Welcome Through Heart

Posted on 3 September, 2013 by Judith Halek

There is no more honorable work than assisting a newborn onto the planet. Since 1987 I’ve had the fortune of sharing my talents and skills as a professional Labor Assistant (doula) with parents as they birth their babies. We are ‘Heart Keepers’ as we ‘hold the space’ for semblance and symmetry. When someone in the birth team, (doctors, midwives, nurses, anesthesiologists, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, friends) become out of resonance with the core couple (mom/partner and baby), it’s up to the doula to help bring back the energy through communication, compromise and breath. I help the couple to look at their options and encourage them to make the final decisions. As a Heart Keeper doula, I am required to be patient, release my ego, calmly and quietly redirect the mother and/or partner into their bodies, breath and connection to their baby. “Doula” is a Greek word meaning, “woman assistant.” In Zulu, the word, “Dula” means “To Be.”

And now, in the Spring of 2011, I experience many individuals sharing their gifts and talents as the global heart awakens to a new potential human, like the newborn, reflecting the possibility of their greatest good. The planet is in a chrysalis state, moving out of the old paradigm of the caterpillar to the ultimate expression of the butterfly.

As a baby begins with the union of seed from father and egg from mother, new life emerges and forms in the aquatic chrysalis within the mother’s womb. The heart, the first organ to develop in the fetus, begins beating at 3 weeks and one day from fertilization. Here’s a cryptic play on the word EARTH: take the H and place it in front of the E and the new word is HEART. We are born onto a ‘heart planet’.

The latest Heart Coherence studies are discovering the heart has it’s own nervous system more powerful than the brain/spine nervous system. Scientists have measured and proven we have an emotional response before a thought. The emotions are indicators as to what we think, good or bad. Further studies show when a subject is looking at a series of images flashed before their eyes, there is an anticipated, precognitive feeling of the next image within seconds before it is flashed in front of them.

Is this science fiction, or the ability to measure that which has always been within us? These are exciting times we live in. How do you share through the heart?

The Photograph- Hand From The Womb

Posted on 3 September, 2013 by Judith Halek

Please read before viewing picture – it’s worth it!

A picture began circulating in November. It should be ‘The Picture of the Year,’ or perhaps, ‘Picture of the Decade.’ It won’t be. In fact, unless you obtained a copy of the US paper which published it, you probably would never have seen it.

The picture is that of a 21-week-old unborn baby named Samuel Alexander Armas, who is being operated on by surgeon named Joseph Bruner.

The baby was diagnosed with spina bifida and would not survive if removed from his mother’s womb. Little Samuel’s mother, Julie Armas, is an obstetrics nurse in Atlanta. She knew of Dr. Bruner’s remarkable surgical procedure. Practicing at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, he performs these special operations while the baby is still in the womb.

During the procedure, the doctor removes the uterus via C-section and makes a small incision to operate on the baby. As Dr. Bruner completed the surgery on Samuel, the little guy reached his tiny, but fully developed hand through the incision and firmly grasped the surgeon’s finger. Dr. Bruner was reported as saying that when his finger was grasped, it was the most emotional moment of his life, and that for an instant during the procedure he was just frozen, totally immobile.

The photograph captures this amazing event with perfect clarity. The editors titled the picture, ‘Hand of Hope.’ The text explaining the picture begins, “The tiny hand of 21-week- old fetus Samuel Alexander Armas emerges from the mother’s uterus to grasp the finger of Dr. Joseph Bruner as if thanking the doctor for the gift of life.”

Little Samuel’s mother said they “wept for days” when they saw the picture. She said, “The photo reminds us pregnancy isn’t about disability or an illness, it’s about a little person.” Samuel was born in perfect health, the operation 100 percent successful. Now see the actual picture.

Don’t tell me our God isn’t an awesome God!!!!!

Samuel Alexander Armas, Picture of the Year, Hand of Hope

Placenta Medicine- The Tree of Life

Posted on 3 September, 2013 by Judith Halek

So why would one want to do anything with a placenta other than grow a baby in one and discard it after the birth? That’s a question I get far too often when I bring up the possibility of doing something with the placenta after the birth.

Some people plant trees or bushes over it, other’s bury it in a garden to enrich the soil and celebrate the new life given to them. It is a dedication of the placenta back to the earth in honor of the child coming into their lives. A year later, a tree, flower, bush is planted in the same spot to allow the placenta to nourish it’s growth. The waiting of a year is to assure the growth or a new seedling because the nutrient rich placenta can potentially kill anything planted before a year. There are what reader Judy Pfeifer calls “birthing bushes” across the city: flowering yews, almond trees, lilies, camellias, raspberry canes and tomatoes. Roses are popular bushes to plant atop a child’s placenta – and they flourish, I’m told. Magnolias, not so.

Actor Matthew McConaughey brought this ritual into news when he announced he planned to plant the placenta of his son, Levi, in an orchard. If you are planning to plant the placenta, you can freeze it until you are ready to plant. After a year in the ground, the placenta breaks down in the soil and delivers nutrients that will produce a beautiful tree, bush or flower. You can even put together a ‘placenta planting party’ and turn the event into a big celebration honoring your child on their first birthday. A tender suggestion from Loreen Lee: “I think this calls for a garden burial, then above the spot a sandbox and playhouse with a little plaque, `Noah’s place – enter here.’” Jeanne Mott’s grandsons’ placentas are planted beneath trees that bear flowers and berries in spring, she writes, and a tree with heart-shaped leaves that turns rich shades of golden-orange for her October-born granddaughter. “(The children) all refer to the trees as `my tree,’ and it has become part of their personal identity in their yard, cementing their sense of place perhaps. Just a little thing, but rather sweet.”

