BirthLove Columns by LLM
The BirthLove Column appears in two online newsletters:
the BirthLove Newsetter (sign up in the left sidebar)
and the OBCNEWS. The OBCNEWS is an active part
of the Online
Birth Center- read worldwide by midwives,
parents, doulas, lactation consultants, the odd
OB, and many others. Following is an index of
columns, covering a wide variety of topics. Click
on the subject line for the listing of relevant
columns.
Note that many of these columns were written
during different pregnancies, in different years.
To see which pregnancy is being talked about,
please note that dates which the columns were
written in. The columns in 1999 and early 2000
were written during my seventh child's pregnancy;
the ones in 20001 and early 2002 were my eighth.
Any others written were done during pregnancies
that ended in miscarriage.
Note: New Columns can now be read in the BirthLove
Newsletters archives. Go here
to find them.
Columns about Women's Innate
Beauty and Magnificence, and Growing Personal
Power
Columns about the True Nature
of Childbirth
Columns about Cultural Ignorance
about Childbirth, and Birth's Suffering and/or
Captivity
Columns about Medicalized
Birth Illogic and/or Dangers
Columns about Midwives and
Midwifery
Columns about Families, Babies,
and Individuals (including columns written
about my own pregnancies and miscarriages)
Miscellaneous
Columns about Women's Innate
Beauty and Magnificence, and Growing Personal
Power
Freedom
is Lovely (my vulva is too) (9/8/03) Pride
manifested in word form for both "homeschooling"
and my grandly multuparous vulva. Included:
my high school history, and many links.
God
Is In My Feelings (8/23/03) Excerpted:
"Life itself is the gift of the divine,
and to live with all senses open is to celebrate
God."
God
Condenses Into People (11/15/02) Excerpted:
"Energy condenses into matter. So says
the physics books I was reading yesterday; upon
reading that sentence, my mind has been doing
somersaults, reeling with the implications of
it all... I am the stars I see at night... I
am the sunlight. I am the air I breathe, my
children are me as well...In my loving you I
am being gentle with your heart, and saying
you are beautiful- because of course you are,
all things of God must be- and we are all matter
of the Universe, all matter that has condensed
from energy- all of us are God-like, because
we come from that which forms the Universe."
Loving
Oneself, Approaching the Divine (8/15/03)
When women love themselves fully and completely,
the single most powerful force of creativity
on the planet will be released. In this column
are listed some of the ways I have learned to
love myself over the years.
If I
Gave Birth Tonight (7/25/03) A siren call,
and a passionate welcoming- to birth and to
sacredness for women around the world. Excerpted:
"If I were giving birth tonight, I would...
be happy- deeply, joyfully happy- I'm meeting
my baby boy! My baby girl!!! I will be feeling
a thick, spiraling umbilical cord; I will be
smelling sweet fuzzy newborn hair and kissing
vernix-coated skin. I will be hearing a soft
little cry- feeling my baby's first suckle-
looking deeply into birth-wizened eyes, and
falling in love again, for the very first time."
Lending
Power (not throwing it away) ((7/11/03)
Seeing pregnant women used to torment me; but
that was when I wanted to "help" them,
not "assist" then in growing their
own power. This chronicles why I am more empowered
by this change.
Trust
(7/4/03) Women can trust in their births- in
their evolution- in God- they can let go, and
open up to the birth of their dreams.
Birth
Is (a planetary scream) (6/27/03) "Birth
has a voice. A screaming, ranting, luscious,
wild roar that all women can feel, all women
can hear." Power and love to birthing women
around the world!
"High
Risk" Mama, I Believe in You! (6/6/03)
Jaya had a cesarean- but that doesn't make her
next births "high risk"! far more
high risk are the births of first time moms
who go into the hospital to give birth, and
are assailed by the array of birth violence
that await them there. Includes many references
and quotes.
Of Cesareans
and Bike Rides in Mundy Park (5/15/03) Cycling
can hurt, but- the freedom, strength and health
that comes with it are most certainly worth
it. Just like giving powerful birth! Included:
how the dimensions and pert perkiness of a vulva
is not dictated by the passages of babies!
Being
Born Right (a mother birthing strong) (5/7/03)
It is possible to love one's children completely
and passionately- yet not love the way they
were born. This column is about my grief for
lost beauty, as well as relishing the sacredness
that homebirth has brought me. Included: just
how the unassisted birth of my seventh child
most likely saved his life.
