Sacred Birthing's topics - tribe.net

Natural Pregnancy & Childbirthing Class

2008-08-12T05:58:42Z

For all those pregnant mama's out there, I am starting a new session of childbirth education classes beginning this Friday. The calss is taught by a naturopathic physician & covers a vast array of topics of a healthy pregnancy & natural childbirth. If you have any questions or would like to sign up just email me. Take care & congrats!

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birth petition

2008-07-30T21:29:12Z

The AMA wants legislation dictating how and where we give birth. Response:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/birthathome/index.html

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

an alternative to ailing tribe

2008-07-17T04:04:35Z

maybe some of you might want to join my green parent network at ning, since tribe is unreliable these days

www.iamgaia.ning.com

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Co-Creative Birthing

2008-07-08T21:46:59Z

Announcing the Co-Creative Birthing Circle: Online Natural Childbirth Education at the Maia Institute for Co-Creative Healing: http://www.MaiaInstitute.com!

The Co-Creative Birthing Circle features 7 extensive birth class modules, a special Birth Story Library, Birth Humor, and a Discussion Forum. The Birth Circle Deluxe also includes email and phone consultations, essential birth and parenting books, and more.

This is the culmination of 10 years of natural pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting research, study, writing, personal, and professional experience, and 2 months of website design. I am thrilled to be able to now offer conscious birthing education and consultation to parents all over the world with the help of 21st century social technology.

This is Birth Education 2.0!

The Birth Circle also has an Advisory Circle of expert midwives, doctors, childbirth educators, doulas, and mothers who are assisting to co-create exceptional childbirth education in alignment with the Mother-Friendly and Baby-Friendly Childbirth Initiatives by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) and the Lamaze Institute of Normal Births, 6 Care Practices that Support Normal Birth.

Coming this fall, the Co-Creative Birthing Circle Facilitator Training & Sage Femme: Women's Healing Arts Circle, also at the Maia Institute of Co-Creative Healing: http://www.maiainstitute.com

Thanks for checking it out! Please share this information with your pregnant friends!

Why: Because Lamaze reports that attendance in childbirth education classes are dropping rapidly since 2000, and because taking natural childbirth classes significantly increases on chances of a normal birth and positive outcomes for mom and baby. Since more expectant families are looking to the internet for information, and so much of the information out there is innaccurate or hard to find, I have created a comprehensive, multi-media, class online with support from childbirth educators.

Blessings, Kara

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HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education Class in North Oakland

2008-06-03T07:57:37Z

HypnoBirthing: The Mongan Method
A Celebration of Life
HypnoBirthing is a comprehensive childbirth education class focusing on pregnancy and birth that teaches mothers & their birth companions techniques for safe and satisfying birthing through guided imagery, visualization and special breathing. HypnoBirthing is taught in 5 two-and-a-half hour classes.

“My dream is that every woman, everywhere, will know the joy of a safe, satisfying birth for both her baby and herself—one she’ll not need to forget.”
-Marie F. Mongan, 1999

Terra’s Temple
654 Oakland Avenue, North Oakland
Tuesdays June 10th, 17th, 24th, July 1st & 8th
6:30-9:00 pm
With Carrie Flemming, M.A., H.B.C.E.
$250-300 sliding scale
Includes HypnoBirthing book & relaxation/visualization cd
510.907.0075
flemmica@gmail.com
(Private classes also available in your home)

About HypnoBirthing:
The HypnoBirthing Childbirth method is as much a philosophy of birth as it is a technique for achieving a satisfying, relaxing, and stress-free method of birthing. HypnoBirthing teaches you, along with your birthing companion, the Art and Joy of experiencing birth in a more comfortable manner. You will learn to call upon your body’s own natural relaxant and thus lessen or eliminate discomfort and the need for medication. When a woman is properly prepared for childbirth and when mind and body are in harmony, nature is free to function in the same will-designed manner that it does with all other creatures.

You will be fascinated as you view HypnoBirthing films showing laboring mothers, awake, alert and in good humor as they experience the kind of gentle birth that you, too, can know when you are free of the Fear-Tension-Pain Syndrome.

HypnoBirthing teaches you to release all prior programming about birth, how to trust your body and work with it, as well as how to free yourself of harmful emotions that lead to pain-causing fear and unyielding muscles.

HypnoBirthing will teach you the art of using your own natural birthing instincts. With HypnoBirthing, you will be aware and fully in control, but profoundly relaxed.

YOU WILL LEARN:

Everything you need to know to achieve safer, easier and more comfortable birth

To explode the myth that pain is a necessary accompaniment to labor

What’s wrong with labor as it exists with most other childbirth methods

Techniques of deep relaxation to help you eliminate the Fear-Tension-Pain Syndrome

How your body is naturally designed to conceive, nurture and birth your baby with ease and comfort

To create your body’s own natural relaxant, the only safe labor enhancement

Natural ways to bring your body into labor without artificial chemical induction

How you and your birthing companion can create a birthing environment that is calm, serene and joyful, rather than tense and stressful

Gentle birthing techniques that allow you to breathe your baby into the world without the violence of hard physical pushing

To use your natural birthing instincts to birth your baby in a way that most mirrors the way that nature intended

Carrie Flemming is a Certified HypnoBirthing Childbirth Educator, birth doula & visual artist. She studied birth with Elizabeth Davis, Felicia Roche & Marie Mongan, and has supported families in various settings for 6 years. She holds master’s degrees in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University and Women’s Spirituality & Social Change from New College of California, and is affiliated with The HypnoBirthing Institute.
Her support is compassionate, creative & from the heart.
posted by:

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HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education Class in North Oakland

2008-06-03T07:56:18Z

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Pregnant/ Bipolar... St Johns Wart?

2008-04-16T17:17:01Z

Does anyone know anything about treating anxiety/depression durring pregnancy. I have a friend who is 7 + months prego. is diagnosed with Bipolar but can't take anything while she is pregnant. she was told to take atavan for anxiety but is not comfortable doing so... it makes her worry... so she asked me about St. Johns Wart.... I don't know much about this herb.... any information would be helpful!
Thanks Inanna

posted in Sacred Birthing - 6 replies

Support a Family Healing Arts Center!

2008-03-25T22:51:57Z

Hello, please vote for my hoopdancing video "Gemini Hoops" and help me to win $10,000 to fund the creation of a healing arts center!

PLEASE VOTE FOR "GEMINI HOOPS" on CLIPSTAR!

http://www.clipstar.com/videopage.jsf?video=9_7002_159

My intention is to win this contest in order to have the funds to create a Family Healing Arts Center in Eugene, OR with craniosacral therapy, chiropractic, midwifery, and classes for fertility, pregnancy, babies, children, and families. I already have the space and practitioners available. I just need the money to remodel the space, buy furniture, signs, insurance, and the start-up costs. Your vote can help make this family healing space into a beautiful community center!

Thank you! Every vote counts! Feel free to pass this along!

Blessings, Kara

P.S. Voting continues until April 30th. You will need to register to vote, however when you register you can choose not to receive any other emails from this company or others, so your privacy is insured. THANK YOU!!!

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Trusting the Process

2008-02-27T16:55:35Z

So I am in post recovery from a birth yesterday as a Doula. This entire last weekend I have been pondering the birthing process and the journey it is. How we treat it in our world. So here is a the story of the birth....

I had a client begin laboring on Feb 11th and on the 12th was 3cm 60% effaced... She lost her mucous plug and so we all thought soon... I told her to rest, hydrate and eat. She took walks with her mate and looked forward to the day... Well time passed and she would have periods of regular contractions that by bedtime when she was tired would just slide away... By the 22nd after losing two mucous plugs and having bloody show off and on for a week. she began contracting at 1am (Friday) 5 min apart, she rested, ate drank and just hung through them.... This continued through the weekend... intensity building...(baby reactive and doing well through it all)
Monday the 25th 5:30 am I get a phone call that they are pretty intense 2 min. apart... so it's time to go to her home.... We labor at home till I see the dilated pupils and wild look in her eyes, her water had broken 30 minutes before... time to go Transition has arrived... At the hospital she is 7 cm and goes to 10 within 30 minutes... Beautiful chubby baby born 90 min. later... With a thick healthy placenta... Oh and her caregivers honored her plans (push in whatever position, late cord clamping, mother/baby/daddy bare skin contact without time limits, no Vacc or interventions etc...) This in a 90% epidural rate hospital....

OK so my client knows that without me to sound her out and reassure her she would have gone to her caregiver and would have been in the hospital many days before this one... She was being seen by two CNM's and a OB in practice together. She knows she most likely would have ended up on Pitocin and much more had they known about her pattern of labor... I find this sad that "I" was their saving grace from that process.

