S. Tenuta 6-16-24
Midwifery carries Wisdom of the ages. It is a work that protects the space for a birthing woman. It has no birth that turns out the same. It has no woman who responds in a boxed way. It has no baby who travels the same route ever. Then how do midwives know what to do or how to be present or how to be prepared for a birth?
Student midwives of today, generally find a preceptor to learn birth from someone who has traveled this unknown path many times. Midwives also study some of the medical information that could be helpful in case of complicated labors and births. Midwives who are licensed must follow a protocol directed by the state they are licensed in. This can be a good thing, but only if the woman is willing to follow the protocols given by the state, and only if the mother is willing to abide by the state rules, and only if there is a labor and pregnancy and birth that is normal per the state’s definition.
If there are babies who decide to come earlier than 36 weeks or later than 42 weeks, the mother is labeled as at risk. If at risk, she must go to the hospital if she is choosing to work within the medical system and with licensed midwives. If there are twins or breech babies, these are often outside of the normal birth definition and women are told they must have a cesarean section. Women who have found themselves in a system of incarceration or foster care due to being charged with a crime of sorts, is told she has no rights. The woman is unable to even say hello to her baby is some circumstances. She births the baby and the baby is whisked away from the birthing mom and sent to a foster care mother. That baby has no chance to bond with a mother whose body has prepared itself for 9 months to meet this little one. The mother may not even know how to be a mother and won’t learn if her babies are all taken away from her. Even a woman who may be incarcerated, deserves the right to start a new life and be given the chance to bond with her baby, by being able to nurse her baby, and to tell baby it is loved. This is a perfect way for a mother to get in touch with the fact that she surely was created as a woman to give birth and to nurture her children. This could be the healing opportunity for her to start anew.
The traditional midwife carries wisdom of the ages and desires to help women be empowered to discover their inner strength, their inner source for decision making, and their ability to love, to nurture her baby, and to know her strong yes and no. The woman deserves to discover that her strength is really within her being and found in the depths of her heart and will. She can be taught by a midwife to know her personal truths. She can learn to reflect on her personal life and use her personal wisdom if she does not already know how to access her own personal wisdom from her own life experiences.
Traditional midwives carry wisdom of the ages and can be found in the various styles of midwifery. No midwife is totally the same. Each comes to her work through different paths. Each brings to the work her own personality, personal path, experience and traumas from somewhere. Each is made wiser when she chooses to do the inner work of herself in order to be as certain as possible to not interfere with another woman’s labor and birth. Sometimes, if we midwives do not process our own hurts, or traumas from within ourselves, we could possibly stop a birth that is progressing well. Our fears or traumas, if not processed, can be projected onto another laboring mother, especially if that woman is in that vulnerable place of giving birth, and experiencing life between two worlds. She is here on this earth but opening up to the physical and energetic spaces to allow the baby to come to earth, as a new soul comes into the baby’s body. This is the vulnerable place. The mother’s senses are ultra-sensitive during this time. She hears, but is unable to respond. She feels but can’t find words to express herself. If she is requested to make decisions during this time, she really is being called to stall the process of baby’s birth. This energetic interference itself, can cause the birth to not progress. When birth is said to not progress at what is expected to be a normal rate, then protocols in the hospital say, “Time for a cesarean section due to lack of progress.” In fact, if mother is able to regroup and get back into her birthing zone, she could, with time, birth baby in a safe and natural vaginal way in normal circumstances.
Intouch and Intune wants to support pregnant women in the traditional midwifery way. This midwifery service invites women who want the traditional midwifery experience. The women can be intuitive, or can want to learn to use their internal wisdom. Some of this can be taught, but the woman must be willing to work at finding that space of confidence and knowing. The midwife will use her learned medical skills to recognize whether the mother and baby are possible clients for this work. The mother must also determine if the midwife is the style in which she would like to work. Baby will be acknowledged. Baby will be checked for normal growth development. Mother will be asked to be especially observant of herself and of her baby. Mother’s inner wisdom will bring to attention questions that need answering, body feelings that seem different, and inner knowing of something that is natural or wrong per baby.
Intouch and Intune also teaches a couple of classes on the natural process of birth through the acknowledgement of the hormonal system. What do the hormones do in the woman’s and baby’s bodies if birth is not interfered with? How long is each stage of pregnancy and labor and birth, along with the 3rd stage of birthing the placenta? Would it be best to keep the placenta attached to the baby until the baby decides to release the placenta? What would those benefits be if the placenta was left attached to baby?
There is much to reflect on about midwifery. It is a service that is as old as humanity. Wisdom can be received in ways that we do not learn in school. Wisdom is more than what is learned from a midwifery school. Midwifery wisdom is more than what a person can learn from a preceptor. Midwifery carries wisdom from the past to current midwives if they are able to hear the vibrations from the universe, and if they are willing to listen and receive such wisdom.
Contact Intouch and Intune if you are someone who would like to explore the possibility of birthing with more wisdom than you have currently experienced in life. Life is surely a journey. Life surely can show us new things if we are open to receive.
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