by muneera1978 | Jan 29, 2015 | Uncategorized
by muneera1978 | Jan 28, 2015 | self-love
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by muneera1978 | Jan 26, 2015 | babies, birth, hormones
So, I have been taking some A-mazing classes about birth…really I don’t know where to begin with all the new knowledge that I have acquired on the things that happen to us as women giving birth. We studied the endocrine system this weekend in relation to what happens when a women is pregnant. One of the hormones that is increased is melanin. You now, that stuff that makes brown people, brown :). Well, let’s think about what turns dark in a pregnant women. Typically, she develops a linea negra down the midline of her stomach, her areolas around her nipples darken and sometimes the area around her cheeks and mouth darken into what is commonly referred to as “pregnancy mask” or “the mask of pregnancy”. Let’s now stop for a minute and think about the newborn baby. What do we know about their sight at birth? We know that they can only see bright contrasts. Not really any color. Their most prominent sense, is the sense of smell. Smell is the only one of our senses that is connected directly to the brain, in fact it is directly connected to the limbic system in our brain. The limbic system is one of the oldest parts of our brains and is often referred to as the emotional seat of our brain. In fact, our body will have a physiological response to smell before we even register it on a conscious level! But I digress… So we have this amazing little newborn (not as helpless as we think!) hardwired when they come out and when they are put on mom’s abdomen...
by muneera1978 | Jan 17, 2015 | birth, music
So the title of this post makes it sound like it’s going to be some deep thoughtful post, sorry its not. I just want to talk about a song that I LOVED during my college years although I never set foot in a single bar. After watching this video, I will never hear the song, “Closing Time” by Semisonic the same. I always loved the song even thought I assumed that it was about a bar closing. This video explains that the song was actually about the birth of his son. It makes the line “Time for you to go back to the places you will be from. This room won’t be open till your brothers or your sisters come.” make much more sense in the song! Ha-ha birth is everywhere, even where you least expect it! [youtube...
by muneera1978 | Jan 7, 2015 | birth, death, maternal mortality
Today I am reminded about the faces behind the numbers of the maternal mortality crisis here in America. I talk about the high maternal death rate in this country all the time, but it is different when it is someone you know… A mother of a past student who I kept in contact with, passed away recently from complications after the birth of twins. As I sit and hold my infant son, I think to myself how these two little ones will never know their mother’s touch, her voice…her laugh. Keisha (pseudonym) had a distinctive laugh, it was tooth-full and rich, always accompanied with a hand raise. We connected outside of our parent-teacher roles, as black women in helping fields (she was a social worker), we had a lot in common. She had a calm, easy-going manner unless someone messed with her baby! She did not play, when it came to her only daughter at the time. I know how much she loved her daughter and how much she fought for her daughter to receive the best education possible. So, I know what an amazing mom she would have been to these two babies. There was a 13 year gap between her oldest daughter and these two little ones, I can only imagine how excited she must have been to feel them moving inside her body, rubbing her belly, talking to them… The anticipation she must have felt going into the hospital believing that she would see them soon and get to hold them. This very real person was a mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, aunt, and friend. Her story...
