Debra Pascali-Bonaro

Awaken Your Inner Wisdom

Country of the Month

Mary Alice Visits Rwanda Midwifery School

Submitted by Mary Alice Ackerman

Midwife Jane Arnold & Daughter Mary Alice
Midwife Jane Arnold & Daughter Mary Alice

I have had the pleasure of knowing Debra Pascali-Bonaro since I was a young child. She has been lifelong friends with my mother, Jane Arnold as well as co-author of their book, Nurturing Beginnings. Both of them have made it their life’s work to make a positive impact on pregnancy and the birthing process. Both Jane and Debra have worked with and around birthing mothers across the globe for many years. I will keep the sum total of those years to myself. I have reaped the benefits of being the daughter and friends with such passionate women. I followed in my mother’s footsteps in the nursing profession and although I work in a different segment of nursing (heart failure and heart transplant patients), I learned how passion and compassion can change the lives of each patient, family member, or person that comes into your life.

Bill Clinton greeting Sister Epiphanie Mukabaranga, the Headmistress of Rwamagana School of Nursing and Midwifery. Rwandan President Kagame and Chelsea Clinton look on.
Bill Clinton greeting Sister Epiphanie Mukabaranga, the Headmistress of Rwamagana School of Nursing and Midwifery. Rwandan President Kagame and Chelsea Clinton look on.

My mother is currently working for the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) in Rwanda at the Rwamagana School of Nursing and Midwifery, and has been there since August of 2012. On July 19th, 2012 the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, and Bill Clinton, the former US President, accompanied by his daughter Chelsea Clinton, visited the Rwamagana School of Nursing and Midwifery (RSNM) located in Rwamagana district. The vision behind CHAI is that each year 100 American faculty members spend one year in Rwanda working with medical personnel to transfer training capacity. The program aims to educate over 2,000 medical specialists, utilizing e-learning strategies to upgrade the skills of more than 5,000 nurses.

I recently visited Rwanda with my colleague, Gina Ferguson. This trip was initially booked as a vacation to visit my mom. My mom had told us so much about her experiences since arriving in Rwanda in August 2012, so we knew that we could not show up empty handed. “Paying it forward” became our drive behind turning this vacation into a random act of kindness. We put our efforts into raising funds, collecting donations and working through Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s partners to obtain much needed medical supplies. Due to the funds we raised, we were able to purchase educational and medical supplies for RSNM, as well as Kibogora Hospital.

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Jada Brown working with faculty on the kindle fire.

We also purchased four kindle fires and load each of them with 17 medical texts books. The colored pictures of anatomy seen on the kindles, as well as the updated text books, provide the students with a hands-on approach to reading and learning. The medical and educational supplies were welcomed with tears of joy, many hugs and overwhelming appreciation. The generosity of friends, family and the community turned this random act of kindness into a reality for the people of Rwanda. We are now looking forward to supporting funding for school supplies plus a September trip for the Principal of the Nursing School who will be spending the month in Chicago observing the healthcare system.

 

                            Ways you can give (AND RECEIVE!):

341074_2910285152853_1427791140_o> Make a contribution to the the RSNM GoFundMe Page. Donations will go to additional supplies and the educational trip this September.

> Make a purchase at 20 % off! RSNM will be the Global Birth Fair Featured Organization this quarter so please consider making purchase and know a percentage of the proceeds will go to RSNM. In addition to funding school supplies, the funds will support a September trip for the Principal of the Nursing School who will be spending the month in Chicago observing the healthcare system. Use Promo code: Rwanda and get 20% off!

 

Debra and Jane Arnold collaborated on Nurturing Beginnings, an updated, digital version of Nurturing Beginnings will be available later this year. If you’d like to receive announcements about this updated, electronic version of Nurturing Beginnings please sign up here.

VBA2C: The Birth of Johanna Helena Marie

Introduction: Many expectant mothers experience unsolicited advice and hurtful words from friends, family, even colleagues and providers- words that are well-intended but often insensitive, ill-informed, or lacking support. This is the story of one woman who listened to her instinct and diligently took steps, thru changing her birth language and practice, to create a positive VBA2C experience for the birth of her third child, after previously experiencing two traumatic births.

Kristina Listens to her Inner Wisdom: The Birth of Johanna Helena Marie

Submitted by: Kristina Wierzba-Bloedorn, Germany
Translation by: Cathrine Mc Namara-Gaertig

DSC_7970When I became pregnant again in April 2012, I started intensely looking for a midwife. I held my pregnancy a secret until the fourth month. It was clear that to me this birth could only happen in the hospital. Despite my wish to deliver at home, after having had two cesarean sections, I wanted this birth to be closely monitored. During this time I spoke to a midwife who told me that my only chance to deliver this baby vaginally was to deliver at home. I could have also done an unassisted birth or labored at home long enough until I was fully dilated, this way no one could stand in my way of a vaginal birth. However, I listened to my gut feeling and I knew that delivering in my hospital would be a place where I would feel comfortable. I don’t hate the modern medicine. I liked the hospital very much where I wanted to birth my baby. It offers a special kind of medical environment. In any other hospital, my baby would have been delivered two weeks before my due date via cesarean.

