Fathers at Birth-Book Club

Fathers at Birth by Rose St. John

 

I love this book for many reasons and recommend it to families all the time.  It is useful not only for partners but for doulas and anyone else attending a woman in labor.  There were many important parts that I thought we should discuss but I tried to limit the discussion because I know we are all pressed for time.  If I missed anything you would like to bring up please feel free to do so…again-let’s have fun!

 

If you only had ten minutes...

...to talk to a room of expectant parents about how to optimize their birth-what would you be sure to include?  What would be the most important information-the few things you would want them to take with them when they left.  Would the information you relay differ if you were wearing your doula hat or your childbirth educator hat? What resources would you suggest for further reading? If there were other care-providers on the panel with you-a midwife, a doctor, a nurse, a yoga teacher...what would you include to either compliment what they are saying in their ten minutes or to highlight your specific role as a doula or educator?

ICEA (first ever) Book Club - Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin

Birth Matters

This is my first book club experience.  At first I thought I would write a review of the book and the discussion would grow from there.  Then I realized that is not what a book club is about-we just want a place where we can chat about what we have read.  I have put together a series of questions and topics for discussion referring to either direct passages in the book or issues that were brought up to get our conversation going.  I am hoping these topic points will stimulate and the comments will explode from there. (next time I will go straight to the topics of discussion without an intro)

 

Postpartum Suns-First Birth Blues (too)

This story was written quite some time ago but I was inspired to post to share my experience with Amber.  Her blog made me feel much less alone and I wanted to thank her for sharing her post by sharing my own.  Thanks Amber!!! (my oldest son is ten now and little man is 2.5)

 

Trauma: An experience that produces psychological injury of pain.  A powerful shock that may have long lasting effects.

 

SafeSitter-Better Sitters Today-Better Parents Tomorrow

“Bringing Birth to the Table” Incorporating Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders into ICEAs Education Curriculum

It thrills me that two of my favorite organizations have come together to address perinatal mental health.  Part of the mission of the collaboration between ICEA and Postpartum Support International is to incorporate perinatal mood and anxiety disorders into the education and certification curriculum.  This is actually a grea-big-deal as I am sure you have noticed quite a bit of the training out there is somewhat lacking in this area.  Just to give an example right off the bat-we usually talk about postpartum depression but in fact any of these issues can and often do surface during pregnancy.  There is quite a bit that needs to change in terms of what we learn and what we teach our clients about these issues and ICEA is taking a step in the right direction. 

 

How is your work viewed by those closest to you?

We have all spent what probably seems like a great deal of time contemplating birth culture-what it is like in our community and probably even around the world.  I recently had an experience that got me thinking about how birth is viewed in our homes-and by “our” I mean birthworkers-doulas, midwives, childbirth educators.  How does your family view what you do?

 

The Joy of Marketing

It is not an easy thing to do-market yourself.  It seems or feels like marketing is a competitive sport and as a doula I don’t like to think of myself as competitive.  Pictionary, now that’s is another story-but with birthwork I don’t want to be at odds with anyone.

 

In Santa Fe I was part of a cooperative, we had a website and marketing materials.  Even sent out a monthly newsletter.  There were other doulas in town, doulas that worked at the hospital but somehow and for some reason it felt different.  It is an entirely different experience when the only name on your website is your own.

 

Press Release: March of Dimes Launches New Web-Based Prematurity Resource for Health Professionals

Elizabeth Lynch, (914) 997-4286, elynch@marchofdimes.com
Todd Dezen, (914) 997-4608, tdezen@marchofdimes.com

New Online Center Consolidates Information to Make Free Material Easier to Access

          WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., JULY 6, 2011– The March of Dimes has launched a new online Prematurity Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) that combines all its valuable materials on prematurity into one section of its web site.

          The PPRC offers the web’s most comprehensive source of online information on prematurity and prematurity prevention. It includes the most current information from the March of Dimes on interventions, research, advocacy, professional education, global initiatives, teaching tools and resources to use with patients.

          The materials, such as a toolkit designed to eliminate medically unnecessary elective deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy along with other information about the about the important brain and lung development that occurs during the last weeks of pregnancy, can be found at prematurityprevention.org. Users have free access to the site after registering with a user name and password.

Some things to think about

So I am reading this really ancient book (copyright 1977) by Sheila Kitzinger "Education and Counseling for Childbirth."  It may be old but boy is it still relevant.  (Not to mention she discusses ICEA on numerous pages). I have come across a few passages I wanted to share with you to create some discussion about how/why/and what we are doing as childbirth educators and doulas.  I will warn you I have just started the book and have not gotten through the first chapter yet-that's how good it is...Anyway let me share with you and get your thoughts about some of what I have read-

"The quality of the human relationship between teacher and taught may be difficult to measure, but it is this, rather than the subject taught or the teaching techniques employed, which is the essence of education." 

This passage had me thinking about many things but some of what came up involved; online classes, one-day classes, and other options of that nature. If the above statment is true-what is the value in taking classes online or only meeting with your educator once? Is there value? Has technology changed what Ms. Kitzinger wrote in the 70s? What do you think?

How about this one..

"The manner in which childbirth educators see themselves profoundly affects how they teach and what they have to offer.  The information at their disposal, their teaching techniques, the quality of their voices, the skill they exhibit in their demonstrations and lectures are all secondary to this self-perception."

So-what do you think? Has the way you view yourself as an educator/doula changed since you first started working with families? How do you see yourself in this role-what are your objectives-do you have any? What do you have to offer?