None of the books that most people read really talk about labor and birth looking like this... So how are mothers to know that what their body is doing is perfectly normal. This woman happened to be highly attuned to her body and baby. More so than most woman, I truly believe that is part of what let her slowly labor her baby out. She labored for hours and hours over the weekend and would sleep when she needed it, her body and adapting to those needs...

She did so much of the work of labor calmly, relaxed, smiling... The intense part was very intense, but also very short in comparison to the whole process... In all this woman and her mate had an experience full of respect and beauty without fear and manipulation.

This is a pattern we need our caregivers and ourselves to honor, that we need to write about and teach... I believe even midwives need to really look at this, and learn to trust and honor the birth process. I see many who fear the process that is not "normal". So what is normal? That is not a simple answer, normal is as different as each individual person is.

This journey I shared in was natural and very normal, not maladaptive... Instead of seeing the normal pattern, most see problems and look for reasons why the baby isn't popping out in the 14 hr medical time plan...Of course back in the 60's normal labor was thought to last as long as 36-38 hrs... In the 80's it was knocked down to 24hrs, we now expect it to last 14 hrs... Have our bodies changed so much?

Tia Rich
AAMI Student Midwife #1940
www.inner-serenity.org

PS... Any who are not registered for the Trust Birth Conference... Rethink whether you can miss this experience. I know even more after this birth that I NEED this conference, I have so much more to learn, and honestly I need the recharge to sit in a room with others who trust and believe in birth....

posted in Sacred Birthing - 4 replies

anybody skip the prenatal vitamins?

2008-02-24T08:54:03Z

doing research to see if i can be okay with a superb diet. saw an article stating that according to the National Academy of Sciences if you do not have any of a few risk factors (eg smoking) you don't need them. also read that the best source of folic acid is raw fruits and veggies, which i plan to eat plenty of. calcium is generally easy in dark leafy greens and some good salts (my himalayin pink has a ton.) i don't see why taking the time to eat really well shouldn't be enough and am a bit wary of vitamins a supplements. wondering what others have thought and done. obviously we don't want to take unnec risks, but my sense for my body is the best way to go is lots of high vibe organic fruits and veggies across the color spectrum, nuts, coconuts, avos, generally a good raw diet. sorry to sound like such a hippy.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 2 replies

doula recommendation in the sf bay area?

2008-02-19T17:06:33Z

i'm expecting this summer & on the quest for a doula here in the sf bay area... hoping to find someone very earthy, soulful, and kind. any recommendations?

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

i love my doula

2008-02-03T06:20:15Z

hiring my doula was the best decision i ever made when was pregnant. she is an amazing and fabulous woman who brought so much to our pregnancy and birth. her presence throughout was invaluable.

i would recommend to any and all pregnant women to find a doula who can support them and their partners throughout the journey.

we had a medical intervention-free birth with a fantastic midwife and great nurses in a hospital on november 30 2007 after 3 hrs 42 min of labor from water breaking to baby's emergence. we were able to keep our baby's placenta and avoid all unnecessary medical procedures. i was able to practice yoga with my doula at least three times a week in her prenatal class for the last four months of my pregnancy including the morning before i went into labor. i have to credit her for her support and encouragment as well as that of my midwives and my "birthing from within" fellow students and our instructors.

birth is sacred and it can be beautiful for everyone involved. we were so blessed to have our doula in our lives and i just have to put in my two cents on the value of doulas in the pregnancy and birth process.

blessings for all in 2008.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 2 replies

Waterbirth International Needs our Help

2008-01-09T03:08:02Z

Please help Barbara Harper keep waterbirth alive

Waterbirth International may close doors. Here is a note from Barbara Harper of Waterbirth International

Barbara Harper wrote:.

I cannot yet imagine a world without the voice and work of Waterbirth
International - we get calls and emails every day from women who need help
convincing one hospital or another to let them labor or birth in water. If
we die - a big part of the movement dies. Waterbirth has shown us all that
women know how to give birth and babies know how to be born. Waterbirth
gave us "hands-off", sit back and let the baby out. I see waterbirth
mentioned on Blogs every single day, not to mention Baby Story on the TV. I
took Waterbirth International to ACOG two years in a row - and was the ONLY
booth showing birth films to obstetricians and especially to student
physicians. There were tears, laughter and outrage - just the thing to stir
up those young crop of doctors. I am finally realizing a life's dream.

But now I am faced with letting this dream go. Perhaps I have done enough.
Perhaps it is time to quit.

About 18 years ago, maybe it was longer, when Mothering Magazine was facing
bankruptcy Peggy did a heartfelt plea asking their readers to consider
ordering a Life-time subscription. I think the subscriptions were $1000 or
$1200, I can't remember now. I do remember that I couldn't imagine not
reading my Mothering. So, I bought two and gave one to my obstetrician's
office.

How can you help us stay open to take the next phone call? - to convince the
next obstetrician to incorporate waterbirth into his/her practice - to work
with the nurse midwives to install pools in their facilities? To educate an
entire hospital on the benefits of allowing women freedom of movement in the
water. How much is it worth to see waterbirth become the norm in the US,
like it is in the UK? I think we only need a few more years to make that
happen. Do women really want waterbirth to be an available choice in every
hospital? I think so.

Can you help us by getting the word out on blogs and lists? I had to let go
of all of the staff except one person to process orders. Miraculously, we
made payroll today, but we can't hang on much longer. We need a miracle.

If I need to call every single waterbirth parent personally, I will. I
don't want 25 years of work to end over a measly $200,000.

The work that we have done the last few years has been phenomenal. How God
arranged for me to teach in hospitals and medical schools around the planet
- Taiwan, Venezuela, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, Holland, Portugal, China,
Trinidad, Croatia - I'll never figure that out. I laugh out loud sometimes
when I get up in front of an audience of physicians in a medical school
overseas - who all want to hear about waterbirth and the incorporation of
Gentle Birth practices and principles into their routines.

Think about what you can do and call me if you want to chat or if you have
some great ideas on how we can quickly move into the black and keep
waterbirth alive and thriving.

We need your help. Barbara Harper needs your help. The waterbirth/gentle
birth movement needs your help.

Blessings,
Barbara
Barbara Harper, RN, CLD, CCE
Founder/Director
Waterbirth International
www.waterbirth.org
503-673-0026 -office (out of US or in Portland)
800-641-2229 - toll free
503-710-7975 - cell phone

We LOVE helping women get into Hot Water!!
And have been doing it for 24 years!!

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

Birth Arts Doula Workshop in Maui

2007-11-13T21:24:10Z

BIRTH ARTS INTERNATIONAL DOULA WORKSHOP
Kahului, Maui, Hawaii
February 8, 9, 10, 2007

http://www.maiahealingarts.com/birth-arts-doula-maui/

Join us for a weekend educational immersion into the science and spirit of labor support. Learn how to provide support for women and babies through pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum.

The training includes an three days of class, extensive workbook, and on-going mentoring through didactic work to complete the program and receive certification as a Certified Birth Arts Doula.

Birth Arts offers a complete birth doula training integrating evidence-based maternity care research with traditional women’s wisdom and intuition.

The workshop includes hands-on experiential practice in bodywork, rebozo, labor support techniques, and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief. We will go into detail about the practice of supporting women at birth at home, birth center, and hospital environments.
with Kara Spencer, LMT, CD

Location:
The workshop will be held in the private residence of the workshop's Maui hostess in Kahului, Maui, Hawaii.

Individuals are responsible for their own lodging and transportation. The workshop location is 15 minutes from the airport, and close by to hostels and hotels.

Time and Dates:
Friday, February 8th, 1-6pm
Saturday, February 9th, 9am-6pm
Sunday, February 10th, 9am-6pm

For REGISTERATION & questions:
Contact: Kara Spencer, LMT, CD, CBE - kara@birtharts.com, 514-520-0681

For more information go to Birth Arts International ~ www.birtharts.com

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Birth Arts Doula Workshop at Harbin Hot Springs

2007-10-14T02:47:30Z

BIRTH ARTS INTERNATIONAL
DOULA WORKSHOP

at Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown, CA
October 19th-21st, 2007

To Register and for more info: www.maiahealingarts.com/harbin...oct-07/

Join us for a weekend educational immersion into the science and spirit of labor support. Learn how to provide support for women and babies through pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum.

The training includes an three days of class, extensive workbook, and on-going mentoring through didactic work to complete the program and receive certification as a Certified Birth Arts Doula.