Being a Conscientious Objector to Barbarism
(even if it means rejecting a woman's "choice")
view
column here (4/12/03) I used to beg to be
induced, and I was induced. But should I have
been? Of course not- and caregivers shouldn't
hurt themselves by kowtowing to unreasonable
demands, either. Included: a ticket out of hospital
birth as a way to spread one's wings.
Dialogue
with Sarah's Husband about the Pelvic Exam
(3/2/03) Sarah is desperate for an HBAC- a home
vaginal birth after cesarean; her doctor husband
thinks a repeat elective cesarean is the way
to go. Will Sarah assert herself? Will she emerge
victorious, and create the birth of her dreams?
A Duality
of Thought (soft and hot) (1/26/03) The
last column written in my pregnancy. ("Twins?")
Also- ultrasound dangers, and do the "Powerpuff
Girls" really mean "girl power"?
A Painful
Ascent into Being (1/12/03) Talking about
the pain I have had in my births: from iatrogenic
and pointlessly sad, to life-liberating, and
joy-enhancing.
A Loving
Touch of Tummies and Words (10/29/02) My
own joy at delightful attachment parenting-
and the love I grow for myself as a result of
giving my babies the best love I know how. Included:
loving oneself- every soft, round curve.
The
Moon's Soft Happiness amidst the Troubles of
the World (10/22/02) The moon can still
smile at a troubled world below, and I can still
smile too- for I am happy in my life, despite
all the pain that I know is going on all around
me in birth.
For Anna:
From the Darkness of Pain, Birth will Emerge
Bright Again (9/25/02) Anna was terribly
hurt in her cesarean; she must know that she
deserves a gentle birth, and that the birth
of her dreams will come true if she uses her
anger and passion as the fuel to generate the
life change needed to make this birth happen.
Included: how my cesarean-born son helped me
in my unassisted homebirth.
Savoring
My Fatty Reality of Words and Passion (9/17/02)
I have a big round belly, and I am learning
to love it. Also- how crucial an integral fire
passion is, and how important it is not to squander
it.
A
Shimmering Band of Moonless Erudition (8/17/02)
How pointless it is to label "things"
such as thought, elements, clouds, moon- all
beautiful things are abstract; including learning.
Also- cesareans are quite invasive, really.
Holding
Fast to an Internal
Truth (8/28/02) Regardless of what dissenters
say, I hold my truths as my own- my truths about
birth and family. Included: how hate twists
and hurts us.
Being the
Change I Wish to See in the World (7/23/02)
How does one make a difference in the world?-
by running away and hiding, or speaking out?
Included: my foray onto a mainstream debate
board, and a bit about breastfeeding.
Born as
Free as Life Beyond the River (1/8/02) The
moon, the clouds, my babies- and the splitting
of the mermaid tail that grew into feet and
took me out of the stagnant river of medicalized
birth, and into the warm, lush earth of women
who freely give birth.
A Truth
That Only in Darkness Should My Eyes See
(12/24/01) Dreaming of what my unborn baby looks
like- yet knowng it's best not to know.
Also- ultrasound is linked to brain damage.
The guilt this knowledge brings...
Gentle Death, Ecstatic Sorrow, Warm Hands,
Soft Dark Night... (11/26/01 view
colum here) Dreams of birth, dreams of my
living and dead babies talking- acknowledging
and understanding my own beauty as a pregnant
mother.
Glass Houses
Will Soon Shatter (10/8/01) Guess what-
OBs really don't care what women have to say
about childbirth; they think they know more
than women about childbirth. This ignorance
and arrogance will seal their doom as societal
birth "experts".
The
Giving of Beautiful Birth; The Embracing of
Energetic Earth... (9/24/01) Thoughts and
dreams about the majesty and power of pregnancy
and birth.
Women's Pain:
The Only Way Out Is Through (6/11/01) The
only way to emerge powerful from suffering is
by actually living through the suffering, and
not distancing oneself from it. Also- put a
doctor in the same position he puts "his"
birthing women in... and see if he can defecate
properly.
Emily’s on
the Cusp of a Powerful Birth... Her Mother's
Right to be Afraid (6/4/01) excerpted:
"Birth is the ultimate woman maker.