To make a placenta print, you take a piece of watercolor paper and lay the placenta on it, along with the cord attached. Let it dry and then choose paints to add color to the piece. Hang it in a boxed frame because the ‘ink’ is a blood born base and it protects the art as well as others being exposed to the material, or store the piece for safekeeping. I was at a birth recently for twins where they were NOT allowed to remove the placentas from the hospital, so I brought in 4 large pieces of art paper and when most of the staff had left the OR (operating room), the head nurse allowed me to make some placenta art for the parents to take home. They had a vaginal birth with the twins! This placenta print here is by Patience of Art of Patience. You may see her other work at: http://artofpatience.ourprairie.net

Still, placentophagy, eating a placenta cooked or not cooked, isn’t something recently dreamed up by crunchy granola types — it’s been going on in many parts of the world for centuries:

In parts of Indonesia, the Czech Republic and Morocco, new mothers once believed eating the placenta guarantees future fertility.
Once women in Hungary had tired of the whole child-bearing business, they believed that by burning the placenta and placing the ashes in their husband’s drink, he’d soon be shooting blanks.

The German word for placenta is Mutterkucken and the Dutch word for it is Moederkoek. Both words mean “mother-cake.”

Among the Hmong culture of Southeast Asia, the word for placenta can be translated as “jacket,” as it’s considered an infant’s first and finest clothing. The Hmong bury the placenta outside. They believe that after death, the soul must retrace the journeys undertaken in life until it reaches the burial place of its placenta jacket.

Buddhists liken the unfolding of the lotus petals to the unfolding of the divine within the human self. The closed bloom represents the heart with its infinite potential for enlightenment. The open blossom represents the enlightened self. Lotus jewelry is a cherished keepsake for the new mother after a lotus birth.

Among the Navajo Indians of the Southwest, it’s customary to bury a child’s placenta within the sacred Four Corners of the tribe’s reservation as a binder to ancestral land and people. New Zealand’s Maoris have the same tradition of burying the placenta within native soil. In their native language, the word for land and placenta are the same: whenua.

The indigenous Bolivian Aymara and Quecha people believe the placenta has its own spirit. It is to be washed and buried by the husband in a secret and shady place. If this ritual is not performed correctly, they believe, the mother or baby may become very sick or even die.

The Ibo of Nigeria and Ghana treat the placenta as the dead twin of the live child and give it full burial rites.

Filipina mothers are known to bury the placenta with books, in hopes of a smart child.

Other cultures place a symbol of their people with the placenta when burying it, as a kind of heritage insurance.

Gossip blogs have said Eva Longoria keeps her baby face by using EMK Placental Face Cream, an $85 product which uses placenta protein extract. Tribes in the Ural Mountains in Russia thought of the placenta as a caretaker for the child — and as such, it deserved a warm welcome. Along with carefully knitted clothes for the infant, they’d create a tiny shirt for the placenta. Some Maori women in New Zealand believe the afterbirth must be buried immediately, and that disposing it in any other way will harm the child.

One group of Siberian people believed when the baby laughed in its sleep, it was because the soul of the placenta had visited it. In parts of Norway, mothers would stab the placenta with a knife, believing it was a horrible monster that must be killed.

“It’s an organ. So, just like any organ meat, if it wasn’t kept well — if it wasn’t frozen or kept at a cool temperature — you have a danger of bacteria or something growing,” Schorn says. “But there’s nothing inherent about placenta that would make it more dangerous than any other meat.”

There are recipes for cooking placentas such as, placenta stew, placenta lasagna, power drinks and others. Some choose to eat the placenta raw. Consumption of uncooked human placenta carries risks associated with other human blood products. There is the risk of hepatitis B,C, and HIV infection. If you eat your own placenta, it does not carry these risks. There are many reasons for eating the placenta after a birth. It helps the womb to contract. Many animals eat their own placenta as a means to hide the scent from predators.

The placenta is a living organ, filled with natural oxytocins, attached to the mother’s womb where it draws nourishment and oxygen from the mother and delivers it to the baby via the umbilical cord. The placenta joins the mother to the baby and the baby to the mother. It is truly the baby’s “life support” system during the pregnancy. It is about 1/6th of the baby’s weight. It acts as an endocrine gland, producing estrogen, progesterone and gonadotrophin. The womb and the placenta have a fine membrane separating them. Surprisingly, the blood of the mother and the baby do not mix.

Placentas have a life and mind of their own, connected energetically and physically to the mind of the baby and the mother. Sometimes the placentas register in the womb in an anterior or posterior, low lying (placenta previa) or high lying position. If the placenta is low-lying, near the cervix, there is an imagery exercise one can do to help “raise up the placenta” so a vaginal birth is possible. Placentas can also be attached too deeply into the womb wall, (placenta accrete) which might cause problems with the removal after the birth of the baby. Imagery can be helpful here as well.

