement. Sometimes I just don't know how to deal with public relations!
One of the things that Ina May said she wished for was to have all of the birth advocates be better connected and able to work together. I share that desire with her and really hope that my current efforts will be able to bring that to pass. I really feel that we need an online social network that gathers birth advocates together in the same place and use platforms like the Care2 petition site, facebook, online forums, Change.org and Salsa Democracy to use viral advocacy techniques to bring a strong, united voice to what would truly improve maternity services in the United States and the world. I guess that's my job isn't? Since I am on the CIMS Grassroots Advocates Committee... Big plans, in progress... I just wish it was all ready and that it was common knowledge in the birth community!
I wish that I had had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Ina May but if that had been doing to happen, I should have attend the MAWS conference the Friday before. When prioritizing my desire to see her in person, I had to decide between being away from my kids all day Friday and leave them with a babysitter or be away for 2 hours on Mother's day Sunday and leave them with their dad. It was a tough decision but I chose to have more time with the children and be away from them on a day that's supposed to be especially for me as a mother anyway.
Someday I hope that I can meet and talk with her because I have so much respect for her work, especially on the Maternal Mortality Quilt. I would love to see a complimentary effort to honor and remember mothers who have experienced trauma and PTSD from their birth experiences. For each mother who died in childbirth, I am sensitive to the fact that if they lived, they likely would have been deeply traumatized by their experiences and their memories of being close to death. People traumatized by life events and who live afterwards know the special hell that comes from surviving something horrific and terrifying. I want those mothers to be remembered to. For women who experience trauma, they often find that they become shadows of themselves. They are the walking wounded and we need to be just as aware of them as we are aware of the family members who lost a woman in childbirth. I don't want what that would look like, whether it would be a Solace (thinking Support in Overcoming Labor And Childbearing experiences) quilt or a paper sculpture in the shape of a tree with leaves symbolizing one of the 1.4 million mothers who are traumatized each year. I had a nice talk with Penny Simkin about this and she is encouraging me to come up with something good and a plan to enact it. If you have ideas, please help!
Anyway back to the event with Ina May. After the questions and answers, there was a Birth Fair with birth and baby organizations and services from around the Seattle area. I met the midwives at Puget Sound Birth Center. When I told Val that PSBC is the most highly and frequently rated out of hospital birth center on The Birth Survey, she literally started crying she was so happy!
I was so glad that I was able to attend with my mother and my good friend Shawnette who became a doula after she attended Willem's birth as a volunteer doula. It was a really nice event and obviously, as seen by this post, inspired a lot of ideas and renewed energy and drive for me. It was definitely a special way to spend Mother's Day and a special thanks to my husband and children who were willing to facilitate my attendance.
At the end, it was opened up to the audience to ask questions. During that it became clear to me that Ina May is not familiar with Solace for Mothers as a resource for women who have had traumatic birth experiences. I should have gotten up and mentioned it but I didn't want to sound like an advertisement. Sometimes I just don't know how to deal with public relations!
One of the things that Ina May said she wished for was to have all of the birth advocates be better connected and able to work together. I share that desire with her and really hope that my current efforts will be able to bring that to pass. I really feel that we need an online social network that gathers birth advocates together in the same place and use platforms like the Care2 petition site, facebook, online forums, Change.org and Salsa Democracy to use viral advocacy techniques to bring a strong, united voice to what would truly improve maternity services in the United States and the world. I guess that's my job isn't? Since I am on the CIMS Grassroots Advocates Committee... Big plans, in progress... I just wish it was all ready and that it was common knowledge in the birth community!
I wish that I had had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Ina May but if that had been doing to happen, I should have attend the MAWS conference the Friday before. When prioritizing my desire to see her in person, I had to decide between being away from my kids all day Friday and leave them with a babysitter or be away for 2 hours on Mother's day Sunday and leave them with their dad. It was a tough decision but I chose to have more time with the children and be away from them on a day that's supposed to be especially for me as a mother anyway.
Someday I hope that I can meet and talk with her because I have so much respect for her work, especially on the Maternal Mortality Quilt. I would love to see a complimentary effort to honor and remember mothers who have experienced trauma and PTSD from their birth experiences. For each mother who died in childbirth, I am sensitive to the fact that if they lived, they likely would have been deeply traumatized by their experiences and their memories of being close to death. People traumatized by life events and who live afterwards know the special hell that comes from surviving something horrific and terrifying. I want those mothers to be remembered to. For women who experience trauma, they often find that they become shadows of themselves. They are the walking wounded and we need to be just as aware of them as we are aware of the family members who lost a woman in childbirth. I don't want what that would look like, whether it would be a Solace (thinking Support in Overcoming Labor And Childbearing experiences) quilt or a paper sculpture in the shape of a tree with leaves symbolizing one of the 1.4 million mothers who are traumatized each year. I had a nice talk with Penny Simkin about this and she is encouraging me to come up with something good and a plan to enact it. If you have ideas, please help!
Anyway back to the event with Ina May. After the questions and answers, there was a Birth Fair with birth and baby organizations and services from around the Seattle area. I met the midwives at Puget Sound Birth Center. When I told Val that PSBC is the most highly and frequently rated out of hospital birth center on The Birth Survey, she literally started crying she was so happy!
I was so glad that I was able to attend with my mother and my good friend Shawnette who became a doula after she attended Willem's birth as a volunteer doula. It was a really nice event and obviously, as seen by this post, inspired a lot of ideas and renewed energy and drive for me. It was definitely a special way to spend Mother's Day and a special thanks to my husband and children who were willing to facilitate my attendance.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Midwifery as A Calling
You have to check out this post at The Gift of Giving Life and read about how Mormons in the early days of their church considered midwifery a position in the church where women were called according to the inspiration of the spirit to serve the women in their congregations. Unfortunately, this practice did not persist beyond the days of birth moving to the hospital but for the time that it did exist, I can only imagine how empowering, spiritually uplifting and community strengthening such a tradition would be.
As a Mormon by conversion, I am wistful for the days of this practice and wish that society hadn't changed so much that midwives called in each ward or take became a thing of the past. Right now in the church, there is no structure in the organization to connect Mormon (or as I prefer LDS) women with LDS midwives. I know they exist, along with a score of doulas, childbirth educators and birth junkies because I have become acquainted with many of them across the internet.
I know that I as a birthing woman would love to work with an LDS midwife or have an LDS doula. I don't even know if there are LDS doulas or midwives in my area and I wish I did. I love the Christian midwife that I worked with during my last pregnancy but a Christian worldview was second best in comparison to a Mormon worldview. (I can clarify on this if my readers are interested).
As an aspiring midwife and birth attendant, I feel prompted to offer my services as a doula during labor and postpartum to the women in my local congregations. In the past I have tried to get the word out that I am interested and willing to offer this as an act of service but like I said there are few ways to get this known to the local women. Meetings are structured so that there is time for very little else and the scope of the LDS church's women's organization is so broad that its hard to cover all of the many ways that relief can be provided through charity.
I would really like to see a directory/registry/list of LDS doulas, midwives and childbirth educators that is shared on the internet for LDS women to refer to as they are looking for maternity care. In a way, it would bring back a little bit of the community that once existed in the church with Relief Society sisters literally providing relief during some of the most important and hard work of a Mormon woman's life.
Since the church is organized in geographical areas called stakes, I would love to see this list be organized by stakes. Usually a stake covers a city or town (or in some cases a few towns near each other) and has around 1,000 members of the church. Its usually within driving distance from one end of the stake to another and given the distances that I've heard some midwives travel to assist women at their births seems doable for one woman in the stake to reach any and all of the sisters when she is in labor. And there's nothing wrong with having more than one midwife listed in a stake.
The main difference between a list like this and the former way of issuing callings is that no one is assigned to be a specific midwife or doula to a certain area. There could be a dozen midwives and doulas in a given stake (oh what a dream!) and there wouldn't need to be competition or obligation. A childbearing woman has so many options when it comes to birth attendants (hopefully) that often what she needs to make an informed choice is access to information about the options available to her. I truly think that if LDS women knew that there were LDS women near them who were trained and qualified in attending births that they would work together in many cases. What a blessing that would be to the community of sisters!