When it is given in power, sacredness, freedom,
bliss, and passion it makes women blossom powerful
and free as women. It is the catalyst of fantastic
change- the integral fire of life that enables
new landscapes of thought, creativity and passion
to emerge." Well Emily's mother hates the
sound of that!!!
Bliss, Rape, Love,
Hate... what for you is best- in Birth, and
in Sex? (5/21/01) Giving birth and making
love are both beautiful life processes deserving
of the utmost in gentleness and sweetness. Rape
must never be permitted. This was written in
response to the wounding statement- "at
least you have a healthy baby!"
Her Doctor Says
(lie down, spread your legs, shut up, don't
question my authority, of course it's safe...)
(5/14/01) What is he telling her to do?- have
another cesarean just because he "feels"
it would be for the best. And she believes him.
Included: how rare uterine rupture really is,
and how one can go from- "my doctor says"
to- "I SAY."
“I Give A Damn” (a hippie’s
love song), and the cradle of our truest love
(2/12/01 view
column here) Isn't it absurd that women
get ridiculed for wanting natural births? And-
have faith, women who love birth... we are making
the world spin forward with our love.
Columns within
a Column (a thought process in two parts)
(2/5/01) How does one be a "perfect
activist"?- in the way that's just right
for her. And my way may be loud, but it's full
of love.
Reminding
the Women of ICAN that they CAN (12/18/00)
Maybe my voice on this email list will help
some women have the births of their dreams.
I hope so...
First, The Miracle of the Ten Seconds; then,
Pajama Sam I Am (or Expunging the Myth of Cephalopelvic
Disproportion) (12/11/00) View
the column here. It is indeed worthy to
keep doing the column...
A Cost/Benefit
Analysis of Doing the Birth Love Column
(12/4/00) Writing the column has been good...
but maybe it's time to focus my writing time
on something else?
A Body
Wisdom that Smells Like Teen Spirit (9/25/00)
Forget plastic artificiality; women are beautiful,
just as they are.
Women's Rage-
the most awesome force of Birth Love
(8/21/00) Power, majesty and love are resplendent
in the women who love birth... we do not incite
"hatred", as has been suggested.
Katie's
Courage (7/31/00) Katie is confronting
her c-section offenders, and is contemplating
"healing".
Revolution
at the Dollar Store (7/10/00) One woman
at a time will heal birth.
Online
Weirdoes- Beware the Manipulator (6/19/00)
Women online must be careful about "lurkers"
waiting to sabotage their innocence.
The Storms
Will Fuel the Change (Or, It's Okay to be a
Bitch) (6/5/00) Accept anger as a blessing
that will help bring change in the hurtful world
of modern childbirth.
The
Nail that Sticks Out is Beautiful (5/29/00)
It can hurt to be at arrears with most of those
around you regarding beliefs and way of life;
but once actualization is reached, there's no
going back.
Mothers Can
Parent Their Own Lives (Or- "Viva
les Différences!") (2/22/00)
I confront my own "birthism" in this
one. Also- is it truly logical to regulate midwifery?
Why Resexualize
Childbirth? (12/20/99) "To resexualize
that which is inherently sexual is to lend power,
dignity and beauty where there has been so much
mechanization and brutalization." An explanation
of the concept of "resexualizing"
childbirth.
"Lay"
Women Unite! (12/6/99) The women doctors
of the AMWA are into castrating the choices
and power of the rests of us. This is intolerable.
Also- let's make doctors swear a new Oath- one
that honors birth.
The Absurdity
of the Idea of "Choice" (11/30/99)
"Being born a woman used to mean shame
for a family or even a death sentence for the
baby. But now... it's a 'sucker' stamp across
our foreheads that can be read by just about
anyone who wants to make a buck. We're too fat,
too ugly, too hairy, too stupid, too inept,
too old, too frigid, too freakish, too diseased,
too depressed without spending ever more money
to get societally screwed into rightness."
A reference to Latin America's HIGH cesarean
rate.
Keeping
Power in a Cesarean Delivery
(4/6/99) It is possible to have a cesarean birth
(very rarely, they are actually needed) in dignity,
and with power.
Columns about the True
Nature of Childbirth
Being
Born Blessed (born in the rain) (8/10/03)
My own dream of birth for myself on a rainy
summer day- being born in the forest in the
rain, with my parents loving me gently into
the world.