I took my time finding a midwife and met with several of them from the list I had. One midwife I met with, told me that a vaginal birth after two cesareans hardly ever happens. I could feel her doubt in me and lack of support for my goal. And so I kept looking. One midwife told me she wasn’t comfortable with another part, a Doula, being present at the birth besides myself and my husband. It wasn’t important to her what was important to me at my birth. She did however have a lot of experience with vaginal birth after more than one cesarean. Several of my friends suggested to me that I shouldn’t focus on likeable while interviewing, but rather on the experience of a midwife in this area. I on the other hand focused my gut feeling and I till this day I have no regrets. After having already had two birth experiences, two of which taught me what would be important to me the next time, likeable and respect for my wishes were key requirements in choosing my midwife. Or rather better said: I knew, that loving, warm-hearted, attentive and sensitive care would be the key to a good birth. The support of my last midwife was cold and hostile. I found a new midwife, who really supported me. I received all of my prenatal care through my midwife and agreed to only one of the three routine ultrasounds suggested during pregnancy. I refused and stayed clear of all unnecessary procedures and tests that would bring any doubt to my mind, i.e. the estimated weight of the baby, etc. And I wonder if in the situation of High Fetal Station if the relationship of the head to the pelvis is the only factor that plays a role? Why is modern medicine then not able to find other causes for this this? One thing I knew for sure, was that my body had enough room to birth my baby vaginally.

My midwife mentioned to me that since my previous cesarean had been 6 years ago that my scar was well healed and that she had no fear of a rupture. That gave me so much strength. She told me later, the more the pregnancy advanced the more confident she was that I would deliver vaginally.

Bleeding…..

I had heavy bleeding until the end of the fourth month of the pregnancy. I was so scared during this time. Although my friends and family were just as concerned as I was and hoped just as much as we did, that the pregnancy would continue, what they said during this time was still quite hurtful. They told me that maybe I wasn’t sure if I want this child and that my body was subconsciously ending the pregnancy. My child and I wanted this pregnancy very much. We grew together and as I felt the first movements inside of me I was very happy! I have a doula friend from the USA, who helped me a lot with homeopathy medicine in this situation.

Inner Preparation…

I began to write a detailed birth plan as early as five months into the pregnancy and I shared with my midwife, my husband and my Doula. My midwife thought my birth plan was so great that she asked if she could show it to other midwives. Even the hospital welcomed a vaginal birth and the doctor who assisted my birth read my birth plan attentively and with respect.

I hung pictures up of pregnancy, birth and the postpartum and looked at these powerful pictures everyday. I painted uterus and vaginas ready to delivery with bright colors and glued felt pictures and garland to it.

In the 7th month I celebrated my Blessings Way ceremony with good friends. This art of the blessing was a special experience for me that gave me so much strength. A dance was done around me in a circle, pearls were threaded into necklaces, pictures and collages were made, and with good wishes, the women sang birth songs and prayed for me.

In the 7th month I also started undergoing hypnosis with a hypnotherapist who specializes in birth preparation. She was also a midwife and she always encouraged and believed in me. With hypnosis I could process and resolve other experiences. I listened to my hypnosis CD regularly on my own and occupied myself with stories concerning birth as much as possible. I must emphasize that it was the hypnosis that helped me on this journey. Creating pictures without using big words also helped very much.

My Doula massaged me regularly starting the 20th week of pregnancy and we talked about my fears and thoughts. She was always there for me.

Two months before the birth I took a childbirth education course, which was taught also by my midwife. It was a course specifically for mothers who had already had children. My sons were also allowed to be there. They would paint me pictures on my belly of a baby in an amniotic sack with an umbilical cord and placenta.

I was also lucky enough to have a friend, who was ready to come to my birth even though she lived very far away. She is also a fellow Doula. We spoke very often over the phone and exchanged thoughts. She also visited me twice. And even my hypnotherapist would have been ready to come to my birth. In the 7th month another doula friend who comes from the Ruhrgebiet came to my home and painted my belly with Henna. We sat in the livingroom and chatted. It was such a good feeling to have so many people involved in my pregnancy and for that I am very thankful.

I never told any one my due date. It was like a secret and it actually didn’t matter when I was due. Babies come when they want to. I actually felt safer and protected with this frame of mind. I dreamed again and again that I birthed my daughter vaginally. In the dream I saw her coming out of me and everything was quick and uncomplicated.

I asked friends of mine to pray for me. That was a very good feeling. I also prayed myself and would recite Psalm 23 over and over again. This became soon there after a steady ritual for me. These lines were my mantra and reciting them would send me into a meditative state. Whenever I was scared or unsure, these words would come easier fand easier over my lips.

Before my due date I wrote a letter to my little daughter in hopes of giving her encouragement.

Fears….

Two weeks before my due date I started to panic. I could hardly sleep anymore I was so worried and afraid, what this birth would bring. Will I have pain? Would it be a vaginal birth? Would they have to cut me open again?

My doula said, that my fears were normal, because I am taking a special path instead of taking the easy way out by scheduling a cesarean. This remark made me proud. I dreamed that I had a planned section and was there after very sad.

