Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014

Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 Autumn 2014
Editorial
By admin | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
This magazine has been a long time coming; it feels like we have been nurturing this baby for more
than 9 months in our collective womb. After such an exciting journey to its fruition, the birth of the
magazine feels like that of a first baby. Here is some trepidation, lashings of joy and a hint of the
unknown. Finding a fitting editorial theme to match the intensity of the occasion is not easy, but
there is one overarching concept that has guided the journey these past few years, and it’s that, as a
home birth community, we’re not there yet.
Compared to so many other parts of the world we have so much. We have a robust midwifery system
that has a strong focus on partnerships, we have an active community of homebirth families that
support and advocate for homebirth. We have a voice in our government and a relationship with the
Ministry of Health. What we do and say matters.
But it’s still not enough, for all of our work and heart; there are still large gaps in understanding
within the community of birthing mothers. Homebirth is still considered by most as a fringe activity,
imbued with risks and a defendable stance.
How we alter this perception and turn a change of perspection into tangible benefits for families is
the hard part. Our hope is that the launch of a national magazine, which is accessible by all women
and their families in New Zealand, free of charge will help in a way to turn the tide. Encompassing a
wide range of issues by a range of experts and everyday people, we hope to tell a story of safety,
love and empowerment. The story of home birth. And why it matters.
So join us on this journey – the Home Birth magazine that has been a long time coming, but is worth
the wait!
Sian Hannagan our Interim Editor and
Board Trustee
Tess Trotter our Administrator and
Social Media Manager
Our News
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
The Home Birth Aotearoa Trust has been unusually busy over the summer period. Much of our effort
have been focussed on getting our inaugural issue of Home Birth Matters ready for publication –
and here it is! This magazine release will be shortly followed by the release of our website which has
been such a labour of love, as all labours are. We cannot wait until you get to see it.
The new quarterly, free subscription online national magazine, Home Birth Matters, is our
contribution to the home birth movement, with a strong New Zealand focus alongside features
which have an international impact. As well as being a free to subscribe online magazine, hard
copies will be provided to public organisations as resources for mums and whānau to utilise.
The trust has also been honing down the final version of our operational resource, the ‘working
documents’. Once completed, this treasure will hold the knowledge and understanding of how Home
Birth Aotearoa operates and will be a boon for those interested in considering more involvement
when our trustee elections arise later in 2014.
Looking to the future, we have many pots on the boil. A postcard resource project for International
Day of the Midwife (May 5th), ( link to Calendar?) several competitions, regional pod hui,
supporting the Microbirth film project, the NZCOM conference and planning ahead to our own Red
Tent conference in 2015. Our new website features a calendar of events and a blog for current news,
so please keep connected – read our blog ( hyperlink?), follow us on facebook or twitter to stay
abreast of our activities.
It’s with gratitude for the love and support this Home Birth community has shown us that we
celebrate this success.
“Ehara taku toa, he takitahi, he toa takitini”
My success should not be bestowed onto me alone, as it was not individual success but success of a
collective.
We are a creative force
Our mountain is the rise of woman’s belly, swelling with life
Our ocean, the tides of labour
Our rivers flow in birth waters, teardrops, blood and milk
Our vessel is the womb
We claim kinship with the midwife, as she exists in all women
Our ties in the cord
bonding us above, below and beside one another
In the making of all Mothers
We are Home Birth Aotearoa
Our new logo, protected circle designed by Robin Wisser-Kidder of Wisskidd Designs.
P.S We love this person!
Our new logo was part of the website/magazine development, and we can sincerely say we love the
mahi that Robin has done on this. Robin is part of our Home Birth Community and she is also an
amazing designer. We have loved working with her on this amazing project.
See more of her work here: http://wisskidd.com/
Canterbury Home Birth Association Gets a New Website!
Home Birth Canterbury (HBC) has just launched it’s new website, marking the beginning of it’s
plans to improve the visibility of the Association and home birth in general in Canterbury. The new
website is full of information on all aspects of home birth parenting, from conception to pregnancy,
birth and beyond, as well as HBC services and information. In tandem with the website, it has also
created a new format seasonal magazine in the form of a convenient free e-newsletter, featuring a
selection of interesting news, stories and articles.
HBC has recently revised it’s membership structure and now offers a professional membership
designed specifically for midwives whose clients wish to birth at home. Professional members
receive a broad range of benefits and services, including the successful Home Birth Hampers,
promotion through the HBC website and discounted birth pool hire and resources for midwives’
clients. For consumer supporters, women and their whanau who would like to continue supporting
home birth in Canterbury can now make donations to HBC online through a link on the website.
Canterbury Home Birth Association’s brand new website.
Pod Hui Bring Communities together
It has been a couple of years now since the concept of pod hui was floated and as a small seed
planted sprouts and grows, this concept has been growing in the regions. Auckland and Southland
both have Pod Hui planned for May and we anticipate that these will be reaffirming events that will
build energy in the Hom Birth Community.
The concept of pod hui is to have an annual gathering of regional groups and families together in
their pods to share, unite and support. Pod hui can look like whatever you want it to, as long as it is
inclusive and collaborative.
The aim of pod and pod hui is to link regional groups and facilitate joint endeavours, share
information and resources and provide support. The intention is that pod hui will be able to be
tailored to and by the community where they take place. By locating the hui within the region, whole
whanau can attend and local issues can be discussed.
It is intended for pod hui to be planned by the members in each region, with financial assistance
from the Home Birth Aotearoa Trust to help at a practical level, for transport, venue costs and other
logistical needs. Pod hui are very mother and baby friendly. We encourage attendance of all
those willing/wanting to participate, in particular whole families.
The trust has funding available to help make pod hui happen. As discussed at the national hui, this
year we are asking you to tell us what you’d like to do and how we can help. Once we have a picture
of where the energy and action is, we can allocate the funding available accordingly.
Please write and tell us a story about what you envision:
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Who, how many people will come?
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Where and when you have a plan for
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What costs do you anticipate
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What funds you may have available or think you can acquire from your area/participants
How we could contribute –pay for venues, pay for food, petrol vouchers or other invoices
directly? Are you able to invoice us from your region? In order to keep our paper work in check, we
need to find creative and collaborative solutions to receipt the money spent
What other support can we offer? Can our Facebook page help, do you need email contacts for
folks in your region?
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Can you discuss with the trustee in your pod to get you started? Contact details are below.
In order to allocate funds and enable planning to commence with vigour, please be in touch by
Friday the 14th of March. Email [email protected]. We will get back to you as soon as
possible after that. If you need to make venue booking or other deposit payments in the interim,
please get in touch - we know flexibility is key to make grass root happenings happen!
Northland Pod Hui gathers strength
The kaupapa for the 2013 pod hui was around getting to know each other & strengthening regional
connections. The theme was ‘Stories’, be they birthing stories, life stories, wishes for future stories
or any other kind of story people would like to share. Held over four nights, with dozens of people
attending, this was a collaborative event and there was no pre-defined schedule. On the first night
we brainstormed about what we all hoped to get out of the time together. Post-it notes recorded
topics that individuals hoped to explore. We decided to aspire to decision-making as a community
and felt that this was a positive and successful part of the pod hui. We decided on coming together
in a circle after each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner) to choose and explore a topic/theme or to take a
walk or explore the surrounding areas. We planned after-dinner movies.
The Pod Hui turned out to be a great opportunity to make connections with students and we had a
great student turn-out, especially first-years. We felt that the Pod Hui was accessible: people felt
that they were able to come; financially it was achievable for all; and people were made to feel
welcome in the space/group. We are currently busy enthusiastically planning this years pod hui, to
be held from the 2nd to the 4th of May. Event details can be found here
Carla Sargeant’s new book ‘Where the Heart is’ celebrates Home Birth in New Zealand
Celebrating Home Birth Awareness Week took on a whole new meaning for Carla Sargent and the
Waikato Home Birth Association in 2013. November 1st saw the launch of Carla’s long-awaited book,
Where the Heart Is: Stories of Home Birth in New Zealand. The launch was a great success with
over 120 midwives, midwifery students, story-authors, and home birth supporters in attendance. All
125 books ordered for the event sold out on the night! With the support of the Waikato Home Birth
Association and its dearly valued members, Carla hosted an evening of celebration which honoured
the many wonderful people whose stories, guidance and expertise helped her to produce such a
great book.
Guest speaker, Maggie Banks, spoke of the book’s value, not only in terms of a treasured resource
for birthing women, but also for midwives, who “…will also gain insights into the effects, both
positive and negative, of their care.” She described how Where the Heart Is sets itself apart from
other books of birth stories through the analysis of the stories that the author provides. Such
analysis offers women a clear guide for ways in which they can ensure an empowering birth
experience for themselves. A home birth midwife for 30 years and a midwifery educator, Maggie is,
herself, the esteemed author of brilliant publications such as, Home Birth Bound: Mending the
Broken Weave and Breech Birth, Woman Wise.
Where the Heart Is contains the stories of over 30 women (and a couple of home birth dads). It is
divided into five chapters, headed: ‘Home Birth From the Start’, ‘Healing Birth’, ‘Facing the
Unexpected’, ‘Birth and Death’, and ‘Maori Birth’. The end of each chapter gives a summary of the
key ideas expressed in the stories that enabled the women to achieve the positive and empowering
births that they had. Also included are a number of photographs, including two professionally
produced photographic stories by photographer, Cassie Emmett of Capturing Life – Birth
Photography.
Here’s what some readers have to say about Carla’s book:
My congratulations to you (and your hard working team and supporters) again. May this book come
to be a common and treasured feature in our clinics and homes – normalising and celebrating
physiology and the strong capabilities of women, babies and whanau. I was drawn to the birth and
death chapter. Needless to say, the impact of these raw, highly personal experiences left my face
stained – and I have sat with their powerful, honest and generous offerings since. These tales are
inspiring and the depth of respect and empowerment is palpable. This book will be relished – be
reassured, it is at my whare! - Kate Wrightson (Midwife and CBE)
Books like yours help to inspire me, and other women, to keep believing in birth and in women even
though we face what sometimes seem like insurmountable obstacles. – Bronwyn Fleet (CBE and
midwifery student)
Hi Carla, what a fabulous book, and what a huge achievement. You must be so proud. I loved reading
it and have bundled up a copy for my pregnant sister in law. I want to shout the home birth
philosophy from the roof tops. I am awash with a fiery passion! Thank you so much for allowing my
stories to be included. After we had Emerson i felt like a bit of a failure (madness in hindsight) and
like I couldn’t actually call myself a home birthing woman. Writing my stories and having them
appreciated by people like you helped heal my spirit. Even if women can’t or don’t want to have a
home birth, this book will provide hope that natural, positive birth experiences are possible. –
Shellee (story author)
To find out more about the book, visit Carla’s website www.birthrite.co.nz. And you can join her on
her facebook page www.facebook.com/birthritenz
Want to get your hands on a copy? Check your local Home Birth Association library. If they don’t
already have a copy, Carla will send them a free one (email her at [email protected] to request
one). Or if you would like to purchase a copy, you can order them from:
Carla Sargent, [email protected] $29 + $6 postage,
The Waikato Home Birth Association, [email protected] $29 + $6 postage,
Via www.amazon.com $24USD + shipping.
Bron Fleet (CBE and 2nd year midwifery student) on left, Kate Wrightson (midwife) in middle, and
Maggie Banks author of “Breech Birth, Woman-Wise” and “Home Birth Bound” holding their signed
copies of Carla’s book.
Carla Sargeant’s new book, Where
the Heart is; Stories of Home Birth in
New Zealand.
A large crowd at the book launch for Carla Sargeant’s ‘Where the Heart is”
Carla Sargeant signs copies of her book.
Home Birth Hui 2013
Summer kicked off with the national hui in November, held at Arai Te Uru Marae in Dunedin. Hui
this year began with a trustee hui where our strategic vision was examined and planning for current
and new projects. The national hui was attended by representatives from around the country, with a
good measure of babies, children, mums, dads, midwives and friends as well. Alongside our usual
reports and group collaboration on the regular projects and celebrations, we had some inspiring
guests.
Bridgett Lauper, a filmmaker from Auckland presented some clips from her Home Birth Herstory
filming project and facilitated a discussion on how this project could grow in the future. Home Birth
Aotearoa has committed to supporting a steering group to continue this conversation with the wider
homebirth community.
Behind the scenes, we have been working industriously on the development of the new Home Birth
Aotearoa website. A combination of resources for whānau interested in home birth, and interactive
functionality for our community, the site is a shared space to touch base and connect with home
birth.
2013 Home Birth Hui viewed through the experiences of a German Midwifery Student
Tell us a bit about yourself.
My Name is Clara. I came to New Zealand as a naive German tourist, went out for 2 month of work
and a bit of travel time and ended up with deep love in this country, the culture and the kiwi
personalities. I am a dedicated midwife for 2 years from now and finally in the process to finish my
Masters in Public Health. For that reason I completed a 2 months internship at the Centre of
Midwifery and Public Health at AUT in Auckland. It was a rainy time on the North Shore but
nevertheless I was inspired and motivated to join these great women working in midwifery and
womens´ health research. I increased my English skills, got involved in some interesting research
project, but most important to me: I got in touch with high level researchers and connected to
midwives all over the country, got to learn about NZ midwifery and birth culture, the changes in the
1990th and the work conditions and background of my profession in your country. It was fantastic.
What is your homebirth background?
During my training as a midwife from 2007-2011 in Graz, Austria, I was taught a lot about homebirth
and out-of-hospital-care in theory. But it never came to the point, that I was involved in a homebirth
going on. After my graduation I knew, women centred care is the best way to work in my profession
and I was curious to learn more about homebirth. Germany has a rate of 2% in out-of-hospital-birth
and numbers are decreasing. I finally decided to start my new living as a midwife being part of a 5headed homebirth and birth centre team of midwives, based in Lueneburg, Germany. What an
amazing time! I was lucky to find these great midwives, who took my hand and guided me well into
the most beautiful way to give birth care – at least in my opinion it is. Although it was a hardworking and exhausting experience to be on duty 28 days a month, 24hours a day, always on call
and never free to go wherever I want, I don’t want to miss these months in my life. I learned a lot
from the midwives and the women and families themselves and I was confident in myself having
chosen the right profession. But the situation for midwives is not bright in Germany. Increasing
insurance fees and political pressure demand a lot and many midwives give up their faith in reliable
work conditions. That is why I started my Masters degree in Public Health. I hope to learn about
improving work conditions for midwives and try to find role models in health and midwifery policies.
This made me come to New Zealand.
Why did you decide to attend the National Hui in New Zealand?
Brigitte, the film maker who attempts the homebirth support group meetings in Auckland once in a
while is friends with Zaneta my great host mom in Auckland. So we managed to join a meeting as
well, watching the Ina May Gaskin movie and I loved the trustful and comfortable community. I was
invited to the Hui and managed to combine the weekend with the beginning of my travel time at the
south island. What a glorious starting shot!
What activities did you attend?
