Healing the World – One Baby at a Time

Ibu Robin Lim & The Documentary Film-Guerrilla Midwife

My home smells of citronella essential oil – the smell is reminiscent of a local anti-mosquito oil I was given by Wayang, a friend whom I met while on vacation in Bali, Indonesia.  One inhale and I am sent back, one deep breath and my spirit is filled with the essence of all that is Bali.   It was explained to me that the land, the culture, and the people of Bali would always remain a part of me.  I never truly understood that sentiment until I left the island.

While on our five-week family vacation my husband and I jumped on a motor-bike (it was my first time) and made our way to Nyuh Kuning village to visit Yayasan Bumi Sehat.  I was overwhelmed and inspired by what we encountered.  Overwhelmed by the courageous goals of this non-profit organization: “to reduce the maternal and child morbidity rate and to support the health and wise development of communities.”  Inspired by the passion and commitment of all the individuals involved.  I had envisioned visiting the clinic, dropping off my donations, and leaving fulfilled.  Over two years later and halfway across the world I am still doing what I can to support Bumi Sehat.

I had been introduced to the film “Guerrilla Midwife” by one of the volunteers at the clinic that day and though I was enchanted by the title I never got around to watching it until a few nights ago.

National Infant Mortality Awareness Month

images.jpeg

It is startling to find out that the United States ranks 29th amongst industrialized nations in terms of our infant mortality rate...that's right 29th! Wait-it doesn't stop there-did you know that African Americans have 2.3 times the infant mortality rate as non-Hispanic Whites? Also-more than one million babies die each year because they are born prematurely and about 13 million babies are born too soon according to the March of Dimes.  I think I will stop there for now-its a bit too much to take in all at once.

The National Healthy Start Association has sponsored a campaign to raise awareness about this issue and has designated September as National Infant Mortality Awareness Month.  I knew that our numbers were not great but I work in the field-I make it my business to know whats happening to and with women and children around the world.  Think about how many American's do not know these statistics-think about how many of us are in the dark! The numbers are astounding and to put it quite simply-unacceptable.  

I am writing this blog to ask you all for your help in getting the word out.  To make this task easier the Healthy Start Association has put together a toolkit originally designed to assist federally funded public health organizations however if you look it over you will discover many ideas for those of us who are working at a grassroots level in our own communities.  The toolkit can be adapted for our use.  It includes background information and statistics, ideas for fundraising, advocacy tips, plans for working with the media, as well as public relations and marketing-there are also sample letters to send to the editor of your local paper and/or state representatives.  

Change will only come when we ask for it. Thanks for your help! Please come back and post-let us know what action you took in your community.

How does what we read influence the way we think and teach?

In my classes we often talk about images of birth or birth messages that we are exposed to via the media or even stories we hear from family and friends.  Though I do hand out a recommended reading list I can honestly say I don’t think I spend much time discussing the books they have read or plan to read.  Of course I suggest surrounding themselves with positive stories and images but I think I may have undervalued the power of the books they have read before they walked through my classroom doors or the books they will read once they have left.

Dancing For Birth-A Review

My son is 15 months old now so I don't have that much time for exercising these days but when I was pregnant with him I looked forward to my daily routine of prenatal belly-dancing.  Sure, I went for walks, did prenatal yoga and all of that fun stuff but I really enjoyed my time belly-dancing for many reasons.  It felt good! It helped bring awareness and movement to my pelvis and hips (an area that would and did experience many changes). It was sensual-it reminded me that no matter what was happening to and in my body I was a beautiful and sensual woman! And I firmly believe that the exercises I performed played a huge role in my amazing birth! Unfortunately these dance sessions were limited to my living room because I could not find a dance or yoga studio that offered prenatal belly-dance-I purchased any and all dvds I could find-sadly there weren't that many. 

This past weekend at a doula conference I had the fortunate experience of meeting an incredible woman who just happened to be a doula, childbirth educator, and dance instructor.  She has created not only a prenatal dance DVD but has also has begun an instructor certification program as well.  Her program is entitled "Dancing For Birth" and the DVD is "Dancing For Birth-Prenatal Dance & Birth Wisdom."  I probably don't have to mention how thrilled I was to have found her. Many of the DVDs I used during my pregnancy were created by dance instructors who I am sure have many years of dance experience under their belts but this was the first time I came across a program created by someone who works with and knows pregnant women! 