Birth Arts offers a complete birth doula training integrating evidence-based maternity care research with traditional women’s wisdom and intuition. The workshop includes hands-on experiential practice in bodywork, rebozo, labor support techniques, and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief. We will go into detail about the practice of supporting women at birth at home, birth center, and hospital environments.

with Kara Spencer, LMT, CD
Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA
October 19-21, 2007

Kara Spencer - Maia Healing Arts: www.maiahealingarts.com
Birth Arts International ~ www.birtharts.com
Harbin Hot Springs Retreat Center - www.harbin.org

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Conscious Birthing Affirmations

2007-08-24T07:31:31Z

Check out the Conscious Birthing Affirmations video to assist in gaining confidence in trusting pregnancy, labor, and birth, and listening to your intuition and inner guidance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZybml4TTeo

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Sacred Birthing Workshops on Maui in September

2007-08-24T07:27:22Z

Sacred Birthing: Co-creating Birth with Nature & Spirit

September 14-19, 2007 Maui, Hawaii

www.sacredbirthing.com

We are all to be “Baby Whisperers”. We are each intuitive already. What would it mean to your families if you could listen to the needs of the unborn, & understand what this fetus needs so it may be addressed and not manifest into emotional patterns? What if you could pacify the fears of this newborn, or know why this baby is not able to be comforted?

Our teacher is nature herself, for when we are asking birth to be our teacher, we interface with nature, the only one who holds birth's wholeness. Nature is our bridge to birth. We will build on what was learned in the last birthshop, and learn to merge with nature in order to see and hear subtle layers.

In this Birthshop, you will be shown that what you are getting is absolutely trustworthy. Knowing you are receiving your own right answers allows you to stop doubting, and accelerates your inner hearing, sight and intuition to your next level. It reveals your own symbology, and gives you enough fun practice with these tools to be proficient by the end of the week. Please join in this co-creation with us.

It is preferable that you have completed the Awareness in Sacred Birthing or Foundations in Sacred Birthing workshop prior to undertaking this workshop. This is the second Birthshop in the series toward Certification for teaching Sacred Birthing.

There will be a pre-workshop from September 12-14 for those who have not attended a level one birthshop and would like to get into the level two birthshop from September 14-19.

* Tuition cost Pre-workshop 2 days : us $150
* Tuition cost Birthshop 5 days : us $400
* Food & Lodging ~ 5 days $600 / 7days $740)

** please note these prices are an indication only as cost dependant upon type of accommodation required. For venue information

Location: Hale Akua Shangri-la www.halehakuashangri-la.com
Registration

To reserve your space in this birthshop either please send a non-refundable $150 deposit made payable to Sacred Birthing Foundation P.O. Box 790298 Paia, Hawaii 96779 USA

All Birthshop fees to be received in full please by the 5th September 2007.

Please click on the hotlink below the picture for a full description. You will need to come back to this page to register for the seminar by using the " PayPal Payments" button below. Please click for more information on rooms, locality and amenities.

For more information regarding the birthshop please contact:Anastacia

Email healingbirth@juno.com ot telPacific Coast Time: 425-228-8555

www.sacredbirthing.com

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free and easy way to help homeless children

2007-08-02T21:46:38Z

www.railwaychildren-friends.com/email.asp

place this web search-engine in place of your old one and raise 10p per search

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Don't Push Your Baby Out!

2007-07-24T09:05:38Z

Don't Push Your Baby Out!

Don't push! The pushing stage of birth is coached in most hospitals and involves the attendants telling the birthing woman when her cervix is fully open (dilated) and encouraging her to give long, strong pushes with each contraction.

Previous research shows that coached pushing does not improve the short-term outcome for mothers and babies, except when the baby needs to be born as soon as possible.

This study, conducted by Schaffer and colleagues at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, May 2005, randomized 325 women giving birth to coached or uncoached pushing.

Three months later, they measured the pelvic floor and bladder function of 128 of these new mothers.1

Results Showed:

Women in the coached group had decreased bladder capacity and less urge to empty their bladder. They were more likely to have an overactive bladder muscle, and to have stress incontinence, on testing.

Researchers commented, "With uncoached pushing, bearing down does not occur until uterine contractions are well established and the urge to push is present. There are normally several short bearing down efforts per contraction with breath holding for 5 to 6 seconds."

In contrast, "In coached pushing, the mother is alerted to begin pushing as soon as a contraction is noted, and she is encouraged to push for 10 seconds, take a deep breath, and push again. Coached pushing could potentially increase the amount of pressure on the pelvic floor with subsequent deleterious effects."

American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology May 2005; 192(5): 1692-6.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Guest Comment by Sarah J. Buckley, MD:

Birth attendants have suspected, for many years, that damage to the pelvic floor is worse during a medically-managed birth. These same researchers have also shown that use of forceps, pitocin, and episiotomy also increase the likelihood of pelvic floor damage.2 Now we are getting evidence that coaching the woman to push against her instincts may also be harmful.

These results support the ideas of UK obstetrician Constance Beynon, who studied women's natural pushing during birth in the 1950s. She concluded, "... an entirely spontaneous second [pushing] stage is the ideal mode of delivery ..."3

Her theory, supported by this study, is that the early part of the contraction acts to pull the woman's tissues tight, which protects her when she starts to push. The baby can then descend without damage as the woman pushes during the second part of her contraction.

Coached pushing also involves breath-holding (so-called 'purple pushing'), which is very tiring and can increase the chances of tearing. Purple pushing can also reduce the oxygen levels in mother and baby at this critical time.

Note that the mothers in this U.S. study were all lying on a bed, which is not a position that birthing women will naturally adopt. Lying down (or even being propped up) makes birth harder by immobilizing the sacrum, reducing the diameter of the birth outlet, and disallowing gravity to help the baby to come down.

Many doctors are now advocating a cesarean to avoid pelvic floor damage, although this benefit does not seem to persist in the long-term.4 Cesareans carry other risks for mothers and babies, including:

More newborn health problems, higher risk of maternal death and life-threatening problems in subsequent pregnancies, including placenta previa, placental abruption, placenta accreta, unexplained stillbirth, and postpartum hysterectomy for catastrophic bleeding.5

There are many other reasons why cesareans are not the best option.

This study adds more useful information for women who want to give birth normally and also care for their pelvic floor.

References:

1. Schaffer JI, et al. A randomized trial of the effects of coached vs uncoached maternal pushing during the second stage of labor on postpartum pelvic floor structure and function. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005;192(5):1692-6.

2. Casey BM, et al. Obstetric antecedents for postpartum pelvic floor dysfunction. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005;192(5):1655-62.

3. Beynon CL. The normal second stage of labour; a plea for reform in its conduct. J Obstet Gynaecol Br Emp 1957;64(6):815-20.

4. McKinnie V, et al. The effect of pregnancy and mode of delivery on the prevalence of urinary and fecal incontinence. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2005;193(2):512-7; discussion 517-8.

5. Buckley SJ. Caesareans- the facts. In: Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering: The wisdom and science of gentle choices in pregnancy, birth and parenting. (In press) Brisbane: One Moon Press, 2005.www.sarahjbuckley.com

For more about protecting the pelvic floor during birth, see the maternitywise Web site.

Sarah J. Buckley, MD is a writer on pregnancy, birth and parenting.

http://www.mercola.com/2005/nov/3/dont_push_your_baby_out.htm

Related Articles:

Good News for Natural Birth

Eight Ways to Increase the Safety and Comfort of Childbirth

Learn Why Having a Baby Naturally is Best

Helping Hands Connection is sponsored by Ancient Art Midwifery Institute.
We pioneered distance learning for midwives in 1981.
http://www.ancientartmidwifery.com
http://www.trustbirth.com
Subscribe to access@ancientartmidwifery.com for AAMI updates and interesting info.
Subscribe to freequizsubscription@ancientartmidwifery.com
http://www.birthknowledge.com for more free quizzes.
http://projectbabyblanket.org
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS

Visit your group "HelpingHandsConnection" on the web.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 8 replies

Cytotec Kills!! Do Not Use to induce

2007-07-24T08:58:54Z

Tatia Oden French of Oakland, CA died along with her baby just 10 hours after given Cytotec by her doctor to induce labor at 42 weeks.In Her Story:
Dec. 2001, Tatia Oden French entered a well-known and well-respected hospital to deliver her first child. She was 32 years old, in perfect health, and looking forward to a natural, unassisted childbirth. There were no problems during the pregnancy. According to her doctor's calculations, she was a little under 2 weeks overdue. She was given the drug Cytotec to induce her labor. Cytotec, also known as Misoprostol, is a drug manufactured to treat ulcers. It is NOT approved by the FDA, or the drug company, to induce labor. Ten hours after being administered Cytotec, Tatia suffered hyper-stimulation of her uterus, an amniotic fluid embolism (AEF) was released, an emergency C-Section was performed because the baby was also in distress. Both Tatia and her baby Zorah died in the operating room.