I stayed at the Hui for the whole weekend. Unfortunately I missed the welcoming ceremony, but
nonetheless, all weekend was fantastic. I enjoyed the round of introductions combined to the
ceremony of filling water from special places into the wonderful jar. I loved to hear where everybody
came from and what illusions and dreams she/he has for the weekend. I was proud of my friend
Brigitte´s presentation of her wonderful movie MONODIDI. It was inspiring to stay at the Marae for
a couple of days and I felt my feet well standing on the ground of this special setting. The workshop
with Kelly Tikao – a traditional Maori midwife was an overwhelming impression as well, and I could
gather new knowledge and open my mind for another culture.
Was the hui successful, by your own goals?
I did not know a lot about Maori culture before the Hui. I have seen a tourist presentation of Maori
dance in Rotorua before and that is mainly it. It was fantastic, that Home Birth Support Aotearoa
made it possible for me, to join a real life experience in a Marae. I felt integrated and curious at the
same time and the spirit of the setting was noticeable everywhere.
On the other side, it was very special to me as well, to learn about the nationwide Homebirth
Support Group. I haven´t got in touch with one of them in Europe, I even don´t know if they exist. I
love the idea of creating a space for everybody, who is interested. Usually midwives and homebirth
families meet separately, talking about the same thing from different perspectives. But it is true – it
is a great opportunity to combine the knowledge from both directions.
The combination of these two experiences made the hui an outstanding event. It is definitely one of
my highlights of New Zealand and the best way to manage the change from internship to travel time
in beautiful Aotearoa, reflecting my path from Germany to Auckland to Dunedin so far and looking
forward to future.
Listening to Kelly Tikao’s talk on traditional Maori birth practices
Rachel Pearson returns water from the vessel back to stream by Arai Te Uru marae in Dunedin.
Enjoying the guest speaker Kelly Tikao at the Arai Te Uru Marae at out 2013 Home Birth Hui
Ina May “Birth Story” Screenings go well across the Country
Home Birth Canterbury shared their experience on a screening used for fundraising.
Our screening was held in association with NZCOM at a local intermediate school’s performing arts
centre, where they have a proper projector, screen and tiered seating for just such an occasion. The
day before we were due to screen the school let us know that their projector had serious issues and
a replacement had to be found at the last minute, which was a little stressful! But it all worked out in
the end and we were pleased to have about 90 people come to watch the film. Pre-screening drinks
and nibbles gave us time to sort tickets and payments as well as offer some of our stock for sale and
other information about some of our current initiatives. The film itself was an amazing documentary
on the life of Ina May and the wisdom she has to share on the subject of labour and birth. It was very
interesting and evocative. After the film we were fortunate to have a local (ex-UK) midwifery
educator, Lorna Davies, host a Q and A session. Between 1999 and 2009 Lorna took ten groups of
UK midwives to The Farm for a workshop with Ina May, making Lorna a really valuable asset at our
screening. She spoke about her experiences at The Farm and further brought to life the work of Ina
May and The Farm’s midwives. She spoke about the changes to the way The Farm now works and
about their work with the Amish community. She also spoke of the time she witnessed a birth at The
Farm and what a beautiful experience this was. Following the Q and A we served supper and lots of
people stayed and enjoyed the yummy food along with some great, like-minded company. The night
was a big success.
People enjoy catching up before the screening of Ina May Gaskin’s ‘Birth Story’ in Canterbury.
Whakatane screening of Ina May Gaskin’s ‘Birthstory’ went well! Image by Rachel Ruckstuhl-Mann
T-shirts for sale, Canterbury Home Birth Association do some pre show fundraising.
The Manawatu Homebirth Association continues to meet every second Wednesday of the
month.
We try to cater for different naptimes, so alter between a morning (10:30am ) and afternoon
(1:30pm) meeting that goes usually for 2 hours. Morning tea/snacks and drinks are provided and
toys are available. The topics are relevant for home and hospital birthing families and everybody is
welcome. Occasionally we have a midwife or students joining and enriching our group.
We have a lending library for books and DVD’s and sibling kits to prepare older children for the
arrival of the new family member. There is also lots of time for chatting, asking questions or just
catching up.
Up coming topics:
14 May 2014 (afternoon): ‘Posterior babies and home birthing’
11 June 2014 (morning): ‘Ideas/philosophies from different cultures/history and how they can be
used to your benefit during your home birth’
9 July 2014 (afternoon): ‘Water birth’
13 Aug 2014 (morning): ‘Dealing with disappointment/grief from your pregnancy/birth’
Waikato Home Birth Association farewells B Magazine
Following the AGM we have a new core-group co-ordinating WHBA. Introducing the current core
group… Michelle Howie (secretary), Stephanie Gudgeon (treasurer), Bronwyn Frost (co-ordinator),
Christine Kirkby-Sing and Carla Sargent. And, of course, we welcome new members and input to our
core-group at any time.
After long and faithful services to WHBA, it was only fitting to celebrate the outgoing core-group
members with … dessert! Life memberships and kowhai saplings were gifted to Ruth Hungerford,
Dianne De Estena and Karene Clark to thank them for their years of commitment and effort, keeping
WHBA a vibrant supportive presence in our community. We have big footsteps to follow in! The
months since then have been focused on developing our vision for WHBA and translating that into
action, not to mention ‘learning the reins’ for the practical side of running an organisation such as
WHBA. So it is a changed Association that goes on – with the fundamentals of promoting and
supporting home birth unchanged.
It is with sadness that we are farewelling the B magazine, it has been a treasure of a magazine for
several years – but we recognize that it’s beyond our capabilities for this current core-group to keep
it going. Instead we are focusing on how we can best promote homebirth and support families in our
communities on our energy and financial budget!
There has been an overhaul and update of the WHBA website. Our new logo is being designed,
following our competition for a new logo, so we can print more t-shirts and other merchandise
(watch this space!).
We had fun celebrating Home Birth Awareness Week (it started on Labour day 28th Oct 2013), with
stories in local papers, attempting to fly our banner over Tristram Street downtown Hamilton (but
the old banner only managed to stay up a day or 2 before it was so damaged it had to be removed –
darn), the wonderful evening launch of Carla Sargent’s book colating many women’s birth stories,
titled “Where the heart is” at Wintec, and a Saturday picnic at Parana park. The weather just held
for us, and the littlest baby to join us was 8 week old Max Allen, he took a wee prize home, with
lovely jar of Stephanie Gudgeon’s calendula cream, a Totsbots all-in-one nappy and an Ecostore baby
soap. We are very proud to be selling copies of “Where the heart is” by Carla Sargent, her work over
a couple of years to produce a book of stories collected from families birthing locally, many powerful
homebirth experiences. The focus of this book is very much upon positive, empowering, natural
birthing – using that time-honoured method of sharing and learning, story-telling. $29 from WHBA.
Waikato Home Birth Association AGM January 2014 in Raglan at a lovely little bach.
A chat with Michel Odent
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
It is 9.30pm at night and my day is almost finished. It is wintry cold, and it is snowing outside. On
the other end of the line, Michel Odent is just beginning his day and it is spring. But for the next 30
minutes we get to talk together about birth and the future of humankind. We’ve played phone tag
getting to this point, but when he answers the phone Michel is warm and friendly. We only have half
an hour, but Michel takes his time to answer our questions in full.
Michel Odent MD
Michel Odent has just released his latest book “Childbirth and the Future of Homo Sapiens”- a book
written for people who are “interested in future of homo sapiens but have no special interest in
childbirth” In fact, according to Odent, this book is for everyone except pregnant women, whose
time is precious. “They should be watching the moon, singing to their unborn babies in the womb
and nurturing the life within them,” Odent says. This book is about birth but not as we know it, it’s
about why birth matters to all of humanity, it’s about how we birth affects the human race. From
Odent’s perspective, our understanding of how birth should occur is flawed, and within our herstory,
this lack of understanding and the perpetuation of a misaligned birth culture has led to one of the
biggest changes of our future. According to Odent, “We are at the bottom of the abyss” because, in
his words, our current birth system is a result of 1000 years of conditioning where women are told
that they cannot give birth. As a result, birth has been completely removed from how it occurs
naturally, and it has been removed from women, essentially. So why does this all matter? A natural
part of evolution is adaptation, if we have the technology to birth apart from our physiology then
why not use it? “It should be our aim to create the right situation for as many people as possible on
this planet to give birth to babies and placentas thanks to a flow of love hormones. Such an objective
implies that the basic needs of women are rediscovered. Is this utopian?”
Michel Odent – Childbirth and the Future of Homo sapiens
So what happens in a world where women can’t give birth without intervention? Do the physiological
systems we have in place to birth well, stop functioning via the process of evolution? For example,
oxytocin, one of the most powerful hormones, responsible for love, socialisation, orgasm, birth and
breastfeeding is being use less and less in our intervention heavy birth culture. With the use of
artificial oxytocin (syntocinon or pitocin), IVF and low breastfeeding rates it is now possible to be
conceived, borne, birthed and nurtured without any natural oxytocin transfer, so, by the process of
evolution will our oxytocin systems then start failing? Have they already? What would a world
without oxytocin look like? Odent has a few ideas, and it doesn’t look good, “without oxytocin we
could expect disregulation (of our oxytocin system) and a reduced desire to survive” he states. This
is because oxytocin is the key hormone in all facets of procreation, from love and sex to bonding and
nurture. You can hear the passion in his words when he says “We don’t ‘need’ this physiological
system. And therefore it will become weaker.” Women are losing their capacity to give birth, losing
their capacity to breastfeed” a future without oxytocin looks bleak.
“since the Neolithic revolution, cultural milieus have interfered with the birth process and have
undoubtedly transformed Homo sapiens. Human groups we know about have transmitted countless
perinatal beliefs and rituals from generation to generation, the effects of which are to amplify the
difficulty of childbirth, to separate mothers from newborn babies and to delay the initiation of
breastfeeding.”
Michel Odent – Childbirth and the Future of Homo sapiens
So how do we pull apart this Gordian knot? I asked Odent what his thoughts were on this. In a
utopian world, he would like to see the prerequisite for becoming a midwife, to have a positive birth
experience. This seems like such a simple thing, but the way birth is currently viewed and
perpetuated means that positive birth experiences are so rare that they are seen as unusual and
even fringe. There is a reason that Odent uses the word ‘utopian’, because we have to acknowledge
that current birth culture does not allow for such a luxury. But there is no question that having
midwives who believe in positive birthing and trust the innate capabilities of a woman’s body to birth
would make a difference. Instead of making decisions from fear, we could make decisions from a
place of power. Odent has stated that these are radical ideas and currently, they are culturally
unacceptable. But we need to challenge what is culturally unacceptable and move towards what is
physiologically normal. Michel Odent has in the past suggested that the job of a midwife is not to
assist in birth, but to sit back and let birth happen, he paints the picture of an ideal birth happening
in a comfortable space with a midwife sitting in the corner knitting and a mother birthing, for the
most part unassisted. He has even controversially suggested that fathers in the birth space are not a
great idea as they may distract the mother and cause her to engage the neocortical part of her brain,
which shuts down the primal birthing process. These statements have brought conflict to the birth
space in the past but they are not without some justification.
New Zealand is often held up as a paragon of birth to the rest of the world, this is because we have a
robust midwifery system that works via the domino (Domicillary In and Out) system, where women
have a dedicated midwife working from within the community to provide their lead maternity care.
In contrast to this, other countries often have an obstetric model and midwives are considered
outsiders in the birth environment. So what is Odent’s take on this? New Zealand has a good
midwifery system, but we still have a relatively high intervention rate. Our caesarean section rate
was at 24.9% in 2010 with some tertiary hospitals getting as high as 36%. New Zealand also has a
robust natural birthing community who are active in promoting birth choice. Odent has noted that
this is somewhat of a paradox, because in many countries where there is an obstetric model and
little to no midwifery, there can be a very low caesarean rate. Countries such as France, Japan and
Scandinavia bear this out. So why then is NZ, with a robust midwifery system going through such an
increase of caesarean section rate? That is the paradox, according to Odent, “this is the phase for
questioning and analysis”. Without knowing why these paradoxes occur we cannot move forwards.
“We need awareness, of all the mistakes transmitted during the past decade. Particularly by the
natural childbirth movement”. Perhaps this is a time for some self reflection. Or do we put forward
that we have a strong natural birth movements as a result of our higher intervention rates, as a
challenge to the status quo. It’s hard to know for sure. Either way, Odent is raising the hard
questions that need answers. Odent confesses that this book may not answer these questions, but
the questions it asks are important.nd while the future of the human race may be an obsession for
many political and anthropological commentators, questions about how we birth, one of the key
vectors for human population, which affects our whole human direction, are not being asked by the
right people. Rates of intervention in New Zealand.
The National Womens’ Health 2010 report states that our intervention rates are considered high, it
goes on to state that any procedure undertaken unnecessarily represents a risk to mother and baby,
as well as diverting resources that can be used elsewhere. Currently New Zealand’s epidural rates
sits at approximately 24.9% of birthing women. Induction rates is at 19.8%, and augmentation is at
28.6% of birthing women. Our caesarean rate is 23.6% of birthing women. These figures have been
taken from our 2010 report on maternity. 2013 is yet to be published.
Birth by Caesarian section. Image kindly gifted by Lulu Baird
Looking at historical figures we can see that National Caesarian section rates for New Zealand have
been climbing steadily.
1980: 9% of total births were by caesarean section
1990: 15% of total births were by caesarean section
2008: 24.3% of total births were by caesarean section
2010: 24.9% of total births were by caesarean section
Factors that increase risk of intervention include maternal age, maternal weight, gestational
diabetes or pre-eclampsia (related to diet) and ethnicity. European women are twice as likely to have
elective caesarean as women of other ethnicities. Pre-labour emergency caesarean and induction of
labour increase with increasing BMI. The elective caesarean rate is highest among women attending
a private obstetrician and lowest among those attending an independent midwife. Women under the
care of medical clinic have a 1.4-fold increased rate of induction of labour compared to community
women and women under diabetes clinic have a 2.2-fold increased rate. Place of birth: A New
Zealand study published in 2011 indicates that place of birth does have an impact on outcomes.
Women planning to give birth in secondary and tertiary hospitals had a higher risk of caesarean
section, assisted modes of birth, and intrapartum interventions than similar women planning to give
birth at home and in primary units. The key understanding here is not where they ended up birthing,
but where they planned to birth. This means that transfers and resulting interventions are not
included in figures for the tertiary and secondary units. Which means we get a more realistic picture
on the positive influence of women planning a home birth or birth centre birth.
According to the study, the risk of emergency caesarean section for women planning to give birth in
a tertiary unit was 4.62 times that of a woman planning to give birth in a primary unit. Newborns of
women planning to give birth in secondary and tertiary hospitals also had a higher risk of admission
to a neonatal intensive care unit than women planning to give birth in a primary unit. Davis et al,
Planned Place of Birth in New Zealand: Does it Affect Mode of Birth and Intervention Rates Among
Low-Risk Women? 2011
While rates in NZ are obviously rising, it is not clearly understood by which mechanism this is
occurring. Of the 15,250 women who had a caesarean section in 2010, just over half had an
emergency caesarean section (54.9% of all caesarean section births). The rate of emergency
caesarean sections began to decline after 2006, but it is still the most common type of caesarean.