Who's with me in creating his list? Do you know of any LDS doulas, midwives or childbirth educators in your stake or ward boundaries? Are you one?
Or even better, does what I'm hoping for already exist??
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Midwifery Inquisition: Enrolling in Ancient Art Midwifery Institute
Today I learned that AAMI is offering a new discounted price of $2850 for their 3 1/2 year advanced midwifery study coursework and I told some friends about it. I've gotten a couple of questions in response, so I figured I would share them with my readers because many others have the same questions or would also appreciate my answers.
Courtney wrote:
Let me know if there are other questions I can answer. I would love to have a personal connection with someone also enrolled in the program.
Hi Jenne,
I hadn't thought to start my education and training so soon, but this looks like a fabulous opportunity. There is a line on their website that actually mentions getting it done with young children so that it is possible to start practice when they are older. Just what I had in mind so it really spoke to me.
I know that you have started the coursework yourself, so I was interested in how easy you think it will be to truly work on it with babies around. Also, will I really be able to do it all at a distance, until apprenticing? And which of the extra coursework packages would you recommend? I like the idea of getting a bit more in depth education while I can and having longer to complete it, but was curious if you thought it was worth it.
Also, do you have an opinion on Doula certification programs? I've looked into several, and like the philosophies of Childbirth International, Birth Art International, and CAPPA and ALACE. DONA seems wise for referrals and recognition, but I don't like how rigid their restrictions and philosophy appears to be.
I was going to work on this first before midwifery, but maybe I will do them simultaneously.
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Courtney
Hi Courtney (and Chrissy who also asked)
I found myself in the same situation as you. I knew I wanted to do it and then was offered a discounted price and decided to take it up now instead of waiting until later. I've been enrolled since June and I have set aside Saturday mornings to work on it. I find that I can make really good progress if I have that 2-3 hours to just sit down, focus and get to work. Throughout the week I am able to get another few hours in after the children go to sleep at night. I've set up a work space right next to their play area so I can work on some of the definitions and worksheets (to help you take notes on important texts) while they play. Each definition takes a few minutes so if I'm interrupted frequently, there's no interference. Then there is nap time when I can get a bit done. That's how I've been able to work on all my organizations and schooling. I am looking forward to more interrupted time to work when my mom is closer to us and can watch the children, but so far I'm doing fine with my husband being my back-up and not hiring out for childcare.
At this point, I'm not planning on enrolling in any of the extras. I feel like I need to focus on the basic and minimum requirements and if I want to take on additional options later, I'll do that. I do expect to do a number of AEUs and will probably go for the Masters in Midwifery. Right now, I'm so involved in my phase of coursework that I haven't given much though to additional coursework. From what I've seen, AAMI offers so many extras that I have to streamline and learn to say no to some opportunities so I can be successful in my original commitments.
At one point, I looked into all of the doula certifying courses and I came to same conclusion as you about DONA. You might want to look into PALS which is local to the Northwest because its less impacted by political compromises like DONA has been. The in-person sessions would be in the Seattle area but only 3 days a time so you might be able to travel to the distance (and I don't know, stay with friends in the area...). I never got as far as choosing which doula certification program to do because I realized my interest was more in midwifery.
One thing to keep is mind is that AAMI does encourage its students to become childbirth educators in the course of the program so you may find that you'll end up do both, all three or dropping doula because support is covered in the midwifery training.
One thing that should be clear that AAMI is training midwives to be home birth attendants only. You would have the option of taking the test to become a CPM (certified professional midwife) which may allow you in some states to work in birth centers or hospitals. Basically by enrolling in AAMI, you are stating your allegiance to personal, in home, mother-centered care and supportive ultimately of a woman's right and ability to make choices for herself. These choices could include giving birth unassisted and the coursework provides training to you on the why's and hows of being supportive of women who choose that course. This is radical, feminist midwifery with a God-fearing bent. Its amazing and wonderful and I love it. In July I attended a Midwifery Skills Lab where I met other AAMI students, teachers and the founder and they are virtuous Christian feminist women, not what I was expecting from a profession that is stereotyped as atheist hippies.
Let me know if there are other questions I can answer. I would love to have a personal connection with someone also enrolled in the program.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Late Announcement
I failed to post on my blog that I bit the bullet and enrolled in midwifery school. If you've been following my Facebook page, this is old news. I just haven't gotten around to telling my blog readers about it.
After my first child was born, I got fascinated by learning about childbirth. I learned that while the physiological process is pretty simple, the cultural process of pregnancy and birth for a woman is much more complicated. Being a birth junkie became a hobby and my blog here was its product. If you are a regular reader here you know the process I've gone through. If you are a new reader, it doesn't take long to get an idea.
There came a certain point where I knew that my knowledge about birth had hit a plateau. In preparing for my second child's birth, my husband and I basically took a childbirth education class that was more like a crash course in emergency midwifery skills taught privately by our midwife's assistant. After my daughter was born, my midwife told me that if I ever wanted to attend a birth with her all I needed to do was ask.
I felt uncomfortable with that offer, though appreciative and excited at the same time. I didn't feel right inviting myself into a woman's labor because I had a compulsion to see birth as a witness rather than the subject. Attending a birth in that way would give me no official standing, no reason to be there other than voyeur. I would not welcome a person into my birthing space for that reason, I wasn't about to enter someone else's.
Perhaps though, it was my midwife's attempt to lead me into an apprenticeship. Now that I'm a midwifery student, I feel I have that official standing and the desire to become an apprentice formally. I'm hoping in the near future that I'll take her up on the offer and be available for prenatal visits as well.
Details, you ask?
I've enrolled in Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute in their Advanced Midwifery Studies certificate program. The school is owned and operated by Carla Hartley, founder of the Trust Birth Initiative and force behind the Trust Birth Conference. Its a 42 month program and an apprenticeship is not required during that time. Just in time for Christmas 2013, I will need to be done with the coursework.
The program started out as the Midwifery Homestudy Course which means that then, and now, its an independent study, apprentice based program where students get their book learning through completing the coursework and get their practical experience through apprenticeship and in person skills labs offered periodically.
Its perfect for me because I am dedicated to staying home and caring for my young children. I'm also dedicated to my sanity and developing my skills and talents. This course provides me with the balance to be anxiously engaged in a good cause though learning by study as well as being present with my children and their primary care provider. If I was able to complete a master's degree with the support of my husband while gestating two babies, I can do this program with his support as well.
I had been contemplating enrolling for awhile because I recognized the value of the education. Its very affordable in comparison to all on-campus midwifery programs. I also endorse the philosophy of practice and share the believes that birth belongs to mothers, not midwives or doctors or even the dominant culture. Earlier this summer, Carla was offering discounts to people in various places to enroll and I jumped at it. I later learned that she uses this trick to get potential students to take the step to enrollment. Clever and I'm glad she did it.
Part of the decision to enroll came because I had applied to PhD programs at the University of Washington to start this fall but I did not get in. I felt strongly that I needed some form of continued education and learning so when that didn't pan out, I saw the wisdom in becoming trained as a midwife as it would serve me in my academic career later. I think it might also help me get accepted into a PhD program in the future as well. I'm not disappointed that I'm not able to pursue a PhD at this time and I'm excited to immerse myself in birth at a new level.
My goals in becoming a midwife are not to own and operate a busy independent midwifery service. I'm not interested in maintaining a business. I'm more interested in the research, public policy and advocacy that will help midwifery become a more recognized and respected profession and provide a warning voice on the pitfalls of licensure and regulation. My birth experiences will continue to greatly inform my ideas as a birth advocate and I pray that I will never forget the primary need for the woman to consent and be the ultimate decision maker for her births. Please correct me if you ever suspect that I'm drifting from that position.
