Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pregnancy
Goes SOUTH:
Keeping Birth Gentle
by: Robin Lim
M
others, father, grandparents, causes our cells to obtain the nutrition we year, even though they are born in a coun-
midwives, nurses, doulas, doc- need when we eat, drink and live. try where there are more neonatal inten-
tors and concerned citizens are In 2012 I spoke at the Women Deliver sive care units than the 25 countries that
calling out for human rights in childbirth. Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. have lower infant mortality rates (Haelle
Yet, this worldwide push is relatively small I was saddened as I listened and came to 2014; CDC 2014).
when we consider how many women, new- know that in a gathering of some 5000 Suffering in childbirth need not be
born babies and families are affected by birthkeepers, most were Ob/Gyns, few the norm, for without drugs and without
human rights infractions in childbirth. The were midwives and even fewer were doulas. medical interventions imposing iatrogenic
bullying of mothers and their families, just What I found there was that the reproduc- risks, healthy, well-supported women, car-
when they should be enjoying the miracle tive health agenda being promoted world- rying healthy babies, may make the pas-
of birth, is all too often, all over this world, wide, as it relates to birth, is a global push sage of childbirth with dignity, surrounded
accepted as the norm, as though wom- of childbirth into bigger, high-tech hos- by people of their choice, with joy, grace
en should suffer in childbirth. I cannot pitals and away from personal culturally and even pleasure. The gentle birth move-
imagine that our divine Creator meant for appropriate childbirth options, such as ment advocates for the basic human right
women to suffer. There is, in my experience homebirth and midwife-to-mother care. It of women to labor and deliver their own
of birthing five times and receiving thou- seems nearly no one in obstetrics is learn- babies with respect from their health care
sands of babies into the world, a big differ- ing from the problems the United States is providers, with support for their choices
ence between the challenging strength of having, as it becomes the country ranked and privacy. Furthermore, families and
childbirth contractions/waves/rushes and 60 in maternal mortality, though it spends wise health care providers are advocating
suffering. Suffering happens when mothers more money on childbirth technology than for the rights of babies to be handled in a
are not supported, not well nourished, not any other country in the world (Kassabaum way that does not impair their future health,
respected and not loved within the con- et al. 2013). Likewise for infants, birth in well-being, intelligence and longevity, i.e.,
text of pregnancy, birth and postpartum. the US is not always a safe journey. Babies delayed umbilical cord severance and skin-
Please remember: Love is the nutrient that born in the US die at a rate of 24,000 per to-skin uninterrupted contact with mother
In His Hands
be lifesaving. I encourage all birthkeepers
to work in harmony together.
Wayanik’s baby boy was born by neces-
sary cesarean. Dr. Hariyasa did not clamp
or cut the umbilical cord. The reluctant but
openhearted pediatrician allowed me to
keep the cord intact for 20 minutes follow-
We provide birth supplies to Midwives, Birth Centers, Doulas ing the cesarean. A nurse tried to scrape the
abundant vernix off of the slightly prema-
& Expectant Parents across the United States. We strive to
ture baby’s skin while the pediatrician was
have the lowest prices and a high level of customer service. worrying about hypothermia. I stopped the
Please visit our website to shop our wide array of nurse from scraping baby Putu and he was
midwifery supplies or contact us to set up your own put skin-to-skin with his mother in recov-
ery. I used a sterile gauze pad to swab the
custom birth kit. We look forward to serving you! mother’s vagina and placed that in baby’s
mouth to insure that even though he was
Follow us! cesarean born, he would have all the mi-
crobes if his mother’s vagina.
References:
Kassebaum, NJ, et al. 2014. “Global, Regional, and Na-
tional Levels and Causes of Maternal Mortality dur-
ing 1990–2013: A Systematic Analysis for the Global
Burden of Disease Study 2013.” Lancet 9947 (384):
980–1004.
Haelle, Tara. 2014. “US Infant Mortality Rate Worse
Than Other Countries.” CBSNews.com. Accessed
January 20, 2015. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/
u-s-infant-mortality-rate-worse-than-other-countries/.
CDC. 2014. “Infant Mortality.” Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Accessed January 20, 2015. cdc.gov/
reproductivehealth/MaternalInfantHealth/Infant
Mortality.htm.