Preparing the placenta for consumption by mothers is considered traditional among Vietnamese and Chinese people. The Chinese believe a nursing mother should boil the placenta, make a broth, then drink it to improve her milk. Traditional Chinese Medicine consider the placenta a powerful and sacred medicine full of life force, Qi. Chinese women thought a bite of dried placenta would speed up labor. They make medicinal capsules and/or herbal – homeopathic tinctures out of it. Some consider it cannibalism, others find it extremely helpful to ward off ‘baby blues’ experienced in about 80% of women in the first few days or weeks after the birth. Some situations become more severe and post partum depression, (PPD) may evolve. The placenta medicine has been known to; ward off both the blues and PPD, shorten the post bleeding time, restore lost hormones, nourish the blood, replenish depleted iron, reduce the overall recovery time from labor and birth for baby and mother after the birth, increase energy, boost the immune systems and enhance milk production. Placentophagy, or consumption of the placenta has been around for centuries.

The Science of Placenta Medicine (from www.placentabakery.com)

The known ingredients that give the placenta its healing properties are:

Gonadotrophin: the precursor to estrogen, progesterone and testosterone,

Prolactin: promotes lactation,

Oxytocin: for pain and bonding; produced during breastfeeding to facilitate bonding of mother and infant. In pharmaceutical form this is a very addictive drug because it promotes a feeling of connectedness with others,

Thyroid stimulating hormone: boosts energy and helps recovery from stressful events,

Cortisone: combats stress and unlocks energy stores,

Interferon: stimulates the immune system to protect against infections,

Prostaglandins: anti-inflammatory,

Hemoglobin: replenishes iron deficiency and anemia, a common postpartum condition,

Urokinase inhibiting factor and factor XIII: stops bleeding and enhances wound healing,

Gammaglobulin: immune booster that helps protect against postpartum infections.

So, as you can see, the placenta is full of feel-good hormones and healing chemicals,

Clinical Research: (from www.placentabakery.com)

“It has been shown that the feeding of desiccated placenta to women during the first eleven days after parturition causes an increase in the protein and lactose percent of the milk… All the mothers were receiving the same diet, and to the second set 0.6mg of desiccated placenta was fed three times a day throughout the period. Certain definite differences in the progress of growth of the two sets of infants are to be observed. It is evident that the recovery from the postnatal decline in weight is hastened by the consumption of milk produced under the influence of maternally ingested placenta.” McNeile, Lyle G. 1918. The American journal of obstetrics and diseases of women and children, 77. W.A. Townsend & Adams, original press: University of Michigan.

Powdered Placenta Hominis was used for 57 cases of insufficient lactation. Within 4 days, 48 women had markedly increased milk production, with the remainder following suit over the next three days.” Bensky/Gamble. 1997. Materia Medica, Eastland Press, 549.

“All patients were given desiccated placenta prepared as previously described (C.A. II, 2492) in doses of 10 grains in a capsule 3 times a day. Only those mothers were chosen for the study whose parturition was normal and only the weights of those infants were recorded whose soul source of nourishment was mothers milk. The growth of 177 infants was studied. The rate of growth is increased by the ingestion of placenta by the mother… the maternal ingestion of dried placenta tissue so stimulates the tissues of the infants feeding on the milk produced during this time, that unit weight is able to add on greater increments of matter, from day to day, than can unit weight of infants feeding on milk from mothers not ingesting this substance.” Hammett, Frederick. S. 1918. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, 36. American Society of Biological Chemists, Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, original press: Harvard University.

“Giving…placenta to a new mother following birth has become standard protocol among a growing number of midwives in the United States. By nourishing the blood and fluids, endocrine glands and organs, Placenta will …reduce or stop postpartum bleeding, speed up recovery, boost energy and relieve postpartum blues.” Homes, Peter. 1993. Jade Remedies, Snow Lotus Press, 352.

This is the LONGEST umbilical cord I have seen in my 23 year career: 38.5 inches long. Normal is: 20ish”

Then, there’s the not-so-ceremonial use of it, the commercial use of “placenta extract” found in some cosmetics, such as facial cream sold in France. In 1994, Britain banned the practice of collecting placentas in hospitals from unsuspecting mothers, after it was learned that 360 tons of it were annually being bought and shipped by French pharmaceutical firms. They used it to make a protein, albumin, for burns and to make enzymes to treat rare genetic disorders. Did you know that many beauty products contain placenta? (Jodome Organic Placenta Soap)

Freezing the placenta is not suggested unless it is for a short period of time. (up to 3 months) If you do freeze your placenta, it is best to double zip-lock it in gallon sized bags with all the excess air squeezed out within an hour or so of the birth. Refrigeration for any ‘length’ of time will result in ‘spoiled meat’ and the placenta will not be viable. If you are having your baby in the hospital you must speak with your medical caregiver ahead of time, before the labor and birth about taking it home with you. Most hospitals have a protocol to bring your placenta to pathology, keep it for five or more days and then discard it. It will not be refridgerated and probably put in formaldihyde. You must not use the placenta at this point. Make special arrangements with the hospital staff to either release it right away or have it immediately frozen rather than refrigerated if they insist on keeping it for a period of time. Legally the placenta is your property. They may require you to sign forms upon admission regarding the after birth. You may just write, “I do not consent” on the form.