A
Birthday Wish (freedom for all!) (3/16/03)
Thoughts about childbirth on my 8th child's
first birthday. Memories of her birth- including
what could have made it better; and thoughts
about the violence that may have been unleashed
if someone had attempted a pelvic exam on me!!!
Creating
a Semi-Worded Body Wisdom of Birth (10/14/02)
Talk of birth's face, birth's pain, birth's
future- and how every woman alive today is part
of the massive, beautiful body wisdom of birth-
and if even one woman is in pain, we all feel
it.
Helping
Birth Up From Her Fall (let freedom reign)
(9/10/02) Trying to serve Birth with all of
my heart...
Oddly
Enough, Fear Can Combat Evil (7/1/02) This
discusses my two unassisted births in great
detail; as well as how my fear of my baby dying
in childbirth helped me have my healthiest pregnancy
yet. Included: optimal prenatal nutrition.
Talking
with Lynn, Tasting Birth's Future (6/4/02)
Included: VBAC herione Lynn Richards' VBACs,
babies who are meant to die, the shamfeul state
much midwifery is in, and the greatest hope
for birth's future.
A Birth as Warm
as Darkest Night (11/19/01) What I have
come to understand my births to mean for me-
after five painful hospital births. My birth
stories are discussed in this.
Whose Truth Will You Seek Out? Whose
Birth Will You Choose to Give? (view
column here 11/5/01) A comparison between
two ways a woman can decide to give birth after
a two hour "labor arrest" (as described
in a linked medical journal article): either
medically- or freely.
Birth Remains Safe
Within Me (8/28/01) Dreams
of birth's glowing future- and happiness that
this future is growing peacefully inside of
me.
Into the Light,
Yet Retreating from the Sun (8/5/01) Just
like technology screwed things up for birth
so badly in the early 20th century, it will
be used to put birth back into women's hands
in the early 21st. This includes in part the
birth story of my 6th child.
Floating dreamlike
is found the answer to love, to life...
(7/16/01) Deep within pregnant women is elemental
beauty and power: the luscious, vibrant force
of Life. This sacred place is not to be desecrated
by gloved hands with knives. Written in response
to a British Medical Journal article.
Countering the global birth plague with
three simple words (and why birth matters so
very much indeed) (3/5/01 view
column here) Through powerful, sacred birth
women become the women they are intended to
become.
Asking the baby
how she would like to be born (3/12/01)
Don't ask your doctor, husband, midwife or friends
how you should be giving birth- one little person
has all the answers you can ever need.
Regarding "Doula unto others":
A Response to
Martha's Sweetness (11/27/00) Oy! This woman
(big shot at Microsoft) calls doulas sweet and
cheesy. Actually... her childlike trust of doctors
and drugs is.
A
Letter to Doctors about Childbirth
(10/31/00) Forward this to every doctor
you know. It explains what birth really means-
and how it should be attended.
So Wrote Jo to
Leilah, and the Mystical Moon Birth Dance (10/9/00)
Birth can either heal women from past sexual
abuse- or simply be more of the same. Also-
dance with the moon to prepare for birth.
Columns about Cultural
Ignorance about Childbirth, and Birth's Suffering
and/or Captivity
Sad for the
Hopeless, Cruel Ways of the World (5/23/03)
Cytotec has been re-labeled; it certainly doesn't
make it less dangerous! Why do doctors use it
anyway?- and why do women keep trusting their
births to people who care so little about them?
Included: quotes from a doctor who really does
care about the cruelty of obstetricians and
medicalized birth.
A Named
Violation and Ecstasy (2/25/03) A renaming
of processes and procedures in birth, to take
away the bland enabling that comes along with
the use of soft-sounding names. So the story
begins- "Enter Sarah, a first time mother
whose sanctity is crucial, into the Birthing
in Captivity Institution." She goes on
to get three c-sections, but this ends in Sarah's
discovery of freebirth- the "inviolable
releasing of sweet life".
All
that is Dark and Beautiful, Beheld in Her Eyes
(1/24/03) "Alone and preoccupied she sat
on her Throne. In her hair were stars; in her
eyes were the black depths of Time. In her gaze
was weariness, endlessness: in her gaze was
tired patience, and dark brooding."
Words:
Stark Foundations of the Euphemisms that Bind
our Times (11/6/02) Words are used to control
pregnant women: "evidence based practice",
"woman centered", "choices in
childbirth", "informed consent"-
these terms mean little when medical application
can be so ruthless.
