My New Arrival

The Birth Pool in a Box Eco (regular size)!

Images sourced from here

I LOVE this pool. According to their website, this pool is "perfect for expectant mothers up to 6' (182cm) tall!" My husband and I spent around three hours in this pool during our last homebirth. We both fit comfortably and we're not small people! There's a seat for him, or it can be a fantastic backrest for the birthing woman. It's the deepest inflatable birth pool I've ever seen. And it has the features of other inflatable birth pools such as the supportive softness on your knees, the strength to take the weight of a birthing mother hanging over the side, and the "oh shit" handles, as one of the Mummas I'm serving calls them! But you can read about every single feature this pool has to offer here.

Many thanks to the gracious friend who loaned us this pool for our second birth. We had been planning to buy this very model when we had to move house and could no longer afford to spend hundreds on my dream pool. Our friend had bought herself the same pool to birth in and offered to loan it to us. After she and I each had a baby in this pool she decided to sell. And I am so very grateful that she offered to sell it to us!

Such relief that, while I may not know which home my future children will be born in, I know which pool! I'm so grateful to have the very pool my baby was born into in 2010, a space I'll always treasure, the site of incredible transformation. And now I can share this very space and all the powerful energy it comes with, with the women I serve.

If you are interested in hiring the pool, check out this page for details.

Blessingway, belly art & a special gift for the birth servant

Today I had the great honour of attending a blessingway at which the Mumma of hounour received a belly-casting from her first and third born daughters. When I focus on the warm, delicious feeling the afternoon's celebration has left, that's the image I remember most: sisters who once curled up in that woman's womb, creating a memento of their mother's life-giving form.

The belly-cast was the first event at the blessingway. Meanwhile others got to know one another over the many plates of food brought by the guests (and two trays of "crowning cupcakes" made by the Mumma herself, featuring fondant yonis with chocolates for baby heads). After the casting we had a circle, gifted beads and candles, shared our wishes and affirmations, bound ourselves together with yarn to be worn until the baby is born and after circle there was henna belly-painting, birth necklace making, an herbal foot bath, some baby-wrapping demonstrations and hand massages with organic coconut oil.

Me & Mumma, Mumma receiving henna tattoo & the birth necklace

There were many babies in attendance, and a couple of young women who came with their mothers. It felt rather special to have these young women in the circle. What a gift their mothers have given them by including them in the celebratory rituals of pregnancy and birth! And, as it happened both girls have tended to their mothers while birthing younger siblings at home.

By the end of the day I was confident the Mumma's soul felt nourished from the gathering. It was quite a few of the guests first time at a blessingway and for some the idea of homebirthing a strange concept. I was thrilled that we made it to the blessingway. A number of circumstances were giving us cause to worry that we might not get to give this Mumma a blessingway all of her own, and after four babies and four institutional births before this upcoming homebirth, I was desparate to shower this Mumma with some affirmations and love. So, there were quite a few firsts, including: for the first time I left a blessingway with a gift of my own!

Four years ago, I was pregnant with my first child, sharing the journey with the community on the Joyous Birth forums, through which I met this Mumma. While I was pregnant she began work on a stunning painting of a woman catching her crowning baby. She said I was the inspiration for the piece and that when it was finished she would give it to me. I was stunned by her generous heart (not to mention her talented hands!). At the end of her blessingway she added the final touch to the painting, after years of hanging on her bedroom wall and passed it on to me. I knew just the spot for it back home...

 

My kitchen wall, above our dinning table, between my favourite photos from both my births. This has become the wall of birth. Words cannot do justice to my gratitude to this Mumma for such a beautiful, heartfelt gift. Is there anything more romantic than someone painting for you? I feel so utterly blessed. Hopefully my presence at her birth and during her babymoon will give her a glimpse into the gratitude I'm feeling.
 

Another blissful blessingway had. Mother ready to bear her baby earthside in all her awesome power. A group of women each returned to a different home, high on the feminine energy shared throughout the day. The journey to a birth, just as it should be. Thank-you Mumma for opening your home and your heart to us xoxo

Scenes from the 36 week meet

The thirty-six week meet with a homebirth support team is one of my favourite birth-servant-experiences. The birth is just around the corner, there is an air of excitement and a great sense of sisterhood. Everyone in the room is so grateful to be sharing the journey. There is hope and anticipation. It's the Christmas Eve of the birth attendant's work. We don't know what lies ahead, we just know we're spending the celebration with each other. And we will receive a wonderful gift: a new little blessing in the world.