That's my hope for my future involvement in birth. To have the knowledge of a midwife which will inform academic research. When the time comes for me to apply to PhD programs again, I'll be looking at public health, women's studies, human development and public policy. Until then I'll be learning, serving as a midwifery assistant in a limited capacity and loving and enjoying my children.
I already had the chance to participate in the Basic Midwifery Skills Lab. These labs are taught a few times throughout the year in various locations across the country. In July, one was being held an hour from my home so I jumped at the chance to attend. In the lab, we were taught about the basics of midwifery practice as well as the hands-on skills of giving injections, starting IVs, suturing, inserting catheters, palpating fetuses, listening with fetoscopes, assessing blood pressure. The highlight, perhaps, was my introduction to the Vagina in a Box. I later learned that the midwifery and nursing students at the University of Washington wished that the nursing school would invest in this teaching aid. That was an indication to me that I'll be getting a better education than CNMs at one of the nation's top universities.
I met some amazing women at the SkillsLab. i even won a half price discount to the 2012 Trust Birth Conference. I've become friends with one of the women who lives just a couple of hours away from me. Together, we are planning to attend the Advanced Skill Lab being held in Oregon next year as well as rooming together at the conference.
If you've got any questions about the AAMI program, let me know, or if there's anything I left out or you want to know more about.
After my first child was born, I got fascinated by learning about childbirth. I learned that while the physiological process is pretty simple, the cultural process of pregnancy and birth for a woman is much more complicated. Being a birth junkie became a hobby and my blog here was its product. If you are a regular reader here you know the process I've gone through. If you are a new reader, it doesn't take long to get an idea.
There came a certain point where I knew that my knowledge about birth had hit a plateau. In preparing for my second child's birth, my husband and I basically took a childbirth education class that was more like a crash course in emergency midwifery skills taught privately by our midwife's assistant. After my daughter was born, my midwife told me that if I ever wanted to attend a birth with her all I needed to do was ask.
I felt uncomfortable with that offer, though appreciative and excited at the same time. I didn't feel right inviting myself into a woman's labor because I had a compulsion to see birth as a witness rather than the subject. Attending a birth in that way would give me no official standing, no reason to be there other than voyeur. I would not welcome a person into my birthing space for that reason, I wasn't about to enter someone else's.
Perhaps though, it was my midwife's attempt to lead me into an apprenticeship. Now that I'm a midwifery student, I feel I have that official standing and the desire to become an apprentice formally. I'm hoping in the near future that I'll take her up on the offer and be available for prenatal visits as well.
Details, you ask?
I've enrolled in Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute in their Advanced Midwifery Studies certificate program. The school is owned and operated by Carla Hartley, founder of the Trust Birth Initiative and force behind the Trust Birth Conference. Its a 42 month program and an apprenticeship is not required during that time. Just in time for Christmas 2013, I will need to be done with the coursework.
The program started out as the Midwifery Homestudy Course which means that then, and now, its an independent study, apprentice based program where students get their book learning through completing the coursework and get their practical experience through apprenticeship and in person skills labs offered periodically.
Its perfect for me because I am dedicated to staying home and caring for my young children. I'm also dedicated to my sanity and developing my skills and talents. This course provides me with the balance to be anxiously engaged in a good cause though learning by study as well as being present with my children and their primary care provider. If I was able to complete a master's degree with the support of my husband while gestating two babies, I can do this program with his support as well.
I had been contemplating enrolling for awhile because I recognized the value of the education. Its very affordable in comparison to all on-campus midwifery programs. I also endorse the philosophy of practice and share the believes that birth belongs to mothers, not midwives or doctors or even the dominant culture. Earlier this summer, Carla was offering discounts to people in various places to enroll and I jumped at it. I later learned that she uses this trick to get potential students to take the step to enrollment. Clever and I'm glad she did it.
Part of the decision to enroll came because I had applied to PhD programs at the University of Washington to start this fall but I did not get in. I felt strongly that I needed some form of continued education and learning so when that didn't pan out, I saw the wisdom in becoming trained as a midwife as it would serve me in my academic career later. I think it might also help me get accepted into a PhD program in the future as well. I'm not disappointed that I'm not able to pursue a PhD at this time and I'm excited to immerse myself in birth at a new level.
My goals in becoming a midwife are not to own and operate a busy independent midwifery service. I'm not interested in maintaining a business. I'm more interested in the research, public policy and advocacy that will help midwifery become a more recognized and respected profession and provide a warning voice on the pitfalls of licensure and regulation. My birth experiences will continue to greatly inform my ideas as a birth advocate and I pray that I will never forget the primary need for the woman to consent and be the ultimate decision maker for her births. Please correct me if you ever suspect that I'm drifting from that position.
That's my hope for my future involvement in birth. To have the knowledge of a midwife which will inform academic research. When the time comes for me to apply to PhD programs again, I'll be looking at public health, women's studies, human development and public policy. Until then I'll be learning, serving as a midwifery assistant in a limited capacity and loving and enjoying my children.
I already had the chance to participate in the Basic Midwifery Skills Lab. These labs are taught a few times throughout the year in various locations across the country. In July, one was being held an hour from my home so I jumped at the chance to attend. In the lab, we were taught about the basics of midwifery practice as well as the hands-on skills of giving injections, starting IVs, suturing, inserting catheters, palpating fetuses, listening with fetoscopes, assessing blood pressure. The highlight, perhaps, was my introduction to the Vagina in a Box. I later learned that the midwifery and nursing students at the University of Washington wished that the nursing school would invest in this teaching aid. That was an indication to me that I'll be getting a better education than CNMs at one of the nation's top universities.
I met some amazing women at the SkillsLab. i even won a half price discount to the 2012 Trust Birth Conference. I've become friends with one of the women who lives just a couple of hours away from me. Together, we are planning to attend the Advanced Skill Lab being held in Oregon next year as well as rooming together at the conference.
If you've got any questions about the AAMI program, let me know, or if there's anything I left out or you want to know more about.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Two weeks of Facebook updates
March 15:
* successfully replicated Mimi's corn chowder without a recipe! Peter is so proud, especially since he didn't think he liked corn chowder.
March 16:
* Willem has decided that he wants to let his pink eye "heal on its own and not use medicine" instead of letting me put the antibiotic drops in his eyes. The drawback is that he will not be attending preschool until it resolves. Its a valid choice and one that I believe he is capable of making for himself, but I'm very surprised that he's sticking to it.
* couldn't go back to sleep after the baby woke because my mind is busy brainstorming areas of life that LDS women might be interested in advocating for. I know better than to wait when I have time to write my ideas; I'm writing them now so I don't forget.
* I was hoping to go back to sleep when I got home from yoga, but there's an awake baby...
March 17 (I hope you had a festive St. Patrick's Day!)
* is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage and ceili dancing tonight! But before, I'm speaking live video streaming about The Birth Survey on Bellies To Booties Web TV at 2 pm Pacific.
March 18:
* thinks I had a cool, but not so good idea: use the pattern for my Ren dress to make a temple dress. White brocade skirt and vest over a white chemise, with white braided cording...March 19:
* laughed and laughed when I heard Willem say to Belle, "Leave my train station alone, you naughty kitten!"
March 20:
* won an ERGObaby organic baby carrier today, with backpack and front pack at the Healthy Kids and Green Parenting Fair!! I'm so excited!!!
March 21:
* totally scored a rain water collection barrel today because If there's a Water Shortage, Why Isn't Anybody Collecting Rain? Thanks to my neighbor for enabling me!
March 22:
* 's joy at health care reform is tempered by all the revisions that will be needed over time. Its a start, which is a relief, but there will be much more fighting. I'm kind of exhausted at the prospect.
March 24:
* wants some energy back. How about a nap today children?
* thinks its a travesty to pipe fake buttercream frosting on to a delicious cheesecake.
* if there's such a thing as cabbage chowder, I made it tonight. And then put it in a breadbowl.
March 26:
* is struggling to write my personal experiences into an article on childbirth.