The elective caesarean section rate increased from 7.6% in 2001 to 10.7% of all women giving birth
in 2010. Report on Maternity 2012 Ministry of health In 2010 almost one in five women (19.8%)
were induced and an epidural was administered to almost one in four women (24.9%). The national
rate of episiotomies was 12.5 per 100 vaginal deliveries. Almost a third (28.6%) of all women not
having an elective caesarean section required an augmentation.
Image of a caesarian section taking place – supplied by Lulu Baird
The world health Organisation previously had a target rate of no more than 15% of all births by
caesarean section. They have since withdrawn this recommendation in June 2010 stating that what
matters most is that all women who need a caesarean section would receive one. Michel discusses
this in his book, stating that setting targets for caesarians my result in highly medicated and
instrumental births. The important question is, how do we ensure that women who genuinely need a
caesarean section receive one, whilst ensuring that women who don’t, aren’t put in the position of
accepting an unnecessarian. This is a difficult line to toe with levels of education, trust in birth and
hospital procedure having a wide variance across the country. Social conditioning means that birth
is feared and caesarean sections may be considered fashionable or more socially acceptable. The
negative side effects of caesarean sections are not widely discussed or understood and many
physicians can treat what is major abdominal surgery in a rather offhanded matter. Part of the
problem may be, that while caesarean sections have risks for both baby and mother, they bear very
little practical or litigious risk to surgeons who perform them.
With thanks to Michel Odent who was kind enough to take the time to answer our
questions and talk through the big issues with us.
Michel Odent is a retired medical doctor. He was born in France in 1930 and studied medicine
at Paris University. Since then his work has been influencing the history of childbirth and
health research for several decades. As a practitioner he developed the maternity unit at Pithiviers
Hospital in France (1962–1985). With six midwives, he was in charge of about one thousand births a
year and achieved excellent statistics with low rates of intervention. Odent is known as the
obstetrician who introduced the concept of birthing pools and home-like birthing rooms. He later
founded the Primal Health Research Center in England. He is contributing editor to Midwifery Today
and is the creator of Womb Ecology. Odent has published upwards of 50 scientific papers, including
the first article on the initiation of lactation during the hour following birth. He has written 11 books
which have been printed in 21 languages and published throughout the world. He has been featured
in eminent medical journals such as The Lancet and in TV documentaries such as the BBC film, Birth
Reborn. After his hospital career he practiced homebirths.
Michel Odent has been formative in much of our current birth research and has built a much clearer
understanding on the physiology of birth. He has been controversial at times but he has always
advocated for woman’s ability to birth on her own terms.
Mother Moon Birth Mandala
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Every Season we bring you some Art from the community, this beautiful piece was gifted for use by
Amy Haderer of The Mandala Journey. We are opening up the floor for people within our community
to create a poem or piece of prose that accompanies this work. The winning piece will be published
in the winter edition of Home Birth Matters. Please send entries to [email protected].
All art and imagery copyright to Amy Haderer-Swagman of The Mandala Journey. Do not print or
reproduce without permission.
Nicole Whippy’s Beautiful Birth
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Nicole Whippy is one of our favourite New Zealand actors, she has
character and acting skill in bags. The fact that she had a home birth is just
icing on the top. She has well and truly made her mark on the New Zealand
acting landscape and is most well known for her role as Kasey Mason (the
buxom underwear designer married to Munter) from Outrageous Fortune
though she has also appeared in other locals shows such as Jackson’s
Wharf, The Strip, Mercy Peak, Being Eve and Orange Roughies. We’d go so
far as to say she’s a kiwi icon. Her latest role has been in the acclaimed
comedy drama ‘Nothing Trivial’ playing hard nosed Michele Hardcastle,
a vengeful recently divorced wife who specializes in celebrity gossip. Her career has been moving
from strength to strength and while her personal life is a little more down to earth, she continues to
take on challenges. She is passionate about animal welfare getting involved in adoption drives and
has just recently completed a Marathon in 2012, but most excitingly for us, she gave birth to her
daughter Pearl at home. She has very generously taken some time out of her busy life to answer our
questions, and we find what she has to say is anything but trivial!
Nicole Whippy as her character Michelle Hardcastle.
Tell us a little about your birth – your birth story.
At my family home. 26 intense hours from the get go. I went into labour at 9.30pm on the 7th June
2011 and I gave birth to Pearl Aki at 11.45pm on the 8th June. I spent the night of the 7th leading
into the 8th in the bathroom with the shower running on and off. I love the sound of water it relaxes
me. My Mum, Sis and I sat together and told stories and reminisced abut our childhood. They were
AH-mazing. I told Tom to sleep as I would need him the next day. I remember being really surprised
when morning came and my labour hadn’t progressed. So I thought I would walk/march it on. We
took the dogs around the local park stopping to breathe through contractions -which were still quite
intense.
20 hours later and no sign of bubba I was exhausted. I called my Midwife (who had been regularly
checking up on me) and asked if I could hop in to the birth pool. She said I could to give me a break
but she was worried it would slow down labour. She was right. I hated it, the heat made me feel sick.
On the 25th hour when I was convinced bubs wouldn’t come and felt like we had done everything we
could, my Midwife did some Acupuncture on my foot and I felt a surge through my body. She took
one look at me and said “She’s ready”. We moved to the lounge where Tom helped deliver our
beautiful baby girl Pearl Aki Genet Holden. Then we let the dogs out.Ha!
What prompted you to choose homebirth, nothing trivial I hope? (haha)
HAHA. It was probably Tom’s (my partners) influence. He is one of 6 kids all born at home. I wasn’t.
He suggested it,I looked into it and I liked what I saw. At home, safe and surrounded by people who
love you. Plus I had a great homebirth midwife Glenda (cant remember her last name) from The
Midwives in Greenbay. She was well known to our whanau having delivered several of our
nieces/nephews..It just seemed right and the more I looked into it the more I felt like it was the best
decision for the type of labour I wanted.
Did you receive any criticism of your decision to homebirth? How did you deal with that?
Yes. Quite a bit. You have to put a bubble around yourself and be grounded in your decision.
Everyone’s allowed an opinion. Although why you would want to tell a new expectant mother that
she might kill her child is a bit beyond me and a real sign of someone else issues not your own. I had
done the research. I was well read and talked to Toms sisters, my Mum, his Mum and several friends
who had had successful home births.
The support was great. Always best to surround yourself with like minded people when you are
pregnant. No time for negative energy or people putting their own birth story issues on you.
Did you ever have any doubts that you had made the right decision?
All the time. But doubting it wasn’t going to help me have the birth I knew I could have. Same thing
with breastfeeding. I knew it might be hard. But with perseverance, a few tears (okay a lot) and lots
of support it paid off in the end. I wasn’t afraid to be vulnerable and ask for help. That was a big
thing. I didn’t want to try to be Supermum. It was ALL new to me. I never had younger siblings so
everything about the experience was new.
Did you use any resources to inform your decision, what were they?
Toms Mum. My sister in laws. My midwife. Books-specifically Birth Tools by Juju Sundin and Calm
Birth. My Mum is a Maternal Mental Health Nurse so she was an incredible support from dealing
with general safety issues to post natal care at home. I watched video clips of home births. I was
well aware of how it might happen.
How did you feel after your birth? How were those first few days at home with your family?
Absolutely Wasted! 26 long hard hours had taken it out of me. I don’t really remember much
afterwards. In retrospect I would of asked for more privacy at home to help establish breastfeeding
and just take time to bond and find our feet as a new whanau of 3.
I guess people thought they were helping by being there and cooking and helping out. But really
after such an intense labour we just needed our space.
What was your partner Tom’s role in the birth? How did he support you?
He was great. He was fully present but could sense that all I wanted was my Mum and Sister. They
just knew all the tricks of the trade to distract me from any intense contractions and help me
breathe through them too.
Tom had all the tools ready for me to use. He set me up a sling in the hallway that he hung off the
staircase so I could lie back and breath into my contractions.
Plus we set up the birth pool in the kitchen which was quite a big build. But Tom just took care of it
all. He gave me my space and let me find my way.
You had quite a long labour, what techniques did you use to cope during your birth?
Sung, danced, meditated, hopped in the birth pool, voice exercises I had learnt at Drama School,
yoga, walked the dogs several times over the 26 hours,stress balls, Swiss Balls. Homeopathic
remedies. You name it I did it! In retrospect I probably should have just stayed calm and still. You
live and learn. Ha!
Were your family supportive of homebirth? How did they influence your decision?
It was a hard decision to come to for my Mum. She is a Nurse with a medical background. We were
all born in hospital in Fiji. She was worried about mine and babies safety. HOWEVER she came on
board and did her research with me and she was brilliant leading up to the birth and during my
labour. Dad on the other hand made himself scarce. Think he was at the pub.
You’ve also run a half marathon, would you consider it to be a similar challenge to home
birth?
VERY SIMILAR. In fact I used my birth experience to get me over that bloody Auckland Harbour
Bridge. My marathon mantra was this ‘If you can survive through 26 hours of labour with no drugs
you can run this”.
And it worked.
How did you feel in those first moments when you first held pearl after you birthed her?
Not much. I was too wasted. That’s honesty for you. Everyone else seemed stoked though.
In other countries homebirth is being criminalised, how important do you think it is that homebirth
be protected?
Wow that’s horrible. I think a woman should have the right to give birth wherever she feels the
safest. If that’s at a hospital-so be it. If its at home-so be it.
That should be a basic human right.
You’ve played some strong female roles in your acting career, would you consider those
qualities a part of who you are and a part of your decision to take ownership of your birth?
Absolutely. Motherhood is life changing. Every part of me has changed. My body, my spirituality, my
whole perspective of the world. I embrace the new roles that will (hopefully) come with this new
territory.
Did having a homebirth give you a new understanding of your body, how did this manifest?
Its amazing isn’t it. I still wonder how the hell Pearl got out of me! It’s funny my mother in law told
me it took her 5 births to only really understand when Number 6 was born at how her body actually
worked during labour. She said she never felt so connected to the whole process until then . I hope
one day that Number 2 bubba puts all that practice from Baby number 1 to work. I’m still getting my
head around it. I mean how the hell did she…?!
Was homebirth always on the radar for you? Or is it something that you decided on while
you were pregnant? I had thought about it before as
I’ve always tried to take a holistic natural approach to my life. But yes it was only when I became
pregnant that I actually went “OK lets do this”.
How has having a homebirth influenced your parenting?
Start as you intend to finish! We have adopted a semi holistic lifestyle with Pearl. She is treated
homeopathically-which I used in my homebirth and during pregnancy.We try to take a natural
organic approach to all parts of our parenting where we can and if It suits our lifestyle.
“I think a woman should have the right to give birth wherever she feels the safest. If
that’s at a hospital-so be it. If its at home-so be it. That should be a basic human right.”
This story sums up a now 4 year old Pearl and Homebirth:
I walked into her preschool class and the teachers were picking children to go and wash their hands
for lunch by calling out the month you were born.
Teacher: ‘If you were born in May go and wash your hands’ . The kids all look at each other confused
trying to figure this out and then one or two get up and go and wash their hands.
I was standing at the door watching them do this and watching Pearl look more and more worried.
Eventually she put her hand up and went and whispered something in the Teachers ear. The Teacher
looks at me and trying not to laugh says ”Well Pearl has said something very interesting. She wasn’t
born in any of those months. She was born in her lounge’.
I nearly fell on the floor laughing.
Nicole Whippy and daughter Pearl
Nicole Whippy and her lovely family. Partner Tom and Daughter Pearl.
Baby Moon
By admin | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Dawn Fryer at dusk – Photographed by Hamish Fryer
My baby is 4 1/2 months now. Fresh out of the 4th trimester, which I guess is about three months
into his life outside of the womb. We are just grounded enough to be writing this, yet still connected
by fresh memories of the preciousness that is the babymoon. The babymoon is the postpartum
period where mother (and family) connect with the newborn baby. Ideally this time within the family
and community is all about the mother infant dyad and protecting the mother/baby bond, this is the
bond that nurtures the mother and baby within their home, and their wider community. Ideally, the
home and community environments should be functioning in support of that singular goal.
Everything else can wait, really, make it wait.
This baby boy is my third (home)birth. With the birth of my big girls, I was out of the house after one
week. It wasn’t my idea; I wasn’t ‘doing’ ideas at that time. I was in my bubble. But I was
encouraged to get out into the world by my good-meaning mother.
But I’m writing this to say, let’s not let this happen people. Let’s be clear before baby is born, when
the thinking part of the brain is still active. That bubble, that nurtures the mother baby dyad, need
not be popped, but instead, carry on floating and thinning, until it naturally dissipates and you and
your baby are delivered in the world of business-as-usual gently and safely. At your own speed.
Why is this so important, you might ask? Because birth is magical and sacred and precious, and so
are you. Newborn babies are the most magical and sacred and precious things that exist in this
earthly realm. Can you think of anything, any being, more-so? And therefore, shouldn’t that be
savoured? Yes, yes, it should.
But if you need more reasons to stay at home and cuddle up with your baby then obviously
babymooning also leads to well establishing breastfeeding, skin to skin comfort, regulation of baby’s
system, bonding, resting and recovery after a major emotional and physiological life event and more
hormonal and physical goodies for the whole family!
Also noteworthy here is acknowledging the physiological changes that mum has to make to get into
the zone, in-between worlds even, to make way for birth to occur. This is the cascade of hormones
that occur pre birth and during birth. These hormones re-wire the brain for nurturing.
We have to connect with our inner goddess and this happens without the help of our brains. Our
brains basically have to take a holiday and our primal parenting comes to the fore. This is why we
need to prepare birth advocates and birth supporters to enable us to do this. Actually, I reckon we
need to also prepare postpartum period advocates such as doulas, midwives, plunket nurses and
adventurous family members, because our neocortexes don’t come back online properly for some
time after giving birth. We need people around, whose job it is to help the household function. While
mum does the most important thing ever – bond with her baby. Bonding is what sets baby up for a
well adjusted adulthood and what makes mothering easier as well. (Note, in my experience, mothers
of new mothers are usually amazing at this job and often, are much better AFTER the birth than
during.)
Mayana connects with her inner goddess
When my first baby was born, we had a lovely home birth. But straight after the birth our flow got
interrupted and one thing led to another and the oxytocin turned off. Oxytocin is the hormone that
facilitates bonding, love, breastmilk flow and happiness, I won’t go into details, but from where I sit
now, two babies later, I can confidently and sadly say that this had big consequences on our bonding
and thus our lifelong relationship. This is not to say these things can not be overcome: I have since
repaired said relationship, but only recently (she is now six). The point I am making is, the longer
the oxytocin flows the easier the relationship flows. They are directly related and as Michel Odent
reminds us, “oxytocin is a shy hormone”, so it takes vigilance and care to keep the right growing (or
shall i say ‘flowing’) environment for oxytocin to bless our bliss. So if only for the sake of oxytocin
and bonding – do it! Keep that babymoon bubble strong and long.
Another clear reality I was conscious of this time around, was the whole “mommy brain”
phenomenon. As the birth day approached and lingered I was totally aware that thinking and
decision making was hard work! No woman should be responsible for anything but her baby during
this time. Not even herself! Those around her need to take care of her and make sure she (and
everyone) is fed, has opportunity and support to bathe, with baby. The other children are cared for,
visitors are cared for, the washing and household chores are attended to and all decision making is
postponed till frontal brain function returns. Seriously. I remember so clearly being in awe of women
with newborns who were dressed – how did they decide what to wear? Let alone do all of the
necessary steps to get out of the house!
