I got to see my first birth in about a year last night! Between being very pregnant and having a new born, my work in birth has been mostly in teaching and attending events and workshops to continue learning.
I am in the "intern" phase as a birth assistant at Breath of Life Birth Center in Largo. Its hard work, much of it comes easy, the doula type of work, but working to make sure the charting is done properly, vitals being taken at the right intervals and done accurately, working seamlessly with the midwife, and Im still impressed with the clean up protocols!
But it was a great birth with a momma who I had actually met before! Small world. Its truley a blessing being at any birth, but there really is something magical about watching a mother, in all her glory,pain and power, bringing life into the world naturally. Watching the point when body takes over for the mind, the beauty of submission to something so powerful.
It reminded me of my goals for childbirth education. How I desire for each mom to understand her own power, to not be afraid of the process, but long for it and willingly submit to it, because its when that happens, that the magic happens. For moms to have support along the way in months before baby, to explore past traumas, fears and previous births, so that are prepared to deal with the bumps that may come up in their labors as those issues surface. How I wish Drs would see a stalled labor not as simply a physiologic problem, but perhaps something deeper. Also for moms to have a good understanding of whats happening to them during their labor and birth, so they aren't scared or unsure, instead confident, or at least having a sence of control when things get out of control. Being an involved participant in the process of bringing life into the world.
But anyhow, as always I was impressed with Chris at Breath of Life, her non intrusive way of gentle and passivly "managing" a birth by just allowing it to unfold, in its time, under her skilled watchful eye. And Im thankful to be allowed to be part of it. There are great things happening there!
So now I hope to get a few more shadow births under my belt as I work on fine tuning a few skills, and then hopefully I can do it on my own soon!
Its a nice step between doula and midwife, I get to help support the mom,but also by working with the midwife, I hope to learn more about birth and its variations!
Ive been working on my reading and working on getting my curriculum started. So its exciting times! I have a few other things on the clip board of life that I hope to look at soon or at least just after the start of the year!
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