When I wanted to deliver my first son at a birthing center, not many people were very understanding. My decision was considered irresponsible. Years later I attended a Doula seminar where I described the epidurals I received for both of labors as being a blessing. In response to my confession my fellow doula colleagues just looked to the floor. Their response left me feeling misunderstood from both sides. I then began to speak to my husband, midwife and doula about the option of an epidural for this coming birth. I expressed to them that I wanted, at all costs, to avoid any further trauma through the experience of pain. I wanted an epidural immediately after I asked for it and I did not want to have to explain myself or be given any guilt about it. It wasn’t my goal to get the epidural no matter what. I know very well what side affects an epidural has. However I wanted it, WHEN I asked for it and I did not want to have to wait. As soon as I received the assurance that I would receive what I asked for, I would become calmer and could sleep again. The fear then stopped and I believe to this day, that the key to all this was solving all of my fears before the birth began. This left me feeling prepared and ready to open up.

Birth….

On January 22, 2013 I woke with contractions. I was however not sure if these were in fact labor contractions. I walked through the hallway and the bathroom for a while and then took a warm bath. However, the contractions continued. They felt relatively strong, but I still wasn’t sure if this was a false alarm, because the pain was not dominant. After about two hours I woke my huIMG_0091sband up. We decided to call the midwife. It was during our conversation that I had to lay the phone to the side at least twice, because the contractions were not allowing me to continue our conversation. My midwife then said that we should come straight to the hospital. I was very afraid of the ride there. Luckily I only had three contractions during the twenty-minute drive to the hospital. We arrived at 7 am at the entrance of the hospital. My midwife had already been waiting for me at the entrance. I was moaning loudly, but some how I was still not sure, if these were real labor contractions. In the birthing room my midwife examined me. She said that my cervix was very soft and that I was 7 cm dilated and that the head was engaged. I was stunned! Was it possible that the contractions I experienced with the last two births more painful at an earlier point than I had thought? I was so thankful that I had made it this far. I really didn’t have a lot of pain, but this unbelievably life-giving force was overwhelming. After a while the contractions became more intense.

I asked for the epidural. Not because I thought that it was so painful that I absolutely had to have it. I kept thinking (imprinted from my second birth experience), that the contractions are only going to get stronger and this is something you want to avoid. I know that I could have done it with out it. It was an epidural for my mind. I stand behind my decision and I am very happy with this decision.

My favorite doctor was there! He was planned for the walk in clinic, but switched his shift just for me. At this point I needed close body contact. My husband and Doula held my hands and told me positive things. I leaned against my midwife. She always smiled and was loving and friendly. I had very cold feet and my midwife brought me a hot water bottle and lit a fragrance burner. The smell created a wonderful atmosphere that was celebratory and peaceful. My husband and my doula massaged my feet and held them warm. Everyone gave me the feeling that I was the quefen. It was a great feeling. I felt special.

I had to think of my mother ape and her baby ape, my mantra and the colors that I imagined for a “good birth” while hypnotized. The mother ape and her child were sitting very close to me and were silently watching me. All the while I repeated quietly Psalm 23.

The cervix opened further very quickly. I could clearly feel the pressure of the head. My midwife examined me and asked my husband and I if we would like to feel the head. It was so motivating for me to feel the head with my fngers and to feel a “complete” cervix. I almost cried from the feeling of joy that went through me. My husband was fascinated. I stood next to the rope and rotated my pelvis. I squatted and hung over the ball on the bed. My husband stayed behind me the whole time massaging me. His touch grounded me and gave me strength. This warmth that I needed gave me strength to birth this child. My Doula told me to speak to my daughter and tell her to come deeper into my pelvis and that it was time to be born.

I spoke so deeply inside myself with her that she can come, come out of me, come into this world, you can come, we can do this together, I am looking forward to meeting you. My husband whispered into my ear that we can do this and we can make everything right. He caressed my neck and throat and kissed me. I purred like a cat. A low dose of Pitocin drip was given to me and the epidural was lightly topped off. Because I was afraid of this, the doctor held my hand and comforted me.

After the epidural started to take affect, I went back into the upright position. I could now feel the contractions much better, as well as the pressure of baby´s head in my pelvis. I could walk around and felt otherwise very good. The atmosphere in the birthing room was wonderful. I was in my favorite birthing room and my favorite doctor was on call. The contractions were now coming more often. I could feel them. However, it was not the pain that stood in the forefront, but rather the desire to birth this child vaginally. My midwife told me, that I could also push with the urge if I liked. And I wanted to. Soon the amniotic sack could be seen, bulging out of my vagina like a balloon.

My daughter was now in the middle of my pelvis. In order to see the progress of my pushing, I asked for a mirror. With this visual aid I could finally see some of my daughter coming closer and closer through my vagina. The doctor then mentioned, that we would no longer be going to the OP. I looked at him in disbelief! I could not believe it! The heart tones of the baby were reacting to the pushing. The doctor said, that maybe he would have to use a vacuum. Here and there the amniotic sack would leak. The water was warm and clear. I observed my midwife and the doctor as they sat on the floor. Their faces were so calm. From this point on I stood between the contractions, hung from the rope and sank deep in to a squat position when the contractions came. My husband sat behind me and held me under my arms. We were a team and I felt so close to him. I wanted to birth my daughter vaginally. I was not afraid of the vacuum, but I wanted to just keep going in order to realize a vaginal birth for the both of us.

