All the Right Tools at Birth

A plethora of debate surrounds home birth. And there are good reasons that some people choose to birth in the hospital and some people choose to birth at home. I respect them all. I'm grateful for the choices I had.

But sometimes, women don't have those choices. They live in countries without adequate health care systems. They live without adequate sanitation, clean water, or even services such as electricity - all of which I take for granted as I drink my icy cold water, sitting in my cool, air conditioned, well-lit home.

So rather than spend time debating about the business of birth as we seem to do a lot of in this country, women do what has been done for generations. They birth where they live - without question. They do it in unsanitary conditions, with only minimal assistance tools. And they do it with skilled midwives, who bring so much more than a birth bag to the table. (For a first hand account, you can read about my friend Marya's midwife who frequently works in Haiti.)

It was so inspiring for me to read a novel that included the passage of midwifery from grandmother to granddaughter. In the book, Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, the protagonist of the story finds herself in the midst of culture shock as she is first forced to leave her home in the city to live with extended family in a rural area without so much as indoor plumbing and then forced to leave formal education because there simply wasn't enough money to educate her. But she finds herself far from lost. Her grandmother takes her under her wing and passes down her trade - a trade that brought so many healthy babies into the world and continues to do so.

Although she had the bare minimum of physical supplies, she carried some of the same tricks my own midwives carried. For starters, she learned to be a compassionate person who could sit with a woman in labor. She learned to help women trust themselves and push when it was time, and hold back when a cord preventing safe passage into the world needed to be unwrapped. She learned to look past the pain that accompanied birth and find the joy. Most of all, she learned how to hold a birthing woman's hand and be present - something that still makes me grateful to both of the midwives who caught my babies. She even learned how to flip a slimy little baby onto its mamas chest, and then help both mother and baby start nursing.

In the midst of insanity all around her, she brought perfect calm. And though my own births took place under very sanitary conditions, with access to all sorts of back-ups if need by, these midwives in Nigeria had what I found to be the most helpful tools at my own home births. It was so inspiring to read yet another tale of women doing what needs to be done, in whatever way it can be done.

Elaine

As a member of the From Left to Write book club, I received a free copy of the book Tiny Sunbirds Far Away, by Christie Watson. That book inspired this post. But there is oh so much more to the story. I definitely recommend it. And, if you're the first person to email me that you want it, I'm happy to give my copy to you. You can even read the first chapter here.