Serving
the Ultimate Calling: carrying birth
in our arms, and setting it free (7/30/02)
Women and babies suffer so much in their medicalized
births, and the ones who inflict the harm walk
free. Yet Gloria Lemay, a birth attendant who
personifies gentleness, sits in a British Columbia
jail- forbidden to even touch a pregnant
woman.
Overcoming
the Dark Gods of Modern Medicine (7/16/02)
Hysterectomy, labor induction, cesarean section,
episiotomy, hormone replacement therapy- all
these procedures are cornerstones of OB/GYN
practice yet are overwhelmingly bad medicine.
Read this column and be informed.
Love
Will Heal the Dark, Fearful River (6/11/02)
Evil forces dictate how birth is given for most
women. Included: my c-section, and a reader
response.
Pregnant
Thoughts, Grim Realities... (2/5/02)
How I'm feeling at eight months pregnant; including
footnoted (more or less) fury and sadness at
the harm women so naively allow to have happen
in their births.
Blessed
Be the Truest Daughters of Time (and
grumbling, bitchy pregnant women too) (1/15/02)
The woman at the park had two needless c-sections.
This, of course, sorely needed a thorough educating
from me. Included: why and how hospital birth
is so painful for babies, and a list of links.
Brutalized
No More... (8/20/01) Pelvic exams hurt a
woman- right to the core, down to the soul...
especially if she's had past sexual abuse. Also:
women must be very careful with what
happens with their childbirth photos!
Dreaming
of the Wisdom of Dear Mother Goat (8/12/01)
The animals are so much smarter than so many
of humans are about giving birth...
In the Trenches
of Birth's Pain, In Full View of Birth's Beauty...
(7/23/01) A bit of talk about the pain of
bith's reality, and the magnifience of birth's
potential.
The Body
of Birth Victorious as it Lies Dying (4/16/01)
The heartbreakingly high cesarean rate is actually
the body of birth dying on a c-section cross.
But don't despair... after such death comes
ascension. This was written after putting up
the photos on the Anatomy
of a Choice page.
Happily Restrained
in a Pyramid of Pain (3/26/01) Anesthetized
women are used for medical students to learn
rectal and vaginal exams on. Do women care?
Do they want to know about anything other than
"my doctor says"? What will it take
for all of us to wake up to our own oppression
and suffering?
Am I Crazy for
Caring More Than They Do? (3/19/01) Hard
to believe- but one day it will actually be
considered crazy to cut women open needlessly
in childbirth.
Imagining
the Father as the Mother (2/26/01) Musings
about my husband being the one getting the c-section;
and - "Everyone from Playboy magazine to
your local, friendly OB/GYN profits from women's
outstretched bodies, in vivid living colors:
from pretty pastel pinks to cut, bloody reds.
So much money and power to be gained.... for
everyone except the women."
Beautiful Pregnant Women are the Targets
of Institutionalized Sexual Violence (2/19/01
view column
here) Sexual deviance is the dark underside
of the 20th/early 21st century hospital birth
reality.
Broken hearts, broken lives... if doctors
knew, would they care? (1/29/01 view
column here) Mothers often have troubles
connecting with their older children when their
newest ones were born gently. Also- what birth
is really supposed to mean to mothers and babies.
Added 2/5/01- a midwife's responds with how
to help with bonding.
Rips, Snips and
a Promise (1/16/01) Doctors are finding
that tearing into women's bellies during c-sections
actually helps promote better healing afterwards.
So why not just tear into vaginas instead of
cutting them open with scissors during episiotomies?
The Free Woman's
Anti-Chicken Coop Chant (1/8/01) "Like
fences around a chicken coop, obstetrical labels
keep women penned in." A parallel between
captive laying and birthing, and a poetic invitation
to birth freedom.
Only Me?
(6/13/00) Some people think I only write about
my own experiences when I discuss the typical
hospital birth. Oh really, now. I suppose "only
I" account for the one in five North American
women getting c-sections?
Gentle
Ferocity: A Balancing Act (5/8/00) It's
a struggle finding just the right tone when
discussing birth issues with people.
A Discourse
Regarding "Choice" (4/10/00)
Respecting birth choices that can result
in injury or death is playing the enabler in
the classic circle of abuse: one is not above
the abuse; she is a part of it.