Nicole Doyle just after birth, photo by Melissa Doyle http://2-melissa-doyle.fineartamerica.com/
This leads me to another postpartum don’t, don’t drive! It requires too much neocortical processing,
which makes it dangerous. Leave all brain functions at the door and don’t go outside for… well, as
long as it takes to feel ready. There is no magic number here. Feel it out just as you had to feel your
way through early labour and birth. Keep that body/heart connection – it’s the gift of child-making.
Now, I think something needs to be said about how we go about creating this protected space in the
face of the world we live in. That’s the magic question really. How do we step out of expectation and
duty, shamelessly and guilt free? Well, that’s a whole separate article, but luckily we have the best
reason ever – for the babies. What is a more worthy and precious ‘excuse’ than that?! Use it, people
– it’s the greatest reason ever, and it’s important, no matter the conditions of birth. It’s especially
important if birth was traumatic – healing the trauma is vital to both mother and baby. But even if
your birth was spectacular, keep the bubble. Please please please, keep the bubble intact. You will
not regret it. It’s a few fleeting weeks in your life, but it sets a precedent for this new person’s whole
life. A precedent where they know that they matter, that you are there for them, and the most
important thing in the world is love. It is cheesy and cliché and whatever, but in the wise words of
The Beatles “love is all there is” and babies bring a whole lotta love in with them. Handle with care.
Respect that shit – it’s the ‘good stuff’.
After birthing my baby, I remember feeling amazing, like I could do anything, quickly to find out I
couldn’t. I was still wide open – literally and spiritually. I was (as are all fresh post partum
goddesses) energetically vulnerable; prone to exhaustion and fatigue as well as susceptible to other
people’s burden. Another reason to bubble-up!
As in birth, protect thy space. As in pregnancy, look after your exhaustion levels. These rules still
apply – big time, and again, body is boss. Check in and listen to the feelings. “Think not, do little” is
a good general postpartum rule – and know-thy-self! What will you need to take care of in pregnancy
to create the right ‘do-nothing-but-baby’ conditions for post birth? Get meals in the freezer, make a
roster of friends/family/community to help, have the conversation about what you want when baby
arrives to relevant people to make it possible. Again, do it! You will not regret setting yourself and
baby up for a blissful and wonderful babymoon.
“Think Not, Do Little”
Get partners on board. Include him or her in the doing of nothingness, if possible. My partner loved
having a break and was so into the babymoon that he cared not for worldly things like cooking and
cleaning. Needless to say he still had to do the cleaning, at least after my mom left (bless her) but
the freezer meals I made in pregnancy let him off the hook so he could enjoy his post baby bliss as
well. Now, this took a lot of practice for him too, (fourth child) but I’m hoping you first or second
time parents out there reading this can take heed from our experience and babymoon yourselves
proper from the get-go.
Quiet moments together are so important to the bonding process
Mayana with her newborn Cassius
Just enjoy the closeness between mother and baby
For my partner, at the birth of his first few babies he was late to the nesting game and had the
common nesting freak-out once baby had arrived. Men, if you so desire, try and catch some of that
nesting energy for yourselves from your pregnant goddess during pregnancy so you can bliss out in
the bliss bubble post birth without the annoying to-do list in your brain. Clear thy brain-space. Good
advice for everyone. I loved starting early labour and thinking “what do I need to get done today”
and the answer was nothing! The feeling of the runway being all clear for birth and beyond is
priceless. Preparation is key.
It is my sincere hope that all mothers get the opportunity to babymoon. In many cultures, there are
traditions of caring for and nurturing new mothers. They are given the best, most nourishing foods,
they are nurtured with love and support and they are encouraged to rest for 40 days or more. Let us
bring this wisdom into our own fast-paced culture and independent communities. Let’s become
interdependent. I am so grateful for the wise women in my community who insisted that I delay
driving and stay at home with my newborn for as long as possible, and in doing so letting others
serve and protect us. What a gift it was. The gift that just keeps giving.
Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get the full babymoon experience till my third baby. Let’s collectively
make sure that a woman doesn’t have to have three or more babies till the babymoon wisdom sets. I
want to see us collectively spreading this sacred wisdom far and wide and making sure first-timers
are well looked after when the birth days of our precious toanga arrive. Spread the consciousness.
Spread that love. Look after each other and ‘whanau-up’.
It feels appropriate to also just quickly mention the role that home birth plays in protecting the
postpartum sanctity. Putting mothers and babies in cars fresh after birth is hugely disruptive to the
bubble; it’ll pop that bubble faster than you can drive home. I know it’s been said here already but
clothes and cars have no place in new mother/baby spaces. Just another reason why home birth
rocks our socks. Best thing ever, ya’ll.
So Mamas of newborns, you have one job and it’s the most precious, sacred, and magical job of all;
fall in love – and watch and feel, and let the love take care of you.
Thanks for reading.
Brought to you (through me) by the wise women in my life; my midwife, my doula, my mother, my
friends – you all know who you are – and my darling husband who actually made it all possible
through his love and devotion to his lovely wife and children. May we all have the same love and
care given to by our communities. After all, it takes a village…
{enter fire works here – its kind of a miracle that i could accomplish this. don’t try this at home,
folks! just enjoy your gorgeous baby instead!}
Mayana Sipes writes to us from the heart. Her contribution to the home
birth community comes through her work on the Home Birth Aotearoa trust
as a trust board member and her voice in our milieu, both online and
locally.
Keep your baby close with a sling. Natures Sway are New Zealand made and designed to support your baby naturally.
http://www.naturessway.co.nz/
Champion of Knowledge
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
I was challenged the other day to make a choice – and that was to stand up for myself or be put
down in front of other people. I didn’t plan to start my day like this and was feeling great five
minutes before the minor confrontation arose. The cause neither here nor there but the wero
(challenge) was laid before me. I made the decision and confronted my contender. I had a fly on the
wall perspective of myself that was trying to come across as powerful – hands on hips, legs wider
than hips apart, chin level and my words defiantly launching from my mouth. However, in truth my
heart was pounding and my tear ducts were tingling.
Later whilst reflecting on my 30 seconds of courage and the emotion it stirred within. I decided to
write about champions – people who have passion and are passionate about a particular topic, issue,
political matter or belief. For me there are champions of te reo Māori and needless to say, we need
more champions according to the latest round of figures from Stats NZ. Champions of te reo Māori
work tirelessly to keep one of New Zealand’s three official languages alive. Sadly, 75% of Maori are
unable to speak te reo Māori, and although there has been a huge resurgence in making te reo
Māori more accessible, the reality is learners of te reo Māori are declining. A global snapshot
highlights that of the 6000 languages spoken around the world today only 1000 are predicted to still
be a live in 100 years (Mataamua, 2010, Statistics New Zealand, 2013).
Why do teachers of te reo Māori, writers and speakers dedicate so many years and energy towards
this kaupapa? Well, similar to any passionate person with a cause, te reo champions believe in the
absolute – that te reo Māori is pivotal to the survival of the Māori culture. Te reo Māori describes
who we are.
So how does championing te reo Māori and home birth relate? They both evolve, they both
communicate, they both sustain their lineage/whakapapa and they both need empowerment and
nurturing to survive.
Whilst studying for my Masters in Traditional Māori Birthing Practices I read about many champions
of knowledge all around the world. People who study and articulate new knowledge and those who
have helped preserve old knowledge. One group that stood out for me during my Masters research
were a collective of people, mothers, fathers, families and professionals who stood up against the
fast current of new knowledge and techniques in maternity care and held fast to their autonomous
home birthing practices. I was impressed by the courage of the Homebirth Association pioneers who
started a movement based on reclamation and rights.
I still see the Homebirth collectives situated around Aotearoa as
champions for homebirth who have been steadfast in their morals, placing the needs and desires of
the birthing woman and her family at the forefront. Jane Stojanovic wrote about the medicalisation
of birth and the profound effect anaesthesia had on women’s perception of birth at the time of its
introduction. Anaesthetics according to Stojanovic (2010) took the control away from woman and
gave it to those administering it. This kōrero highlights the power loss, and I see supporters of
homebirth as people eager to delve deeper into human energy and our intrinsic knowledge around
reproduction and birth.
Photo of her home birth generously supplied by Kelly
Tikao
I see many midwives of all cultures raise their hand to support women and their families pursue
their individualised birthing plans. Many also champion old ways in current contexts and support
hapū wāhine and whānau to explore their cultural traditions. Not all midwives feel comfortable and
able to work with whānau Māori who have a strong preference for cultural practices but in my
birthing experiences I have been blessed with open-minded, openhearted strong wāhine. Of those
ten midwives only one affiliated to te iwi Māori. They are my champions.
After the birth of four of my five tamariki I was given an opportunity through a Masters in Science
Communication Degree to investigate further my interest in traditional Māori birthing practices. A
thesis and a 25-minute student film came out of this degree (and lots of hard work in between) and
will soon be followed by another academic stint (I know, I’m a beggar for punishment). I will share
some taonga below from my Masters research – it is these taonga and others that I hope to elaborate
on in the “stint” mentioned above.
Oriori are ancient chants that were used not only in hapūtanga but were given as a gift to visiting
hapū and iwi. Oriori sung during hapūtanga carried significant whānau and tribal knowledge
deemed important for that particular child. Oriori were sung to the wāhine prior to conception, to
the pēpi in utero, at the time of birth and during infancy. These chants often re-laid the whakapapa
of the child, past significant war battles and the desires and hopes for the child’s future endeavours.
Oriori always felt to me to be pathways laid down before a child’s entry into Te Ao Marama (our
current world) that acted as a guide for the child, and helped the child understand from whence they
have come and laying before them their future. I liken the oriori to the aboriginal alcheringa
(Aranda term) concept for dreamtime or dreamline using song to aid a mapping of the land and to
remember important tribal stories (Ellis, 1984, Elkin, 1969).
Whāriki or kaokao were woven mats made from harakeke (flax) or the finer whāriki were made from
the inner fibres of the harakeke leaves or other natural fibres easily obtained in the village area.
They were designed specifically for birth. Kaumātua Te Moana Nui a Kiwa McClean spoke about the
birth symbols woven into the whāriki representing birth and growth. These whāriki would be used to
birth the pēpi directly onto and would be kept and used in whānau for generations. Some hapū
rolled the whenua (afterbirth) with the whāriki and buried both together. Other whāriki made from
muka were soft and used more like elaborate blankets to wrap the newborn in. It was also noted that
if a pēpi was born sooner than planned a korowai (cloak) was thrown down for the pēpi to be born
upon (Mclean, 2011, Palmer, 2002, Stone, 2011). Some hapū gathered a soft moss that was used to
line a shallow pit to which the wāhine squatted over and birthed her pēpi upon this prepared bed.
Deeper pits called rua were made for wāhine in labour. Heated rocks were placed inside the rua
and then removed, then lined with a whāriki, soft leaves or moss to which the wāhine was then
encouraged to lie/sit in the rua.
Scented oils were also used in the rua to be inhaled by the labouring wāhine. The rua concept was
designed as a muscle relaxant and to produce a calming effect. The rua could be used again post
pēpi with the wāhine sitting upon steamed leaves. A technique used to ease the afterbirth cramps
and to apply comfort to the bottom and perineum area.
Wāhine Māori mostly birthed in an upright position, kneeling with knees apart or standing leaning
over a large birthing rock (a known rock in the village that birthing wāhine would go to), tree branch
and/or an attendant. I have been told some wāhine birthed on their sides with the top leg raised or
bent and placed across the lower leg but no stories so far of any wāhine Māori birthing on their
backs. It was often noted in historical health literature about the hospitalization of birth that wāhine
Māori strongly resisted lying on their backs and were often stereotyped as non-compliant and
resistant to what was seen as improved birthing practices (Harte, 2001).
Attendants supporting the birth were often used to support the wahine as she either leant on them
or a common birthing position was for the attendant to be facing the wāhine, sitting or squatting,
using their knees to gently apply pressure to the top of the abdomen during contractions.
A birthing tool that would do a similar action was the paewhakaruru also known as the paeruru or
the paiwhairi. Elsdon Best (1929) described this tool as an H-shape structure made from wood that
would be used to help wāhine bear down during labour. One end was placed into the ground and the
wāhine would lean her whare tāngata (uterus) across the horizontal piece. The brief description of
the paewhakaruru by Best makes it difficult to fathom the mechanics of this tool. I have made a very
basic proto-type to see if I can better understand how it works. Needless to say more guidance is
needed but I did get a clearer understanding of its use.
Like te reo Māori by using the language, not being afraid to learn Māori as a second language, aids
more language acquisition and according to Dr Rangi Mataamua it opens our neural pathways to
learning and expanding the world our children and we live in. This also applies to learning or being
more aware of birthing practices that are unique to our ancestors, to Aotearoa. We need more
champions who are interested in supporting the use of more traditional approaches to hapūtanga
and birth. By being champions ourselves we birth champions – they gain from our strength to follow
a pathway and make decisions in their birthing plans that reflect their environment and tell their
story.
E kore e taea e te whenu kotahi ki te raranga
i te whāriki kia mōhio tātou ki ā tātou.
The tapestry of understanding can
not be woven by one strand alone.
Kukupa Tirikatene
Kelly Tikao’s body of work “Looking to the Past to Improve the Future Iho
– a Cord Between Two Worlds.” is an important perspective for birth
culture in New Zealand as it brings the importance to Tikanga Maori to our
current medicalised birth practice. The aims of her ‘Iho (umbilical cord) – a
Cord between Two Worlds’ research/film project – is to document
traditional Maori birthing practises and explore how they could be
integrated into a modern medical model of maternity care.
Through her work Kelly theorises that spiritual and practical aspects of traditional Maori birthing
practices lead to good outcomes for infant and maternal health and the wellbeing of the whanau. A
key question Kelly would like to answer is, “Could the adoption of some traditional Maori birthing
practices play a positive role in the well being of the whanau and pepi (baby), today?”
“I swam from my world to yours. I left my weightless, warm and beating womb to see you…mama.
You embraced me, kissed me and together we cut the connection from my past, so I can grow into
your future. With one gentle slice the pounamu blade ran across my pito, papa recited karakia and I
heard the departing sounds of Hineraukatauri seep from my whare tangata. Kua tae mai au. I have
arrived. ”
References
Best, E. (1929). Te Whare Kohanga “The Nest House” and it’s Lore. Wellington, New Zealand: A.R
Shearer, Government Printer.
Elkin, A P (1969). Elements of Australian Aboriginal philosophy. Oceania, 40, 85-98.
Ellis, R (1984). Aboriginal Australia; Past and present. Sydney: Shakespeare Head/Golden Press.
Flood, J. (1983). Archeology of the Dreamtime. Sydney: Collins.
Harte, H. (2001). Home Births to Hospital Births: Interview s with Māori Women Who Had their
Babies in the 1930’s. (Health Science). Health and History (3) , 87-108.
