Well, it's 4:10 AM. I'm hanging out at the birth center with my student. The mom is being pretty quiet right now. She's not very dilated so I'm thinking we're gonna be here all day (sigh). I'm supposed to host a meditation tonight at my house. We'll see how that goes.
It's been a week for this semi-retired (?) midwife. My crew is either sick or out of town so I've been holding down the fort for about a week. Home visits, clinic visits, this birth and another one a few days ago. I am remembering why I wanted to work less.
There's another midwife here with her client but she's not going very fast either.
This business of waiting on women. I've been doing it for many years. Because it's important that women be given time, attention and love when they're bringing in their babies. And we're here to help out.
Reading about power and the brain. Having power over others actually makes one less empathetic. Interesting, isn't it? Brain chemistry changes in powerful people but with attention, the powerful can learn to be compassionate again if they have lost that ability.
And furthermore. I hate this bra I'm wearing. I hate all bras, actually. I have complained here before about bras but I still hate them. I go around bra-less and that is the natural way, no confinement, no tightness around the chest. Remember bra burning. I was all about it. Of course, back them I had no need for a bra anyway because I was flat chested. That was lovely. And now....
Alright, I'm going to love my body, all of it. I'm 67 and this is what it looks like to be 67, breasts and all. I will not weigh 125 pounds again. As long as I can still walk a fair distance, swim and ride my bike, I'm good. I'm more than good, I'm great.
So that's my ramble. At this hour, I don't have to make sense. Wish this baby and his/her parents well. Enjoy your sleep.
5 comments:
Sending love to all the laboring mothers, the soon-to-be-born babies, and the midwives during these early morning hours. Each Labor Day weekend, I remember that our emotionally fragile mother was alone in labor in 1954 with her third child, with no support from family or friends that I am aware of, just as she had been with the previous two births, both complicated. Our father was busy with his work of supporting us, having just been transferred from Northern California to Southern California. My 4-year-old sister and I were left with a young couple with two adopted boys, younger than we were, for a week until our mother returned home. Our overwhelmed mother, after returning from giving birth in a hospital, had to get me ready to begin kindergarten, pack and prepare to move while taking care of a newborn baby girl as well as me and my 3-year-old sister. Somehow, our mother was able to plan, send out invitations, and carry out a 5th birthday party for me before we moved. I wish you could have been there with our mother when she was in labor and that she had had support afterwards. I wish she had not been so alone.
It is good to picture all the years that the birth center you founded has been there for mothers, fathers, and babies, to know that the resurgence of midwifery in the U.S. began with our generation and that the younger generations have embraced it, too.
This is the time of year that Orion is rising in the eastern sky around 4 a.m. I wonder if the laboring mothers can look out and see Orion.
I certainly do send best wishes to both mamas and midwives. I hope that the babes decide to make their appearance with the clear morning.
You know how I feel about bras.
Fuck bras.
-having power over others- makes sense doesn't it, Less empathy. Loving your midwifery patience. Waiting, allowing, life. We could all learn something here, thanks!
May this baby you are ushering into the world be powerful and compassionate and wise.
Thanks, dear women, for visiting here. I'll never stop practicing. Midwifery is in my bones.
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