I imagined how through the centuries, African people had been giving birth in their thatch roofed dwellings, now replaced by glistening tin roofs that do not insulate the home from the heat of the strong African sun. Almost akin to the hospitals and clinics where African women now give birth and that do not insulate them from the emotional and physical trauma of medicalized childbirth.
Ane’ wanted to be allowed to walk around, and to eat and drink during labour, She did not want her baby to be separated from her after birth and wanted to experience the the labour and the birth without pain relief.
The second birth is generally easier: the hip joints are more flexible, the body is familiar with the process, the body is now experienced in the release of just the right amount of hormones and chemicals to release and everything usually happens more smoothly and helps to heal any residual trauma felt from the first birth experience
Although my mother gave birth to me at home herself, my training in a large government hospital in Cape Town 40 years ago dissuaded me from ever considering a hospital birth for my own children. As a student midwife I was forever helping the women to the bathroom so they could squat while the medical [...]
Mandy and I attended Quinn’s birth recently, only I arrived just after the baby was born. Earlier that day, Karen had spent the afternoon attending the Aware Parenting Workshop and had mentioned that she was having mild period pains by late afternoon. Robert had been quite nervous about the homebirth experience, but entered into it [...]
