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Natural Birth Workshop in Kwazulunatal, January 2012

The Natural Birth Workshop in Kwazulunatal presented the anatomy and physiology of Birth, addressed the effects of the emotional luggage we carry on our bodies and birth process and guided participants in techniques to manage the strong sensations of birth.

The Travelling Midwife: The Imprints of Medicalized Childbirth

African Women carrying water as well as babies on their backs in South Africa

The early morning frost singed my fingers and toes during feeding time and as the day warmed up, we all thawed out in the midday sun. Safely ensconced at my mother’s Kwazulunatal ‘Horselovers Haven’, I was blissfully spending time in the herd, lying down with my horse in the grass and playing with him while [...]

Siblings at Birth – The Travelling Midwife

Lorenzo and Teano

Today I bumbed into a client whose births I attended a few years ago. Karen happened to be driving past the gate as I stepped out of my Cape Town home. Seven years ago in Cape Town, Karen birthed Teano, her firstborn son,  in hospital and was home a few hours later. Second time around, Karen gave birth [...]

Kangaroo Mother Care in Birth and Early Parenthood – 1

Kangaroo Mother Care was initiated in Bogota, Colombia after a dying newborn premature baby was handed to her mother as a last resort. The mother placed the baby skin to skin on her chest to say her last goodbyes and the little one thrived and survived. Doctors observed the

How the Bowlby Attachment Theory applies to Pregnancy and Birth part 2

It is these kinds of actions that will help us as a society to prevent the loss and despair in the newborn, described by John Bowlby so eloquently, and enable a mother to provide the right kind of interaction and closeness for her baby’s emotional and neurological development. It is out of such actions that mutual co-operation and loving partnerships will grow for our children.