Mindful Birth A Midwife's Guide
Introduction
“Every midwife knows that not until a mother’s womb softens from the pain of labor will a way unfold and the infant find that opening to be born. Oh, friend! There is a treasure in your heart, it is heavy with child. Listen. All the awakened ones, like trusted midwives are saying, ‘welcome this pain. It opens the dark passage of Grace.”
Being a midwife is the greatest privilege of humankind. Because we not only witness the miracle of birth but also the making of mothers. Like thousands of others, I am one of those midwives who is devoted to gently saving lives by being a listener in the difficult birth of the world. Till now, I have delivered many babies. Trust me, the birth of your child is a profound experience and one to be cherished forever.
But, as Ina May Gaskin1 has said, “Whenever and however you give birth, your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life.”
Isn’t that true? Each birth uniquely combines courage, perseverance, and love. And the biggest lesson that I have learned as a midwife is that there is no one-size-fits-all for childbirth. The perfect birth for one person actually may be a traumatic birth for another.
Once pregnant, every woman dreams about that flawless birth, relying on somewhat inadequate information, society norms, or what they have heard from others. Now if their birth journey does not live up to their sometimes unrealistic expectations, they often fall into that trap of feeling like they have failed somewhere.
I don’t understand but there appears to be a romantic ideal about this in the media. And in that perfect world, from what we have read in the books, in the magazines, and the stuff online, if we could all come out of our birth experience feeling euphoria, my job would be a fairy tale, and going to work every day would be amazing.