We're in the future birth space, getting to know the surroundings. The mother is at home, queen of the castle. She's relaxed. A lot of talking, even more listening. Cups of tea, foot massage, older siblings coming and going, asking the midwife questions, six year old strumming a guitar, serenading the birth team, and after making plans, after mother's update about her general well-being since we last met, then come the check-ups. Blood pressure, gentle palping and fundal measurements. The whompa-whompa-whompa-whompa-whompa-whompa-whompa-whompa of the baby's heart filling the room via a doppler machine (that still spins me out). And my baby, the littlest birth attendant, joining all the fun.

My partner knows not to expect me home any time soon, for these meets can go much like birth. Unpredictably long. Women enjoying women, refusing to rush, pouring their energy into a mother in need of tender, loving care. I'm always amazed by how much time has passed when I leave a birth space, a blessingway or a 36 week meet. Time loses all meaning when a bond is forged between a circle of women.

Homebirth Ryan Gosling Meme

My friends introduced me to Ryan Gosling Feminist Flashcards last year, an appropriation of a tumblr project entitled: FuckYeah Ryan Gosling. Many of the flashcards made us giggle and we were delighted to then discover Library Lover Ryan Gosling and Craft/Handmade Ryan Gosling. This week a friend introduced me to Homeschool Ryan Gosling and I wondered where Homebirth Ryan Gosling was? So I took matters into my own hands and filled this gap. 

http://homebirthgosling.tumblr.com/

It was fun and such a joy to be making so many homebirthers giggle. I found myself swooning at my own fictional character and reminding myself there is no real homebirth Ryan Gosling. But I'm fortunate enough to have a partner who comes damn close to the perfect homebirth Dad represented at homebirthgosling :)

 Now, who is going to take up the Lactivist Ryan Gosling challenge?

Shit People Say To Full-Term Breastfeeders

In the same vein as "Shit new age girls say" and "Shit crunchy mamas say" I give you a "shit people say to full-term breastfeeders" tumblr blog (sorry, me and my webcam would have suuuucked, so you get cute breastfeeding pics plastered with ridiculous comments instead).

http://shitpeoplesaytobreastfeeders.tumblr.com/

Many thanks to the women who shared their photos and their "favourite" comments with me for this project. Special thanks to one particular woman who shared THE hands down weirdest comment ever to be received by a full-term breastfeeder, so weird I decided it wasn't common enough to score it's own picture, but it still must be shared:

"You're turning him into a Hobbit"

That's from a GP/physician, people! You heard it hear first, a medical condition associated with full-term breastfeeding: the mutation of homo sapien into a mythical species created by a 20th century novelist. They really should cover this shit in Breastfeeding Education Classes!

20 Australian mums die after birthing in hospital in a single year

But mothers dying after planned hospital births is not news. The tragic death of 1 Australian mother after her homebirth, however, has made headlines. The media's coverage of the story has been as expected. In one article it is reported that the mother "died while giving birth to her daughter at her Melbourne home" (The Age), while another reports "Mum held baby before death" (Herald Sun) in its title.  The media has used this tragedy to stir the pot that never quite cooled: Australia's maternity services debate. Even shameless/shameful international bloggers with a long history of anti-homebirth propaganda have used this family's heartache for blog fodder (which shall not be linked to here!). Joy Johnson blogged eloquently at the Midwives Victoria blog:

"This is not the time to argue the safety of home birth.  The sympathy of every midwife and every person who cares about working for better births is with this family, the midwives who attended the birth, and all the health service personnel and paramedics who provided care to a woman and her family in her last hours."

Obstetricians and the journalists who quote them have urged Australians to consider birth an inherently dangerous undertaking and homebirth a particularly risky birth choice. The Herald Sun claimed that 50% of all homebirths end in hospital transfer, but thankfully a spokesperson for Homebirth Australia hit back at the factually incorrect statistics and 'illogical' assertions printed in the past two days. Michelle Meares states:

"The call for a ban on home births in yesterday's Herald Sun because of one maternal death in 20 years is completely illogical. About 20 women died in Australian hospitals in childbirth last year -- should we ban hospital births, too?

In Australia our maternal mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world at 8.4 in every 100,000 women. The latest statistics, from 2003-05, show only 65 maternal deaths occurred in Australia. None of these were related to home births...