Here are the basics, many of you know this;

Cytotec a quick guide(From the Natural Birth Institute)

ß Misoprostol, the generic name
ß Introduced in 1988
ß Approved by the Food & Drug Administration for treating peptic ulcers only
ß Not approved by the FDA to be used on pregnant women.
ß Not approved to induce or augment labor.
ß Known to soften cervix & cause uterine contractions that are more frequent & powerful than normal labor.
ß Using for cervical ripening is outside of its FDA approved indication.
ß A dose cost only pennies
ß Known to cause abortions, causes the uterus to expel its contents
ß Manufactured by Searle Corporation.
ß Searle does not support the use of its drug in pregnant women
ß Searle’s Medical Director, Cullen M.D. wrote a letter to the Medical community in 2000 explicitly warning against the use of their drug Cytotec in pregnant women. The letter was sent to 200,000 health care providers
ß The letter states “serious adverse events reported following off-label use Cytotec in pregnant women include (& not limited to) Maternal death, uterine rupture, need for hysterectomy, severe vaginal bleeding, retained placenta, shock, fetal bradycardia ( abnormally slow heart beat)
ß Searle has not conducted research concerning the use of Cytotec for cervical ripening
ß Off Label privilege gives physicians & surgeons the right to prescribe drugs/ procedures outside of its FDA approved indication

To learn more

• Tatia.org Web Home for the Tatia Oden Foundation
• Mother Jones.com search “Forced Labor” by David Goodman or www.sciencebasebirthbirth.com/safet...st.htm to retrieve article.
• ICAN-online.org International Caesarean Awareness Network search Cytotec
• www.naturalbirthinstitue

Earth C. Lande, Director
The Natural Birth Institute - Transforming how you see birth.
S.F.,CA

NBI is fiercely committed to preserving the art of birthing naturally. The preservation of natural, unadulterated childbirth is essential to the well being of humankind as well as the ecological health of our planet.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 4 replies

fromone of my all time favorite spiritual books...messengers

2007-07-18T00:26:58Z

someone in our on-line dream group who dreamt to "malachite" requested
that I quote from this, so here it is. one of my favorite spiritual
books for about 30 years....

I'm going to quote from "Honey from the Rock:
Visions of Jewish Mystical Renewal" by Lawrence Kushner, harper and
Row, New York 1977i. my copy is tattered and has seen me through a lot
of changes in spiritual perspective.

one note: I didn't know the phrase, Malachey Elyon, until I was an
adult though I attended a Reform Jewish religious school for several
years, and studied traditional Hebrew with an aspiration, at one point
in my childhood, of being a rabbi there is a song that is sung o
welcome the angels (malacheim) of the Sabbath just after the lighting
of the candles..but my family was not an observant or religious one
and Reform Jews tend to downplay anything as mysticl as welcoming
angels as messengers of peace, messengers of the Holy Day, messengers of
the Most High. I think they threw out the baby and kept the
bathwater, myself....though I'm basically non-speculative spiritually
as a middle aged adult.

I;ve taken the liberty of correcting some of the male-centered
language in the original text, because within about 5 years of the
publication of this book, Rabi Kushner's congregation in Massachusetts
switched to one of the first gender-free liturgies in a Jewish
synagogue in the US. I'm far from a scholar of Hebrew...barely read it
any more. but I follow the lead of some of my more Hebrew-literate
colleagues who have taken up the challenge and joy of changing the
traditional Hebrew prayers into feminine gender...that much the easier
in my native tongue. I've also played just a little with some of
Kushner's telegraphic use of phrases, and added some punctuation
according to MY understanding of what reads more smoothly in prose...

so, edited lightly with the passage of time...

The Fifth Gate: Malachei Elyon Messengers of the Most High

"and he said, ' Why do you ask my name?' "

The Hebrew word for angel is "malach." Which also means messenger:
one who is sent.

Not cherubic creatures who adorn architecture, valentines, and
fantasy. They can be anyone who has been sent. Just as anyone who is
sent can be an angel. It is required only that there be an errand.
One message.

...There is one great difference between people chosen to be God's
messengers, and earthly messengers. While those on errands of this
world almost always know where they are sent and why, people chosen to
be messengers of the Most High rarely even know that they are
messengers. Unsuspecting and unaware, consumed by their own plans and
itineraries. Busy on their own schemes, God is already sending them
somewhere else.

I do not know how many times in one's life one is also a messenger.
But for everyone it is at least once. One to whom it is given to know
that their errand is complete is blessed and rare. Not so for most of
us.

Remember only that you are not always going where you are going for
the reasons you think you are.

....There must have been a time when you entered a room and met
someone, and after a while you understood that, unknown to either of
you, there wa a reason that you had met. You had changed the other or
he had changed you. By some word of deed, or just by your presence,
the errand had been completed. The, perhaps, you were a little
bewildered or humbled or grateful. And it was over.

Each lifetime is the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
For some, there are more pieces.
For others, the puzzle is more difficult to assemble.

Some seems to be born wih a enaqrly completed puzzle.
And so it goes.
Souls going this way and tat.
Trying to assemble the myriad parts.

But know this. No one has within themselves
All the pieces to their puzzles.
Like before the days when they used to seal
jigsaw puzzles in cellophane.
All the pieces were there.

Everyone carries with them at least one and probably
Many pieces to someone else's puzzle.
Sometimes they know it.
Sometimes they don't.

And when you present your piece
Which is worthless to you
To another, whether they (or you) know it or not,
You are a messenger from the Most High.

...The Zohar is even more explicit [than Genesis regarding how God
appears to us mortals...ed.]"and indeed whenever the celestial spirits
descend to earth, they clothe themselves in physical things and
appear to be people in human shape."

...I happen to have an idiosyncrasy when it comes to tefillin, the
small black leather boxes containing bits of parchment on which are
written passages from the Torah. When I travel, I carry my tefillin with
me. I tell myself that just in case the spirit should move me, or if
should feel spiritually weakened, I would have them with me...aftr
many trips I still hadn't put them on but a few times. nevertheless, I
still carry them with me....

then the other day, a dear friend told me that his mother had given
away his set of tefillin. there were tears inhis eyes.

Ad then I understood..they weren't mine. I was only bringing them to
their intended owner. "They must be yours," I said.

****** hope some of this speaks to everyone who reads it; I find new
levels of meaning in this book every time something brings me to it.

Judith

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Birth Arts Doula Training at Lost Valley, Oregon - Aug 24-26

2007-07-17T08:30:55Z

Birth Arts International Doula Training
at Lost Valley Educational Center, Dexter, OR (near Eugene)
August 24-26, 2007
www.birtharts.com

For more information see: http://www.maiahealingarts.com/lost-valley-oregon-august/
or contact Kara at 541-520-0681

Join us at Lost Valley for a weekend educational immersion into the science and spirit of labor support. Learn how to provide support for women and babies through pregnancy, labor, birth, and immediate postpartum.

The training includes a weekend workshop, lodging (dorm or camping), meals, an extensive workbook, and on-going mentoring through didactic work to complete the program and receive certification as a Certified Birth Arts Doula.

Birth Arts offers a complete birth doula training integrating evidence-based maternity care research with traditional women’s wisdom and intuition. The workshop includes hands-on experiential practice in bodywork, rebozo, labor support techniques, and non-pharmacological methods of pain relief. We will go into detail about the practice of supporting women at birth at home, birth center, and hospital environments.

Instructors:

Kara Maia Spencer, LMT , CD, CBE

Tuition: $350

Food & Lodging: $130 - dormitory lodging, $70 - camping in your own tent
includes delicious vegetarian meals from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch

For registration or inquiries contact:

Kara at 541-520-0681 or email kara@birtharts.com

Mail your registration form and tuition to: Kara Spencer, 2833 Willamette St, Suite B, Eugene, OR 97405

About Lost Valley Educational Center:

Lost Valley, www.lostvalley.org, is a permaculture school, intentional community, and workshop retreat center. Situated just 25 minutes east of Eugene, OR on a beautiful reserve of land, there are hiking trails, a creek with a swimming hole in the summer, and guided nature trails.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Birth Arts International Doula Workshops

2007-06-22T08:34:49Z

Upcoming Birth Arts Workshops in Vermont, Oregon, Texas, and California!
www.birtharts.com

Birth, Postpartum, and Advanced Doula Trainings integrating wise women traditions with evidence-based research.

Birth Arts Postpartum Workshop
Bennington, VT - July 28th-29th
contact: Helena Wu at helena@birtharts.com / 802-235-1512

Birth Arts Advanced Workshop - Vibrational Medicine for Birth
Chester, VT - August 25th-26th
contact: Helena Wu at helena@birtharts.com / 802-235-1512

Birth Arts Labor Doula Workshop
Lost Valley Center, Dexter, OR - August 24th-26th
contact: Kara Spencer at kara@birtharts.com / 541-520-0681
www.maiahealingarts.com/doula-training/

Birth Arts Labor Doula Workshop
Alma De Mujer, Austin, TX - August 24th-26th
contact: Patricia Couch at patricia@birtharts.com / 541-556-8415
www.pattycakebirthingservices.com/b...x/

Birth Arts Labor Doula Workshop
Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA - October 19th-21st
contact: Kara Spencer at kara@birtharts.com / 541-520-0681
www.maiahealingarts.com/harbin...oct-07/

More dates coming soon. Contact demetria@birtharts.com if you are interested in hosting a class in your area or for interest in distance learning programs.