It must be in your birth plan at the time to delay cord clamping and cutting until the cord has totally stopped pulsing. Early cord clamping leaves the placenta engorged with blood and the baby is deprived of up to half of their blood volume and vital stem cells.

So what is the proper way to prepare an encapsulation of the placenta? Every website will explain it a little differently. It is best to encapsulate within 2-3 days after the birth. I find when I steam the placenta before I dry it, there are fewer pills than when I just rinse the placenta with cold water, cut it into thin slices and dehydrate it. The ‘energy’ put into the preparation will go into the capsules, so healing prayers, music and laughter is best when preparing the medicine. One can pay someone to do the procedure, which can take from 12-18 hours to do, or research and do it yourself. I can get between 130-250 pills per placenta. If I do not make an herbal tincture with part of the placenta and the sheath or sacs, I can get more pills. Contrary to what many people say, I actually DRY the amniotic sacs and pulverize with the rest of the placenta parts. I also add a bit of dried lemon grass, echinacea and garlic to help boost the immune system to the mother and the baby. Lemon grass treats problems with digestive systems and is useful for relieving muscle spasms. It also balances the nervous system and provides a gentle boost when exhausted. Echinacea stimulates the immune system and promotes T-cell activation. It helps white blood cells attack germs. Garlic is well known as the “wonder drug” for boosting the immune system. By adding a small amount of each of these herbs to the capsules, the color of the pills may change from a darkish black to a lighter brown.

After the capsules are made they suggest a postpartum course of 2 capsules at a time with white wine. The wine is suppose to disperse the energy of the placenta throughout the body. This dosage can be taken up to 3 times a day until the mother feels balanced out. The remaining medicine can be taken homeopathically for the times when one’s child may be undergoing separation anxiety, or first steps, weaning a baby, etc.

I also make herbal ‘tinctures’ with different parts of the placenta. I gestate the parts for 6 weeks in one hundred proof vodka in a glass jar. I put the name of the mother/baby and birthdate on the outside of the glass jar along with a particular word that will carry the vibration the mother would like to infuse in the medicine. Afterward I drain out the excess birth matter and give the client a quart jar of pure mother placenta tincture. She can put 10 drops in a small amount of water and drink it during the times of transition for her baby or herself after the capsules are finished. This becomes a remedy for her and the family for many years. If one chooses to break down the mixture 10, 20, 30 times, etc., in a mixture of 80% distilled water and 20% alcohol, they can have a homeopathic remedy for the rest of their lives!

Jeanine Parvati-Baker, a shamanistic midwife, taught me to cut the umbilical cord from the placenta, lay it out flat on a piece of wax paper overnight to dry and in the morning, roll the cord partially dried into a circle and let dry completely. Then I put the cord, a placenta capsule and some sage leaves into a small animal skin medicine bag I have made by a woman in Florida: Charlotte Litton Bryant, charlo721@yahoo.com /Email. I encourage the parents to take the cord out each year, take a photo of it and observe how it changes as it dries every year. Jeanine would do a ‘reading’ each year for her children, just by looking at the changes in the cord.

There is a wonderful book called, “Placenta: The Gift of LIfe,” by Cornelia Enning. The book covers the rituals from around the world, and the historical use of placenta remedies used throughout the ages. There are recipes for ointments, essences and other remedies. This is a groundbreaking book and the only guide to using placenta currently on the market. To order go to: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/merchant2/merchant.mv? Store_Code=MT&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MB01

Another book about placenta medicine hot off the press: ”The Natural Healing Power of the Placenta” by midwife, Jenny West, LM, CPM. You may reach her to order a copy at: 505- 294-4359 or info@tubsntea.com or http://www.albuquerquehomebirth.com/contactJenny.htm

The placenta is a rich source of blood stem cells. ”Researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute report a surprising finding about embryonic development: the blood system begins to form not only in the embryo itself, but also in the placenta, the organ that nurtures the baby in utero.” To read more, go to: http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news/Placenta-Is-A-Rich-Source-Of-Blood-Stem-Cells-178-1/

Discarded placentas deliver researchers promising cells similar to embryonic stem cells. ”Routinely discarded as medical waste, placental tissue could feasibly provide an abundant source of cells with the same potential to treat diseases and regenerate tissues as their more controversial counterparts, embryonic stem cells, suggests a University of Pittsburgh study to be published in the journal Stem Cells and available now as an early online publication in Stem Cells Express.” To read more, go to:http://www.bio-medicine.org/biology-news/Discarded-placentas-deliver-researchers-promising-cells-similar-to-embryonic-stem-cells-1575-1/

This is an article put out by Search Time.com, partners with CNN on Friday, July 3, 2009. It’s entitled, “Afterbirth: It’s What’s For Dinner” By Joel Stein, an LA journalist. A professional placenta chef comes to Stein’s home to prepare his wife’s placenta into pills. There is a video included in the article: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1908194,00.html

A wonderful site to gather information and possibly order your own kit to encapsulate your placenta is: Placenta Benefits.info with Jodi Selander. There is an article in The Compleat Mother, Issue Number 87, 2008, $3, “Placenta For Postpartum Wellness,” by Jodi Selander, North Las Vegas, Nevada. To get a back copy of the issue: contact: Jodi McLaughlin, editor of The Compleat Mother at Jody@minot.com. If you would like to download the article from a URL, please go to:http://www.compleatmother.com/pdf/no.87-Fall’07.pdf. The download will take about 15 seconds with a fast connection and longer with a slower connection.

