by muneera1978 | Feb 24, 2015 | bellydance, birth, pelvis
Watch the pelvic bones of these skeletons and all of the wonderful stretching and movement that takes place during a belly dance. This can be a great fun exercise during pregnancy and there are even some videos for bellydance specific to birth. Â At the very least, listen to some great music and get your hips rocking, your baby will thank you for rocking them into an optimal position to help with an easier...
by muneera1978 | Feb 18, 2015 | babies, birth, videos
I am still fascinated by this process, no matter how often I see it I am reminded of how sacred birth is and how blessed I am by God to witness his glory time and time again…...
by muneera1978 | Feb 16, 2015 | babies, breastfeeding
I love breastfeeding my infant (he’s 4 months old). It brings me an almost zen-like feeling to watch him grow and know that it’s my body nourishing him. Breastfeeding also causes me to slow down, to set my internal clock slower and move to my baby’s rhythm. When I have had to be away from him and I’m only pumping, I always feel like there is something missing. I can get very caught up in whatever I am doing and start going at the adult grown-up pace. This does not jive with the time experience of babies. They are slower and (I believe) experience the passage of time differently than we do. Breastfeeding causes me to slow down and reconnect with my baby at different points during the day. It is my time to check in with him and really feel how he is doing. Does he look like he’s coming down with something, has he been a little grumpy, is he in a happy mood? These are all things that I read by my baby’s cues. I also feel that I am much more intuned with him and all the oxytocin flowing between the two of us I fall in love all over again. 🙂 Studies have been done that show that when mothers and babies stare in each other’s eyes and engage in back and forth communication that both of their brain wave patterns move in synch with one another! (crazy right?) You and your baby are literally in synch with one another…if only we could do that more with teenagers…but I digress. The mother-baby dyad is...
by muneera1978 | Feb 8, 2015 | babies, birth, death, midwifery
The earliest documentation of African midwifery can be found in the book of Exodus I verses; 15-21 dated 1500 BC; … And the King of Egypt spoke to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah. And he said, “When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but it be a daughter, then she shall live”. But the midwives feared God, and did not as the King commanded them, but saved the men children alive. And the King called for the midwives, and said unto them, “Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive”? And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered before the midwives come in unto them.” Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. and it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. *Taken from Sarahn Henderson’s Essay, “The Cauling of Midwife: A historical journey of Midwifery through the hands of midwives of African descent.”* Read More About Shiphrah and...
by muneera1978 | Feb 4, 2015 | Uncategorized
Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labour will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh friend! There is treasure in your heart, it is heavy with child. Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, ‘welcome this pain.’ It opens the dark passage of Grace. ~...