Yes, come out of me!….

IMG_0109It was such a powerful feeling. Like a volcano, like a storm, a gigantic wave that pulled me and I was the surfer. I felt so useful and wild and strong all at the same time. I will never forget this feeling as long as I live. I was sweating and everything was so hot in the room. I wanted her to finally be born. “Pull her out,” I cried. My midwife laughed and said, “the head has already been born” and asked me if I would like to feel it. I touched her head with my hand and could hardly believe it. I was having a vaginal delivery! And then the rest of her body came out of me with the next contraction. I could feel her arms and legs sliding out of me.

And when I am old and grey I will still look back on this birth with feelings of joy and satisfaction that I gave my daughter life on this day. It was so wonderful to feel her coming deeper and to feel the feeling of birthing her. I was what gave birth to her! And then at 13:10 she was on the floor between my legs.

It was like time stood still. I had to check immediately if she was really a girl. I then picked up my little girl and hugged her tiny body. That was such a high! The hormones swirled between us and I cried loud, “my baby!” I was so proud and so happy. I was so thankful. I do not recall her birth being a series of minutes, but rather hours of pure joy, to be able to pick her up and hold her myself. It gave me the feeling as if I could do anything in this world!

 

Kristina Wierzba-BloedornKristina Wierzba-Bloedorn is a mother and doula in Germany.

 

 

 

 

 

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Bali Tree of Life: Baby Rituals Around the World

Baby Naming CeremonyBali is filled with celebration and rituals. I wrote about this Baby Naming Celebration last year and it is such a beautiful memory that I hope you will enjoy it with me again this year.

March 2012: Sunday was our day off from the Eat Pray Doula workshop. Today we had the great honor of being invited to share in a traditional Balinese baby naming ceremony that that is held when the baby is 42 days old. Suami: 1 Wayan Kartana and Istri: Ni Made Antari had given birth to their daughter Anac: 1 Wayan Wahyu Dharma Sentana at Bumi Sehat in Nyuh Kuning. They invited Ibu Robin Lim to join them at their blessing and Ibu Robin asked if they would share with all 25 doulas. Their generosity to open their home and their hearts to us this day left us all with such gratitude and awe.

The day started with our usual breakfast, but before long the doulas were gathering with Ibu Robin Lim, learning to tie the traditional sarongs and sashes, as we were going to temple. The heat of the morning was building as we went outside and there was a line of taxi’s waiting for us. We all piled in and began our journey winding in and out of the small streets, through little villages to arrive at a traditional family compound. The compound is a modest setting where many members of the extended family had their homes and share a family temple. The temple is a central area for weddings, celebrations, and where people rest when they pass on until their cremation ceremony.

We were greeted as family with warm Balinese smiles, hands in prayer honoring all with gratitude to share this special blessing. Food was prepared for us all and I imagine in this simple compound the women must have worked for days to weave the banana leaf plates, cook the vegetables and fruits with rice, and make the many offerings that we were soon to share in their temple.

As we ate, the priest sat and began his chanting and blessings in thePlacenta: The Forgotten Chakra area where the baby’s placenta had been buried. After a lotus birth, where the placenta is seen as the baby’s brother or sister, giving life, the tree of life, as it looks like when you view the arteries that have sustained the baby with blood and oxygen. The baby is carried with its placenta attached until it falls off in its own time. Like the petals of the lotus flower, it allows the baby to gentle unfold with its brother/sister from spirit world, until the baby is ready for the transition alone to our planet. Once the placenta is buried the baby will always be able to keep the connection to spirit and ancestors intact – if he/she travels in life, they can take some of the dirt from this area with them to always maintain their connection. Robin Lim’s book The Placenta: The Forgotten Chakra is a must read for all birth keepers.

I was filming today, with their permission, and the family was so excited that they would have a record of this day. I was soon escorted into the husband and wife’s bedroom for the traditional ritual of praying and blessing their bed, where mom, dad, and baby sleep. In this small traditional room, the music of Kenny G, played and their pillowcases were of the American flag. I smiled, feeling the traditions of past times so present and yet the current western trends seeping in. The sun shone in the window as I saw the doulas, family and friends still eating outside. It was time for the temple blessings. The priest in white, was sitting on the special stand chanting, blessing holy water, preparing the space for us. Ibu Robin taught us how to pray – to use incense to cleanse ourselves the first prayer, followed by three prayers where we held flowers in between our hands in prayer form, raised above our heads. Placing the flowers in our hair and last on the ground. As the priest comes around to bless us with holy water sprinkled over us, next we hold our hands open to heaven welcoming our cleansing and praying. Next, right hand over left, we make a cup with our hands to receive the holy water to sip, cleansing our mouths, words, and last to wash our face and head, purifying our thoughts and deeds.

Group by group we pray, the heat of the day upon us. The small sacred temple filled with all the doula’s prayers and gratitude for being part of this special ceremony.