Mataamua, R (2010) “Speechless: Does Te Reo Have a Future?” Issue 15, September 2010,
http://definingnz.com/speechless-does-te-reo-have-a-future/#sthash.A3sTOPNy.dpuf
McLean, B. (2011). Traditional Māori Birthing Practices. (Personal Interview ed.) Dunedin.
Statistics New Zealand (2013). New Zealand in Profile 2013 – An overview of New Zealand’s people,
economy, and environment. New Zealand Government.
Stojanovic, J (2010). Midwifery in New Zealand, 1904-1971. Birthspirit(5), 53-59.
http://www.gonative.co.nz/
Losing Choice, Birth in Australia
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Home Birth in Australia is becoming a rare event. For many women, getting the birth that they need
or desire is an uphill battle against an entrenched medical community. Sarah and Leanne talk about
their Australian birth experiences.
My Home Birth in Australia – Sarah Walker
One year ago, I had a home birth…. in Australia.
Let me just start by stating that I had absolutely no idea that ‘birth’ was so different in Australia
compared to birth in New Zealand. I had no idea how good I had it in NZ. Let me explain, so that
you too can learn just how different the birth culture is over the ditch.
Prenatal
In order to access any pregnancy care in Australia, where I live you must go through your GP, which
includes proving it with a urine test. Then your GP will ask for your preferred antenatal care so they
can then refer you. Just like any other standard medical condition…. Name your specialist and they
will refer you, right? Pregnancy is no different to needing a referral to an eye surgeon for cataracts
in regards to process. My GP, a lovely 50+ year old woman, wise in her ways and open minded
about natural weaning and other things that sit right with our family, had never in her 20 some
years of practicing EVER referred a pregnant woman to a midwife. I was her first. She was baffled
as to why I didn’t want an obstetrician. A midwife? Isn’t a midwife simply just a nurse that works
the maternity ward? I had to walk her through the entire process and explain that I was being
referred to a qualified and skilled professional, an independent HOME BIRTH midwife. I further had
to explain that in NZ, where I come from (the neighbouring country which we have many ties with
and can virtually wave at each other from our kitchen windows), home birth is very normal. Home
birth is also a very valid CHOICE for many many women and it is that way in Australia too. I also
explained to her that I won’t need to see her again throughout my pregnancy, for pregnancy related
things and she understood that she was merely my mule for me obtaining that precious referral. I
was very lucky, the midwife that I liked who had been recommended by many is also the ONLY
midwife in Hobart that is registered with Medicare. You see, in Australia, you can have an elective
C-Section covered entirely or mostly by Medicare….but not a home birth. A home birth with a
midwife will cost the family upwards of $3000. If you have a midwife registered with Medicare, you
get a small portion of your antenatal and postnatal fees reimbursed. So, you ask, why don’t all
midwives obtain this precious Medicare registration? Well, the midwife must go to university for 6
months full-time, be reviewed by a panel of her peers (peers as deemed by the Australian College of
Midwives….which might not be peers at all), all taking months and months of intense preparation
and it is awfully expensive. So, for a midwife that is already practicing and can not afford to take 6
months off working and also pay the fees required….this is quite a hefty commitment and hardly
worthwhile. The only benefit to a midwife to be registered with Medicare is to be more
attractive/affordable to new clients. Now, with the pocket coin you save by having a midwife that is
registered with Medicare also comes its rules. One of those ‘rules’ or obligations was that I MUST
be booked in to the local hospital as a back-up. Understandably, for safety and precautions this is a
wise thing to do. To do this though, it’s ANOTHER step where you need to obtain permission from
the medical fraternity. The hospital must interview you, as part of the booking-in process.
This interview is quite a laugh. In the mail (registered post!) I received a letter stating when one of
their staff midwives would call me (a window of between 9-5 on a particular day). On that day, the
lovely midwife called me and we discussed many topics but all, from my account, were largely based
around my mental, physical and emotional capability to have a home birth. They weren’t
interviewing me to book me in at all. They were interviewing me to ascertain whether I was FIT to
birth my baby at home. Luckily, I had heard stories from other home birth hopefuls….women that
had sadly been declined simply because their medical records stated that at one point in their life
they had been prescribed antidepressants and women who felt forced to free-birth their babies as
they couldn’t legitimately have a midwife in attendance. My midwife also informed me that during
the interview, I would be TOLD that I MUST book an appointment to be seen by one of their doctors,
but that I actually have a choice and am within my rights to decline. I got the impression (based on
how the interview went) that it was in my best interests to decline this. So I did. And they didn’t
like it. I’ll never forget my favourite question during the interview. I was asked if the father of the
unborn child and I were ‘related’. It took me a few moments and repeats to actually understand the
question….. “like blood related??”…….ah no. Apparently, this is a very valid question because births
that result from incestuous relations can have greater risk of complications. All I could do was laugh
and tell her that I’m not sure what the social norm is in Tasmania, but that certainly isn’t acceptable
where I come from.
After the interview, by registered post (again), I received another letter with my referral for my
ultrasounds. Stating why I MUST have these, what I MUST do to prepare, that I MUST NOT bring
my children and that only one other person will be ALLOWED to accompany me. No choice. So I
declined the 13 week scan and rebooked with a different imaging company…one that ALLOWED me
to bring my eager and excited children so that they could be part of the process (which was the
ONLY reason I was having the 20 week scan in the first place). This set me back another $200. I
found all the letters I received from the hospital very authoritative in nature and I felt sad for the
typical Australian woman who receives these letters and don’t actually know how harmful the
language is to the whole process. You don’t simply become a fancy incubator with no rights over
your treatment or the treatment of your child once you become pregnant. I showed the letter to
friends in NZ who were appalled. Then I showed the same letter to Australian friends who didn’t
understand. How sad.
It’s ingrained in the society that women don’t have birth rights or choice. It’s accepted.
My Care.
The care I received from my midwife was, undoubtedly, outstanding. She was everything I looked
for in a midwife. She lives and breathes what it means to be a true midwife. She figured out how I
needed support and she tailored her care to me. I was looking more for a companion, a professional,
compassionate, level headed peer. For lack of better words, I can only describe the relationship as
sisterly in nature. My midwife was all that and more.
My midwife attended ALL antenatal visits, wrote out my notes as a blow by blow account of each
visit, came to my house, included my children, spoke with me as a peer, advised me and answered all
my questions and became quite a regular face in our household. My midwife knew my history and
understood what I wanted with my pregnancy and birth. There was no one else that I wanted in our
care/relationship. I had my care provider and I knew that whatever the outcome, I trusted her.
Then came the biggest blow of all. During a routine antenatal visit, my midwife explained the
process if I need to be transferred to hospital at any point during the labour. She explained that the
minute I go through the doors of the hospital that she relinquishes her role as my primary care
provider and must hand the position over to the hospital. This was mouth gaping stuff for me. I was
quite attached to my midwife. I had shared my confidence in her, not some faceless person at the
hospital. Why on earth would the hospital even WANT to take over from a care provider who knows
her client so intimately, when they don’t know the client at all? I had heard of horror stories where
the midwife has been ushered out, against the wishes of the family (even though legally, the family
ultimately have the right to choose). That they restrict the amount of people in the room so they ask
the midwife to leave first. I had to discuss with my midwife a plan around this. If I were to go to
hospital, she would be to act as a birth support person, a doula of sorts. I would not approve of her
not being there as my counsel. But in this case, I truly did not have a choice. It came down to
insurance (or lack of) and that independent midwives have no jurisdiction in public hospitals. The
only option was to not need this option! I had to have a home birth.
Throughout the entire process, every base was covered, all my notes were sent to me digitally and
printed out for me. No stone was left unturned.
Birth
My baby decided that he needed longer inside me than the text books stated. 17 days longer. This
was a little bit stressful as the pressure was on in regards to recommended guidelines from the
hospital. All the work, the paperwork, the hoop jumping, the interviews…. And it could all be futile
because of a technicality. Luckily I had had the 20 week scan that calculated the due date an extra
10 days out. (This being the only child my partner and I actually ‘planned’ I was pretty sure of my
‘due’ date!). My midwife wrote a letter to the hospital stating that we were now following the scan
dates, so I wasn’t as ‘over-due’ as initially thought. My midwife is quite a crafty lady. She had a
really good gauge as to the size and position of my baby and was quite confident that he was still
growing happily, and I was confident in her.
My labour had a really big warm-in, starting and stopping every evening for about 5 days. I thought
I was reaching the end of my tether but as each day went on, my tether did too. I endured months of
sickness, this was only a matter of a couple of days…. I had this under control. I had attended Calm
Birth classes and I got lots of practice in during those 5 days. Perhaps this big warm in is why the
birth went so smoothly and quickly. My son Alex was born some time between 3.30 and 3.45am. In
the birth pool that my midwife provided, in our living room with my partner and children in
attendance. The birth of Alex was the by far the best birthing experience I had out of the 3. My
midwife was hands off, the only contact we made with each other during my labour was to tell her
that I think she nearly missed it all and her checking the baby’s heart rate once. I ‘caught’ my own
baby too….something I never dreamed possible. I had my water birth. I had my home birth with a
midwife in Australia. What a massive achievement, and I couldn’t be more proud.
The common theme I have noticed is that birth choice does exist here. But ONLY for the
privileged. Want a choice with ultrasounds? Pay for it. Want a choice with birth place?
Pay for it. Want a choice with care provider? Pay for it. You get the picture.
Earlier I mentioned that Medicare will reimburse a small portion of the antenatal and postnatal fees.
One part they do not reimburse is the fees for the actual birth. No one wants to touch the birth.
Home birth midwives have no insurance to cover them for the birth (They haven’t had cover since
2000) and because of this (mostly), Medicare will not provide any cover either. How much money is
saved when a woman births at home as opposed to in a hospital? Yet a hospital birth is covered by
Medicare and a home birth is not. I think this comes down to the mentality that birth = Medical.
Midwives are not doctors. Birth without a doctor is not safe. I’d love to see midwives in Australia
achieving the same level of respect as they do in New Zealand. Hopefully in my lifetime, the culture
around birth in this country will take a shift to being more about the rights and choice of ALL
birthing woman. I would like to think that with every positive home birth experience with great
home birth midwives we move a step closer to achieving this. I’d like to think that in the big scheme
of things, my birthing experience will contribute to this.
Sarah is a mother of 3 children. She has birthed her children in a NZ Birth
Centre, at home (in NZ) and at home in Australia. Sarah advocates home
birth, natural weaning, home education and baby wearing. Originally from
Auckland, Sarah now resides with her family in Tasmania.
My Home Birth in New Zealand – Leanne
The idea of a homebirth was on my mind from the very second I saw a positive result come up on the
pregnancy test. Other mums I’d met at coffee group here in Australia had shared their birth stories
and they weren’t nice stories, they weren’t empowering stories, instead they were traumatic and
terrifying.
So when I found out I was pregnant, I really freaked out. I tried to stay open-minded about birthing
here in Australia – I knew I was informed and confident in my ability to birth. I had heard some good
things about a continuity midwifery programme, where you see one of three midwives that share a
small caseload. instead of being allocated to whoever is on the ward when you go into labour. This
system is much like New Zealand’s midwifery system. Unfortunately, when I called them, they told
me they only took on a handful of low risk women and that they didn’t take you on until after your 20
week scan. I wondered how they could possibly consider it continuity of care if you have to see
someone else for the entire first half of your pregnancy!
To sign up for the standard care with the Women’s Health Clinic for the first 20 weeks, I had to
‘prove’ my pregnancy existed. This meant a visit to the local doctor to pee on a stick for him just in
case I had difficulty reading the two lines on the pregnancy test I’d already done. Not demeaning at
all! But I did what I had to do, and I finally got my referral to the hospital. They only had an
antenatal clinic at the hospital one day a week and to me it was like a cattle yard for pregnant
women. The process involved sitting in a hot room where the water cooler was always empty,
waiting with up to 10 other women (and their children) just to see a staff midwife. The staff midwife
would ask generic questions, tick boxes, take observations and sometimes attempt to check the
foetal heart rate. Then it’d be back into the waiting room to await the obstetrician who then did the
exact same thing. I’d never experienced this before, and aside from being unsettling, I couldn’t help
but think about what a total waste of resources it was! I wondered if it was possible for my my blood
pressure or answers to change so significantly in fifteen minutes?! Well possibly the blood pressure!
In that environment I’m surprised I wasn’t always hypertensive.
The first time I went to antenatal clinic, I was relieved that I’d managed to get the one female
obstetrician. My relief lasted about three minutes, until she went to palpate my tummy but instead
began a breast exam – literally shoving her hand down my top with no warning and certainly no
consent. I stopped her, my husband was present too, so I was even more shocked. She was surprised
to hear I was still feeding my ten month old and then informed me I didn’t have any lumps. I
corrected her as I do have a large lump in my left breast from a past pregnancy that had been
biopsied and cleared. I told her I could have told her this if she had just asked. I still don’t know why
a breast exam was necessary. The whole experience was awful, and I knew instantly I didn’t want to
birth there, I certainly wasn’t going to walk in willingly.
Running out of options, I did a ring around of private obstetricians as I thought maybe,
just maybe, I might get a say in my birth if I paid for it.
I didn’t even get as far as seeing a doctor – after discussing my concerns about routine episiotomies
and early inductions with their midwives, I was informed that if the obstetrician thought I needed an
episiotomy then I would have one. Obviously informed consent was just an empty formality then.
When I told her that I’d rather tear as I would heal more quickly, she told me that was ridiculous and
that, if I looked like I was going to tear, the obstetrician didn’t need my consent; it was about
delivering a ‘healthy baby’. It was obvious that my baby’s rights came before mine, without any
indication of informed consent or mother’s rights. I was a bit shocked.
After all of this, I was excited to find out I’d made it on to the midwifery programme. Surely I would
be able to develop a partnership with them and they would assist me to have the empowering birth I
knew to be possible. Or not! At my first appointment, the midwife spent an hour talking while I sat
with my mouth wide open at her comments. Even my husband, who isn’t overly informed on birth
choices, sat with a stunned look on his face at the things she told us. I wasn’t allowed to see my own
blood results, tests that I had paid for myself as they aren’t routine here. She asked me what my
wishes for my birth were so I told her I wanted a water birth. I was told they don’t allow water birth
as it is too dangerous. I can labour in water but must get out to deliver. When I joked that I’d just
refuse to get out, she told me they would pull the plug. ‘Water birth is dangerous,’ she said. ‘Your
baby might drown.’ I was shocked that a trained midwife could be so misinformed and show such a
lack of knowledge around the safety of birthing in water. She became even more flustered when I
told her that I intended to decline the routine Hepatitis B vaccination at birth. I explained that I am
Hep B negative and that newborns of negative mothers aren’t routinely given a vaccine at birth in
NZ, so I wasn’t sure why she was even suggesting it. ‘It’s routine here to protect all the babies,’ she
insisted, but when I asked her how MY newborn was at risk for hep B, she had no answer. As we
were leaving, she tried to thrust a pamphlet about the vaccine at me.
