Mexican women can wrap and carry their babies around their back or in a sling
or pouch in front of the body. In labor, the Rebozo can help a woman with
relaxation techniques and help progress labor and relieve pain. Angela from
Rebozo Me Tenderly sells beautiful authentic Rebozos at a very reasonable
price. Find Angela on Facebook.

I keep a Rebozo in my doula bag and bring with me to every birth.  The Rebozo
keeps me warm in those very cold hospital rooms and can be used in a variety of
ways during labor and delivery. Midwives and doulas can help correct a
mal-positioned baby in order to help the baby rotate into proper anterior fetal
position (tummy to mummy) and progress labor.

What I learned at Naoli’s workshop,
though, was about the “movement of sexual energy.” Of course! Birth is the
manifestation of sexual energy. I just have never heard it described that way,
as Energy. It makes sense then that when a woman is inhibited and her sexual
energy blocked, labor would be longer and often more painful.

Author, Jennifer Vanderlaan of Birthing Naturally website has a great one-page
description of the Rebozo and simple how-to techniques.

Here is a short video clip I made where Naoli and several doulas practice one Rebozo technique I like to call Sifting because it reminds me of sifting flour through cheesecloth. I reckon this particular movement might also help women with fertility blockages? If nothing else, it feels great!

So pull out that Pashmina or Rebozo and move it, move it!

I was inspired to write this topic because last month I had the honor and pleasure of supporting 5 births where each and every mother danced and moved in Active Labor.  Every birth was a Natural Birth.  It confirmed to me that dancing in labor is one of the best kept secrets!

The use of movement and dance has been used for Ages and by many cultures to help relieve pain in labor and progress labor and delivery. From my experience as a doula I have noticed that the mamas who move and shake their hips in Active Labor do dilate quicker and say they experienced less pain.  This does not mean to start dancing with your first contraction.  Mamas spend early labor sleeping and resting to conserve the energy needed for the time when Active Labor is established, thereby making every contraction count and be more efficient.

The other thing I noticed is that, contrary from popular belief; “bigger babies” are able to be delivered vaginally!  When a woman is upright she is using gravity to move the baby down and when she moves her hips and dances her pelvis is open and loose.  In this video a mother danced throughout late labor then pushed an over 10 pound baby! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYtRmaABHUk

Here is another one of my clients who recently delivered her over a 9 lbd baby.  Her video is so inspiring that it makes me want to get up and dance!  So load up your iPod with your favorite jams
and get up and shake that thang!

This is significant news for women in the South Bay who have had to leave the neighborhood and find a doctor and hospital out of the local area in order to birth vaginally after a Cesarean (VBAC). As a doula, I can’t tell you how wonderful this change is because it means that we don’t have to get on the 405 freeway in the throws of labor just to get to a hospital who would support
VBACs!

I am so very happy about this new Hospitalist model at Torrance Hospital and I am waiting with abated breath for
Little Company of Mary to follow suit too!

What a Happy Mother’s Day it was indeed!  Thank you, Daily Breeze, for posting this story.

It was well-timed since I just received an email from a Representative of Pacificord- Cord Blood Collection.   Funny how they got my name and email? What was most interesting is his offer to give me (as a Doula) a $50 referral fee for every client I sent to them and booked an account.  Wow!  Now, I know this type of thing happens at doctors’ offices but this is the first time, as a doula, I have been approached and been offered CASH for referrals. 

I am aware of doctors and hospitals receiving incentives for selling/recommending drugs or childbirth interventions but have never heard of doulas being approached. What happened to the doulas helping to be the Guardians of gentle birthing for moms and babies?  I have to admit, for a quick second I thought, “Hmmm, who do I know that I can refer?”  Then I quickly snapped myself back!  But with such a generous referral incentive you can see how tempting it could be to pass along the Pacificord brochures.

Read The Midwife Thinking’s blog to learn more about the process of cord banking and the affect on baby.  When you learn how much of the baby’s own blood volume is taken (about 1/3)  it makes one really think hard about this topic of cord banking.  The midwife further states, “I am not saying cord blood banking shouldn’t be an available option. All I am suggesting is that parents need adequate information before they make a decision to withdraw a significant amount of their baby’s blood volume. They need to be able to weigh up the definite benefits of full blood volume at birth vs a possible treatment for an unlikely future illness. Cord blood is baby’s blood.”