We exited the temple to the main yard of the family compound and more food was served such as exotic fruits – many fruits I had never seen, let alone tasted. Just as I was about to sit to enjoy them, the father came and invited me to join them back in their bedroom. It was just the mother, father, baby, grandmother priest and me. They were inviting me in to film their private blessing. I had tears of gratitude, honor and without words or time, I maneuvered in front of the window to shoot into the small room so they would not be shadowed in the light. So with very little space and simultaneously trying to film while welling with my own emotion, I filmed and listened to the chants, the holy water blessings, and offerings made. The baby began to cry and was soon nestled at the mother’s breast. We all smiled with the universal understanding of the simple pleasure, comfort and nurturing that breastfeeding brings. The priest continues. Again I am struck by the ancient ceremony I am privileged to film and bear witness to and yet the contemporary music of Kenny G continues. I have my own internal smile as I wonder if Kenny G will give me permission to share this sacred footage since his music graces it.IMG_5252(1)

 

Help Bumi Sehat Build HIV Lab

Debra & Bidans
Debra and Midwife Katherine Bramhall with the Balinese Bidan’s/midwives of Bumi Sehat Bali.

What Bumi Sehat really needs now is a lab where they can do their own HIV testing. HIV is on the rise in Bali and Ibu Robin and Bidans (midwives) need their own lab. Testing for HIV and treatment can greatly reduce Mother to Child transmission of HIV. Help save mother’s and babies lives by donating to this vital lab.

The CDC writes, “HIV transmission from mother to child during pregnancy, labor and delivery, or breastfeeding is known as perinatal transmission and is the most common route of HIV infection in children. When HIV is diagnosed before or during pregnancy, perinatal transmission can be reduced to less than 1% if appropriate medical treatment is given.”

Read Every Mother Counts recent article to learn more: “Why National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Matters to Maternal Health.

Every Mother Counts recently posted an article sharing Ibu Robin’s direct experience with this issue and why it is more important than ever so support this cause. Touched by HIV/AIDS- When Healthcare Workers are Exposed:

On Valentine’s Day, our dear friend, midwife Robin Lim, founder of the Bumi Sehat Birth Center in Indonesia performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a newborn. He was premature and the oxygen masks she tried to use didn’t fit properly and wouldn’t deliver the air he desperately needed to his brand new lungs.  With only moments to spare before lack of oxygen damaged his brain and stopped his heart, Robin did what any midwife would do.  She breathed life into the boy over and over again, until he was able to do the job himself…. read more

There are several ways you can donate to Bumi Sehat, here are a few ways:

IMG BumiSehat– Donate directly to Bumi Sehat

Bumi Booties– Purchase a pair of GBF Bumi Booties, available in 6 unique patterns,and 100% of the proceeds will go to Bumi Sehat (thanks Salihah Kirby for donating the Bumi Booties so we can do this!)

– Purchase anything from Global Birth Fair this quarter, such as Bali birth jewelery or Birth Batiks, or Rebozos, or DVDs, or any birth gifts and tools, and a percentage of your proceeds will go to our Bumi Sehat, our spring featured organization.

Bali Nyabutan Ceremony: Baby First Touches the Mother Earth

Submitted by Debra

Baby touching Mother Earth
Koming is touching the Mother Earth for the first time at her Nyabutan ceremony in Pengo Sekan Bali.

Today is a special day as Ibu Robin will bring our group to a Nyabutan Ceremony, where a baby first touches the Mother Earth. In Bali, babies do not touch the ground until they are three months old. The first months are sacred as a baby’s connection to spirit is kept intact, they are not ready to touch the earth yet. Many have a lotus birth, keeping their connection to spirit and placenta with them in the first hours, and sometimes days. Ibu Robin believes delayed cord cutting and clamping is essential for a gentle birth. Her book “Placenta the Forgotten Chakra”, is a gift to open our minds and hearts to the importance of how we care for placentas and keep babies life giving connection intact. In the next days and weeks after birth, Balinese baby’s are always held in someone’s arms, Mother, Father, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbors, community. Families and communities are intact and vital in Bali. The saying “It takes a village” is put to action.

Bali is a culture full of many rituals. There are many surrounding pregnancy, birth and the first months of a baby’s life. Last year our doulas participated in the 42 days old blessing to honor, name and welcome the baby into the family. Now at three months, on Koming’s 105th day, another ceremony as important, or even more significant, than the child’s wedding.

“Nenek Bali” says: “I had 7 daughters and 6 sons Born at hOMe, and that is Biasa (normal). -Ibu Robin

We are honored to be invited and included in this sacred ceremony for baby Koming. In their modest family home, they welcome Ibu Robin Lim and all of the doulas from Eat Pray Doula 2013. We learn that Koming’s father is very sick- so sick he has not been able to work and cannot attend the ceremony. The grandmother is going blind and desperately needs cataract surgery as she struggles to see. The mother shares how hard times are and sometimes there is not enough food, but they get by. I am so humbled and honored to be here with them today.

For the ceremony, the family has invited a priest to their family temple where they provide offerings to the Sun God and the Five Elements. Baby Koming The child is blessed with holy water and her feet are allowed to touch the earth. The parents or in this case the mother and grandfather (the mother’s father) carry Koming three times around the water representing the passage of birth, life, and death. There are many symbols and rituals and the priest is in almost a trance-like state as he chants and speaks many sacred blessings. Although I do not understand the words, the sacred moment and symbolism transcends language and we are all so moved.