I cried all the way home. I had reached the point of panic. Never before had I felt so unsafe and
scared for the health of myself and my baby. I was being lied to and bullied by people I was meant to
trust with my birth, my baby, my spirit and my body. I was grateful that I had the knowledge and
experience to question what I was being told. At the same time, I was devastated for first time mums
here who lack that experience, and who are being fed such false information and making decisions
based on lies. It dawned on me that within the walls of the only hospital providing maternity care I
didn’t have rights to my body, and that my wishes for my pregnancy and my birth were replaced
with their protocols and procedures. The doctor’s preferences were the most important
consideration, with no room for discussion or any sort of partnership. When we arrived home from
the midwife appointment, I immediately booked flights back to New Zealand. It would be difficult
accepting that my husband might not be able to be at the birth, but I knew I couldn’t birth here.
Even more stressful was that we were busy on the farm. Being unable to predict our baby’s date of
arrival meant I could be in NZ alone for 6-8 weeks as I wasn’t able to fly after 36 weeks and a baby
couldn’t fly before 8 days old. It would be expensive – we would need long term accommodation in
New Zealand, as well as the flights and the wages for a relief milker. All up, the costs came to more
than $5000, just barely covered by the Australian baby bonus. However, despite it all, I knew that a
New Zealand birth was the right choice. Home birth or birth choices here are a luxury for those with
money. I was just lucky we had the option to fly home, although I was so determined that I would
have borrowed it if I had to.
There is a local home birth midwife where we live in Australia, and I’d met her at a birth talk
meeting. Home birth is actively discouraged by the medical community here and she is the safety
net, the voice, the everything, for many women who have been traumatised by the birth system in
our state. I’ve met many of them at these meetings, heard their stories and shared their grief at the
hands of a small group of medical personnel and a hospital that isn’t interested in women-led care or
best practice. On deciding to come to New Zealand, I rang Mary and cried to her. I’d only just met
her, but she offered to do all of my antenatal care until I left for New Zealand and would visit us
when we arrived back in Australia. Of course because she isn’t funded by Medicare here I paid for it
and she was worth way more than the small fee she charged. She became a part of our family, she
did the visits in our home, she read stories to my daughter and encouraged her to help with the
doppler as we listened to our baby’s heartbeat. She knew me, my family and my wishes for my birth
intimately.
However, the flights were booked and I still had to face going back to the hospital one last time – in
order to fly, I had to get a medical certificate signed by an obstetrician. The staff at the hospital
weren’t that surprised that I had decided to go home to give birth.
Apparently I’m not the first Kiwi they’ve come across who has gone home to birth.
I think they were even relieved; I was more difficult than they were used to. To me, Kiwi women are
different, they are informed and they know what they want. It’s not that common to question things
here in Australia, which is a foreign concept to me – without that questioning process you can not
have informed consent. When I tried to engage in the informed consent process, the staff were
initially surprised and then became increasingly irritated by my questions. My final ObGyn
appointment was bittersweet – I was weighed and then told that I was high risk. So if I had been on
the midwife programme I wouldn’t have been any more. He told me it was a good thing I was going
home as being high risk I would have had a lot more intervention by the attending ObGyn, the
parameters become smaller and even labouring in the pool wasn’t an option now. They wanted to
induce me on my due date because my first baby was born fast, within 6 hours, and I only just made
it to the birth centre. This was a normal, healthy, uneventful pregnancy, bloods were all perfect,
blood pressure perfect, not one thing wrong… Except my BMI (Body Mass Index) was high at 35
weeks. The ObGyn signed my medical certificate and I guarded that piece of paper like my life
depended on it. I honestly believe it did. I was terrified that the airline would decline to let me board
as they have the right to at the last minute. I would not be able to relax until I landed in Auckland.
So I packed my bags, baby clothes and antenatal information and couldn’t wait to get home.
I went to see my midwife the day after we landed, familiar, safe, empowered. I have never felt so
lucky in my life. I wasn’t high risk here, I was low risk and was booked into the same birth centre
where my first baby was born. We didn’t have a home here so the place we welcomed her was the
most familiar and safe place for me. We stayed two minutes down the road for four weeks.
I didn’t get to enjoy the final weeks of my pregnancy though as I was very aware that my husband
wasn’t in New Zealand and may not be present for the birth. I had no one to watch my elder
daughter Sophie if I went into labour without him. She had only ever been with him and I before, so I
was stressed about her needs while I was in labour. Not an ideal headspace to be in for a relaxed
and calm birth! My NZ midwife was really supportive though and loved Sophie being there. It was
her that insisted Sophie get in the pool if she wanted to. Children were not allowed at the hospital
for the birth in Australia. I had let them know we had no family here so I’m not sure who they
expected to look after her. I think they assumed I’d birth alone while my husband cared for our
child. Another reason I had to leave.
When it came to the birth, it was an amazing experience. Willow’s birth was worth it all. I was
supported by my husband who made it with 36 hours to spare and by my midwife who worked in the
darkness, who respected me and my wishes, because this was my birth, my baby, my body. I didn’t
have a complicated recovery from a routine episiotomy or rafts of unnecessary interventions, I didn’t
suffer from birth trauma like many mothers I’ve met here in Australia.
If it came down to it, I would totally birth in NZ again.
If I had decided to have a home birth in Australia and needed to transfer, I’d likely be berated,
judged, and depending on which state I lived they would call child protection. These are major
incentives for me to not birth here. Ever. For my next birth though, I have established some
supportive friendships and a good relationship with Mary which I think is essential for a womancentred birth, so birthing here with her next time is a viable option although not stress-free and not
without hoops to jump through.
I got to meet my baby on my terms. I was valued in a partnership with my midwives, my spirit is still
intact and I’m not broken. I’m empowered because I birthed my baby, I caught my own baby and it
was celebrated by my midwives… That is priceless. It may not have been at ‘home’ but it was my
home birth.
Leanne’s daughter Sophie with her midwife.
Orgasmic Birth
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Released in 2008, Orgasmic Birth is a documentary that explores the ability
for women to give birth using the innate power within. Joyous, sensuous
and revolutionary, Orgasmic Birth brings the ultimate challenge to our
cultural myths by inviting viewers to see the emotional, spiritual, and
physical heights attainable through birth. By witnessing the intimate
experiences of 11 women, birth is revealed as an integral part of women’s
sexuality and a neglected human right. Director Debra Pascali-Bonaro
shares what she calls “the best-kept secret” as we witness women in the
ecstatic release of childbirth.
Orgasmic Birth… Yes Please!!
Reviewed by Samantha Thurlby-Brooks.
Birth is sexual. Birth is blissful. Birth is orgasmic. Really?! According to the professionals and
women featured in the film Orgasmic Birth, that’s exactly what birth is. And it makes sense, since
it’s the same body parts and the same hormones for both childbirth and love-making.
The opening scene of Orgasmic Birth shows women in the throes of ecstatic orgasm. Feeling like
you’ve just come across a classy porn film, and blushing a little at seeing women experiencing such
intimate pleasure, you quickly realise how similar birth is to sex. The noises, the look on their faces,
their movements, and the intimacy of the situation – these women are not caught up in the suffering
and ordeal of what society leads us to believe birth is about.
The general medical profession, religion and women themselves have all spread the idea that birth is
something to endure in order to have a baby. And if you can avoid the pain or the effort, then why
not opt out of the experience with epidurals and caesareans? Because of their widespread use, the
public have come to think of these interventions as safe.
“What if you numbed your feet and tried walking down a highway. They wouldn’t work the same.
This is true for the pelvis and birth; numb it and it won’t work the same.” Dr Christiane Northrup
Orgasmic Birth is one of those notable films: once you’ve seen it, you’ll never look at birth in the
same way again. It’s a realistic documentary about the pleasure, the ecstasy, the pain, the fear, the
power, the bliss and the empowerment of birth. Pain isn’t something to run away from, it’s
something to embrace and to celebrate coming through the other side feeling proud of yourself.
Birth is meant to be a rite of passage, and this film explains it in such a wonderful, positive and
inspiring way that I believe every woman would sign up for it.
“Childbirth is a cross road- she can transform herself into a totally different woman.” Dr Ricardo
Jones
“Screaming wasn’t about pain. The experience was overwhelming and screaming felt really
satisfying.”
Listening to obstetricians, midwives, and childbirth educators talking about the pleasure of birth and
how to achieve it is incredibly helpful to prepare for your own orgasmic/blissful birth experience.
The stories each of the women tell about their own births show how normal women are able to
achieve such a fabulous experience.
“This [birth] could be overwhelming if I let it. Then I thought about this little soul not knowing what
he’s getting into and I thought if he’s prepared to do this, then I am too”.
Unfortunately some of the footage of the birth videos doesn’t go in line with the message. The
message is that an undisturbed birth where the woman is left to do her own thing, listen to herself,
feel safe and warm and unobserved, will produce a wonderful, maybe even orgasmic experience. At
least half of the births shown have far too many people around, too many hands in the way, the
lights up bright, an epidural and a Ventouse, women lying on their backs and general distractions.
This isn’t promoting the message the professionals are putting across. Only one birth showed a
woman having orgasms during her birth (not just the one orgasm… I’m definitely signing up for one
of these!!!) and understandably this was the most undisturbed situation of them all.
I do wish that the film showed the primal behaviour of women handling their babies straight after
birth. It’s so common in western society for the birth team to hand women their baby straight away.
In America, it’s even normal to rub off the baby’s vernix as soon as they’re born and wrap them up.
Fortunately in New Zealand, mother and baby are given skin-to-skin time without rubbing the
important vernix off. However, the birth team still takes on the role of handing the baby to the
mother. For a woman to demonstrate her primal behaviour, it requires the birth team to stand back
and just allow the woman to stroke, look at and explore her baby before picking the baby up.
Everything needs to stay quiet and peaceful as it was during the birth, as this is a time for the
hormones to peak. It’s a beautiful thing to watch mother and baby interacting in this way for the
first time.
This is a wonderful film to watch if you’re planning a homebirth. They say the rates of intervention in
home birth are below 10%, which is really awesome considering hospital birth statistics (30-80%
epidural rates and 20-35% caesarean rates, let alone inductions and other procedures performed in
New Zealand hospitals). They also explain how homebirth midwives carry the same medical gear as
an independent birthing centre will have.
“Interventions make it [birth] less pleasurable, less ecstatic and more unsafe for mum and baby.” Dr
S.J. Buckley
As well as talking about pain being a positive experience during birth, there’s a section about how
sexual, physical and emotional trauma can have an effect on a woman’s birth experience. Routine
procedures can become traumatic for a sexual abuse survivor. This subject is rarely spoken about
and so I’m thrilled they dedicated time to it in this film since so many women have suffered either in
silence or openly. If birth is sexual then obviously any past trauma can affect the progress. We need
to treat all women with respect, dignity and kindness to help them feel safe so that we don’t create
obstacles and flashbacks during this sensitive period. The woman who spoke so honestly about her
experience was very inspiring. Having suffered most of her life she said “Being told to let go and
surrender was terrifying. But birth was the most powerful thing that has happened to me. I felt
transformed.”
There’s so much fantastic information in this film that I’m really not surprised it’s been so popular.
It’s not just about how to have an orgasm during birth, but how to create a positive, empowering
experience to leave you feeling proud of your achievements. Birth is sensual, passionate and blissful.
All you need to do is prepare for it, relax into it and allow it.
“To be realistic is to expect your birth to be wonderful.” Naoli Vinaver
Samantha Thurlby-Brooks is a specialist in pregnancy massage and a
BirthWorks childbirth educator. Having trained as a doula with worldrenowned obstetrician, Michel Odent, and setting up Doula NZ early in
2012, her passion for the rights of women during pregnancy, birth and new
motherhood is obvious. Working from her clinic in Auckland, Samantha
splits her time between her massaging and teaching and promoting her
own invention, the Mumanu Pillow. www.mumanu.co.nz
How to have an Orgasmic Birth.
by Sian Hannagan
There is no guaranteed way to have an orgasmic birth, but by setting the stage and allowing yourself
to be open to the possibility you increase your chances significantly!
1. Be relaxed, the brain waves of a labouring woman are at theta frequency. This is the deepest
level of relaxation we can experience while awake. (sleep is delta) . Allowing this level of
relaxation to occur enables you to go into a deeper more physiological world where orgasm is far
more likely.
2. Surrender to birth. This can sound a little out there for women used to thinking of birth quite
scientifically. However, embracing birth and letting go of inhibitions, facilitates the natural
processes of labour and will allow your body to be in the moment – which much like sex – is
perfect to achieve orgasm.
3. Promote oxytocin release. This can be done as simply as positive thoughts and visualisation, but
more physical actions such as cuddling, kisses, light touch massage and clitoral stimulation all
aid the release of oxytocin and endorphins that facilitate orgasm.
4. Labour in a dark and private space. Darkness gives a feeling of privacy and safety, it also
promotes melatonin which In turn promotes oxytocin. Oxytocin is the hormone responsible for
orgasm.
5. Connect to your baby. Actively bond with your baby while they are in the womb. Promote love
and engage in loving thoughts towards your baby. Think of birth as a partnership.
6. Avoid fear or stress triggers. Don’t listen to scare stories, don’t allow negative or fear-based
language into your lexicon. Reframe negative things as positive things
7. Look forwards to birth. This sounds simple but many women are nervous about birth. Having
regular positive thoughts about your birth, planning for a positive birth and allowing yourself to
get excited about your birth are all tools you can use to reframe your birth expectations.
8. Birth actively. Moving the body can help with the process of surrender as it can intensify labour
and engage the oxytocin response (NAME THE FEEDBACK). Some women find that positional
labour such as squatting or hands and knees can help engage the clitoral region more
9. Surround yourself with positivity, have only people you are comfortable with present and make
sure your space is conducive to love.
10. Get to know your body, be comfortable with your body. Accept the messages your body tells you,
trust your body!
“It is possible to have an ecstatic birth – in fact, that is the best natural
high that I know of. And these states of consciousness are best reached
when a woman is fully aware and fully awake. Women don’t have away to
knowhow their bodyworks until they really try it out in birth. I think that
women can be just completely surprised by the change in them from giving
birth – you have something powerful in you – that fierce thing comes up –
and I think babies need moms to have that fierceness – you feel like you
can do anything.” Ina May Gaskin – Midwife
The Clitoris
When there is fear… the doors to ecstasy close” Debra Pascali Bonaro
Clitoris is said to be derived from the Greek ‘kleitoris’ or ‘Little Hill’ the root of which relates to
climax. However it is also said to spring from the Greek ‘to rub’. Other accounts say that the word
derives from ‘Kleis’ which literally means key. Whichever way you look at it, the word clitoris is
loaded.
Historically the clitoris has often been misunderstood and even described as superficial or vestigial,
the implication being that it is an unnecessary organ that performs no useful function. For large
parts of our history the clitoris was largely ignored by anatomists. Even modern medical
perspectives promote the idea that the clitoris is purely for sexual pleasure and performs no ‘useful’
function whatsoever. (The purpose or ‘usefulness’ of female sexual pleasure is of course hotly
debated!) Any woman who has had an orgasmic birth knows this to be totally untrue.
