Twins Skye and Eden were born in the sanctity of the home in Cape Town. Both twins babies emerged in waterbirth and parents Andre and Vivienne are superhuman!
The Homebirth of Twins: Skye and Eden
Category: Homebirth
Is Midwifery a Dying Art?
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
Home Birth: Risk and Safety
Homebirth is safe when the mother is healthy and the risks are low. A hospital is safer for birth when a mother shows signs of ill health and the risks are higher.
What is Physiological Birth?
Physiological birth occurs when a mother is not disturbed during the process of labour and birth. This enables the body to release a cocktail of hormones and neurochemicals that enable and empower the mother and baby to make this major transition from womb to world in the gentlest and most loving possible way.
The Best of Both Worlds: Medicine and Midwifery
Collaborative care between obstetrician, midwives and other health disciplines works best for mother and baby.
Why Homebirth?
Women who give birth at home have fewer interventions and higher satisfaction with the experience. This in turn influences the breastfeeding relationship and their bonding and attachment to their babies. Women who give birth naturally at home also suffer less with postnatal depression.
The Travelling Midwife: Tale of Two Cities
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.