Birth Arts International
www.birtharts.com

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Reunited with the Santa Cruz Birth Book

2007-05-22T02:44:15Z

just got a beautiful blast from the past. last year I got in touch
with my dear friend from when we were the youngest, skinniest, and
most countercultural kids in our class at junior high in Hollywood.
turns out we have lived very parallel lives in many ways in spite of
being temperamentally very different people. she went to college in
SAnta Cruz and stayed on there for a long time...now living in
Oregon but planning to relocate to Sebastopol, where her mother and
brother live, in the next year.

anyway, she was in the midwifery world for many eyars, then got into
doing eldercare, and last year told me that she'd thinned out her
library and sent many of her old midwifery books to the bookseller.
and she'd kept the Birth Book by Raven lang and all from the Santa
Cruz midwifery collective in the early 70s. (this was the third of
the early books on natural home birth in the 70s renaissance of
same...Jeannine credited it as an inspiration in Prenatal Yoga.

so I has told Tasha she was wise to hang on to Birth Book, that it;s
very rare and a colelctors' item that often sells for a hundred
dollars (a really trashed one was about $50 on alibris.com lately).
and that my ciopy had disappeared from a box of my stuff when I ahd
it stored in an attic and was living in Central America in the late
70s...
well, today I took a day off work to try to get caught up on
laundry, get straight with the post office where my packages have
been in no-person's land for reasons that aren;t entirely clear,
etc. I went up to the window earlier this morning adn they had
about 5 or 6 packages of various sizes for me, including the
chemistry book I needed for my class weeks ago.

and there was a package from Tasha saying, "This seemed right to
come live with you, hope you enjoy, love," with her copy of the
Birth Book!

what a generous thing for her to do. I haven;t seen the book in
maybe 20 years? I burst into tears. remembered a lot of it, had
forgotten some, amazing to see how much we've learned since and also
how little some things have changed, the idealism and courage of
those young families...

anyway, if you have an opportunity to review this classic, DO.

much love, Judith

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

on cloth menstrual pads

2007-05-04T21:47:37Z

I wrote the following as a response to Ashley reed of Reddys reusable menstrual products, on how using cloth pads changed my relationship to my cycle.

hope that it stimulates some thought on the topic...Judith

here goes.....Judith

hi Ashley...I'd love to read your paper in any form when it's ready,
no pun immediately intended. I'd also like to read the proceedings
of this conference if they are available. I'm very busy at present
(about to start an intensive science course of study in rpeparation
for naturopathic medical school in 2008)

I try to stay well-informed in the field
of natural health promotion, especially as to alternatives in
reproductive health. I moderate a few discussions on the Inbternet
related to these tothese topics, and will forward, under separate e-
mail cover, some of the interesting conversations we have had,
especailly about adolescent girls and introducing them to
reusables. (my guess is that children who were
raised my mothers who use washable diapers for their children and
washable pads for their menstruation comfortably will have a much
more natural,if you will, transition to the use of cloth pads
themselves...my own daughter
is 12 and a half, on the "later" end of the sprectrum in terms of
secondary sexual development, and I've been thinking of ways to make
it easy for her
to just grab a cloth pad when she needs one, the way I do.)

see if the following thoughts are of any help to you in formulating a
presentation. I'd be really happy to receive a new lunar calendar,
or any
other "perks" that may be included...a brief acknowledgement in your
paper if you use any of my contribution would be fine, actually (i'm
a trainedsocial scientist and like being a collaborator in this way)

it's been so many years since I used any disposable menstrual
products,
except in "emergency" situations (e.g., period starts early at a
county fair and I have no supplies, thus get a pad from first aid
booth until I can get back to my car and find a suitable rag)that
it's hard to say whether any changes such as how my flow feels or
how much I enjoy it are due to using cloth pads. I honestly can't
imagine "enjoying" my moontime without some form of confortable,
washable pad.

I'm 50 and still having regular, apparently ovulatory cycles, though
they have shortened a bit in the last year or two. my cycles only
became anything even close to predictable and regular after having a
baby naturally at
age
38. (not the usual pattern...even with extended, on-demand, and
unsupplemented breastfeeding and no separation from my baby, I
started
having regular periods at 8 weeks postpartum! apparently conceiving
and
birthing and nursing my baby naturally "showed" my body how to act
like
a
fertile woman...that's the only explanation I can make.)

using cloth pads, as I had done for many years in the past, just
seemed themost logical extension of the low-environmental-impact,
high-attention-to-personal-and-plaentary-health ways I cared for
myself and my baby. when I
was in my late teens and early twenties, I used natural sponges as
tampon
substitutes, for the same environmental and personal reasons that I
now
use
cloth pads. the "toxic shock" stories had not yet broken, and I
liked
the
closeness to my cycle that rinsing and caring for the sponges gave
me,
but
eventually I became concerned that sponges, too, might absorb more
fluid
than was necessary, could abrade the lning of my vagina or cervix,
etc.
I
also used a diaphragm, of the birth-control type, to collect
menstrual
flow
for a while, and also liked the contact with my menstrual flow and
low
environmental impact it involved...and I can't say I ever had
problems
with
this, but honestly with all the growing atention paid to latex
allergy,
I
felt it safest to go back to external cloth pads isntead of any of
these.

Seeing that cloth diapers were not such a big deal in terms of
hassle made it REALLY easy to transition to the exclusive use of
washable cloth menstrual pads. I was washing plenty of cotton
anyway...a folded piece of
flannel a few times a day,m a few days a month really isn't much
compared
with two or three years of several diapers a day on average (not to
mention
the twenty to thirty wet diapers a "leaky" newborn can give you for
several
months!!!)

I feel good about not adding to the cradle-to-grave parade of toxic
pollution thatdisposable products necessarily entail. I've worked for
environmental information agencies, and know that the production of
disposable paper-based, or even cotton-based, products involved
numerous
questionable environmental practices, and that their eventual
disposal
is
worse, and that along the way, it is our bodies that are exposed to
the
bleaches, finishes, pesticide residues, and other potentially
hazardous
aspects of these products. I know women who say that their
endometriosis
improved greatly after switching away from disposable menstrual
products,
which makes total sense to me. Additionally, I have talked to many
plumbers who note all the flushed tampons, panty liners, pads, baby
wipes,etc that are part of their daily life as the cleaners of
clogged
sewage lines. every person who chooses to cut down on the amount of
treated
paper goods she or he throws into our water suppply is making for a
somewhat easier time not just for all species on the planet, but for
the
workers among them who clean up after our daily necessities of
elimination.

I'm a person who believes in worker safety, low-cost preventive
ehalth
for
all, and the preservation of speciaes in the best health possible.
as
I
near the last of my menstrual eyars, I can't imagine any other way
to
honor
my cycle than by using simple, comfortable, washable menstrual
pads.
I'm
not highoy inclined toward formal ritual as spiritual practice; I
don;t
plan on having a "Croning" ceremony for myself or a "Mooning"
ceremony
for
my daughter. SO, the best way we can honor the spiritual side of our
cyclic fertlity, in our home, is to choose to use cloth pads that are
compatible with our intellectual and spiritual beliefs about caring
for
the
ewarth and for ourown ehalth, and respecting ourselves as females
rather
than being angry at this beautiful expression of our cyclic
fertility.

thanks for reading and again, I hope this is useful to you...

Judith Gips

PO Box 14231
Berkeley CA 94712

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Sacred Birthing Workshop in Seattle

2007-03-21T22:09:23Z

Empowering the Sacred Vision

We all know deep inside how sacred and empowering birth is. Our
highest knowing originally pulled us to serve in birth and our heart
sings when birth happens in this way. But many births have not
matched our vision and over time we compromise our practice and
ourselves, become discouraged, loose our passion and wonder why we
burn out.

This 5-day `birthshop' is a profound renewal of The Sacred Vision,
and the steps
to make it a reality for your practice. How do we step fully into
this ancient wisdom, that on some level we know so well? To best
support this Great Mystery we will open to a partnership with
birth's unseen helpers. Tools of sacred midwifery will be taught to
reseed our trust in the supreme nature of birth, and help retain the
innate and vast consciousness of the newborn. Tools for inner
balance will also be taught, since our own clearing is fundamental
to our work in birth. Then we allow and support each baby and each
birth's uniqueness.

This birthshop is for all lovers of birth. It encourages us to
remember and reawaken our own sacred paradigm of birth. To restore
birth's integrity and your passion in your practice, please join
us. This is the first of 3 birthshops toward certification for
teaching Sacred Birthing.

When: July 25 - 29, 2007.