*is listening to Peter tell me about travel warnings throughout the world and I misheard "terrorist concerns in India." I heard "terrorist insurance." Now that would a lucrative business... They would pay your ransom, extricate you from the hostage situation and pay any medical or therapy bills.
March 27:
* has a baby that WILL NOT cuddle to sleep in bed with me. She spent an hour rolling around in the dark and only settled down to sleep when I put her in her bed, covered her with a blanket and walked away. Not cool, little girl.
March 28:
* Belle climbed up on a box and now can't figure out the way down. Good for her that she's still trying.
* and the sickness goes on. Willem has a fever and has spent the day cuddled under blankets sleeping on Peter.
March 29:
* And thus begins Belle's 10th month of life outside the womb. Let the toddling commence.
* Willem just pointed to the plushie for Gonorrhea and just said "I want to see that S T B."
March 30:
* Carla Hartley is tempting me again. Her offers for enrolling in AAMI (Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute) are always so very appealing...
* First half of the day: I was pleased to find that "children are a joy and blessing" applied to the happiness in our home. Second half of the day: I had to remind myself that "children are a joy and a blessing."
March 31:
* was taken on a hike by her 10 month old. Who knew a 10 month would actually hike? The Cascade mountains are beautiful and I'm so glad that Peter was willing to take a day away from studying to spend time with the family in nature.
April 1:
* is CRANKY today. Any ideas to help a mama chill out?
April 2:
* had a reminder that trauma resurfaces unexpedectly and can suck you back into it. Given that its 2 am now, I don't think I'll be waking up in 4 hours to go to my early morning yoga class. When you see my blog post, you'll know what I'm talking about.
* loves seeing the simple joy that comes from playing with a box. Belle's new carseat came yesterday and Willem now gets what boxes are all about. We got a big package when he was Belle's age and he did not understand why we put him in the box at all. Belle gets it though because she sees her brother playing in it. They ...turned it into a slide until it became too squished for that.
April 3 (General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints):
*has been appreciating the words spoken at General Conference this morning. I especially like the promptings I've gotten from what i've heard. What did you think of the quote from Eliza R Snow that Julie Beck used?
* Me to Belle: "You are such a silly child." Willem to me: "You are just a silly mama."
April 4:
* is watching Emma: Her Story on BYU TV (internet streaming) right now. I'm excited to see it. The first few minutes are boding well.
* is making bone broth for the first time tonight. Out of the bones from the lamb rack we had for Easter dinner. We'll see how it turns out.
April 5:
* For some reason I do not understand, Willem is calling all soldiers and knights "Lamanites" today.
* Quote from Willem: "Do not kill me before you ask my permission!"
* And another "Lightning (McQueen) has blue eyes like Belle!"
Quotes from Famous People:
"Her baby constitutes for her a powerful symbol of her motherhood, her individuality, her new family, the beauty and wonder of nature, and the perfection of her own body and her procreative powers." Robbie Davis Floyd
"It is intriguing this [those born between 1935-1975 who were separated from their mothers after birth for several hours or even days] is the age group that has experienced spiralling divorce rates, increased incidence of child abuse, and greater extent of familial alienation than that seen in previous generations, and... the temptation to associate this with US birth practices is hard to resist." Wenda Trevathan
"We do not ask you to give up any good you have, but we invite you to come and get more." Joseph Smith in talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ
Obama's Out of Control Health Care Costs (my comment: Peter and I had a good conversation about this article today. "Obama's Out of Control Health Care Costs" because we can all see this happening: The federal gov't promises to pay all health care costs, and doctors then jack up their prices just because they can. Regulating health care costs is essential to health care reform.)
You Probably Are A Feminist
Top 5 Myths About Having a Homebirth
Path to Freedom: the Original Urban Homestead
Family and Home Network (a new volunteer organization I'm excited to work with)
Calling for Integrative Medicine to be Written into Health Care Reform
Women are Saving the World Now: a new advocacy organization that featured Rikki Lake for BOBB
The Onion: Increasing Number of Parents Opting to Have Children School-Homed
Woman Catches Baby During Own Cesarean Section
Fertile Feminism: Mainstream Feminism and Motherhood
Breastfeeding Saves Money and Saves Lives: Analysis Says
Citizen Commentary on Health Care Reform: Written by my husband's mission president
Links to Products (in the crunchy vein):
Selling My Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size Stash
Baby Steals.com had a shocking deal on Ergo's on the 25th
Chemical of Concerns in Car Seats: Healthy Stuff's Ratings for 2009
Organic Cotton Mattress Toppers
The Femivore's Dilemma (article links to the book Radical Homemakers)
Links to Advocacy Opportunities:
Make Animal Abuse a Felony
Take Action: Tell the EPA to Protect Americans from Dioxin
Requesting Greater Transparency in Health Care: soliticed by Health and Human Services
Play an Online Game and Give Rice
Petition to ACOG: Increase Women's Access to VBAC
Switch to Kijiji to Protest Human Trafficking on Craigslist
* successfully replicated Mimi's corn chowder without a recipe! Peter is so proud, especially since he didn't think he liked corn chowder.
March 16:
* Willem has decided that he wants to let his pink eye "heal on its own and not use medicine" instead of letting me put the antibiotic drops in his eyes. The drawback is that he will not be attending preschool until it resolves. Its a valid choice and one that I believe he is capable of making for himself, but I'm very surprised that he's sticking to it.
* couldn't go back to sleep after the baby woke because my mind is busy brainstorming areas of life that LDS women might be interested in advocating for. I know better than to wait when I have time to write my ideas; I'm writing them now so I don't forget.
* I was hoping to go back to sleep when I got home from yoga, but there's an awake baby...
March 17 (I hope you had a festive St. Patrick's Day!)
* is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage and ceili dancing tonight! But before, I'm speaking live video streaming about The Birth Survey on Bellies To Booties Web TV at 2 pm Pacific.
March 18:
* thinks I had a cool, but not so good idea: use the pattern for my Ren dress to make a temple dress. White brocade skirt and vest over a white chemise, with white braided cording...March 19:
* laughed and laughed when I heard Willem say to Belle, "Leave my train station alone, you naughty kitten!"
March 20:
* won an ERGObaby organic baby carrier today, with backpack and front pack at the Healthy Kids and Green Parenting Fair!! I'm so excited!!!
March 21:
* totally scored a rain water collection barrel today because If there's a Water Shortage, Why Isn't Anybody Collecting Rain? Thanks to my neighbor for enabling me!
March 22:
* 's joy at health care reform is tempered by all the revisions that will be needed over time. Its a start, which is a relief, but there will be much more fighting. I'm kind of exhausted at the prospect.
March 24:
* wants some energy back. How about a nap today children?
* thinks its a travesty to pipe fake buttercream frosting on to a delicious cheesecake.
* if there's such a thing as cabbage chowder, I made it tonight. And then put it in a breadbowl.
March 26:
* is struggling to write my personal experiences into an article on childbirth.
*is listening to Peter tell me about travel warnings throughout the world and I misheard "terrorist concerns in India." I heard "terrorist insurance." Now that would a lucrative business... They would pay your ransom, extricate you from the hostage situation and pay any medical or therapy bills.
March 27:
* has a baby that WILL NOT cuddle to sleep in bed with me. She spent an hour rolling around in the dark and only settled down to sleep when I put her in her bed, covered her with a blanket and walked away. Not cool, little girl.
March 28:
* Belle climbed up on a box and now can't figure out the way down. Good for her that she's still trying.
* and the sickness goes on. Willem has a fever and has spent the day cuddled under blankets sleeping on Peter.
March 29:
* And thus begins Belle's 10th month of life outside the womb. Let the toddling commence.
* Willem just pointed to the plushie for Gonorrhea and just said "I want to see that S T B."
March 30:
* Carla Hartley is tempting me again. Her offers for enrolling in AAMI (Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute) are always so very appealing...
* First half of the day: I was pleased to find that "children are a joy and blessing" applied to the happiness in our home. Second half of the day: I had to remind myself that "children are a joy and a blessing."
