Labour and giving birth elicits our deepest feelings of anxiety and fear when we are not aware and conscious of our motivations. I have learnt that my fears are not always founded on a woman’s particular reality – they are my own personal fears. I have learnt to be calm in the face of ‘roaring tigresses’ and strong when
Category: Birth in South Africa
Pregnancy and childbirth differs in different countries and cultures, these posts are about birth in South Africa.
Why Natural Birth?
I see clients, on a weekly basis, imploring me to help them have a natural birth after one, two and sometimes even three caesarian births. They speak about the nagging sense of loss, the feelings of failure, the terrible pain afterwards, the struggle to hold and feed their babies, the depression that lasts for months. I have women who come to me in Cape Town from as far afield as Limpopo and Namibia, because they have heard that there is a midwife and a doctor in Cape Town who will help them give natural birth. When I ask them why they want natural birth so badly, they tell me various themes.
Mother and Baby Film Festival Cape Town 2011
The first successful Mother and Baby Film Festival was held in Cape Town from the 15th to the 18th February 2011, organised and presented by Ruth Ehrhart and held at the LABIA CINEMA in Cape Town (appropriately)!
Birth in South Africa: Indigenous Traditions
I promised a few months ago to post more on indigenous traditions in South Africa. Well here comes a snippet. It’s a pity western women are so afraid of birth. We hardly believe birth is normal any more and are SO afraid of the pain or anykind of discomfort. We have devised all sorts of gadgets to help us manage our babies, so as to free ourselves from what we perceive as the burden of giving birth and taking care of them.
Becoming a Midwife: My first client
The road to me becoming a midwife was a long and interesting one – every experience taught me lessons about birth, love and the human spirit. My first client helped me to understand the need for concentration, focus and steadiness as a natural birth midwife.
Becoming a Midwife
A lifelong journey to becoming a midwife. The first of many installments on how I became a midwife; the mental, physical and emotional ups and downs and what it means to help a mother to natural birth.
Ode Leanne
Ode Leanne was born at her mum’s house in Cape Town during the exam period of MBA degree finals at Cape Town University. The birth was attended by her father, myself and Lydia my colleague. The lights were dimmed, the atmosphere was calm and the birth was spontaneous and undistubed. Monyl, Ode Leanne’s mum, walked …