Where: Talaris Center, Seattle

Price: $690. $150. deposit

Contact: Anastacia -(425) 228-8555

For on-line registration: www.sacredbirthing.com

Sunni Karll is a home birth midwife, and the author of Sacred
Birthing,Birthing A New Humanity. Following her Sacred Vision, she
inspires change in birth by helping others step into their true
vision. A birth therapist since 1988, Sunni guides international
birthshops to help heal birth. She has an intimate understanding of
birth trauma and the impact of birth on an entire life. She is a
grandmother of three and lives in Maui,Hawaii.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

CIMS forum march 07

2007-01-27T13:55:38Z

CIMS proudly invites the national and international community to participate in this dynamic event.

The 2007 CIMS Mother-Friendly Childbirth Forum will feature the debut of Coalition for Improving Maternity Services: Evidence Basis for the Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care. The result of a precedent-setting research project, the review and guidelines summarize the findings of 15 years of international evidence on all aspects of Mother-Friendly care and provides professionals, advocacy groups, policy makers, and families alike with a powerful, new resource for improving the care of mothers and babies.

The CIMS Forum brings together research experts, professionals, advocates, and consumers of maternity care from the U.S. and abroad to learn and work side by side for three energizing days of collaborative education, networking, problem solving and sharing. Attendees will benefit both from formal presentations by leaders in the field, and from participation in workgroups of their choice addressing issues facing childbearing women and their families today. Attendees will gather a wealth of information, to bring home to their own practices, workplaces and communities while gaining inspiration and making and renewing connections with those who share a common interest in the health and well-being of mothers and babies.

visit the site to register and know their work

http://www.motherfriendly.org/

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Birth Ecology Tribe

2007-01-23T00:21:42Z

Hi there!

You are invited to join the new Birth Ecology Tribe at http://tribes.tribe.net/birthecology - it's a satellite discussion tribe for the Birth Ecology Project at www.birthecology.org

Be well, Kara

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

GM-Soy linked to high fetal death rate in rats!

2007-01-19T20:56:20Z

In a study released in October 2006 by Russian scientists, pregnant and lactating rats fed GM-soy had over 50% of their babies die by 3 weeks old! The surviving offspring were 1/2 the size of the same-age rat babies from moms who ate normal soy.

http://birthecology.squarespace.com/journal/2007/1/19/organic-for-life.html

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Doula Trainings

2007-01-11T01:26:43Z

Birth Arts Doula Training
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2007
Time: 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Price: $350.00
Presenter: Demetria Clark
To Register: Contact HEAVEN www.heaven-nbpt.com or call 978-462-5454

What does the workshop include?
Complete doula training. We will cover pregnancy support, labor support techniques, holistic health, anatomy, psychological care in birth and so much more. You will learn what it takes to support all kinds of women. You will also get a chance to explore your beliefs about birth and doula work.

Support techniques, like massage, aromatherapy, flower essences, rebozo, visualization and so much more are taught to students. Students will also learn about breastfeeding, mother care and birth in various birth settings.
Birth Arts Course Manual– This manual covers all of the class room work. This manual is over 350 pages.

What does Birth Arts Offer that is so special?
We like to think that Birth Arts is offering students didactic, experiential, and diverse educational experience. We offer students an opportunity to experience education in a deeply personalized and specialized manner. Our educational approach is unique in the doula world and we want to share this with you. When receiving an education from Birth Arts expect to be challenged heart, mind and spirit. We work with students exploring issues that affect birth, affect, education and practice style and hope to train doulas who are comfortable with their role in the doula world.

Please include for info go to www.birtharts.com

The price includes two days of training, Sat. Jan. 27th and Sun. Jan. 28th, continued mentorship, extensive student support and the price is all inclusive, no hidden fees.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

New message from Sunni Karll SB Birthshop #2

2007-01-11T01:24:45Z

Dear Sisters,

Hi! Such a huge hug I have for you all! It's been way too long
since I wrote and for that I apologize. I am just back on my
computer after a major crash and needing everything to be
reinstalled. Because my screen was starting to do funny things -
like blink, I had asked a computer man in Kaikoura to copy my
address book and data, and when I got home and the computer crashed,
I thought what I needed was saved, and it was not. My email
address-book disappeared into cyberspace, and I no longer have
addresses from the last 3 years -- the major years of building
Sacred Birthing Foundation. So, I write you all through this
Sacred Birthing web page / Yahoo mode, since no addresses exist.

I had not been listening to my guidance, who, since last January,
said, "We want you to write!" Instead, I continued to answer
emails. Maybe I could have put this out to you all. Would
anyone `light up' by answering Sacred Birthing mail? I guess I did
not trust that I didn't have to keep doing this part, or that
someone else would step up. And anyway, I love doing this. (Sound
familiar?) But why didn't I just trust that nothing is ever taken
away, just given in different and even more delicious increments?
I didn't trust it, but I have to listen now.

It was hard waiting till now to answer these beautiful Yahoo
messages. I read them in bunches when I could get to a computer.
So many awesome letters show how beautifully you have grown and
expanded in your birth awareness and/or practice. You are more
closely aligned with your true offering to Birth. You are more
closely aligned with Birth itself and receiving your own true
knowing. Do you see that we really are a "Field of Birth"
together? There were so many letters in which you suggested things
that were exactly what Spirit had given me for the workshop back in
November. So my feeling is to say things now, instead of holding
them till the workshop. This way we will fly into all new territory
when we get together.

But first, I ask you to help me create this workshop because I was
told to send out that "Birthshop #2" letter before I had a
confirmed place in which to hold it. I need your help to manifest
Haleakua again, the place where we were before, or another even
finer place, as a place to hold it that will support all that we are
to do with Nature. I was told that the best dates are March 14 –
19, before the March Equinox. We are to work with the building
Equinox energy, so the dates are important, but may go earlier a few
days if needed. So in your prayers, meditations and thoughts,
please see us all getting together, in the best of places, in the
perfect timing, and having all needs met elegantly. Doing this
together will certainly bring us to the place we need to be! And we
need Barbara there too and she has a woman due then, so let's become
her lady's birth team, so that she will have her baby and then be
with us. Thank you!

YES! Please dream your dream of a Sanctuary and bring this with you
by way of pictures you cut out, or words that you know to be true
for you. Let's build a collage together with all our visions.
Sherry, your description was so similar to what I was given in
Kaikoura. I too, see it as a garden where parents come many times
throughout pregnancy (and before!) to delve deeper, connect
themselves, and connect with baby, places to heal, places to drop
outdated habits, places to recoup and regroup. So that when it
comes time to give birth, simply driving there starts the process of
letting go, feeling safe, and allowing labor its perfection. It is
not just a beautiful place, but a place of energetic healing. For
women, beauty opens us, renews us, relaxes us and restores us to our
Self. There are different places to go for different types of
healing and everything about birth is available here. What does
this mean to you? Please write it down so you capture all your
yummy thoughts, and then we will see how we are being guided as a
group, as well as individually.

In Kaikoura, part of my experience was being worked with by amazing
Beings in the circular mountains surrounding the area. This
powerful team will share themselves with you at the workshop, for
they are an integral and gentle part of stepping into our own
highest path, and helping others do so too. What I learned from
this, night after night and day after day, was that it was a process
of deep remembering. And, as we wake up to more subtleties of our
selves that we collectively dreamed together before our own
conception, we are closer and closer to having it manifest.

I just read your email about receiving, Sherry and Carol, yes it's
this kind of place that will transform a woman, so that receiving is
experienced, learned, and then the reception of this soul is the
way this soul needs. This is our gift to the parents, through our
offerings. This is our own work first. Then we ask, "What does
every woman need?" Let's supply it for her, for them, for all
three. Thank you for digging into the area of receiving, one of
many areas we typically gloss over thinking we understand all that
it is. (And what other blind spots do we have?) By sharing like
this, we take these steps. We all get it at once! And the Field
of Birth grows.

As for tithing, Janice dear one, I cried when I heard that. Janice
you give so much. I would like to tell you all how integral Janice
was to me when I was in New Zealand for she was who kept my chin
above water when I was drowning. When nothing made sense, I had
been led there, yet it was clear that we were not to go that
direction, it was Janice who heard my tears, uncertainties,
disappointments and helped me let it all go back to the void. She
kept me sane amidst it all. Now she offers this incredible act of
tithing to take Sacred Birthing another step in the collective
vision. Thank you Janice, for seeing the Big picture and acting in
a way that will take us into the future. (Please send me your
original letter Janice.) And, Sherry, you are right, "if not us,
who?" Getting the business plan together, and our priorities, we
will be able to jump when the land and next steps present. It's
getting closer! There is magic in the air!!!!