Check out the following video by Dr. Stuart Fischbein: Delayed Cord Clamping:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/yt-WWCOzkSe85M/dr_stuart_fischbein_delayed_cord_clamping/

British designer Alex Green had grander ambitions – he made a teddy bear out of one, which has caused a stir in England, where it’s still on display in art galleries. His point was to provoke thought about Western society’s disdain for an organ that sustains life. “I was trying to give the placenta a bit of PR,” he says. The name of the article about this is: “Placenta Teddy Bears, Meals Sier Debate, Revulsion. Inventive Uses for the Afterbirth Include Placenta Pill, Objects, Trees.” By Lauren Cox, ABC News Medical Unit, November 10, 2009:http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/placenta-teddy-bear-turns-heads/Story?id=9043347&page=1

MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE PLACENTA CONTROVERSY:

Placenta pizza? Some new moms try old rituals, By Melissa Dahl MSNBChttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22087790/

Ingesting the placenta: Is it healthy for new moms? By Steve Friess http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-07-18-placenta-ingestion_N.htm

Afterbirth: It’s What’s For Dinner, By Joel Stein Timehttp://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1908194,00.html

New Moms Pop Placenta Pills, By Valerie Hauch, The Toronto Star, May 5, 2011 http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/985974–new-moms-pop-placenta-pills

Placenta Pill Makers Turn Afterbirth Into Nutritional Supplement For New Moms, By Michale McLaughlin, Huffington Post, Weird News, December 2, 2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/20/placenta-pill-maker-nutritional-supplement_n_886420.html

Placenta Encapsulation – CTV National News, August 7, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBfhXMKdREY&feature=youtu.be

The Rise of the Afterbirth Empire: Placenta Eating Gains Traction, Huffington Post, Video, Posted 08/23/11 and updated 10/24/11 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/placenta-its-whats-for-dinner_n_934141.html?ir=Parents

Encapsulation Brooklyn – Placenta Eating in NYC, Brooklyn Mamas Netowrk, August 26, 2011 http://brooklyn.mamasnetwork.com/baby/encapsulating-brookyln-placenta-eating-in-nyc/

Placenta’s Hidden Health Benefits. Placenta Stew Anyone? By Mummy Buzz with The Ummy Mummy Club, August 24, 2011 http://www.yummymummyclub.ca/placentas-hidden-health-benefits

Placenta Pills To Beat Baby Blues? Women Say Consuming Placenta Helps in Postpartum Recovery, with ABC 7 News, TheDenverChannel.com, Ana Cabreara, Posted, August 2, 2011, updated August 5, 2011 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/28738890/detail.html

Hospitals May Ban This… Find Out Why Every Woman Really Needs And Is Entitled To Her Placenta After Birthing, Health and Fitness Magazine, August 2011 Edition.http://issuu.com/healthfitness.us/docs/h_fm_august_2011_lr/26

Would You Eat Your Placenta? Anderson Cooper, Wednesday, September 21, 2011 http://www.andersoncooper.com/2011/09/21/placenta/#c2366

Placenta Pill For Baby Blues, CTV News Calgary, October 25, 2011, http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111025/CGY_placenta_encapsulation_111025/20111025/?hub=CalgaryHome

The concept of a many-branched tree illustrates the idea that all life on earth is related to science, religion, philosophy, mythology and other areas. A tree of life is a mystical concept alluding to the interconnectedness of all life, a metaphor for common descent in the evolutionary sense and a motif in world theologies, mythologies and philosophies.

The tree of life is a powerful, life affirming symbol in almost every culture. With the branches reaching out towards the sky, roots embedded deeply in the earth, it dwells in three worlds: heaven, earth and underworld. It unites above and below. It symbolizes wholesome truth, stability and nobleness. When you are in need of stability and strength, imagine the tree of life.

Nature knows how without even thinking about it. From ‘mother’s milk’ to the ‘tree of life,’ both nourishing the baby inside and out. Can we ever marvel enough at it’s wonders and perfect design?

Disclaimer
The information on this page has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The services I offer are not clinical, pharmaceutical, or intended to diagnose or treat any condition. Families who choose to utilize the services on this page take full responsibility for researching and using the remedies.

Pelvic Bone Commentary

Posted on 30 June, 2013 by Judith Halek

~ pelvis3-150x150 pelvis_birth-150x150 pelvis4-150x150 ~

Pelvises I Have Known and Loved – by Gloria Lemay (Midwife)

(© 2003 Midwifery Today, Inc. All rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, you’ll enjoy Midwifery Today magazine! Subscribe now! [Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 50, Summer 1999 and is also available online in Spanish.])

