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. ~...
by muneera1978 | Feb 3, 2015 | babies, birth, hospital birth, vbac
“I won’t let you...” These are the four words that I hate the most in birth work. If your provider starts throwing out this phrase often, then chances are you will not have the birth that you desire… It is YOUR body and YOUR birth. Too often in this society we are taught to blindly accept what we are told by doctors without question. No doctor, midwife, nurse, etc. is the be all end all. Maybe something you want during your birth might not be a good idea or maybe there is something that your provider is not able to do within the limitations of the hospital or birth center. But that should be a discussion between you both-not a blanket statement of what they will/will not allow you to do. With my daughter, I initially sought out another OB to attempt my VBAC. Many OB’s were open to “allowing” me to try a VBAC but they all came with parameters… -“I will only let you go to 38 weeks and then we will induce labor.” -“If I see your second baby is getting bigger than the first, then I will have to do a c-section.” -“You will have to get a sonogram every week after 32 weeks so we can monitor the baby size.” These types of responses are what led me to seeking out a midwife and having my daughter vaginally and un-medicated. My labor with her was so long, I truly think I would have ended up with another c-section in a hospital setting. People forget that they have ownership over their own body. Don’t let someone else...