The clitoris is not the small isolated bundle of nerves sitting at the top of a vulva that it is often
presumed to be. It is actually a complex structure that sits within the body and is attached to both
the pubis and labia and centrally connected to the urethra and vagina. The glans (external clitoris) is
a densely neural, nonerectile structure that is the only external manifestation of the clitoris. Like an
iceberg the major portion of the clitoris sits below the surface and is in fact a multifaceted structure
that is composed of erectile tissue forming two bulbs that surround the vaginal opening and the
longer corpora that sit further back. These structures are closely connected to both the urethra and
vagina and form a tissue cluster which is the locus of female sexual function and orgasm.
Diagram of the internal and external clitoral anatomy. Image published under creative commons.
So why is the clitoris important in birth?
“Oxytocin is the missing link between sex and birth” ` Elizabeth Davis.
The function of the clitoris as pain relief is understood but not well documented, the pain pathway
concept is much more clearly understood. This is the principle, where a pleasurable sensation more
quickly dominates the neural pathways and blocks feelings of pain. Our body discerns pain or
pleasure by a process of ‘subjective utility’, meaning the experience of pain is relative. A woman’s
experience may differ according to her perceptions. A woman expecting and embracing pleasure, is
more likely to feel it. The clitoris is an enhanced organ for sending pleasurable messages to the
brain and releasing oxytocin into the body. It is stimulated naturally as part of the birth process,
especially when positional birth techniques are used. Oxytocin is an essential hormone in the labour
process as it facilitates contractions and dilation. It is also an essential part of bonding and
breastfeeding. Some people may consider the goal of an orgasmic birth as a selfish or deviant act,
where in fact it is a physiologically normal part of birth that promotes a healthy mother and baby.
“Synthetic oxytocin, or pitocin, does not engender this love, ecstasy and bonding
response, because it affects the uterus only” Elizabeth Davis
Lisa Ross mother of two had an orgasmic birth with her second child, though at the time she didn’t
know that is what it was called. “Yes I had no idea there was such a thing. It was later that I said to
Sean you know that actually felt fantastic, like an orgasm. Then probably years later I read about
orgasmic birth and thought ‘that’s what I had. Lucky me’. ” In terms of preparation she didn’t strive
for an orgasmic birth but she also states that it wasn’t lucky chance. She prepared well for her
births, mentally and emotionally and was clear they were to be drug free births. Lisa felt her position
was important as well as she was squatting for her first child but on her hands and knees for her
second child “It felt great. The contractions leading up to it did not at all. It was just as she came
through. It felt like a release I guess but not in a relief sort of way but a climax”
Internal anatomy of a clitoris
“Various terms have been used historically to refer to the clitoris and the word was not used in the
English literature until the 17th century. Hippocrates used the term columella or little pillar.
Avicenna named the clitoris the albatra or virga (rod). Albucasim, another Arabic medical authority,
named it tentigo (tension). Amoris dulcedo (sweetness of love), sedes libidinis (seat of lust) and
gadfly of Venus were terms used by Colombo. It would appear that in each instance the structures
included were the body and glans of the clitoris. Magnus was one of the most prolific writers of the
Middle Ages, famous for his objective observations. He stressed “homologies between male and
female structures and function” by adding “a psychology of sexual arousal” not found in Aristotle.
Magnus devoted “equal space to his description of the male and female— whereas in Constantine’s
treatise, references to the female are quite incidental.”Magnus used the word virga as the term for
the male and female genitals.”
O’Connell et al, The Anatomy of the Clitoris. The Journal of Urology 2005 Vol 174
Image gifted for use by Laura Szumowski. See more of her
work at http://www.lauraszumowski.com/
Image gifted for use by Laura Szumowski. See more of her work at http://www.lauraszumowski.com/
Nikau Grew Me
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
A moment shared, Roxy and Nikau gaze into each others eyes.
Being pregnant with our second child is as good a prompt as any to finally write Nikau’s birth
story…
Our path to home birth
I’d had no previous birth experience. However, I had a friend who had had a home birth and spoke
about it like it was the most normal thing. I thought, “If I have a healthy pregnancy, why can’t I do
that?”
I believe that hospitals are for treating sick people, and that you are more at risk of medical
interventions being used in hospital. I really wanted a natural stress-free birth, and I felt that a home
birth in my own cosy home was the most supportive way to do this.
I spoke to others who had had home births, read about home birth, attended homebirth antenatal
classes, and had an amazing homebirth midwife; that all helped strengthen my belief in home birth
and that this was the right option for me. I also thought a lot about the history around home birth
and indigenous cultures birthing in their own natural environments; I didn’t want to buy into the
disempowering modern medicalisation that is so imposing today.
Support and community
I couldn’t do this on my own. My husband Wiremu was totally supportive and encouraging of me
having a home birth. My sister was cautious at first, as she had little knowledge or education about
home birth, but she trusted my decision and is now a homebirth advocate herself!
I was not involved in the homebirth community when I made the decision to choose a homebirth
midwife. I had heard of a couple of people I knew having home births but that was about the extent
of it. My midwife offered me a lot of education and supported me to join the homebirth association
and to attend the homebirth antenatal classes where I made friends who were part of the homebirth
community.
Since I lived out of town, I did not attend any events, but I could still feel like part of the community.
Home birth and me
Why have I not found the space in the past 18 months that the magnificent Nikau has been with us
to write about such a meaningful event? It’s not because it wasn’t an amazing experience. In fact,
having a natural birth at home has been the most wonderful, empowering, life-changing experience
of my life. Maybe that’s it; it was so hugely significant and out of this world that I’m possibly worried
that I won’t be able to capture it in words.
I also wonder if it is strange for me to re-visit another version of me, a super Roxy that isn’t quite
believable; a woman who endured three days of labour and 18 hours of active labour to follow her
body’s natural process and deliver a healthy happy 6lb 11oz baby boy on Waitangi Day.
A strong, determined woman she was – connected to the earth and many generations of labouring
women who have gone before.
A woman who trusted the unfailing support of her husband, midwife and sister.
A woman who, using the techniques learned through hypno-birthing and pregnancy yoga, hardly
spoke and remained focused and calm during the many hours of the first stage of labour.
A woman who, despite her waters not breaking independently, despite the slowing down of
contractions, despite the use of painful positions to shift the baby, and despite not being able to birth
in the pool, still knew that everything was as it should be and it would all be OK.
A woman who was blessed to have her partner Wiremu’s acupressure and continual relief of hot
towels, homeopathic remedies, dim lighting, candy canes, a 10 hour playlist (that looped through
twice!), the knowing gentle midwife Margaret and her sister Gala who continued to fill the pool from
the stove and keep it to temperature even after the jug broke!
This was a woman who, in the second stage of labour, shook, vomited and cried but continued to
breathe and believe her way through it. This woman became a lioness, fierce yet protective. She
pushed and pushed, feeling her baby coming and birthing him into his father’s arms. She then
cradled her little cub to her chest in shock, relief, love and great honour.
Baby Nikau was a little shocked himself after the long journey and needed some oxygen to support
his new breathing pattern. This woman spoke gently to him while his father offered karakia. She
continued to hold the deep calm knowing that this baby was full of life and magnificence. He still is.
This woman was connected to her conscious instinctual loving self. She still is. Yes, that woman is
me!
“I think I did quite well really, and come to think of it, I’m looking forward to doing it again.” J
Nikau surrounded by the love of his family.
Helping home birth in New Zealand
We need more education around how safe and empowering home birth can be. There is a lot of
unnecessary fear around birth, and it seems many women feel that going to hospital is the only
sensible choice and that home birth is for ‘alternative people’.
Home birth needs to be normalised and promoted as an option of choice for all women. Stories need
to be shared more widely – for example, having the home birth magazine more readily available now,
as well as having stories in pregnancy and baby magazines and publications, posters in family
planning clinics etc.
We can do it!
Nikau’s birth story for Home Birth Matters
Roxy and Nikau together
Dad Time Starts at the Beginning
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
1. What Goes On in that Little Head?
A newborn’s brain is like a blank book. All the pages are there, it’s firmly bound together and has a
soft, water-proof cover. It’s the actions and attitudes of the parents (and others immediately around)
that determine what gets written onto the book’s pages, onto the baby’s brain.
It may seem like a baby isn’t doing much but its brain is firing right from the start. In just three
short years, your child’s book is 80% complete. We learn most of everything we will ever know
before we are three years old! We learned the fundamentals like getting our body to do what we
want it to do and how we fit into the world. For instance, a baby learns the language(s) they will
speak a whole year before they have the ability to talk – by listening to their mum and dad talk, sing
and read to them. A baby is never doing nothing, they are taking in and learning from everything
around them, every second.
It’s during these first years – before they will retain conscious memories – that each the baby
develops their own emotional intelligence. This includes the ability to recognise and control
emotions and to empathise. These may be the most important things we ever learn because they
determine how we will manage in the world and how we will get along with people. Everything your
baby learns later in life is filtered through the emotional intelligence they gained before turning
three.
If a baby feels safe, secure, loved and respected over these early years, their emotional intelligence
will be strong. They are highly likely to develop into a positive person who is loveable and capable of
loving and who will become a resilient, productive adult.
2. The Difference a Dad Makes
A child whose dad is active and supportive in their life tends to have a better run of it. They are more
likely to feel secure in themselves and develop friendships with other children. They will have fewer
behavioural problems and do better at school.
As an adult, the child who had an involved father is more likely to do tertiary training and get a job.
They are less likely to abuse alcohol or other drugs and half as likely to get depression. They are far
less likely to have a teen pregnancy. And almost all of the people in our prison had no positive male
role model in their life.
A dad tips the scales in his child’s favour just by being there, engaging with them and by their child
knowing he is there for them. Being active in your child’s life is the best insurance a man can give
his child to reach their potential in life.
Even if the child’s parents’ relationship falters or dissolves, a child never stops wanting or needing
to connect with their dad. This is important for both parents to remember.
3. Staking Out Your Own Relationship with Your Baby
Dads and babies go together. We’re seeing more and more evidence of this as so many dads are out
and about with their infants these days. But many things in our society act to keep dads and babies
apart. Work often keeps dads out of the house much of the baby’s wake time. What a man
remembers about how his own dad and mum raised him (as well as his mates’ attitudes towards men
and babies) might whisper in his ear that baby’s are really a mum’s thing. Even watching how
efficient his partner or other women are at looking after the baby can cause dads to hold back.
But women are not naturally better at looking after babies than men. Women tend to be good at it
because they do it. They do it a lot and become good at it through practice. So can dads.
Caring for your baby is incredibly important, but it’s not rocket science. Here is a pretty complete
list of the things that can be done with a baby:
·
hold and cuddle
·
make eye contact
·
feed
·
wind and settle after feeding
·
talk to
·
sing to
·
change the nappy
·
play peek-a-boo/make faces
·
gentle massage
·
tell stories to
·
read to
·
take for walks
·
bathe
·
put to bed
·
dress
·
take to appointments
·
soothe when unsettled or crying
·
help establish routines and be consistent
·
simply playing and paying attention
That’s about it. And apart for breastfeeding, the dad can do them all. Doing them is how a dad (or a
mum) gets to know his baby. It’s what brings them together. And it strengthens the parents’ couple
relationship.
4. Breastfeeding, Smoking, Drinking and Postnatal Depression
The woman’s partner has a much greater influence over breastfeeding
than most of us realise. While home births couples tend to be pro
breastfeeding, it’s important to know that women do better at
breastfeeding if they know they have their partner’s support. This means
her partner telling her he wants her to breastfeed and helping her
overcome breastfeeding problems when she has them.
Women who smoke find it far more difficult to give up if their partner is a smoker but doesn’t give
up with her. It’s the same with alcohol and other drugs. The mother is far more likely to be able to
cut out smoking and drinking/drugs if her partner quits with her.
Postnatal depression is common: one or even two mothers out of every 10 new mothers get it. It is
treatable and manageable but is no picnic for her, the baby or her partner. The mother will need
plenty of help from her partner with the household and baby tasks. She will also need her partner
and other people to listen to her and to reassure her. There are services (midwife, Plunket, GP,
maternal mental health nurse, private counselling) available to help. But her partner staying close,
taking care of baby and participating in her treatment helps her get well sooner, and lessens the
effects of the mother’s depression on the baby.
Some new dads get postnatal depression. If you find yourself getting depressed, don’t ignore it, get
help.
5. Woman: Let Your Man In
It is the mother who decides how much access the dad has to their baby. Women are seldom
conscious they do this. But the mother believes that keeping their baby alive is ultimately her
responsibility, so she takes charge of everything that happens around the baby. In regards to the
dad, this might take the form of her closely supervising how he holds the baby or scrutinising how
he bathes, changes or plays with the baby and criticising if he doesn’t do it ‘right’. Or she may step
in immediately if either the baby (or dad) looks uncomfortable. She does these things thinking it’s in
the baby’s best interest.
But it’s when the baby gets fussy that the father learns to read the signals and understand what the
baby needs. He’s not going to figure it out by handing the baby over to mum. In fact, it’s when a dad
figures out how to sooth his baby that his confidence as a father builds. This is how men become
good at fathering. And this is when the child learns to trust their dad and discovers they don’t
always have to go to mum or the breast for comfort.
Women taking the role of the baby experts can make it difficult for the dad to get a look in, or it may
make him feel less capable than he is. Or he may come to believe he has no useful role around the
baby other than to support his partner to be a good mother. But a mother needs a partner, not a
supporter. And to be her partner, the man needs to feel he has an important role in caring for their
baby, not just bringing in a pay cheque and doing the dishes.
And it means the mother respecting him to develop his own relationship with their baby. If a woman
wants her partner to protect and bond with their baby (and for him to be there in the long run) she
needs to encourage him in right at the beginning. And not just on her terms.
6. “Good enough” parenting
No one parents perfectly. We get tired, make mistakes, we’re inconsistent, we blunder through.
Everyone does. Raising an infant is more demanding than first time parents believe is possible. All
we have to do is do it as well as we can. At the end of a day, if you ask yourself “How did I do today
as a parent?” If you can say “Good enough,” that’s enough. You will be a perfect dad or a perfect
mum, but only sometimes.
For information designed for fathers of babies, visit www.greatfathers.org.nz. From there you can
also order a free DVD “In Your Hands” featuring musicians Warren Maxwell and Tiki Taane on
becoming dads.
Dave Owens founder of Great Fathers
Birth and Yoga
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Ojeya Cruzbanks on St Clair Beach
I would say that 90-95% of women who come to pregnancy classes have never tried yoga before but
something intuitively tells them that yoga is what they need. So are all these women right?
They most definitely are. Yoga offers numerous benefits for pregnancy and birth. Physical changes
in the body during pregnancy are beneficial and essential, but unfortunately they also place women
at risk for other problems. For example, pregnancy hormones loosen the joints of the pelvis to make
room for the growing baby and to widen the birth canal, but they also have effects on ligaments in
other parts of the body. Ligaments surround joints to provide strength and stability. They are not
meant to stretch but during pregnancy it is easy to overstretch them. Pelvic floor muscles, which
serve to keep the baby in during pregnancy and contract to let the baby out during labour, also
become weaker under hormonal influence. In addition to this, the centre of balance is thrown,
particularly as pregnancy advances. Increasing weight pulling on the front of the body places added
stress on the joints at the back of the body in the spine and pelvis. It is hard to imagine that the
abdominal muscles stretch by about 50% of their original length to accommodate the baby.