"But I
Loved My Hospital Birth!" (4/3/00)-
is a statement made in ignorance and sometimes
hostility of superior birth alternatives, and
is the end result of doctors' success in brainwashing
childbearing women for their own gain.
Why Do They Do
It? (11/16/99) A response to a letter
received from a midwife concerned about my accusations
against the medical profession regarding ritual
practices in childbirth.
Columns about Medicalized
Birth Illogic and/or Dangers
Hoping
for the Best, Dreading the Worst (12/17/02)
A woman I met at the park has a cesarean scar
on her tummy and her daughter's cheek due to
medical negligence. Will she learn preventative
living before her next pregnancy?
Update
on Me, and a Look at What Makes Childbirth Pornography
Possible (10/29/01) How I'm feeling in my
pregnancy, and how medicalized birth has made
evermore childbirth exploitation possible.
There is Only Now to to Give Safe Birth,
There is Only Now to Not Get Cut (view
column here 9/10/01) I saw my first episiotomy
photos... I am distressed that they cause so
much pain- and are overwhelmingly of no value
whatsoever.
The Hannah Study:
A Breach of Reason (6/25/01) This large
trial has given doctors license to do eradicate
vaginal breech births internationally. And this
is a shame, because the study is just terrible.
Obstetrician
Poetry (Eeeeeeooouuuuuu!!!!!) (5/28/01)
A doctor writes his little poetic heart out
about what he sees during pelvic exams. Well-
how would he feel if someone were to write a
poem about his testicles?
Dr. Barton Says
Home Delivery is Child Abuse (4/9/01) In
saying so he is covering up the incredible abuse
that happens to babies in their hospital births.
Also- a word of warning to midwives.
"But
you have a healthy baby!" (1/23/01)
Women hear this so often- but it is no consolation
to suffering from a brutal birth. In fact- it
may not even be true.
A "Woman-Centered"
Medical Institution- the Snow Job of the Century
(11/6/00) Pretty curtains and promises of "pro-woman"
mean little when you still get an episiotomy
or a c-section.
Cytotec and
More: Letters, Comments and a Column (10/16/00)
Doctors just love Cytotec- despite the
fact that it kills women and babies. Women-
know that your doctors don't always have your
best interests at heart!!!
"I
Killed my Laptop" and "The Future
Will Cry" Revisited (8/14/00) Breech
babies get castrated during episiotomies. How
can I not cry...
Breech Tales
(8/7/00) Two footling breech birth stories are
told- one unassisted, and one hyper-medically
assisted. Decide for yourself which birth was
better managed.
Choosing
a Practitioner and Practice: "Buyer Beware"
(7/3/00) Written in response to letters about
the "Moses" column. Discussed: the
questionable benefits of perineal massage, and
how men must be very careful when attending
women in childbirth.
Men, Moses
and the Strong, Proud Daughters of Eve
(6/26/00) Birthing women's vaginas are sacred;
it's a shame so many people- including birthing
women- need to be reminded of that.
Hospital
Birth is Like the Value Village Bathroom
(5/22/00) It is impossible to "let down"
in places with bizarre smells and the constant
threat of physical intrusion.
Moving Beyond
the Obstetrical Lies of Our Times (5/15/00)
Birth is easy; being told otherwise by medical
people is being fed lies.
Cesarean
Section: The Anatomy of a Choice (4/17/00)
The complete story behind the cesarean section
operation: in pictures and text. It is crucial
that all women planning hospital births read
this column. It may save them from much pain,
and frightening surprises.
Turf
Wars are for Golf Courses (Sirs)
(8/24/99) Women's bodies are their own!- they
must not be considered as a platform for profit.
Also- more about the fact that violence in birth
can lead to later violent suicide.
Just
Take Them Out!*
(7/27/99) Cesareans
and hysterectomies hurt! Here I respond to a
doctor who wrote a book about how great he thinks
they are.
Will
VBAC Become a Way of the Past?
(7/13/99) New guidelines may make elective cesareans
the delivery method of choice for a majority
of doctors; the myth of CPD (cephalopelvic disproportion).
"Women
are Dying Needlessly in Childbirth"
(6/29/99) A retort to an OB's ignorance of the
role of modern obstetrics in maternal deaths;
the role has been sometimes fatal.
For midwifery columns,
go here.