After the last Maui workshop, Janice shared her dream of a school
that she had been dreaming and working toward for 17 years. This is
a school to teach midwives and doulas in a way that is appropriate
for trusting, fearless natural birth, often at home or in a
Sanctuary. She saw that the ways for teaching care-givers must be
different depending on where one wishes to practice. Ways that
strengthened intuition, ways that made use of all that Sacred
Birthing was about, not the schooling that needs medications for our
high-risk birthing sisters. Our two visions dovetailed perfectly
and enhanced each. We knew it was right on to keep walking together.

At the NZ workshop in April 06, a Sanctuary / Birth School idea was
acknowledged and grasped as "Oh, of course!" So this school of
natural birth enlarged the vision considerably. It expanded the
view of the Sanctuary and suggested new uses of land. And will give
those who come to learn, a total experience prenatally with the
parents, and then birth. It ordered many aspects of the Sanctuary
vision, and since that time our visions have been joined. In
Kaikoura, the Bed &Breakfast on the property encouraged this vision
further, as all we needed was to build a beautiful round structure
for birthshops, and teaching could start up right away. But this
was apparently premature.

And, I had to come home to collect an important tribe member – Bear,
my partner. I am glad to say that I have taken big steps in
growing up and growing `us'. And he has been welcoming – as always -
to what we now bring to SBF. I think these men of ours, when
acting as their highest self, are the Divine Masculine. And as
such, he is my guardian and the guardian of Sacred Birthing.

Around us, we are watching as the structure for land is being
legally set up for a Sanctuary / Birth School, without the huge
money that it would take conventionally. This structure will be
useful in forming sustainable land trusts around the globe for the
good of the land and its peoples. We are starting from the bottom,
up. And an educational initiative for the Sanctuary / Birth School
is coming together.

Now I understand what was meant when I was told that when more than
one Sanctuary grows at a time, all receive what each is working to
attain, and so they will all grow far faster than they would, one at
a time. It is Time to Act for the Good of the Land and its
People! It is 2007 folks! Step into All You Are!

What we are doing here is birthing a whole new sacred way to be and
act, a sacred way to live and work together, to celebrate life in
community, in a way that does not keep us slaves to the bank, and
allows us to live our passion and help parents claim all they can
from their birth. Sacred Birthing is about birthing an entirely new
way of being. It calls to it a land structure to support this, one
that is not held in personal ownership, but as a collective: a new
form that is aligned with this new initiative. This is all coming
together out of an intention that we start right, for the highest
good of birth. So, we are taking a big bite, but one that we were
born to take. And we get to take it together and play in the most
inspiring arena that I can think of - Birth! Oh, I am so glad to
take part in this and play with each of you! Bless you each!

Be well and keep dreaming!

Sunni

See us at www.sacredbirthing.com

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

The next Sacred Birthing Birthshop in Maui

2007-01-09T23:23:18Z

Hello Beauties!

Just received the cue to have the NEXT BIRTHSHOP

in Mid-March in Maui !!!!!

This is the second birthshop in the series of three, for certification.

It is called, Adventures With Your Birth Deva

But first, I know an update about the Sanctuary is long overdue, so here is the jist of it: I did not get the land - many unbelievable circumstances kept it from happening, 4 times, in fact! This was such a disappointment that I spiraled down, not understanding why I would be sent here if it was not to happen, what I was doing here in that case, blah blah blah....

I always saw the Sanctuary as a community. I thought it was the land that would pull the community together, and so I came to find the land. Now I know that its our community that pulls in the land. So, I am letting the Sanctuary go until I am shown what is being asked for, where is the community who intends it, and where does it belong. What I now know is this: we need to be together because WE are what manifests the Sanctuary! It is not mine to manifest alone. This is what I was told:

â€œIt takes many to manifest such a thing, and the energy is growing. By March it will merge with astronomical timing that will give a nice push to this impetus. It is group energy that manifests what the Sanctuary will become, and group energy that manifests what birth can attain."

The birthshop is to be held before the Solstice so that all that we are, and all that we bring to Birth will be empowered. It is to be held in Maui because the birthing energy of Mother Nature is so strong. The dates are not yet fixed. I will tell you as soon as I know. Oh, this feels long overdue! but of course, like birth, it's exactly on time.

So, what exactly is this birthshop going to offer? We are all to be 'Baby Whisperers'. I had thought in the NZ birthshop, that this was my next step, but now I see that it was not meant just for me. One of the signs of a Sacred Birthing Certification is that each individual has abilities that include more. You are each very intuitive already. What would it mean to your practice if you could listen to the needs of the unborn and understand what this fetus needs, so it may be addressed and not manifest into an emotional pattern? What if you could pacify fears this newborn brought with her, or know why this baby is so unable to be comforted? Might a family have a more gentle beginning with this support? There are so many ways to support parents and babies when we can receive information that is available through detailed inner sight and hearing.

Our teacher and guide will be nature herself, for when we are asking birth to be our teacher, we interface with nature, the only one who holds birth's wholeness.

Nature is the bridge to birth, and through nature we receive information/ ideas/ intuition in return. During this birthshop, we will be working with nature to co-create in various ways. We will build on what we learned in the last birthshop, and learn to merge with nature in order to much more easily see and hear subtle layers of both nature and the body. In this way, insight and understanding of what would help this relationship, this pregnancy, this baby will be available to you. It will also expose the reality of why we are experiencing the problems we have in birth on a global level. From the individual, to the whole expanded picture, you have a tool that allows you to understand and address anything within the wholeness of Birth.

Then your Birth Deva will help you personalize these tools in support of what you offer birth. And, as we work to expand our own field of learning, we will be manifesting the Birthing Sanctuary. Since it is our ideas, visions, and knowing of how we see the Sanctuary, what if feels like, how it serves parents, what it offers babies, where it belongs, and what it includes, then it's us that ignites its creation, and, at the same time, it's us that become a Sanctuary where ever we are. We are the Sanctuary.

This Birthshop will be more of a round table as practicing shows you that what you are getting is absolutely trustworthy. Knowing you are receiving your right answers, allows you to stop doubting, and accelerates your hearing, sight and intuition to the next level: revealing your symbols. It will show you your own symbology, help you understand it, and give you enough fun practice that you will be proficient by the end of the week. Bring your questions and quandaries, both personal and professional, and be ready to receive your own answers and receive and offer insight and inspiration to others.

You are such a wonderful group. Very few groups stay connected and keep growing as you all have this last year. Please melt every obstacle in the presence of your strong intention to be together and receive nature's gifts. They give me shivers or make me giggle every time I am given something new. Please come and bring your juicy selves!

(I must post everything on the web page and thru Yahoo, because my dial-up email here will not allow me to send out group-emails. Therefore, look for a notice from the web page, (if you have set it up to do that,) or, go to the web page itself, so you can read further postings about the Birthshop.) Or, one of you please take on sending to all. Thanks.

I hope to see you ALL, the Maui group and the New Zealand group!

May our combined energies manifest the highest understandings in ourselves and in Birth! Be well, and stay tuned!

Love,

Sunni

www.sacredbirthing.com sunnikarll@sacredbirthing.com

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Breastfeeding Facts

2007-01-08T22:55:00Z

well you can read this informative article on Breastfeeding and its importance on http://www.luckyamaan.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=112 it discusses that How Human Milk Protects from Illness, very good article to read. hey guys just to tell you i have made this site and collected articles from various other sources(ofcourse with permission) to just to make an informative pool of knowledge for new moms and mothers to be and also for how to take care of young babies.I hope you will appreciate my effort.
Actually i have had very bad experience of pregnancy and suffered from post-natal pre-eclampsia. As when i got pregnant i had no one to guide me or tell me anything. so afterwards I wanted to do something thatw ould help other women like me, so then i decided to make this site and i read so many books, consulted many magazines and sites. and then collected articles which i found worth reading and that were informative.
If you think a collection of articles might be of interest or use to you, and want to find out more, feel free to visit my website www.luckyamaan.com I don't sell anything, the site is just a collection of articles that I've collated, all used with permission.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 5 replies

Beautiful sacred birthing photo essay

2006-12-13T02:21:09Z

Hello All,

Here's an amazing photo essay of Carol de Bow, author of the book Sacred Birth, during her own journey of sacred birthing. It brings tears to one's eyes for all of its beauty.

