We believe that women need to prepare for natural birth in every aspect of their lives, including the spiritual, emotional, mental and physical areas of their being. A woman deserves the right to choose her companions as well as where and how she will give birth to her child. Pregnancy and birth are normal life events for most women.
To this end, interventions should be kept to a minimum wherever possible. A baby who is born gently and welcomed by warm, caring parents receives the best possible start in life. Women who are well prepared in their minds, bodies and spirits can experience birth as a profoundly moving and empowering event - a spiritual birth.
The Cape Town Midwifery and Birth Conference this year has a full, rich and varied programme and is set to shake the midwifery and birthing world in South Africa by its roots and branches, encouraging real transparency and discussion of women’s issues around midwifery and birth. What does it mean, to be a midwife? How flexible should a midwife be to support women’s birthing rights? How safe is it to give birth after multiple caesarians? Continue reading
The prevalent culture in modern society is that of dominion over and control of nature, as well as the domination of groups of people by the other groups of people that hold more power. Similarly women and their bodies are dominated by the cultural paradigm of the time, no less by doctors and midwives in the arena of childbirth. Women and doctors alike are bearers of the culture and in settled agricultural societies it has been expedient for the offspring to be warlike and to be bonded to the prevailing culture of the group, not to nature, the individual or the close family. For this reason, it has been common through centuries for midwives and birth attendants to interfere with and control labour and birth. Continue reading
Vivienne and Andre Du Preez gave birth to twins Skye and Eden at their home in Muizenberg on the 12th April 2014. It was the ecstatic culmination of many years of planning and 9 months of carefully preparing and carrying the twins after they were conceived.
Vivienne always knew she wanted a homebirth and was even more determined after she learnt she was carrying twins, and especially as Vivienne herself had been born at home. Vivienne was super fit during the pregnancy practicing yoga and belly dancing daily in between swimming and long walks on the beach. Headstands were practiced until 34 weeks of the pregnancy. Continue reading
Spiritual Birth is pleased to present a Weekend Training Seminar on Saturday and Sunday the 14th and 15th June 2014. The seminar will cover all aspects of Supporting Physiological Births at Home for childbirth educators, doulas, birth professionals, midwives and mothers interested in learning more about birth. Continue reading
The fact that I have a white skin with freckles is irrelevant. Underneath my skin, my blood is red and I am black despite the fact that I speak English and only one African language. Continue reading
The following was originally posted on Facebook, but received such an overwhelming response that I felt it was worth posting on my website too. Below the original post about midwives’ and doulas’ seemingly different levels of recognition by the public in general, I have included the first couple of hours’ worth of Facebook comments Continue reading
Khanyisa and husband Sabelo were surprised today by how safe and pleasant it was to give birth to Khanyisa’s second child at home, after finding out that the birth unit where they had booked to give birth was full! A homebirth is safe Continue reading