Columns about Families,
Babies and Individuals (including columns written
about my own pregnancies and miscarriages)
A Seasonal
Sunrise (and descent of endless night) (3/29/03)
The luscious joys of Spring; in love with my
babies and new life all around. Yet perpetual
Winter is always looming...
My Baby is
Beautiful (joy is all around me) (2/16/03)
A love poem, of sorts, for my baby, my husband,
the twilight- and all that is and lovely in
my life.
Colliding
with Love on the Other Side of Life (2/2/03)
After two months of anticipation, I experience
the beginnings of my third miscarriage.
Drops of
Sweet Milk, and the Moon in my Pool (12/29/02)
Mourning the possibility of no more breastmilk
for my youngest child due to my new pregnancy,
and dreams of a backyard waterbirth- maybe surrounded
by my family... and maybe not.
Creating
the Life that is BirthLove (11/26/02) My
husband and I create our babies; in the same
way we create our site: each in our own special
ways.
If My Baby
Dies (11/19/02) Gentleness, warmth, love,
soft touch, compassion, empathy- unconditional
care- all these things I would need, as other
women need, if I were to give birth to a baby
who dies. Please pass this on to people who
care for pregnant and birthing women.
Am I?
(12/10/02) Am I pregnant with my ninth?
Celebrate
Life Day (10/7/02) In having my little boy
be saved from choking, I can better see what
a beautiful life I have.
Pregnancy,
Dawn, Death, Dreaming... All the Same
Glowing, All the Same Flying (1/28/02) About
my surreal, odd pregnancy dream, and the blue-lit,
snowy dawn.
Birthing
Skye: A Luscious, Lovely Waterbirth of my Senses
(1/22/02) This is about the beautiful birth
that changed my life foever.
In Pregnancy's
Full Bloom (12/18/01) How I'm feeling in
the early third trimester of my tenth pregnancy.
A Simple Circle of Life and Death,
of Earth and Birth in My Front Yard (view
column here 11/12/01) So much beauty and
mortality is summed up by a ring of mushrooms
growing in my front yard, where my placentas
are planted. Also: how much it hurts when our
babies grow up...
For
My Daughter On Her Thirteenth Birthday
(10/22/01) Reminiscing, loving, feeling
once again about my early days as a mother.
The
Startling Similarity Between the Moon and a
Turkey Sandwich (10/1/01) How the moon drives
and compels work; also- the three best ways
to have an optimal pregnancy and birth experience.
A New One
(7/2/01) Almost too intimate to share, this
talks about something new and beautiful.
Miscarriage
Update and Message (5/7/01) Miscarriages
affect women very deeply; also: how to help
a loved one get through her miscarriage.
Remembering
to Love the Living (4/30/01) I have had
a miscarriage. Very sad, very lonely they are
to get through.
Sienna's Gift
(4/2/01) A woman is given the gift of birth,
and loses her precious baby at the same time.
Note to women having elective cesareans... you
will miss your lost births.
Today the
Garretts... Next it Could be You (9/18/00)
Please help the Garretts' special needs children
return to their home. Also, learn how to protect
yourself from false allegations of child abuse/neglect.
Feeling her
life for her (7/17/00)...Trying to understand
why a woman would not want to feel the power
and beauty of childbirth, and choose- nay, DEMAND-
drugged paralysis instead.
What I Need,
pt. 2 (2/29/00) I share bit of the sadness
that all new mothers feel sometimes.
To view a page my husband created on the
day of our 7th child's birth (1/24/00), go to
this page.
Pregnancy
Update (1/17/00) A bit of crying
just before my birth comes...
It Hurts to
be a Ten Month Mama (1/10/00) I was born
to have ten month pregnancies- but they can
be so hard to get through! Go to the Ten
Month Mama Page for more about long pregnancies.
"So when
are you due?" (12/27/99) Patience,
when one is 40+ weeks pregnant, is more than
a virtue- it's a bit of a struggle! But waiting
is for the best.
What I
Can Expect When I'm Expecting (which is always)
(9/7/99) Pregnancy mucus, crying, ravenous
eating and other fun stuff. This is actually
kinda funny. Letter added-10/25/99
I'm
Pregnant...
(5/25/99) Number
seven coming!
Introductory
Column
(3/23/99) My first homebirth, and how it changed
my life.
Miscellaneous
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