The Herald Sun reported the transfer rates at a home birth are 50 per cent -- the transfer rate for private midwives is actually from 10-20 per cent. The majority of transfers occur before labour or when there is slow progress in the labour." (Full version here)

Regardless of the place of birth, the death of a mother or baby is a tragedy. I would like to believe that whomever the mother is birthing with, that care provider does everything within her or his power to achieve a healthy outcome for all. I know this to be true in the case of independent midwives attending homebirths. I don't believe that any grieving family should be the target of a media frenzy, but sadly the Australian media and public (not to mention those international bloggers!) do not believe in the rights of privacy or respect for those in mourning when it comes to homebirth families. It is ghoulish. I hold a sliver of hope that perhaps people might take from this weeks media that twenty mothers died after birthing in hospital last year and that something might be done about this. Wouldn't it be wonderful if some attention were given to this pressing matter, hospitals forced to practice evidence based midwifery and medicine in every maternity ward so that hospital birth might one day be as safe as homebirth. I leave you with Homebirth Australia's media release:

Homebirth Australia

MEDIA RELEASE FROM HOMEBIRTH AUSTRALIA
February 1 2012
In the wake of the recent death of a woman in Victoria, many parents around Australia today will be feeling sorrow for Caroline Lovell's tragic death and sadness for the family she has left behind. Her death following her planned home birth was the first incident of a mother dying directly related to a home birth in Australia since 1999 as reported by Australian government data.1  “The call for a ban on home births in yesterday's Herald Sun because of one maternal death since 1999 is completely illogical. Sadly many women died in Australian hospitals in childbirth last year - should we ban hospital births, too?” Michelle Meares, Homebirth Australia spokesperson said.       
  
In Australia our maternal mortality rate is one of the lowest in the world at 8.4 in every 100,000 women. The latest statistics, from 2003-05, show only 65 maternal deaths occurred in Australia. None of these were related to home births.   
  
“Home births have consistently been proved to be safe. Large international studies, including a Dutch study with over 500 000 women show there is no increase in deaths of mothers or babies when women birth at home with a midwife.                    
 
“Many studies show women who have a planned home birth have fewer interventions, including epidurals and inductions, and use of forceps, vacuum extraction or caesarean births, Homebirthing mothers and babies are less likely to experience the complications associated with these procedures, including the significantly increased risk of death and severe complications for both that follows a cesarean birth. Homebirthing mothers and babies are less likely to experience the complications associated with these procedures, including the significantly increased risk of death and severe complications for both that follows a cesarean birth. 

More and more families are choosing to have a home birth in Australia, with a 33 per cent increase between 2004 and 2009. In the US, they've just recorded the highest rate of home births ever, with a 30 per cent rise in home births in the same period.         
  
“The choice about where to give birth belongs with a woman and her family. Parents have the right to make decisions about their children -- what they eat, where they go to school and also where they give birth. To suggest that right should be taken away is ridiculous in today's democratic society,” Ms Meares said.   
  
“The private midwives who attend homebirths are highly trained professionals who carry equipment for dealing with medical emergencies. Women who opt to birth at home choose to do so because they've decided that it's the safest place for their babies and themselves. Women choose a home birth because they want to give birth in the comfort of their home, with a midwife they know and trust. They want their families to be with them and they want to be in control of the experience.   
  
“Caroline has been reported as being a homebirth advocate. When there was a threat to homebirths due to the Federal Government’s new midwifery legislation in 2009, Caroline responded the way thousands of women around the country did by sending submissions to a Senate Inquiry which have been reported in the media.        
  
“Despite the Federal Government’s announcements around the National Maternity Services Plan in November 2011, planned homebirth has yet to be properly funded or supported.   
     
“In the UK, where 22% of women reported that they would prefer a homebirth, the government has made a pledge to ensure that all women have the option of a homebirth, Australian women deserve the same”, Ms Meares said.         
  
In 2009, there were 863 planned homebirths, representing 0.3% of all women who gave birth. The average age of women who choose a homebirth is 31.7 years, 75% are having their second or subsequent baby and 58.6% of homebirths occur in major cities. According to Dr Sarah Buckley, mother of four homeborn children, former GP and now writer on pregnancy, birth and parenting:  “Homebirth is a safe option with significant advantages for mothers and babies. The extremely low need for intervention that happens when women feel private and safe in their own home, is reflected in lower rates of complications, including prematurity, low birth weight, infections, lacerations, post-partum haemorrhage and retained placenta, International studies support the safety of planned homebirth for healthy mothers
and babies.”
For further information: Jo Scard  0457 725 953
(Report on Maternal Deaths in Australia, 1997-1999.   http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442467619)
(Report on Maternal Deaths in Australia, 2003-2005.  http://www.aihw.gov.au/media-release-detail/?id=6442464747)