March 31:
* was taken on a hike by her 10 month old. Who knew a 10 month would actually hike? The Cascade mountains are beautiful and I'm so glad that Peter was willing to take a day away from studying to spend time with the family in nature.
April 1:
* is CRANKY today. Any ideas to help a mama chill out?
April 2:
* had a reminder that trauma resurfaces unexpedectly and can suck you back into it. Given that its 2 am now, I don't think I'll be waking up in 4 hours to go to my early morning yoga class. When you see my blog post, you'll know what I'm talking about.
* loves seeing the simple joy that comes from playing with a box. Belle's new carseat came yesterday and Willem now gets what boxes are all about. We got a big package when he was Belle's age and he did not understand why we put him in the box at all. Belle gets it though because she sees her brother playing in it. They ...turned it into a slide until it became too squished for that.
April 3 (General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints):
*has been appreciating the words spoken at General Conference this morning. I especially like the promptings I've gotten from what i've heard. What did you think of the quote from Eliza R Snow that Julie Beck used?
* Me to Belle: "You are such a silly child." Willem to me: "You are just a silly mama."
April 4:
* is watching Emma: Her Story on BYU TV (internet streaming) right now. I'm excited to see it. The first few minutes are boding well.
* is making bone broth for the first time tonight. Out of the bones from the lamb rack we had for Easter dinner. We'll see how it turns out.
April 5:
* For some reason I do not understand, Willem is calling all soldiers and knights "Lamanites" today.
* Quote from Willem: "Do not kill me before you ask my permission!"
* And another "Lightning (McQueen) has blue eyes like Belle!"
Quotes from Famous People:
"Her baby constitutes for her a powerful symbol of her motherhood, her individuality, her new family, the beauty and wonder of nature, and the perfection of her own body and her procreative powers." Robbie Davis Floyd
"It is intriguing this [those born between 1935-1975 who were separated from their mothers after birth for several hours or even days] is the age group that has experienced spiralling divorce rates, increased incidence of child abuse, and greater extent of familial alienation than that seen in previous generations, and... the temptation to associate this with US birth practices is hard to resist." Wenda Trevathan
"We do not ask you to give up any good you have, but we invite you to come and get more." Joseph Smith in talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ
Links to Articles:
Obama's Out of Control Health Care Costs (my comment: Peter and I had a good conversation about this article today. "Obama's Out of Control Health Care Costs" because we can all see this happening: The federal gov't promises to pay all health care costs, and doctors then jack up their prices just because they can. Regulating health care costs is essential to health care reform.)
You Probably Are A Feminist
Top 5 Myths About Having a Homebirth
Path to Freedom: the Original Urban Homestead
Family and Home Network (a new volunteer organization I'm excited to work with)
Calling for Integrative Medicine to be Written into Health Care Reform
Women are Saving the World Now: a new advocacy organization that featured Rikki Lake for BOBB
The Onion: Increasing Number of Parents Opting to Have Children School-Homed
Woman Catches Baby During Own Cesarean Section
Fertile Feminism: Mainstream Feminism and Motherhood
Breastfeeding Saves Money and Saves Lives: Analysis Says
Citizen Commentary on Health Care Reform: Written by my husband's mission president
Links to Products (in the crunchy vein):
Selling My Fuzzi Bunz Perfect Size Stash
Baby Steals.com had a shocking deal on Ergo's on the 25th
Chemical of Concerns in Car Seats: Healthy Stuff's Ratings for 2009
Organic Cotton Mattress Toppers
The Femivore's Dilemma (article links to the book Radical Homemakers)
Links to Advocacy Opportunities:
Make Animal Abuse a Felony
Take Action: Tell the EPA to Protect Americans from Dioxin
Requesting Greater Transparency in Health Care: soliticed by Health and Human Services
Play an Online Game and Give Rice
Petition to ACOG: Increase Women's Access to VBAC
Switch to Kijiji to Protest Human Trafficking on Craigslist
Friday, April 2, 2010
The Prequel: My Traumatic Birth Experience
Although my birth story is often cited on my blog, I have never written out the prequel to the story. My traumatic birth didn't start in early labor, it actually started weeks before.
When I was in week 34 of my pregnancy, I was working part-time at a preschool (9am-1:00 pm each day). I had a commute and prep time before class started so I was waking up at 7 am. I'm not a morning person (if you ever notice when most of my blog entries are posted you'll know that I'm a night owl). I was constantly tired in my pregnancy. I'd get home from work and have to take a long nap each afternoon just so I could function the next day. One day, I had to rush away from work for a prenatal appointment, but that day had already been a struggle. I was fighting nausea the whole day (strange for the third trimester) and had thrown up 3 times, once as I was getting into the car to head to the appointment. Already feeling tired and sick, I encountered unexpected traffic which was making me late to the appointment. I generally get very stressed when I am late to something so the combination of being impatient, stressed sick and tired was not going well for that appointment. I then parked rather far away from the clinic and had to walk (more like jog since I was worried about being so late).
That sets the stage for what happened at the appointment. In typical technocratic style, once checked in, I was weighed, pee collected in a cup, blood pressure assessed. Would anyone like to guess what my blood pressure was after my previous hour?
168/88
The midwife comes in and goes over the results of the glucose intolerance test from the previous appointment. The values were higher than normal prompting a discussion regarding gestational diabetes.
As an aside, I knew the results were going to be skewed because I was unable to handle the glucola being the only nutrition in my body at the time. Rather than sweating it out since I felt very close to passing out, I snacked on my ever handy blood sugar stabilizing snacks I carried around with me. The good news is that I didn't pass out on the way to the lab, the bad news is the false result on the test.
It already was not a good day to hear news like that, coupled with the way the midwife said it. She seemed very unaware to my stress level and was not sensitive to how concerned I was regarding the way in which she stated it and my frustration with her for not consenting to the 3 hour fasting test as a follow-up. If I had had such a negative reaction to the 1 hour test, having eaten lunch just before that appointment, how in the world would I cope with a overnight, drink the glucola on an empty stomach after waking up even earlier than usual and then waiting 3 hours test?
So after that conversation, the midwife plunged right into, "...and your blood pressure measurement from earlier indicated that you have pregnancy induced hypertension." If you have a copy of William's Obstetrics handy, or any other prenatal care textbook nearby, you'll find that the minimum criteria for a diagnosis of PIH is a diastolic value of over 90. In the same paragraph in William's it states that some practitioners like to make the diagnosis when a woman's diastolic is elevated 15 points above her baseline, which would have been true in my case, but if one were to continue reading, one would see that William's states that is not a recommended procedure for diagnosis.
I was visibly upset by this time at the appointment and receiving no assurances, compassion or comfort from the midwife who was speaking to me. I called my husband and in tears told him what was happening. He at the time had been having a conversation with his advisor and when he heard my husband say, after looking at his phone, "Oh. Its a number from the medical center. It must be Jenne probably calling from her prenatal appointment right now," said, "That means something is wrong. Go. Now."
He ran over to the clinic (on campus) and we sat down with the midwife. My husband was surprised at how the midwife was handling the situation because based on what she was telling him, he didn't see that she was making a reasonable assessment. She counseled that I go on immediate bedrest and cut salt out of my diet entirely. Although we were not entirely trusting her judgement, we decided that bedrest was better safe than sorry. We spent the next week trying to get a better sense of the risks of PIH (by this time they had dropped the concern of GD) and we couldn't get a better sense of their concerns based on the information they had given us. We consulted with a number of the midwives and nurse's assistants on staff and we basically got, "PIH can lead to preeclampsia and preeclampsia can mean that the baby dies and the mother can stroke out and die."
We did our own homework and read up on what we were being told, and it didn't add up. I still stayed on bed rest and attended the non-stress test appointments that were scheduled twice weekly. But we knew that what was happening was not as serious as they made it out to be.
A couple of weeks later, at an appointment with another midwife in the practice, I was told, "In all my 20 years of being midwife, I've never see a woman with blood pressure like yours go into labor on her own without being induced." Not only does that say something about her practice style, it also says something about her knowledge.