What if there were no pelvis? What if it were as insignificant to how a child is born as how big the nose is on the mother’s face? After twenty years of watching birth, this is what I have come to. Pelvises open at three stretch points—the symphisis pubis and the two sacroiliac joints. These points are full of relaxin hormones—the pelvis literally begins falling apart at about thirty-four weeks of pregnancy. In addition to this mobile, loose, stretchy pelvis, nature has given human beings the added bonus of having a moldable, pliable, shrinkable baby head. Like a steamer tray for a cooking pot has folding plates that adjust it to any size pot, so do these four overlapping plates that form the infant’s skull adjust to fit the mother’s body.

Every woman who is alive today is the result of millions of years of natural selection. Today’s women are the end result of evolution. We are the ones with the bones that made it all the way here. With the exception of those born in the last thirty years, we almost all go back through our maternal lineage generation after generation having smooth, normal vaginal births. Prior to thirty years ago, major problems in large groups were always attributable to maternal malnutrition (starvation) or sepsis in hospitals.

Twenty years ago, physicians were known to tell women that the reason they had a cesarean was that the child’s head was just too big for the size of the pelvis. The trouble began when these same women would stay at home for their next child’s birth and give birth to a bigger baby through that same pelvis. This became very embarrassing, and it curtailed this reason being put forward for doing cesareans. What replaced this reason was the post-cesarean statement: “Well, it’s a good thing we did the cesarean because the cord was twice around the baby’s neck.” This is what I’ve heard a lot of in the past ten years. Doctors must come up with a very good reason for every operation because the family will have such a dreadful time with the new baby and mother when they get home that, without a convincing reason, the fathers would be on the warpath. Just imagine if the doctor said honestly, “Well, Joe, this was one of those times when we jumped the gun—there was actually not a thing wrong with either your baby or your wife. I’m sorry she’ll have a six week recovery to go through for nothing.” We do know that at least 15 percent of cesareans are unnecessary but the parents are never told. There is a conspiracy among hospital staff to keep this information from families for obvious reasons.

In a similar vein, I find it interesting that in 1999, doctors now advocate discontinuing the use of the electronic fetal monitor. This is something natural birth advocates have campaigned hard for and have not been able to accomplish in the past twenty years. The natural-types were concerned about possible harm to the baby from the Doppler ultrasound radiation as well as discomfort for the mother from the two tight belts around her belly. Now in l999, the doctors have joined the campaign to rid maternity wards of these expensive pieces of technology. Why, you ask? Because it has just dawned on the doctors that the very strip of paper recording fetal heart tones that they thought proved how careful and conscientious they were, and which they thought was their protection, has actually been their worst enemy in a court of law. A good lawyer can take any piece of “evidence” and find an expert to interpret it to his own ends. After a baby dies or is damaged, the hindsight people come in and go over these strips, and the doctors are left with huge legal settlements to make. What the literature indicates now is that when a nurse with a stethoscope listens to the “real” heartbeat through a fetoscope (not the bounced back and recorded beat shown on a monitor read-out) the cesarean rate goes down by 50 percent with no adverse effects on fetal mortality rates.

pelvis5 Of course, I am in favour of the abolition of electronic fetal monitoring but it would be far more uplifting if this was being done for some sort of health improvement and not just more ways to cover butt in court.

Now let’s get back to pelvises I have known and loved. When I was a keen beginner midwife, I took many workshops in which I measured pelvises of my classmates. Bi-spinous diameters, sacral promontories, narrow arches—all very important and serious. Gynecoid, android, anthropoid and the dreaded platypelloid all had to be measured, assessed and agonized over. I worried that babies would get “hung up” on spikes and bone spurs that could, according to the folklore, appear out of nowhere. Then one day I heard the head of obstetrics at our local hospital say, “The best pelvimeter is the baby’s head.” In other words, a head passing through the pelvis would tell you more about the size of it than all the calipers and X-rays in the world. He did not advocate taking pelvic measurements at all. Of course, doing pelvimetry in early pregnancy before the hormones have started relaxing the pelvis is ridiculous.

pelvis11 One of the midwife “tricks” that we were taught was to ask the mother’s shoe size. If the mother wore size five or more shoes, the theory went that her pelvis would be ample. Well, 98 percent of women take over size five shoes so this was a good theory that gave me confidence in women’s bodies for a number of years. Then I had a client who came to me at eight months pregnant seeking a home waterbirth. She had, up till that time, been under the care of a hospital nurse-midwifery practise. She was Greek and loved doing gymnastics. Her eighteen-year-old body glowed with good health, and I felt lucky to have her in my practise until I asked the shoe size question. She took size two shoes. She had to buy her shoes in Chinatown to get them small enough—oh dear. I thought briefly of refreshing my rusting pelvimetry skills, but then I reconsidered. I would not lay this small pelvis trip on her. I would be vigilant at her birth and act if the birth seemed obstructed in an unusual way, but I would not make it a self-fulfilling prophecy. She gave birth to a seven-pound girl and only pushed about twelve times. She gave birth in a water tub sitting on the lap of her young lover and the scene reminded me of “Blue Lagoon” with Brooke Shields—it was so sexy. So that pelvis ended the shoe size theory forever.