Love,
Jeannine

posted in Sacred Birthing - 7 replies

My Miracle

2006-12-03T01:59:51Z

Far from what I had imagined for a birth experience. Anaya came 11/24/06 at 4:02pm. She was 1lb 14oz and 14in. I was severely pre-ecclamptic, swollen, vomiting, and had a migraine to end all migraines, I was in the hospital less than 5hrs before they decided they needed to do a c-section. 28-30 weeks along, she truely is my miracle. In my visualiztions I was seeing a water birth at a birth center here, as natural as can be, instead I was druged and cut open. I saw my child only breifly before they took her away, thankfully I had a blessed friend with me who followed her as she was taken away. I remeber noticing first how blond her eyebrows were and how dark the hair on her head was, I don't think I realized truely how small she was until I laid my hands upon her the next day. As I looked upon her she opened her eyes and the tears started pouring down, how could anything be so perfect, how could I ever love anything so much? I laid my hand upon her head inside of her little incubator and I felt her melt as she closed her eyes. All of me wishes to just rip all her wires out and bring her home to be in my arms but I am thankful for the progress in medicing that has allowed us to both preserve our lives. I have two or three months of spending as much time as I can with her in the hospital until my dream of walking out those doors with her in my arms. Right now my greatest joy are the hours I spend holding her and feeding her and pumping breast milk for her. She is my world, my miraculous, beautiful existence for the rest of my life.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

About Mother and Baby Care

2006-11-24T07:23:06Z

I am a mom of two years old daughter, she is very cute and very intelligent.After her birth i was unable to continue my job, i used to work as a research officer. Now i am a full time house wife and look after my baby.I have made a couple of parenting websites, they deal in baby care and mother care information. You can find pregnancy related articles and tips too, and all about newborn baby care on http://www.luckyamaan.com

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Birth Ecology

2006-11-19T21:33:37Z

Hello,

You are invited to participate in the Birth Ecology Project. A new website, journal, and initiative promoting midwifery, doula care, gentle birth, conscious parenting, and sustainable living.

Check out the website and journal at www.BirthEcology.org ...

We are seeking contributions of articles, essays, stories, and art related to the above listed topics. Contact kara (at) maiahealingarts.com for more info.

Be well, Kara

"Healing the Earth, through Healing Birth" - Jeannine Parvati Baker

posted in Sacred Birthing - 2 replies

Gentle Birth World Congress Sept 28-30, 2007

2006-11-18T18:55:47Z

The Gentle Birth World Congress - Sept 28-30, 2007
Waterbirth International, in cooperation with Waterbirth Technologies and Gentle Birth Consultants, is planning the 2007 Gentle Birth World Congress - Friday, September 28th through Sunday the 30th at the Oregon Convention Center in beautiful Portland, Oregon, where we will host the largest, most controversial birth conference ever. Lectures and workshops will be open to every facet of the birth community, and will challenge doctors, nurse-midwives, labor and birth nurses, doulas and certified professional midwives to work together to change the face of birth.

Topics of discussion will include: Redefining Malpractice; Waterbirth Research; Hospital Models that are truly Mother-Baby-Friendly, Evidence and More Evidence for Gentle Birth: Reading the Literature; Hands-off –The Challenge for Doctors and Nurses; Undisturbed Birth – The Ecstasy and the Agony. The exhibit hall will be open and free to the public, offering exhibitors excellent exposure.

This will be an exciting, historic event you won't want to miss! To be put on the list to receive more information as it becomes available, please email your name, company or practice name, phone number to congress@waterbirth.org.

posted in Sacred Birthing - 2 replies

perinatal psychology workshop on cortes island, B.C., Canada

2006-11-18T18:06:26Z

Hello All -

This is a revolutionary new way of looking at life in the womb. Judyth is still looking for more volunteers; please read the following and contact her for more details.

PERINATAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THERAPY for HEALTH & HEALING

workshops offered by

Judyth O. Weaver, Ph.D.
July 17-21, 2006 on Cortes Island, B.C. Canada

And Sept 1-5, 2006 through Hollyhock Retreat Centre

As an early searcher I studied and benefited from many forms of art and psychology but there were still deep parts, unexplained feelings, connections I could not understand. I worked in many bodymind integrative modes but the deepest questions were not addressed until I came to the field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology.

This fastest growing branch of psycholgy has grown from research that shows how prenates and neonates feel, have consciousness, have memories and respond specifically to their experiences; and how adults unconsciously remember and base their actions and reactions throughout their lives on these early experiences.

The pioneering work of Dr. Frank Lake, followed by Drs. Eva Reich, William Emerson, Ray Castellino (and even earlier research and psychotherapy by Dr. Wilhelm Reich in the 1940â€™s and by Sir John Bowlby on attachment in the 1950â€™s) demonstrate the importance of this. It also follows the focus of Drs Frederick Leboyar and Michel Odent in Europe and of Igor Charkovsky in Russia who have worked towards more natural, non-violent births. Current research in the neurosciences and other related fields are supporting and helping clarify these findings.

The amount of connection and consciousness during pregnancy as well as bonding and attachment in the early days after birth makes a great difference in how the infant will thrive or not. It affects how love and intimacy are engendered between infant and parent, and even how parents and siblings will relate to each other. These experiences are proven to affect the quality of life not just for the child itself but for the entire family, nuclear and extended, as well.

Information coming from many disciplines now proves the importance in a personâ€™s life of the quality of conception, the nine months of gestation, and the process of the birth itself as well as the early times in infancy. All have great affect on how the child is welcomed and related to at the beginning, which, in turn, affects greatly not only early childhood and development, but continues all the way through our lives into adulthood. Evidence confirms that many health issues â€“ physical, mental, emotional and spiritual â€“ are linked to prenatal and birth experiences and parent-infant bonding.

Patterns for ones ability to deal with stress and trauma are also laid down in these early times. They inform us and follow us throughout our lives. These early patterns that go so deep develop while we are pre-verbal. If these patterns are traumatic much of the work to resolve such trauma needs to engage on the pre-verbal level.

Participants in this workshop will explore In an experiential format embryological and infant development, the effects of various life occurrences, ways to promote healthy births, and protocols for therapeutic interventions and repairing trauma. This workshop will teach listening, acknowledging, attuning, somatically tracking movement patterns and the fluctuation of the nervous system; thereby offering the support that may not have been there in the past.

This may have deep, profound affects and may offer resolution to issues that have seemed to resist other therapeutic attempts.

This workshop will include discussion, individual process and practicing practical tools for integrating one's insights and discoveries. The work can be important to therapists, teachers, social workers, parents, parents-to-be, those trying to conceive, and anyone who works with people or who wants to learn more about themselves.

I have found it to be invaluable to deeply understand myself and to be able to assist others in their personal journeys.

I would be honored if you would join me in this incredible exploration of birth, being, body, soul and spirit.

*************************************************************

Judyth O. Weaver, Ph.D. has trained extensively in the field of Prenatal and Perinatal Psychology and Therapy. She has studied with Eva Reich, M.D., William Emerson, Ph.D., has completed Dr. Ray Castellinoâ€™s Prenatal and Birth Therapy training, has assisted him, is co-facilitating a training in Nelson, B.C. and is certified to lead Castellino Process Workshops.

Tuition: US$390/Can$445 Meals and Accommodation extra

July workshop: register with Judyth: 415-388-3151 orjudyth@judythweaver.com after July 4: 250-935-8500.

September workshop: register with Hollyhock: 800-933-6339 or registration@hollyhock.ca

posted in Sacred Birthing - 1 reply

FREE introduction to Cornerstone Doula Trainings Wed. Oct 18th in Oakland!! Spread the word!!

2006-10-06T21:20:54Z

We will be hosting a FREE introduction to Cornerstone Doula Trainings/ Doula information evening on Wed. Oct. 18th at 7pm in Oakland!! This evening is perfect for anyone interested in becoming a doula, wanting to learn more about what a doula is, or anyone who has already taken a doula training but would like further education!!

From our website:
"Support is the cornerstone of a fulfilling birth experience. Blending the old traditions and wisdom of childbirth with the most up to date and progressive information about the physiology and psychology of childbirth for mom, partner and baby; Cornerstone Doula Trainings will prepare you for the very significant commitment that all doulas make in helping families start their lives together in the most gentle and loving way. "

For more information about us, please visit www.cornerstonedoulatrainings.com or email us at: info@cornerstonedoulatrainings.com

To RSVP for our info eve and get address and directions, please email us at: info@cornerstonedoulatrainings.com or call us at: (510) 452-3860.

Thank you, and we look forward to hearing from you!
New classes are scheduled for November and are open for registration now!!

Sincerely,
Nickie Tilsner, CD, CE
Co-founder - Co-trainer of Cornerstone Doula Trainings

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies

Prenatal Belly Dance!

2006-10-05T21:27:55Z

Prenatal Belly Dance for fun and fitness!

Join Boston’s most experienced prenatal belly dance teachers for a special 3 week series Mondays 7 - 8 PM. December 4, 11, & 18, 2006.

Learn the movements that lengthen, strengthen, and tone all the muscles used for pregnancy and birth. Learn the dance of life!

Seminar is open to healthy women who are pregnant, desiring pregnancy, or recently postpartum, as well as doulas, midwives, nurses and other birth professionals, and ANY WOMAN who is interested in exploring the connection between belly dance and birth. No prior dance experience needed. Wear clothing that you feel comfortable moving in, such as work-out or yoga wear. Bring a supply of drinking water.

More info at: http://www.thegoddessdancing.com/prenatal_belly_dance.htm

posted in Sacred Birthing - 0 replies