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Childbirth

"Spiritual Midwifery" - what do you think?

13 replies

Pruni · 11/04/2006 21:14

Am really enjoying reading it, but tbh some things don't sit really right with me. I find it inspirational in some ways but a bit, I don't know, airy-fairy/idealistic/brutal in others.

If you've read it, what did you think?

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SueW · 11/04/2006 21:16

I've read it. Like you some of it I find really inspiring. Some if it I find downright dodgy!

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bubble99 · 11/04/2006 21:16

I haven't read it, Pruni. What's the gist?

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Pruni · 11/04/2006 21:19

Bubble, that labour is pretty far out/heavy man and emotional "blockages" can inhibit dilation.
That's as far as I've got.

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pupuce · 11/04/2006 21:21

Pruni that is true though.... labour is a hormonal process that starts in your barin... and your emotions are also in your brain!
Haven't got time (now) to explain birth physiology but it makes a lot of sense....
Ina May is quite good (saw her last year). Her later book "Guide to Childbirth" is very good too.

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Gillian76 · 11/04/2006 21:24

I stumbled over her \link{http://www.inamay.com/\website} a couple of weeks ago and made a mental note to read that book.

I fancy a stay at her farm if I ever have another :)

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bubble99 · 11/04/2006 21:24

Hmmm. I imagine that stress can inhibit dilation but I think that's a recognised fact. My SIL, for example, was so uptight that she ended up needed a CS purely for that reason, I suspect.

Not judging her BTW. Very good reasons and it's why I'm not even going to attempt a VBAC this time as I'm sure I'll 'clam up'.

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Pruni · 11/04/2006 21:30

No I do understand what it's all about - and it is a wonderfully insightful book (so far) in many ways.
I sort of balk at the idea that your midwife - however loved she is - can tell you to buck up your ideas, quit complaining, and be nicer to your husband, as a way to improve your labour.

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SueW · 12/04/2006 00:49

I truly believe in the blockages thing. I have seen a number of women wait to go into labour until DH is back form business trip/only when suitable childcare arranged/wait until next school year (honestly!)/miss a sibling's birthday. Sometimes it's a fear of being a mum with a baby on the outside instead of on the inside.

Not entirely keen on the massive amounts of alcohol mentioned (I'm fairly sure that's in there).

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snafu · 12/04/2006 08:47

I love this book, although I don't agree with all of it. But it's fascinating and inspiring, especially after I've spent yet another day fiddling with CTG machines on the labour ward...

A student midwife friend of mine is spending this summer at The Farm - envious, moi?

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Pruni · 12/04/2006 09:50

Re the blockage thing, I know someone who was past her due date...her MIL got on a plane to go abroad, and she went into labour and had the baby within six hours of that.

I was early but went into labour the day after dh came back from a business trip.

I wonder if the thinking about labour on The Farm just doesn't translate v well into our lives? Needs the context of living in a community with well-known and trusted midwives?

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acnebride · 12/04/2006 10:22

I think there's definitely an element of that Pruni - the stories are always saying 'then Ina May arrived and I just felt so much more relaxed.'

I love the book and I think it's encouraging, but there's also a philosophy in it which could be very restricting just like any assumption in childbirth - the women are always saying 'then I felt a bit like complaining but knew that that was not right' and being told to enjoy themselves and have fun... but I actually think that Ina May in particular would be a fantastic midwife to have around and wouldn't say too much of that stuff.

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rubles · 12/04/2006 11:59

I read it and loved it shortly after dd was born. I am utterly convinced of the power of the mind over deliveries starting/slowing down/progressing fast or slow. My m/w joked that I must be a witch because I insisted a long way in advance that my baby was going to be born on Sunday, 4 days late. And she was. I do think that my belief in the fact made it happen.

However, back to the book, I did have to work hard to ignore the 70's California-speak as that was far too airy-fairy for me. Also, I think there were some procedures that Ina May seemed to carry out that surprised me...but I can't remember what as it was 2 years ago...doesn't she do a lot of PROM and managed third stages?

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Pruni · 12/04/2006 13:55

It's funny, Rubles, I predicted the birth day as well. I felt that it would be lovely and convenient if it would happen on that day, and it did. This must - must - surely be coincidence, though??

She does do a few things that have made me raise an eyebrow, the alcohol for premature contractions mentioned earlier being one of them. In one of the stories, the woman holds off labour in this way (if that is indeed what's happening) for two months - that's a hell of a lot of vodka.

I love reading it in my head in a stoned, sixties, flower-power Californian accent...