Staying Informed

This weekend I took part in an ICEA childbirth education workshop.  One of the topics we discussed was how to avoid burnout-how to keep things fresh.  One of the ways in which I do this both as an educator and a doula is by keeping up to date with the current research-in other words-reading a lot!  This may be one of the reasons I was drawn to this field, the need to stay informed.  I love to read-books, magazines, blogs, websites, journals-you name it and at some point I will get to it.  I am also a mother of two boys and I work about 25-30 hours a week as well so I may not always be on top of things as they happen but at some point-I will get there.

Last night I picked up a printed copy of ACOG’s practice bulletin (I know, intimidating).  I had read a few articles and blogs on facebook and other websites about the new guidelines but I wanted to go to the source-read the actual bulletin for myself, see if I could make any sense of it. 

Women and Children First

My degree is in anthropology.  I spent a great deal of my college years conducting research and writing papers.  In essence its kind of what I wanted to do with my life.  Looking back on that experience I feel a bit confused-why can’t I seem to get it together for this project? This is way beyond anything I would categorize as writers block.  I am afraid-afraid of what I am learning, worried that the more research I do, the more in depth I go-the later I will lay awake at night wondering how I could do more.

Donate money-check.
Spread the word-check.
I need more.

Here are the facts…

Every minute a woman dies from pregnancy and childbirth complications.  It is estimated that 90% of these deaths are preventable.

Women in the developing world rarely have access to emergency medical care.

Pregnancy is the biggest killer of women ages 15-19 in the developing world.  Almost 70, 000 young women die every year because they had babies before their bodies were ready.

In sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 22 women will die in childbirth and 9 out of 10 women will lose a child during their lifetime.

The United States ranks 41st globally in maternal health (yup-you read right) even though we spend more on healthcare than any other nation.  And African American women are four times more likely to die in childbirth than Caucasian women.

Every year 10 million women suffer from post-delivery infections, disabilities, and severe conditions.

Visual Aids for Childbirth Preparation

Every now and again I find myself teaching a class that is just a tad less responsive than usual.  They don't ask many questions and don't have many comments.  Sometimes its like pulling teeth just to get them to say anything.  Everyone has different ways of learning-some like to listen to me talk-others prefer to have a visual to reinforce the discussion.  It is important to have some variety in your classes-different ways of learning concepts that compliment one another.  Most of the time I use different videos and/or visual aids. I would love to hear what you have incorporated into your childbirth education classes. 

A few of my favorite videos include-In Joy's "Everyday Miracles" and "Stages of Labor" as well as my all time favorites by Penny Simkin-"Comfort Measures" and "The 3 Rs."  So far I have not purchased any visual aids but have created my own-I always use the Fear-Tension-Pain Cycle diagram in all of my classes - I find it very helpful.

What visual aids do you use most? Which ones do you find most helpful?  What are some of your favorite videos? And what do you do when you have a quiet class?  

Pregnancy and Birth Poetry Contest Finalists...

We had many beautiful entries-Let us know what you think...

The winner will be announced next week!  Thank you to all who took part-



 

SWEET SIXTEEN

Late. Positive.

There's a baby on the way.

Should I laugh or scream or cry?
Or maybe even pray?

 

Sick. Tired.

There's a baby on the way.

I haven't told a single soul.

What will people say?

The 50th Anniversary Mega Conference!! Register Today!!

Celebrating Our Pasts-Uniting for the Future of Birth-September 30-October 3, 2010-Miluakee, WI

ICEA has a long history of amazing conferences-in fact I recently came across an old convention booklet from the International Convention in 1997 entitled "Celebrating the Educator-Renewing the Spirit."  I can not begin to express how much fun I have been having flipping through the 300 or so pages.  Its amazing how much information is still relevant.  

So it is within that spirit that I am thrilled to be writing about this year's event.  ICEA has joined forces with Lamaze this year to host a "Mega-Conference." Mega-indeed-50 years is quite impressive.  Its overwhelming to think about how long ICEA has been in existence-I was flipping through the very first issue of Mothering Magazine the other day and stumbled upon an article about ICEA (I will post that to the blog one of these days). The excitement is bubbling over.  

Check out what is on the agenda: 

* Video: Laboring Under an Illusion with commentary from the filmmaker, Vicki Elson, MA, CCE 

* Warren Newton, MD: Prospective on Developing a Collaborative System of Care in Education 

Call to Action-Maternal Health Crisis

Please take a few minutes today to contact your members of Congress and ask them to attend the Congressional briefing on the maternal health crisis on Thursday, May 6th, from 12:00-2:00 pm in the Rayburn House Office Building, Room 2226. (Lunch will be served).