Up until this point, in my prenatal care, I had tried on a number of occasions to discuss with the midwives policies relating to the birth. Each time I had been told that we would discuss it later. I had never had a satisfactory discussion about my desire to have an unmedicated birth using Hypnobirthing. The midwives did not seem interested in discussing it.
Now at this appointment where I'm being told, they'll basically pressure me into an induction whether I like it or not or whether its indicated or not, I felt like I needed to run away from that practice. But I was 35 weeks pregnant with my first baby, living in a big city that I wasn't familiar with having moved there less than 6 months before, and not very knowledgeable regarding birth options. I thought, if a midwifery practice is going to be this unpleasant to work with, how could working with an OB be any better? We considered and discussed transferring over care to the OBs in the practice, but I was scared of the medical mindset. I wanted midwifery care, but didn't know enough and felt that I didn't have even time to find out about out of hospital options.
So I stayed, like a domestic abuse victim in a violent, toxic relationship.
A friend volunteered to be my doula to help protect me from the unwanted advances of the hospital staff. Having made those arrangements, I told myself that I would hope for the best and pray that labor started on its own before the threat of induction became more real.
In week 37, after 3 weeks on bedrest, and having made it to "full-term" I asked my husband what the soonest time would be okay with his schedule as a first year graduate student for the baby to be born. He said that after Thursday Jan 25 all his tests would be done and that weekend would be an okay time.
Bedrest was, in some sense, a blessing. At the time I was enrolled in my M.Ed program and I had work to do. I spent the month of bedrest doing assignments and getting started on my thesis. It was helpful. But the drawbacks were also considerable. I felt myself getting weaker the longer I stayed inactive and immobile. I'm pretty sure the baby moved into an unfavorable position and further exacerbated the scoliosis in my spine. I started getting headaches and being dizzy, which just made the midwives want to say I told you so since those are indication of progressing preeclampsia, but its also a sign of weakness as a result of inactivity and a lack of salt in the diet. I believe these factors contributed to the long labor (38 hours) as well as the hours of back labor (17 hours worth). Add that to being a first time mom, going into labor earlier than it would have likely been otherwise at 38 weeks, its not surprising that I had a long early labor. It would have been very helpful to know of Ina May Gaskin's teachings for husbands and wives to; as she calls it, "cuddle and smooch" during labor.
We made it to that Thursday, and we decided that we would try out the strategy of starting labor via intercourse and what I've jokingly heard referred to as "prostaglandin application." And then we prayed. We prayed that labor would start and the baby would come, so that we would be protected from the providers that at this point we did not feel safe with. We then fell asleep and I was woken up 4 hours later by menstrual-like cramps coming every 15 minutes.
I let Peter sleep but I couldn't. I was so excited and so relieved that labor had started on its own. At six am, I couldn't keep my excitement to myself anymore and I woke Peter up. We talked, we were happy and we decided that it was just be stupid to go to the hospital at that point because we knew for sure that we were going to avoid going to the hospital too early. We then discussed if I should go to the scheduled non-stress test at 11 am. We decided to keep the appointment, if not to avoid the within 24 hour cancelation fee. But before, I wanted a big breakfast. So like a runner getting ready for a marathon, we went to IHOP and I throughly enjoyed my breakfast feeling exhilarated that not only had I thwarted the mid-witch, I was going to meet my baby.
At the appointment, we knew it was too early to go to the hospital, even though I had been contracting for close to 11 hours at that point (still 6-10, sometimes 15 minutes apart, easy to manage). The NST showed that I was having irregular contractions and my cervix was dilated 3 centimeters. We were surprised when the midwife at the clinic called up the Labor and Delivery and told us that we would be checking in. I thought it was still too early, but went with the recommendation.
Then we enter what I call the flight pattern period of my labor. Labor and Delivery said they were full, they could take me so I should go home. At home, I got a visit from my visiting teachers--they thought it was very strange that I was in labor and welcoming them over and how calm I was dealing with it, but it was early labor and it was easy to handle. After calling and checking with Labor and Delivery a couple of times, they were still busy. So I waited. All I wanted to do at that point was to go into my labor space and focus, turn inward--what I called at the time "holing-up." I couldn't do that at home knowing that I'd have to leave. (This is about the time that homebirth started sounding appealing but completely out of the question since it would have been completely unplanned). We went out to lunch, basically tried to distract ourselves and stay near by the house and the hospital in case we got the call saying we could come in.
At 4 pm, we were finally able to get into Labor and Delivery. No progress. Contractions still 6-10 minutes apart. Hourly vaginal examines commence. We walk the halls of the hospital. At the gift shop, we find a mini set of bowling pins with a marble to "bowl" with. We buy it in celebration of the anniversary of the day we met three years to the day before at the bowling alley in the BYU student services center. Looking back, we should have just gone to the bowling alley and bowled through early labor.
At 9pm, 1/2 centimeter progress and the midwife starts talking options. She offers 1) send me home with an Ambien to sleep, 2) give me morphine, move me to another room in the hospital (not L&D) and make sure I'm sleeping or 3) pitocin augmentation and breaking water.
Is this starting to sound like a phenomenon that you've heard of before?
As I sat on a birth bath and handle contractions as they come, we refused, refused, refused. My husband tried to talk to them but they refuse to talk with anyone other than me. We countered with, sure, its reasonable to clear the LDR room for another mother in labor, but we'd refuse the morphine and go to another room to let labor progress on its own. Its surprising how hostile the midwife was to that. The room was only offered if I accepted medicinal sedation. At the time, that felt so dehumanizing. Like I was being viewed as a dying horse that needed to be take out back and shot to be put out of its misery. Or that she wanted to make me the hospital's prisoner, but instead of using shackles, she was going to use drugs (hello, 24's use of medical torture?) An OB was called in and we were told, "You have no more options. Its time for you to leave. Get out."
As we pack up and get ready to leave, we look for a nurse, or a midwife or the receptionist at the check-in test to find out when they would like us to call back or at what point to return, and there's no one around. So we leave, feeling neglected and confused.
Go figure, that once at home, labor picks up pretty quickly and intensely. I started having a hard time finding a comfortable position. I could lay down comfortably and I had been upright for so long that my legs were tired. I started having back labor and it was difficult to support myself on the birth ball. My husband and doula tried to get some sleep. They gave up pretty quickly and then helped me into the bathtub. The water was too shallow, and not hot enough, the tub walls hard and uncomfortable. So I lay hurting, cold and shivering. I start to get frustrated and despondent. I call L&D and I'm told that I can come back in and get checked for progress but I might be turned away again. I'm gun-shy at this point and I'm too afraid to go back in, too upset with the insensitive way I was treated earlier, knowing that the same midwife would still be on the shift. I found that she was going to get off shift at 8 am, so I became determined to stick it out.
We get to the hospital at 8am and she's still there. She does the triage exam which I've blocked from my memory. All I remember from that is spots of blood on the floor of the triage room that did not belong to me.
That's a good point to stop and refer you to birth story that I wrote soon after Willem was born, and have edited slightly since then.
In the next few days, I'll post regarding some insights I've learned since experiencing this.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
The Mythological Midwife
In her PhD dissertation, Rixa Freeze (Stand and Deliver) includes a discussion of the mythological midwife. Ever since I read it, I've been formulating what my mythological midwife would be, or what I would do if I were to become a midwife and could do/be all the things I would want to as a midwife.
I have considered becoming a midwife. Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute is very appealing to me. And if I could apprentice with any midwife, it would be with Suzanne Thomson of New Life Midwifery in Seattle. I worked with her during my pregnancy with Belle. She's offered to let me attend births with her but I haven't taken her up on it yet.
The one reason why I will likely never become a midwife for hire is: I really don't want to run a business and be responsible for keeping it profitable. I want my passion to something that is not tied to money, which in a way negates pursuing any passion...