After a long day, on our way home Katherine and I stopped at Bumi Sehat to check in. Two mothers were laboring, one had just given birth and another was pushing. We gently joined the circle in the room with the young mother pushing. I slid behind her on the bed to hold her and offer my comfort and support. Katherine offered love and support to both the mother and to the student midwife, as this was her first catch. Wow, the circle of women, including one of the Balinese Bidan’s ( midwife). As is tradition at Bumi Sehat as the baby’s head begins to emerge- we all sang the baby earth side with the Gayatri Mantra.

Before I knew it we were back on our motorbike heading home from a long day. Thoughts of the birth, baby Koming and her blessing ceremony, the needs of her family, the rituals of Bali swirl in my head. Rituals play such a vital role in Bali.

What are the rituals and traditions in your culture?

Koming's family

History of The Rebozo Book

Submitted by Thea van Tuyl, Netherlands

The first time I met Naoli Vinaver, Mexican midwife, at a Midwifery Today conference, she was teaching about the Rebozo technique. She caught my attention immediately.

The Rebozo (cotton baby-carrier, shawl and tool to massage pregnant and birthing women) was used to relax, to move the mother, and to change the position of the baby. It looked so normal to do these things with a colourful Rebozo!

Since I waScreen Shot 2015-07-29 at 12.33.00 PMs present at the Midwifery Today Conferences in Europe every year, I saw more and more of the Rebozo technique. Not only from Naoli, but also from Mexican midwife Angelina Martinez. Every time they did a workshop I was there to learn more about all the possibilities of this wonderful towel. I learned for example; when the Rebozo was wrapped around the hips of the mother while she laid down on the floor she was moved or shaken, whatever she needed, and she felt great by this treatment. But the Rebozo could also be used to shake her pelvis when she was standing so the baby could bear down or find the right position. There were so many positions and ways to use the Rebozo! And when I started to try to do it in my own practice, it brought even more opportunities, possibilities and a lot of pleasure.

In 2006 the first Doula training started in the Netherlands and I was involved as a teacher. It was my task to teach the Rebozo to the new doula’s and it was great to do that. The doulas were excited and tried more and more at each other and later on at their clients. One of the doulas was my colleague childbirth educator, Mirjam de Keijzer, and we had a lot of contact. She told me about her experiences with her clients with the Rebozo and together we experimented with all kind of positions, rhythms, techniques etc…. Mirjam was a great Rebozo-user and so we both started to give workshops in our country.

There was nothing on the internet about the Rebozo. Sometimes an article or a report of the workshop at Midwifery Today, seldom a video on YouTube. And that was it. So we decided to write a book about this marvellous way of giving comfort to pregnant and birthing women, and not to forget; the beautiful tradition from Mexico, the closing massage for mothers in the post partum period. We started to write down the way the Rebozo can be used in several positions, and in different situations. We had a lot of pictures from the workshops we had given and Mirjam started to make drawings from these pictures. This made it possible to understand the text better . It became more and more a work book, an instruction on how to use the Rebozo.

Woman wearing Rebozo, Mexico
Hand-colored photography by Luis Marquez(photographer), 1937. Mexico

As we were not the ones who had spread this technique around the world, but the Mexican midwives, we contacted Naoli Vinaver and asked her to help us to do the right thing with the book. She wrote a preface and some parts for us and she read all our text and corrected where we were ‘wrong’. She helped us a lot to finish the book and had the roll of co-writer.

The first book came out in 2008 and was written in Dutch. In the Netherlands this way of giving comfort and massage to pregnant and birthing women was new and it came from a culture far from our cold country. Rebozo has everything to do with passion, with temperament and a kind of ‘fire’ in the blood. Things that we, Dutch girls, wanted to have, but we are certainly no Mexican girls.

So we decided to tell our participants of the workshops that we tried hard and did our best, but that we offered the Rebozo technique with a European ‘taste’.  Maybe a bit more stiff and very practical, but also from our hearts. Because it is a way of giving comfort, relaxation and movement that you only can give with your heart.

In 2009 we had translated the Rebozobook into English, with help of several English speaking women. We were so glad, that we could send the message of the Rebozo into the world. But how do you get the message all over the world from a tiny, little country like the Netherlands? We had our own website: www.rebozo.nl and we had even an English page on it. But not everybody got it via Google, I assume that it was only to be found via www.google.nl (the Dutch Google site).

We were very happy with the help of the Midwifery Today conferences that we could send the message about the book and the Rebozo via that canal. Teachers from the conference were very interested and Debra Pascali-Bonaro took it with her for her doula training and other kind of workshops. The Midwifery Today bookshop started to sell the book too! So the Rebozobook is now available in many ways for English speaking people.

The good news is that Naoli Vinaver will translate the book in Spanish and Portuguese, so it will be available for the Spanish and Portuguese speaking women. That will give the Rebozomassage even more power to reach a lot of pregnant women!