Another pelvis that came my way a few years ago stands out in my mind. This young woman had had a cesarean for her first childbirth experience. She had been induced, and it sounded like the usual cascade of interventions. When she was being stitched up after the surgery her husband said to her, “Never mind, Carol, next baby you can have vaginally.” The surgeon made the comment back to him, “Not unless she has a two pound baby.” When I met her she was having mild, early birth sensations. Her doula had called me to consult on her birth. She really had a strangely shaped body. She was only about five feet, one inch tall, and most of that was legs. Her pregnant belly looked huge because it just went forward—she had very little space between the crest of her hip and her rib cage. Luckily her own mother was present in the house when I first arrived there. I took her into the kitchen and asked her about her own birth experiences. She had had her first baby vaginally. With her second, there had been a malpresentation and she had undergone a cesarean. Since the grandmother had the same body-type as her daughter, I was heartened by the fact that at least she had had one baby vaginally. Again, this woman dilated in the water tub. It was a planned hospital birth, so at advanced dilation they moved to the hospital. She was pushing when she got there and proceeded to birth a seven-pound girl. She used a squatting bar and was thrilled with her completely spontaneous birth experience. I asked her to write to the surgeon who had made the remark that she couldn’t birth a baby over two pounds and let him know that this unscientific, unkind remark had caused her much unneeded worry.

Another group of pelvises that inspire me are those of the pygmy women of Africa. I have an article in my files by an anthropologist who reports that these women have a height of four feet, on average. The average weight of their infants is eight pounds! In relative terms, this is like a woman five feet six giving birth to a fourteen-pound baby. The custom in their villages is that the woman stays alone in her hut for birth until her membranes rupture. At that time, she strolls through the village and finds her midwives. The midwives and the woman hold hands and sing as they walk down to the river. At the edge of the river is a flat, well-worn rock on which all the babies are born. The two midwives squat at the mother’s side while she pushes her baby out. One midwife scoops up river water to splash on the newborn to stimulate the first breath. After the placenta is birthed the other midwife finds a narrow place in the cord and chews it to separate the infant. Then, the three walk back to join the people. This article has been a teaching and inspiration for me.

pelvis21

That’s the bottom line on pelvises—they don’t exist in real midwifery. Any baby can slide through any pelvis with a powerful uterus pistoning down on him/her.

Gloria Lemay is a private birth attendant in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Where To Have A Baby: Home – Hospital – Birth Center?

Posted on 23 January, 2013 by Judith Halek

When making a decision of where to have your baby there are a score of questions to consider:

1. Measure of Risk vs. Control.

2. Pain Management vs. Natural Coping Tools (How do you personally view medicine: do you trust or mistrust the medical model medicine or would prefer the alternative coping tools?)

3. Baby-Centered ASPECT: considering what’s important:

a. Separation of the baby at birth.

b. Potential Medications going into your Baby. (These could be allopathic or alternative medicines.)

4. Where do you feel SAFE / SUPPORTED? Most important question to ask yourself.

5. What are your greatest FEARS with birth?

6. Why are you choosing the place to have your baby?

7. Have you ever SEEN a birth? TV, internet, film, live?

8. What was YOUR BIRTH like? What about your siblings? Grandmothers?

9. Were you breastfed? How long?

10. What is an image of an IDEAL BIRTH?

11. AUTHORITY, what does that mean to you? You may need to let someone else make decisions for you and your baby. If this is your preference, labor doulas/assistants, will give you information regarding personal choices and you will either assume that power or give the power away be it to a medical caregiver, doula, childbirth educator, sister, friend, or a mother.

Homebirth and Hospital environments are at one end of the spectrum and a Birth Center is a happy medium whether it is located in hospital or free standing out of hospital.
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When I interviewed a mother of two, planning a Home Birth, the following were MOST important to her:

1. EMPOWERMENT: Feeling like she had some sort of say/power/control/connection with what was happening during her pregnancy, labor and birth. Surrounding herself with a TEAM of women to support HER NEEDS, not their agenda’s.

2. READING: two favorite books:

a. Nurturing Your Unborn Child, By Thomas Verny, Pam Weintraub

b. Continuum Concept, Jean Liedloff

3. MEDICAL PERSON: Visits with the MIDWIFE, even though the midwife was not warm and fuzzy, she was supportive to the mother’s wishes and did not ‘yes’ her at the prenatals.

a. She had a NUTRITIONIST on staff who had the mother write down one week’s diet. The nutritionist went over it with her to make sure she was getting all the appropriate nutrients included in her diet.

This mother, who’d not eaten yogur,t was told by a friend, “EAT YOGURT…you need yogurt.” The midwife asked her if she even liked yogurt and the mother said NO…so the suggestion was to bone up on other protein and calcium foods she DID eat and like. She didn’t do something because someone told her to do it.

4. DOULA: Having another set of hands, a friend, a doula, someone who could communicate with her without even speaking…knowing exactly where to massage, or bring her something to drink or eat was invaluable! Chemistry was very important!!.

(THE PARENTS MAY BE INTERVIEWING THE DOULA and THE DOULA IS INTERVIEWING THE PARENTS.)

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When I interviewed a mother of three, pregnant with her fourth child, planning on a Hospital Birth, the following were MOST important to her:

1. EXERCISE: Helped labor go more smoothly, body felt more toned, strong during pregnancy and labor. Recovery was faster, more in touch with her body, and found exercising everyday was really important.

a. With one baby, she exercised more often than with the others. As a result of this, she feels her baby girl is much stronger in her body than her other children because of that.