But I enjoy dreaming and my dream to become the mythological midwife would be to:
I have considered becoming a midwife. Ancient Arts Midwifery Institute is very appealing to me. And if I could apprentice with any midwife, it would be with Suzanne Thomson of New Life Midwifery in Seattle. I worked with her during my pregnancy with Belle. She's offered to let me attend births with her but I haven't taken her up on it yet.
The one reason why I will likely never become a midwife for hire is: I really don't want to run a business and be responsible for keeping it profitable. I want my passion to something that is not tied to money, which in a way negates pursuing any passion...
But I enjoy dreaming and my dream to become the mythological midwife would be to:
- Complete a midwifery training program
- Become trained in prenatal massage
- Become an herbalist specialized in women's and children's health
- Learn naturopathy
- Be supportive of unassisted children, provide educational resources to families seeking it and back-up care if needed/wanted
- Learn chiropractic, especially the Webster Technique
- Assemble a lending library of the best books, CDs and DVDs to prepare for normal birth
- Provide Mother Blessing Ceremonies for mothers I work with
- Pray over and perform energy work for pregnant women at each appointment
- Learn traditional and cultural birth practices from around the world in order to be able to recommend them to clients
- Remember where I come from as a birthing mother and ALWAYS provide adequate informed consent
- Write, publish, present and advocate for practices that support and encourage normal birth in the overall population of women and families
- Provide family life education to families that would prepare parents for the transition to parenthood, enhance their communication skills, and marital attachment
- conduct research on birth issues, and how it relates to human development, individual and public health, and connect it to public policy (PhD)
I've tried to figure out how much the training to become this might cost me. These are approximations of programs in my area:
Midwifery program: $5,000 - $40,000
Chiropractic degree: $90,000
Herbalist degree (through Bastyr University): $90,000
Massage Therapy Certification: $10,000
Naturopathy training: $90,000
PhD: probably could be paid for with Teaching and Research Assistantships
Based on that alone, and the years of training. Its not going to happen.
In fact, if I were to be the mythological mother, I'd do all that training and education too.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Indecision and Straddling the fence
Blame this post on pregnancy hormones, if you would like. I'm struggling right now on separate but related issues.
I can't decide if I can be confident that this will be a pregnancy that results in a living child or if I'm going to be experiencing a miscarriage in the next 10 weeks or so. Some may call it irrational, but I have this fear of miscarrying. I know that statistically I will likely experience at least one miscarriage during my childbearing years. Knowing that can kind of prepare me for it, but I don't ever want the current pregnancy to be a miscarriage. Willem was my first pregnancy and he was born alive and healthy and is a wonderfully loving one year old now. That makes me think that I'm even more likely to have a miscarriage with this one, because its bound to happen sometime, right? I think the only thing than can remedy these fears is some patience. I'll know within the next 10 weeks if this pregnancy will miscarry or not. Not very comforting. Of course, I have been turning to prayer to find peace on this issue. I'm hestitant to seek a priesthood blessing because of the outcome from the last (which is also contributing to my fears now). Maybe Peter is ready to try to give me another but he said after that last one that he's afraid too.
The other struggle I'm facing right now is overcoming my cultural heritage when it comes on being more reliant on my self and my God, instead of medical professionals. I feel drawn, out of habit, to make all the prenatal appointments, have the early viability ultrasound and all the bells and whistles of modern maternity care even though I know that its not effective, or based in evidence and best practice. I'm also drawn to the unassisted prenatal care because it seems like it can be part and parcel of unassisted birthing. Feeling like I'm being pulled in both directions, I struggling to figure out what my balance will be. I have a midwife that I will consult with on a semi-regular basis for prenatal appointments, even though many of the clinical services I'll decline (even though I'm tempted to take everything that is offered).
Having a midwife for prenatals (and back-up for the birth) is my way of making sure that I have an advisor, counselor and consultant when it comes to concerns and questions that I may have. Part of having a solid consultant/consultee relationship is taking the time to nurture and grow that relationship, which makes me feel obligated to schedule more prenatal appointments than I would like it. I also fear that feeling obligated to building that relationship will lead me to feel obligated to accept attendance at the birth.
Last night at my first prenatal appointment, I felt my first bit of accepting something that I otherwise wouldn't choose for myself, because of a sense of obligation. There were two other women who attended the appointment with the midwife. I had gotten a heads-up from my doula friend who works with the practice that one additional person would be there (a midwife assistant). But I was surprised that there was another person there as well, I think a student. I wish that I didn't feel that more people than I comfortable with are being pulled in to work with me. Next time if there are assistants or students present, I will likely request that they stay out of the room for my appointments because my goal is to build a relationship with the midwife, on the level that I'm comfortable with, as I figure out that balance between keeping professional emotional distance and building a trusting advising relationship.
And then to further complicate my feelings on that issue, I can go back to being afraid that I may just lose this baby anyway, making all this thought and worrying unnecessary. Sigh. Help thou my unbelief...
I'll accept prayers and positive thoughts on my behalf to those who are willing to give them.
I can't decide if I can be confident that this will be a pregnancy that results in a living child or if I'm going to be experiencing a miscarriage in the next 10 weeks or so. Some may call it irrational, but I have this fear of miscarrying. I know that statistically I will likely experience at least one miscarriage during my childbearing years. Knowing that can kind of prepare me for it, but I don't ever want the current pregnancy to be a miscarriage. Willem was my first pregnancy and he was born alive and healthy and is a wonderfully loving one year old now. That makes me think that I'm even more likely to have a miscarriage with this one, because its bound to happen sometime, right? I think the only thing than can remedy these fears is some patience. I'll know within the next 10 weeks if this pregnancy will miscarry or not. Not very comforting. Of course, I have been turning to prayer to find peace on this issue. I'm hestitant to seek a priesthood blessing because of the outcome from the last (which is also contributing to my fears now). Maybe Peter is ready to try to give me another but he said after that last one that he's afraid too.
The other struggle I'm facing right now is overcoming my cultural heritage when it comes on being more reliant on my self and my God, instead of medical professionals. I feel drawn, out of habit, to make all the prenatal appointments, have the early viability ultrasound and all the bells and whistles of modern maternity care even though I know that its not effective, or based in evidence and best practice. I'm also drawn to the unassisted prenatal care because it seems like it can be part and parcel of unassisted birthing. Feeling like I'm being pulled in both directions, I struggling to figure out what my balance will be. I have a midwife that I will consult with on a semi-regular basis for prenatal appointments, even though many of the clinical services I'll decline (even though I'm tempted to take everything that is offered).
Having a midwife for prenatals (and back-up for the birth) is my way of making sure that I have an advisor, counselor and consultant when it comes to concerns and questions that I may have. Part of having a solid consultant/consultee relationship is taking the time to nurture and grow that relationship, which makes me feel obligated to schedule more prenatal appointments than I would like it. I also fear that feeling obligated to building that relationship will lead me to feel obligated to accept attendance at the birth.
Last night at my first prenatal appointment, I felt my first bit of accepting something that I otherwise wouldn't choose for myself, because of a sense of obligation. There were two other women who attended the appointment with the midwife. I had gotten a heads-up from my doula friend who works with the practice that one additional person would be there (a midwife assistant). But I was surprised that there was another person there as well, I think a student. I wish that I didn't feel that more people than I comfortable with are being pulled in to work with me. Next time if there are assistants or students present, I will likely request that they stay out of the room for my appointments because my goal is to build a relationship with the midwife, on the level that I'm comfortable with, as I figure out that balance between keeping professional emotional distance and building a trusting advising relationship.
And then to further complicate my feelings on that issue, I can go back to being afraid that I may just lose this baby anyway, making all this thought and worrying unnecessary. Sigh. Help thou my unbelief...
I'll accept prayers and positive thoughts on my behalf to those who are willing to give them.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Advocate Healthy Birth with Healthy People 2020
Healthy People provides science-based, 10-year national objectives for promoting health and preventing disease. Since 1979, Healthy People has set and monitored national health objectives to meet a broad range of health needs, encourage collaborations across sectors, guide individuals toward making informed health decisions, and measure the impact of our prevention activity. Currently, Healthy People 2010 is leading the way to achieve increased quality and years of healthy life and the elimination of health disparities.
