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Survivor Moms: Women's Stories of Birthing, Mothering and Healing after Sexual Abuse

Sexual abuse and the reactions to it affect mothers' whole lives--from thinking about having children all the way to being grandmothers. Survivor Moms was written to help break down the isolation pregnant women and their caregivers often feel--as though they were the only ones having to cope with these challenges

Touch during labor is not massage, in the traditional sense of the word. Touch requires no prescribed routine; it has no beginning, middle or end and it doesn’t fit neatly into an hour. Instead, during a woman’s labor the source and type of touch has to change along with the progress of labor—if it is welcomed at all.

A Midwife’s Touch - by Elaine Stillerman

[Photo by Emily Robinson—emilyrobinsonphoto.com]

Learn from exciting teachers at our conference in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, next April!

Planned speakers include Mary Cooper, Fernando Molina, Sister MorningStar, Michel Odent, Debra Pascali-Bonaro, Barbara Harper and Gail Hart. Plan now to attend.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/conferences/Harrisburg2016/

This beautiful cover is from the most recent issue of Midwifery Today magazine. The theme is Waterbirth. Articles include: • Marion’s Message: Why Are Mothers Dying?—Marion Toepke McLean • The Birthing Pool Test—Michel Odent • As Natural as Water—Sister MorningStar • What We Learned about Waterbirth from a Case of Legionella—Laurie Fremgen • Seeds, Soil, Homebirth and Permaculture—Diana Paul • Water: The Elixir of Life—Carol Gautschi You can order a copy here.

Experience the authentic sights and sounds of birth!

Birth with Gloria Lemay features nine beautiful homebirths, each one a lovely example of a normal, family birth. It's a great resource to share with women to help build their confidence in their birthing bodies. The DVD also includes special features on circumcision and the prepuce.

Fill Your Birth Library with Midwifery Today Back Issues

Each quarterly issue of Midwifery Today magazine is packed full of birth news, insights and information. You'll also get an in-depth look at an important topic, with several articles devoted to the issue theme. Look over the list of available issues, then order the ones you need to help improve your practice.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/products/bi.htm

Midwifery Today is coming to the UK!

“Midwives Hold the Future” is the theme of the conference which will be held at Bury St. Edmunds, UK, May 26–30, 2014. Planned teachers include Beverley Lawrence Beech, Robbie Davis-Floyd, Betty-Anne Daviss, Gail Hart, Sally Kelly, Michel Odent and Sara Wickham. Plan now to attend!

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/conferences/UK2014/

There is an interesting relation between promoting women’s choice and the degree to which the procedure is doctor-friendly. A trial of vaginal birth after a previous CS (VBAC) is safer than a routine repeat CS but there are no articles in medical journals promoting the right of women to choose VBAC. CS is doctor-friendly; VBAC is not.

- Choosing Caesarean Section by Marsden Wagner, MD. From Midwifery Today Issue 57, Spring 2001.

Our Shoulder Dystocia Package contains the Shoulder Dystocia Handbook, the Shoulder Dystocia and Malpresentations 4-CD Audio Set and Midwifery Today Issue 103, with the theme of Shoulder Dystocia. It's a great way to learn more about this topic and you'll save $13.30 off the price of these items bought separately.

Every midwife knows that the head of the baby has the largest diameter of any body part, which is why the breech birth is higher risk than the vertex. In a vertex presentation, once the head has negotiated the pelvis, the rest of the baby usually follows with ease. But the after-coming head of the breech may get stuck, even though the smaller diameters of the body were born without difficulty. As the unborn baby receives all needed elements to sustain life through the cord, which is pinched off between the head and the cervix, the breech baby must be delivered within eight to ten minutes after the body comes out or brain damage and death will occur. The breech with extended arms along the head presents an even larger diameter and typically will not deliver unless the arms are released. The arms of a breech baby may be caused to extend by pushing too soon, or by attempts to hasten breech delivery. However, the irregular surface of the head plus the extended arms may offer a safe placement for the cord, allowing oxygen and other vital elements to pass through to the baby and giving extra time for safe delivery.

A Difficult Breech Birth by Marion Toepke McLean - Midwifery Today Issue 92, Winter 2009.

To see other ways you can save, click here.

Crowning Earrings - silver earrings designed by Russell Wray. They make a perfect gift for a midwife!

Imagine you are a baby in utero. Set yourself a stage in there. You are surrounded by warm water, a loving mother and the wonderful sounds of her heartbeat. (In the Mauritius Islands, this first home, the uterus, is called the baby's house, according to English midwife Huguette Comerasamy.) Your baby's house is tight. Soon you will be nearing your time to come to the earth through birth. What position are you in? How does it feel? What do you want for your birth?

Baby's Choice by Jan Tritten - Midwifery Today, Issue 86, Summer 2008.

Into These Hands is an original art piece by Amy Swagman. Learn more and order here.

Death is hard, and when death comes with birth, it is devastating. People say, “How can you deal with the dead babies?” Dealing with dead babies is not the problem. They are not hurting. The pain is the parents’. Helping a mother cope with her pain is a tightrope walk that takes every skill known to midwives. It is one of the times where what the midwife does can make a significant impact, both good and bad, in a mother’s life. I find it frightening—the responsibility of it—but also very satisfying.

Fetal Demise: Helping a Mother Cope with Her Pain by Jude Stensland, CNM - Midwifery Today Issue 57, Spring 2001.

A study reported in Mental Health Update (3) demonstrated that physical and emotional support by a labor doula provided substantial benefits to women in labor. In the study, the women in a group that received physical touch (light massage and counter-pressure) and emotional support, as compared to controls, had 56% fewer c-sections; an 85% reduction in the use of epidural anesthesia; 70% fewer forceps deliveries; 61% decrease in the use of oxytocin; a 25% shorter duration of labor; and a 58% drop in neonatal hospitalization.

A Midwife’s Touch by Elaine Stillerman. This article first appeared in Midwifery Today Issue 84, Winter 2008.

After being told at the check-in desk that I was probably in false labor, I was put into a wheelchair and taken to a labor ward, which consisted of several women sharing a large room with only drapes hanging between the beds. I was handed a gown to put on and told to get into bed. Shortly thereafter, and without asking my permission or even whether I felt the need, I was given a shot in my thigh. Next, the nurse checked my cervix and discovered that I was 9 cm dilated, almost ready to start pushing my baby out.

Birth Rape: Another Midwife’s Story by Shea Richland. From Midwifery Today Issue 85, Spring 2008.

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