Obviously this is a good thing, but again it weakens the abdominal muscles and can contribute to
back pain.
In come the benefits of yoga.
The goal of pregnancy yoga is to work with the natural changes of pregnancy, to prepare the mother
for birth, and to minimise or prevent discomfort or injury. More specifically, classes are designed to:
build back, leg & core muscle strength to cope with the increased frontal load; strengthen pelvic
floor muscles; develop physical stamina for labour; increase flexibility within safe ranges; improve
posture & balance; open the chest & shoulders; and develop awareness of breath.
The benefits of pregnancy yoga are by no means restricted to the physical realm.
Pregnancy and motherhood require huge adjustments to lifestyle, regardless of whether the
pregnancy was planned or not. But accepting the inevitable changes is not as easy as it sounds.
Pregnancy yoga works on mental attitude, introducing women to the art of “letting go”. In the
beginning it might be as simple as letting go of your favourite pair of jeans that no longer fit. As
pregnancy advances and labour looms, it might be letting go of the idea of “the perfect natural
birth”.
Classes focus on identifying the things you can change and letting go of attachment to things that
are out of your control. Plans are great and necessary but they can get in the way if they become too
fixed, limiting options and closing down other possibilities. “Go with the flow” should be the mantra
of pregnancy. I particularly like the way the Rachel Yellin (an American yoga teacher) describes this
concept:
“Doing prenatal yoga doesn’t mean you’ll have the ‘perfect’ birth; it means you’ll be able to accept
the perfection of the birth you’re given, regardless of whether it goes according to your plan.”
One of the things that is beyond control is the level of discomfort or pain that will come with labour.
Pregnancy yoga won’t guarantee a pain free birth but it offers women strategies for dealing with
discomfort, using the mind and the breath to stay calm, focused and on top of things. It’s about
learning to be comfortable with discomfort.
During pregnancy the mind and energy is focused on birth and it is inconceivable to expect women
to think past the big event. But what is learned in pregnancy yoga will be helpful for motherhood as
well, particularly in the early days.
I have an 18 year old son who still continually reminds me of the need to let go of my preconceived
ideas and to trust in the natural flow.
The social aspects of pregnancy yoga are a life-saver for many women, particularly if they are feeling
anxious (which most women naturally do) or unsupported. The opportunity is there to ask questions,
share experiences or discuss concerns. Friendships develop and it is not at all unusual to hear
women making plans to meet up for coffee after class.
Here are a few ideas on classic yoga poses from www.mindulmotherhood.org
http://www.mindfulmotherhood.org/images/MindfulMotherhoodYogaSeries.pdf
http://www.mindfulmotherhood.org/images/MindfulMotherhoodYogaReference.pdf
They are a good start but you can not beat the camaraderie of pregnancy yoga classes. It is
priceless.
Namaste, Jude
Jude Mahood operates out of her purpose built yoga studio in sunny Dunedin. She teaches
general Hatha Yoga and Pilates from beginners to intermediate level. She has specialist
training in Pre- and Post-Natal Yoga which enables her provide Pregnancy Yoga classes.
www.suburbanyoga.co.nz Email: [email protected]
Phone: (03) 453-4160 Mobile 027 767 4663
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver
http://www.kegelmaster.co.nz/
Celebration Cake
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
I’d never heard of Groaning Cake until I was invited to submit a recipe for this wonderful magazine.
After a little research (10 minutes on Google makes me an expert right?) I decided this: I don’t like
the name Groaning Cake.
Also known as groaning cake or kimbly, this is Bonnie Sumner’s version, called Celebration Cake.
While the ancient English tradition is joyous – it was thought the smell of the cake baking helped
ease the pains of labour – the name itself does the delicious result no favours.
After all, women labour differently, some groan, sure, but some scream, others sing, hum, shout,
stay silent – I mooed and did lots of heavy breathing. Besides, when my two children groan about
something, it’s not an occasion I celebrate.
I prefer Birthing Cake, or it’s other given name, Kimbly or, my favourite, Celebration Cake. There.
I’ve renamed a centuries-old tradition. That wasn’t so hard, was it?
Now here’s the really provocative part – I changed the recipe. A lot. While my version still pays
homage to the original, I have simplified and healthified the recipe to exclude gluten, refined sugar,
oil and animal products. Now when you make this while labouring (I had very short births and am
lazy, so kinda think mums are crazy for wanting to do this), or someone lovingly makes it for you
(much better idea), everyone will be well-nourished and happy, including that endless stream of
visitors.
The molasses in particular is great for iron levels, while the oats encourage milk production and the
dates are a nutrition-packed powerhouse (even referred to as a possible best food for the future in a
recent Israeli study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry).
Best of all, it tastes delicious. Time to celebrate!
Celebration Cake (dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, oil-free, refined sugar-free)
3 tbsp ground flaxseed + 6 tbsp water (or 2 eggs)
1 cup buckwheat flour*
1 cup brown rice flour*
1/2 cup gluten-free oat flour (or 1/4 cup each more of the other two flours)*
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
1 tsp aluminium-free baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground dried ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsulphured molasses
1 1/2 cups soft, pitted dates (not the hard dry ones from the supermarket) + 1/2 cup water
Preheat oven to 160 degrees C°. Combine flaxseed and water in a cup and stir to combine, then set
aside. Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and spices in a bowl. In a food processor,
combine dates and water and process until it becomes a light-coloured thick paste. Add molasses to
food processor and pulse to combine. Add wet date mix and flaxseed paste to the bowl of flour and
stir well to combine. Scoop the mix into a small lined tin or greased muffin tray and tent with foil.
Place in oven for 30 minutes, remove foil and bake for a further 10-15 minutes until a toothpick
comes out clean (cooking time with be less for muffins).
Cool on wire rack and serve slices slathered with whipped coconut cream and jam.
Bonnie is a vegan, gluten free mum to two young wildlings, sharing her foodie creations – for
recipes check out my blog www.madewithzana.wordpress.com
www.facebook.com/MadeWithZana
Instagram @madewithzana
MOB: +64 22 6482610
“If women lose the right to say where and how they birth their children, then they will
have lost something that’s as dear to life as breathing.”
― Ami McKay, The Birth House
“The ‘groaning’ or Kimbly cake is a Cornish tradition and was often made while the mother was
in labour, “Kimbly” is the name of an offering, generally a piece of bread or cake, still given in
some rural districts of Cornwall to the first person met when going to a wedding or christening or to
celebrate birth. The author of ‘The Birth House’ Amy McKay says “ The tradition of the groaning
cake, or Kimbly at (or following) birth is an ancient one. Wives’ tales say that the scent of the
groaning cake being baked in the birth house helps to ease the mother’s pain. Some say that if the
mother breaks the eggs while she’s aching, the labour won’t last as long. Others say that if a family
wants prosperity and fertility the father must pass pieces of the cake to friends and family the first
time the mother and baby are ‘churched’ (or the first time they go to a public gathering) after a
birth. Many cultures share similar traditions, a special dish, bread, or drink spiced with cinnamon,
allspice and ginger. At one time there was even a ‘groaning ale’ made to go with it”
The Birth House – by Amy McKay
We follow midwives and students
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Amy Towle – Midwife
For as long as I can remember, I always knew I would be a midwife. When the time was right I
packed my bags, left my home and headed to Dunedin to start my journey into Midwifery.
There my path was crossed by many amazing women and midwives who taught me that birth is not
only a normal physiological process, but a beautiful life changing event. Early in my days as a
midwife I heard the phrase “Wahine Toa” (Te reo Maori for Strong, Warrior Woman). This phrase
resonated within me and has become a part of me, becoming my pillar in birthing and also on my
own personal journey. The last 8 years of working and travelling around the world has shaped me as
a midwife, refined my skills and allowed me to see birth in many cultures.
One of my greatest passions in midwifery is to help women in third world countries and areas of
disaster. After travelling and working in such areas as India, Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda
and Vanuatu, one thing that has been proven to me country after country is that women’s bodies
have an innate ability to birth, it’s their mind that is the biggest challenge. It is the mind that
carries the fear, raises the hurdles and lets the doubt creep in. In a society where birth is portrayed
as something traumatic and painful, it is no wonder women are often scared and untrusting of the
birthing process. Because of this a woman’s intuition is often abandoned.
Birthing a baby is a holistic experience. It impacts a woman mentally, emotionally, spiritually,
physically and permanently. For this reason, it is so important for women to harness their inner
strength and ability to birth. When I first meet women who have chosen me as their midwife, I
ensure they leave our visit with one key message, “This is Your Body, Your Birth, Your Choice.
Everything is a choice.” No matter what country you are in, what religion you are, what ethnicity
you are, or what your choice of birth place is, you are a woman who is entitled to have the birth she
wants.
Imagine if society changed its portrayal of birth. Imagine the difference, if pregnancy was viewed as
a normal part of life, a wonderful and empowering rite of passage for women to look forward to. For
me, this is true. This is what I witness time and time again. Attending births as a midwife, wherever
they may be, is a wondrous thing. Privileged to get a sneak peek of the incredible strength and
power within a woman. Seeing that unbeatable smile on a father’s face when his baby is born, and
that realisation- his partner is truly an amazing being.
My final message to any woman reading this is, harness your intuition. Use it, follow it, leave your
mind at the door, and allow your body to do what it knows. If you have had a positive birthing
experience, tell the world. Tell every pregnant woman who crosses your path. You can change
society’s portrayal of birth, one birth at a time.
Amy Towle – Wahine Toa Midwife
https://www.facebook.com/wahinetoamidwife?fref=ts
Christie-Grace Beck – Student
Growing up in the Middle East I was exposed to many different cultures and my time there was
incredible. At 12 years of age we moved to Sydney so that my brothers and I could have a
‘normal experience’ after the fast paced lifestyle of Dubai. When we moved to Dunedin I was 16
years old and spent a year at Otago Girls High School before deciding to leave and do the Certificate
in Health at Otago Polytechnic. My goal was to get into a health related career and this was when
midwifery was introduced to me. I fell in love and had a clear vision of what I was going to do with
my life. At 17 my parents moved back overseas and I was left to my own devices, which meant less
study, more fun. Subsequently my dream to be a midwife was put on hold and I went to University to
‘grow-up’. I graduated with a major in Social Work and a Minor in Maori studies. Midwifery still
ached in my heart and I applied for the 2013 intake, the acceptance letter sent me into a burst of
tears and unintelligible words along the lines of “I got in, oh my god, I got in.” The concept of
working with women throughout their pregnancy, labour and postnatal experience completely
meshes with me. The more I learn the stronger my desire is to be the best midwife I can be so that
the women I encounter will achieve the pregnancy experience that all women deserve.
The last year has pushed me but driven my longing to be a midwife even further than I thought
possible. A year of learning ‘the basics’ required more effort than any of my years at
university, however, the intense satisfaction of seeing a baby born into this world and united with its
family cannot compare to anything. I am embarking into second year and have the words of past
midwifery students ringing in my years, the ‘you know how hard it is, don’t you?’ and the ‘second
year will make you want to quit’ comments fill me with anxiety. One week into class starting and I
get a call to go to the hospital immediately for a birth, I run back and forth from the front door,
forgetting everything. I manage to get myself into the car and halfway to town my face bursts into a
smile. This is the moment I realise that I am a second year midwifery student, and it feels so good. I
am recently married so my husband has learnt quickly that the life of a midwifery student is
unpredictable and can recognise the symptoms of tiredness and hunger easily, both of which occur
on a regular basis. The freezer is full of meals and I spend Sunday afternoon making muesli bars to
sustain me through any late night birthing experience this year decides to throw at me. I cant wait to
be pushed and fill my brain with knowledge, because this journey is 100% worth it.
Christie-Grace Beck -Student at New Zealand College of Midwives
Autumn
By sianh | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
Autumn is harvest time: a season of gratitude and preparation. We gather in the goodness of the
land: berries, nuts, stone fruits, grapes, tomatoes, capsicums, sweet corn and much more. I love to
pick, cut and gather the crops I have grown. It’s so different from buying food at the supermarket!
As I harvest from the garden I feel grateful for what the good earth and my own work have
produced.
Harvest – Photo by Juliet Batten
Autumn marks a change, from the outgoing energy of summer, to a more inward, reflective phase.
From ancient times people have attended to the need to store the bounty of the season so that there
is enough to eat during the lean months of winter. Autumn prepares us for what is to come.
To store food we need methods and containers. In ancient Greece, potters created huge jars called
amphora to hold honey or wine. The Romans used oak barrels for wine to mature in over the months
of darkness. Throughout England, apples were stored in lofts, nestled into layers of bracken. Here in
Aotearoa, Maori used bracken when storing the precious kumara crop in underground pits (rua).
Today we have the option of freezing food, but I prefer to see the harvest: onions and garlic in long
plaited twists from a beam or ceiling, or jars of chutney on a kitchen shelf. My mother taught me
how to cook golden queen peaches, rosy plums or white packham pears and preserve them in jars.
Each year she made red-currant or cranberry jelly, and blackberry jam, all of which seemed to shine
inside their glass walls when the light passed through.
It’s fun to teach children to preserve food. Not only is the result beautiful to see and delicious to
taste, but it also provides a visible reminder of the cycle of life. Those waiting jars teach patience as
we wait until the right moment to pierce the seal and open the sweet treasure inside.
Red Currant Jelly sets on the sill
I like to make seed envelopes with my granddaughter. She draws on the outside of each envelope
and I write the name of the plant whose seeds will be tucked inside. Children can help choose the
best seeds from the strongest plants in the garden: tomatoes, pumpkins, courgettes or capsicums.
The seeds will rest quietly in their envelopes, waiting for spring and planting time.
By harvesting and storing our food in this way, we celebrate autumn and learn to respect and cooperate with the natural cycles.
Collecting seeds – Photo by Juliet Batten
Autumn Festivals:
March 21: Autumn Equinox/Ngahuru
April 30: Last Light/Kiwi Halloween/Haratua
To find out more about Kiwi Halloween, based on the late autumn Celtic festival of Samhain, check
out this Facebook page closer to the time: https://www.facebook.com/pages/KiwiHalloween/141849845885184?fref=ts
For further autumn activities for children and communities, see my book, Celebrating the Southern
Seasons. The revised edition, published by Random House in 1995, includes additional material for
each of the eight seasonal festivals of the year.
The sequel, Dancing with the Seasons, published in 2010, includes further activities as well as
stories for the seasons. Children will enjoy Kikihi and Popokorua (The Cicada and the Ant), on p. 19,
or the original story of Pandora’s jar on p. 26.
Pumpkin face for harvest – photo by Juliet Batten
“I’ve been exploring ways to connect people with their passion for over three decades
now. Some of the pathways I’ve discovered are: creativity, writing books, ritual, seasonal
celebrations, integrating the sacred in daily life, and practising spirited ageing. I love
real books, which can be held in the hand, dipped into, flicked through or studied with
care. I enjoy illustrating the chapter headings and fostering excellent design”
To check out my books, go to www.julietbatten.co.nz
Or my blog www.seasonalinspiration.blogspot.com
© Juliet Batten 2014
What’s on in Autumn?
By admin | Home Birth Matters Issue 1.1 - Autumn 2014
To submit events please email [email protected]