In the meantime the Rebozo got more and more attention in Europe and Mirjam and I were invited in many countries to do a Rebozo workshop. Midwives and doulas were excited about the easy way you can use the towel and started to practice- at first at home and later on with their clients. We found out that even other professions like therapists, teachers, physiotherapists, masseuses etc. were very interested in this way of giving massage. Women who work with children thought it a very good way of playing and helping children to move, to relax, to fall asleep.

The best are the stories of doulas or midwives who tell us that the Rebozo worked during a pregnancy or birth. One story is about a woman who was in labour and went to the hospital. Her partner and doula were with her. When she arrived she only had a few centimetres dilation and however her contractions went on and on, there was no progress.

The rule in the hospital was: if you did not had reached 4 cm dilation at 19.00 h. you needed to go to the ward, to get a rest, a sleep and you had to wait until the next morning for ‘the rest of your birth’. This woman really wanted to go on with her birth and did not like to go to the ward, but time was ticking and there was no progress. The doula thought that she could help with the Rebozo and asked the woman to sit on hands and knees on the bed. She wrapped the Rebozo around the pelvis and the bottom of the woman (like a candy or a tootsie-roll) and started to shake. The shaking was felt in the pelvis and the uterus and after a while the contractions got more powerful. When the midwife entered the room to check if the woman could stay or had to go to the ward, she found that she had reached her 4 cm dilation! So she could stay in the delivery room and she had a wonderful birth that night! Of course there is no evidence that the Rebozo did this job, but we are convinced that it certainly helped anyway! It is just an example how easy it is to use the Rebozo.  It will not work always, but you can try.

Find out how to use the Rebozo- buy the book, attend a workshop, or visit Midwifery Today or go to Brasil where Naoli Vinaver teaches the Rebozo technique. Do it and you will have so much pleasure with giving this kind of comfort or massage and you will be excited about the results!

www.rebozo.nl

www.nacimientonatural.com

www.midwiferytoday.com

Sweden: Warmth at the Birth House

Sweden
“Flying over the lakes, snow and shimmering landscape of Sweden, the jagged coast line appears as I anticipate my days ahead facilitating a Pleasurable Birth Workshop.” – Debra Pascali-Bonaro

Submitted by: Bodil Frey & Debra Pascali-Bonaro

January 2013  Debra Pascali-Bonaro facilitated a Pleasurable Birth Workshop in Sweden with Bodil Frey, a doula, educator and Gothenburg host, Thea van Tuyl, a doula, educator, and rebozo expert from the Netherlands.

Bodil Frey, workshop host and head of Födelsehuset starts off by sharing with us about birth in Sweden, “Sweden has a good reputation when it comes to birth care and very few babies die around the time of birth. Sweden ranks in the top of that statistic and also has very low numbers of maternal death. The medical system likes to take the credit for this but we also have, of course, a good social security net and Sweden is a wealthy country without major gaps between rich and poor.

“Some of the good things in Swedish maternity care: the care is free for everyone; in pregnancy you go to prenatal care where you often meet the same midwife every time; you do normally not meet a doctor during this time, except perhaps at the ultrasound scan; first time mothers and their partners can go to a free birth preparation class with a midwife; at birth in the hospital you also meet only midwives if there is no complication or epidural.

“Some of the not-so-good things in Swedish maternity care: we lack options; there are no alternatives to hospital birth in most parts of Sweden; in some places there are homebirth midwives, but with some exception we pay privately for their service; planned homebirth is only one per thousand births in Sweden; there are no birth centers; no one can expect to give birth in the hospital with a midwife they know before. (One exception would be the Crown Princess Victoria who gave birth this year with a midwife she had met before!). Even though the midwives handle normal births, the system is getting more and more medicalized. Ceasareans are 17% and steadily rising. And the fears around birth increase- both for the women and for the medical staff.”

The association Bodil founded is Födelsehuset, a cozy home with a kitchen, office and two rooms for us to create a red tent of sharing over a two-day weekend. January in Sweden is cold, a layers of fresh white snow gives light and brightens the cold, gray days, which have more darkness then light this time of year. The warmth inside this space, generated by the pellet stove, feels so good and soon the warmth and light in each of us opens up and shines throughout the room.

Sweden Birth HouseFödelsehuset was founded in 2007 in Gothenburg. Bodil writes, “The name means ”The Birth House” and is a vision of one house– help and support around the woman and baby. Instead of a conveyor belt passing through different institutions and always new faces. We were inspired of the ”Geburtshaus” in Germany. Födelsehuset was founded by parents, doulas and midwifes who wanted to speak up for a better birth care and more options. The logo shows how the newborn heart and the mother heart are protected by the house.

“Since four years Födelsehuset also has funding from the county, to provide doula care for new immigrant women who are pregnant. We have now 27 doulas who themselves have an immigrant background. Their mother tongue are Arabic, Somali, Persian, Kurd, Turkish, Serbocroatian and many more languages. The doulas speak Swedish and can help with the communication between the woman and the medical caregivers. More than 400 women have had a doula during the past years and they are very welcome by the midwives. We also arrange birth preparation classes in some languages, and have started a ”Mother Center”, staffed by doulas, in an area where many immigrants live.