The website is accepting public comments on various health issues important to the American people. They welcome "suggestions as part of a collaborative process."
Now is the time for birth advocates to post what they know about healthy birth. Suggestions for change include using hospital based obstetrics only for childbirthing emergencies, moving low-risk pregnant women and birth out of hospital under the supervision of midwives. Cite the research of Michel Odent, MD; Sarah J Buckley, MD; Marsden Wagner, MD, Ina May Gaskin, Henci Goer and the other big names in birth.
Now is the time to talk about the need of changing the current system which puts financial gain before the well being of women and babies.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Barter- Trading Skills and Goods
As a mama, I'm just discovering the beauty of bartering; trading skill for skill, or skill for goods, etc. Now that I have discovered it, I'm constantly trying to think of new and creative ways to do it.
So far, I've bartered my graphic design skills and software to make a book cover for a local mama in return for date nights. Those are so rare at this point, I'm very excited that the prospect of having some time just me and my husband.
The other trade I've made is embroidering my Irish dance school's logo on to school's capes worn during performances in return for a Irish dancer wig. Its a dream come true! I've always wanted curly hair, as well as auburn hair and now I can have it whenever I want, without spending hours dying and curling.*FYI* Irish dancers typically wear large curly wigs when performing.
Then of course, there is babysitting for babysitting--the good old "you take care of my kids and then I'll take care of yours."
I've heard of bartering for doula and midwifery services and am interested in being in contact with birth providers in my area to find out what type of services they accept for trade. I'm all about affordable and anything that engenders a stronger sense of community, interdependence and cooperation in our society!
So far, I've bartered my graphic design skills and software to make a book cover for a local mama in return for date nights. Those are so rare at this point, I'm very excited that the prospect of having some time just me and my husband.
The other trade I've made is embroidering my Irish dance school's logo on to school's capes worn during performances in return for a Irish dancer wig. Its a dream come true! I've always wanted curly hair, as well as auburn hair and now I can have it whenever I want, without spending hours dying and curling.*FYI* Irish dancers typically wear large curly wigs when performing.
Then of course, there is babysitting for babysitting--the good old "you take care of my kids and then I'll take care of yours."
I've heard of bartering for doula and midwifery services and am interested in being in contact with birth providers in my area to find out what type of services they accept for trade. I'm all about affordable and anything that engenders a stronger sense of community, interdependence and cooperation in our society!
Friday, February 22, 2008
The Homebirth Debate has reached Newsweek
The news magazine Newsweek has published a new article discussing the choices available to birthing women.
The authors describe the various types of care providers: OBs, Certified Nurse Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives.
The articles brings up some important points.
1) Cesarean Sections can be life saving when used appropriately, but the current rate of 1 in 3 pregnancies ending in C-section is being questioned.
2)The hospital transfer rate for planned out of hospital births is less than 10%.
3)The most common reasons for hospital transfer are not emergency complication like most people think, but because of maternal exhaustion and the mother choosing to go to the hospital for pain relief.
4) Women have choices when it comes to birthing. Making those choices more accessible is important.
In some states, the homebirth option is prohibited to women because they don't have access to home birth midwives or those midwives act underground, straining tensions between families and hospitals. The article states that women and babies are put at unnecessary risk when their choices are not honored.
The article also leaves out an important point. It states that women should be diligent in doing their research and make choices that they are comfortable with. But its ignores that accurate information is hard to come by. Hospitals are rarely upfront with their intervention rates making it difficult for women to make an informed choice. There is very little transperency in the maternity care system. Its also difficult to find statistics (for the non research, journal oriented mama) that clearly depict the actual rates and risks. Women can be told to do their research, but in the flood of information regarding pregnancy and birth options, there needs to be a concerted effort to make the important information available and accessible. The blog site Birth Activist illustrates this point well.
The authors describe the various types of care providers: OBs, Certified Nurse Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives.
The articles brings up some important points.
1) Cesarean Sections can be life saving when used appropriately, but the current rate of 1 in 3 pregnancies ending in C-section is being questioned.
2)The hospital transfer rate for planned out of hospital births is less than 10%.
3)The most common reasons for hospital transfer are not emergency complication like most people think, but because of maternal exhaustion and the mother choosing to go to the hospital for pain relief.
4) Women have choices when it comes to birthing. Making those choices more accessible is important.
In some states, the homebirth option is prohibited to women because they don't have access to home birth midwives or those midwives act underground, straining tensions between families and hospitals. The article states that women and babies are put at unnecessary risk when their choices are not honored.
The article also leaves out an important point. It states that women should be diligent in doing their research and make choices that they are comfortable with. But its ignores that accurate information is hard to come by. Hospitals are rarely upfront with their intervention rates making it difficult for women to make an informed choice. There is very little transperency in the maternity care system. Its also difficult to find statistics (for the non research, journal oriented mama) that clearly depict the actual rates and risks. Women can be told to do their research, but in the flood of information regarding pregnancy and birth options, there needs to be a concerted effort to make the important information available and accessible. The blog site Birth Activist illustrates this point well.
Friday, February 15, 2008
Advocacy Guides
I'm encountered information recently on effectively advocating for change. This could be in the field of maternity care, or for any cause that one may feel strongly about. I will share links below:
•The Seattle School of Midwifery shares some helpful tips on writing letters to the editor.
• The site 2020 Vision has a rather comprehensive guide to activist activities.
• Find your state representatives, senators, governor and president’s contact information.
• Find how to contact your state legislatures. This link also aids one in finding legislative bills currently waiting to be decided upon.
• Citizens for Midwifery also have a section on advocacy
I’m sure there is more and I will add to this if I find it. But I hope this can be handy guide to start with.
•The Seattle School of Midwifery shares some helpful tips on writing letters to the editor.
• The site 2020 Vision has a rather comprehensive guide to activist activities.
• Find your state representatives, senators, governor and president’s contact information.
• Find how to contact your state legislatures. This link also aids one in finding legislative bills currently waiting to be decided upon.
• Citizens for Midwifery also have a section on advocacy
I’m sure there is more and I will add to this if I find it. But I hope this can be handy guide to start with.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Business of Being Born
The Business of Being Born, a documentary about birth in the US, is currently showing across the country. It is produced by Ricky Lake, who was disappointed to see how birth was treated in the hospital system. She resolved to have a completely different birth for her next child and planned a home birth with a midwife. The documentary shows the birth of her water baby as well as the stories of other families and the process of welcoming their children into the world. It also questions how birth is treated in the US, and that normal birthing is practically disappearing.
I am very excited to see this film. I have been waiting for it for MONTHS to come to a theater near me. And I was crushed when I missed a screening put on by the Seattle Midwifery School.
But finally, I have ample opportunity to see it! The Seattle Film Festival is doing 8 screenings of it between February 29 to March 6.
On a more personal note: My respect for Ricky Lake as a person has grown tremendously knowing that she's taken on this project. Our birth stories are pretty similar--non complicated vaginal hospital deliveries that left us feeling empty, that something was missing, or being treated wrongly in the birth process. We have both started on a path of advocating natural birth options for women who are low-risk. I intend that my next birth will be much like her second birth, out of hospital with minimal interventions, and to truly experience what normal birth is like.
I am very excited to see this film. I have been waiting for it for MONTHS to come to a theater near me. And I was crushed when I missed a screening put on by the Seattle Midwifery School.
But finally, I have ample opportunity to see it! The Seattle Film Festival is doing 8 screenings of it between February 29 to March 6.
On a more personal note: My respect for Ricky Lake as a person has grown tremendously knowing that she's taken on this project. Our birth stories are pretty similar--non complicated vaginal hospital deliveries that left us feeling empty, that something was missing, or being treated wrongly in the birth process. We have both started on a path of advocating natural birth options for women who are low-risk. I intend that my next birth will be much like her second birth, out of hospital with minimal interventions, and to truly experience what normal birth is like.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)