2. MASSAGE:Towards the end of the pregnancy and even earlier stages she was having regular massage. (once a week.) It helps to release the pain in her body, the back, etc. and helped her to feel more comfortable, particularly in the last few months. It was a time for bonding with her baby and her doula. It’s important the doula bond with the baby as well.

3. DOULA: Incredible, ultimate support to have someone there with the knowledge, experience and insights as to what might happen next, or what to do when things were happening. Doula’s know what to ask and how to make her more comfortable.

4. READING: 10 books at my bedside…can’t really remember…all.

a. Week to Week book on Development: her favorite:

b. Pregnancy Week-by-Week[Spiral-Bound]Jane McDougall

c. Was reading some book on a special breathing technique from Switzerland…never really helped me…second birth pushing stage was really important what she did that time..blow instead of push hard!!.

5. OBSTETRICIAN:She chose an OB instead of a midwife. The bad thing about it was it was a group practice instead of a private practice and it was random who she would get for the birth. She felt they were all good doctors, but didn’t like the randomness.

6. HOSPITAL SETTING: She had expectations of what it would be like. Checking in was annoying, but she dealt with that. She was pleased with the nurses and staff overall and felt most safe to have her babies there.
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When I interviewed a mother with her first pregnancy, planning on a Birth Center, the following were MOST important to her:

1. CONVENIENT FOR INSURANCE: because they decided not to have a home birth, this was the best of both worlds.

2. CHOICE REASON: The husband was not comfortable to do the home birth, perfect balance in his mind. RISK FREE: to him meant being IN a birth center, close to the facilities that could help out, “just in case”.

There was no luxuriating in the Birth Center. They wanted her out within 12 hours postpartum. She wanted to be out because the nurses were mad at her she wouldn’t get out of the tub when she was pushing so in turn, they were less gentle with her baby.

3. DOULA: was key to her birth because her doula was a ‘water specialist.’ This was the most important factor for her…more than her medical caregiver who knew nothing about water birth. Her 1^st birth was on the obstetrical floor and the 1st underwater birth at that hospital. Her 2^nd child, was at the same hospital in the birth center this time, underwater.

4. PREPARATION FOR BIRTHS: Because of the desire to have a waterbirth this mother read a number of waterbirth books, articles and watched one video out at that time. This was 1993 & 1996. The father’s comments were, “laboring and birthing in water is more like making love.” The childbirth education was mandatory for them to be in the birth center but they did not find it particularly valuable.

5. BIRTH PLAN: The obstetrician suggested and encouraged the mother to have a BIRTH PLAN and to hang it in the birth room on the wall so the nurses and other staff people could see her wishes. The DOULA also supported the idea. It was more important in the preparation of doing it because it helped her be clear about what she wanted and not wanted.

6. BEFORE PG – COLONICS: With the first pregnancy, she did a lot of them in order to get ready for the pregnancy which helped her feel more balanced and clean. At 36 years old, she conceived her child on the first try. With the second child almost 3 years later, she didn’t do any colonics and it took 3 months to conceive.
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When I interviewed a father of three, pregnant with their fourth child, planning on a Hospital Birth, the following were MOST important to him:

WHY CHOSE A HOSPITAL BIRTH: He didn’t really draw a line with their decision to go to a hospital as a major decision. He realize he’d never been at a home birth and had nothing to compareit to other than, several couples he know who’d completely gone the other way and had no doctors visits with the following results:

1. delivered a stillborn at home with a midwife,

2. child almost died because the cord was tangled around its neck,

3. delivered at 27 weeks, had a C section and the baby is still in the NICU (had she not gotten there asap, it would have been disastrous).

For him,understanding the protocol in the hospital was essential notbecause he had to obey it, but because being in the hospital environment offered him options in case something went wrong. Options that might not be available quick enough when doing a home birth. Although these kinds of complications are a small possibility in childbirth, his understanding is there is little time after a complication occurs to make decisions.

2. DOULA: -Was helpful as being well educated and conveying, not everything he hospital requires HAS to be done when the hospital wants it done.

3. WIFE CARE: It was very important to this father to make sure his partner is able to feel calm and she was in good hands to focus on her “delivery.” This was achieved by the combination of having the right food, water, doctor and level of support from everyone in a relaxed manner.

4. COMMUNICATIONS WITH Obstetrician: His prior experiences with an obstetrician in a hospital was the understanding there might be times in the process when the parents are questioned. If that happens not to take it personally. This was a tough one because the parents have to haveenough self-confidence to stay centered in that situation.

5. SUMMARY: He thinks the most important thing is to understand that being well prepared requires good education, That’s where I think a doula or birth assistant invaluable!
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From MY perspective, the MOST important key elements at any birth:

BREATH / BODY / BABY

1. Stay connected to your BREATH, which is your heart coherence center.

2. Stay present by being IN your BODY as opposed to leaving or numbing your body.

3. Always keep the lines of communication and connection open with your BABY.

TRUTH AS I KNOW IT:

As a birth caregiver, I can get the word out there but ultimately, it is up to the mother and baby to integrate, assimilate and implement the information or suggestions to the best of their ability. There are no failures, there is only experience and from that experience is the potential for learning, growth and finding peace with whatever unfolds.