“We also collect information, arrange prenatal classes, lectures and workshops Rebozossuch as Debra’s 2-day Advanced Birth Support for Doulas and Midwives Workshop held here this weekend with Debra and Thea. Thea van Tuyl shared with us her beautiful Guatemalan Rebozos and many techniques to provide comfort in labor from her book – The Rebozo Technique Unfolded. A weekend like this is more than learning skills and getting information. For example, when we practice on one another how to use the rebozo we get just the same things we want to give to our clients- trust, a deep contact, healing, relaxation.”

Rebozo crop
“When we practice on one another how to use the rebozo we get just the same things we want to give to our clients- trust, a deep contact, healing, relaxation.” – Bodil Frey

Debra loves to weave in exercise of listening, non-verbal communication and if appropriate touch, hugs and caring embraces to her workshops. Debra writes, “During labor there are many hours that we are together in silence, where no words are needed. Yet our connection and support remains strong. On the last day, Sunday morning, I can feel it is time for our group to look into each other eyes and go deeper into what it is to unconditionally nurture each other and thus others on their journey from maidenhood to motherhood. Without words our eyes, body and touch says so much. Even more than normal words of greeting. We have gone deeper, letting another to connect with us and to answer back with our eyes that we are here for you. Just as we greet a newborn, welcoming them with our eyes, our touch, our hearts open wide and then words of acknowledgement. Tears flow, hearts open as we feel our connections, oxytocin sparkles in our brains and body as without words so much is said and expressed between us.

“All over the world when women gather to speak of birth, our life-challenges and successes pour into the conversation, tears of joy and of sadness flow easily. Debras workshopOur collective experience, wisdom and diversity is amazing. Our group represents four countries: Sweden, Netherlands, South Africa and the U.S.- sixteen women and one man. It is powerful to give another our unconditional love and acceptance. I ask each person to share his or her vision for birth with another. What can we each do to make a difference in how women, men and babies are cared for and greeted in our community, country or world?”

Please share with us what you hope to bring to the birth community in your future. Födelsehuset has plans to participate in the Human Rights in Childbirth Conference and Exhibition in Stockholm in the end of the year and Debra looks forward to sharing more workshops with Bodil and other birth workers in Sweden later this year, as well as other workshops around the world.

SwedenThank you to Bodil Frey for sharing with us about birth in Sweden. Bodil is the chair of the association Födelsehuset, and a Doula and Childbirth educator. She is also the leader of the immigrant doula project. She can be contacted at: bodil.frey [AT] enbrastart.se.

To read more about the Immigrant Doula Project visit: http://fodelsehuset.se/doulakulturtolk and at the bottom-left of the page you can download two articles in English about the organization including: “Midwives’ experiences of doula support for immigrant women in Sweden” and “Foreign-Born Women’s Experiences of Community-Based Doulas in Sweden.”

 

All Things Bali

Ibu Robin Lim’s Beijing Breakfast Natural Induction Method from the Eat, Pray, Doula Book…

Balcony Vert“The wisest way to use Castor Oil as a way to encourage labor, is to start very early in the morning, after a good night’s sleep. if the mother did not rest well in the night, and there is no rush, e.g., her waters have not released, wait until the next morning. First, check all vitals, make sure mom and her partner are tranquil and happy to be launching this adventure of parenthood. If everything checks out fine, she can try, what we call, “Beijing Breakfast.” Named, because, for a long time in China there was a shortage of oxytocin, so doctors in the hospitals used this natural induction method, with great results.

Recipe for Beijing Breakfast

1 to 2 eggs cooked as mother likes them.
– 50 ml of organic odor free Castor oil
– 10 or more ounces of fresh orange juice

 Follow Your Heart to Bali

Training spaceIt is getting that time of year again where you either commit to spending 2 life-changing weeks in Bali this March earning your doula certification so you can help moms have gentle births, or procrastinate on the deadline and feel sad about it. So here is the link, please follow your heart: Eat Pray Doula Bali DONA Birth Doula Workshop with Debra Pascali-Bonaro LCCE, CD(DONA), Guerrilla Midwife Ibu Robin Lim, and midwife Katherine Bramhall taking place this spring March 1 – 11 at Bumi Sehat Bali.

“The smell of Moxa is in the air, needles adorn the many people who are laying and receiving their treatments.”  Read Debra’s blog from arriving in Bali last year.

PRDS SAR Blue w Green copy

 

10% off all Bali Items in the Global Birth Fair Store

Have you seen the gorgeous Birth of Paradise Sarongs & Wall-hangings hand-crafted in Bali? Inspirational as rebozo or to wear as shawl, hang on wall or use as baby wrap or sling. Also great birth gift!

Visit the Global Birth Fair Store and Save 10% by using the online discount code: BaliBliss

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“Peace begins with each child.”
~ Ibu Robin Lim

Guerilla Midwife Movie

Award winning documentary Guerrilla Midwife (90 minutes), takes us along the fragrant streets of Bali and desolate Acelinnese refugee camps of the Indonesian archipelago following midwife Ibu Robin Lim as her midwifery is put to the test. Filmed immediately following the December 26,2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, it is the story of a war waged gently in the belief that peace on earth can be achieved, one baby at a time.