I have read literature on both sides of the fence about cord banking.  Cord banking is still in its infancy (no pun intended) since the 1980s.  And in 1992, the University of Arizona banked the first cord blood sample in the world specifically stored for family use.    Other factors could affect one’s decision about cord banking such as family history of certain diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, leukemia, sickle cell anemia and type1 diabetes.  The  Thinking Midwife encourages parents to understand and be ”… informed that cord blood collection requires premature cord clamping, and that the blood being collected belongs to their baby.” 

Could our current practice of early cord clamping  be depriving the baby a chance to a better start?  Here is another great article found in the British Medical Journal  about the practice of early cord clamping.   Dr. David J R Hutchon, retired consultant obstetrician, in Engand says, “I have always argued that applying a clamp to the cord is clearly an intervention, having the greatest effect when it is done quickly after birth.”  Early cord clamping has become so routine that we have forgotten to question its necessity.  The practice of early cord clamping goes hand-in-hand with cord banking, unfortunately.

Cord blood is baby’s blood to benefit from it NOW not frozen for the small probability of use later.  It is ultimately the parents’ choice to make.  So unless upon request, you won’t see me passing out cord banking brochures lest I be called…

the Vampire Doula : )

If you are interesting in teaching pregnancy yoga this is a training not to be missed!  Gurmukh runs the training just once per year in the Los Angeles studio and then again in New York so mark your calendars to sign up for 2012.  Even if you are already certified to teach pregnancy yoga, I guarantee you that what you learn from The Khalsa Way teacher training will be unique, filled with spirit and enlightenment, and it will change the way you teach pregnant women.

I took this training in 2005.  At that time Gurmukh still taught part of the sessions in her home.  I think we were the last graduating class who will have that same privilege.  Imagine, a group of at least 50 students cooking in Gurmukh’s kitchen, sitting on big pillows eating on the floor, and doing meditations in the gardens.  I can still remember the “Maa” meditation we did in her living room.  We cupped one hand partially over one hear whilst chanting the mantra “Maa…Maa…Maa.”  I tell you, the vibration of our voices was so strong that the wind chimes outside her window were clinking!  It brought me to tears.

Today I combine what I have learned through my years of Hatha yoga along with the Kundalini yoga lineage of teaching pregnancy yoga.  And I have to say that it is in those Kundalini yoga sessions where I leave my classes so high on Spirit and my heart expanded three-fold.  The students also experience an “awakening” and it is not uncommon to see tears and smiles on their faces even during an intense meditation. Yesterday we did a “swimming arms” meditation for NINE minutes!  Already I have received emails from the mamas asking me about the music used and where to find more information.  Here is a sample of that meditation as demonstrated by my yoga mama, Leticia Ramirez: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ig6zqipwo8U

The music played is by Satkirin Kaur and the song is called “Mangala Charan” which can be purchased for download at http://www.spiritvoyage.com.

I also recommend the book written by Gurmukh called “Beautiful, Bountiful, Blissful.” http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=soubayhom20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0312310889&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr”

It is these meditations that partly sets apart The Khalsa Way of teaching pregnancy yoga from other methods.  As the Golden Bridge website states, “The Khalsa Way® Pregnancy Yoga Teacher’s Training Course offers the skills to teach prenatal yoga and meditation, recalling the ancient ways of birthing and mothering handed down to us through the ages. These practices lead a new mother to the awareness that she truly knows within herself how to bring her baby forth. The Khalsa Way teaches a woman to lift the blocks of fear, doubt and old conditioning out of her pregnancy, her birth and her life. Each week-long Khalsa Way® course brings a holistic approach to birthing, exploring the emotional, physical, and spiritual journey to a healthy, conscious, and joyous pregnancy, childbirth and motherhood.”

I am excited to meet this new batch of yoga teachers who will join our mission of raising Consciousness and Awareness in order to expand the choices women have during pregnancy, childbirth, and motherhood.

Thank you for ushering these new Aquarian Age babies!

Sat Nam.

Patricia Grube, Certified Khalsa Way prenatal yoga teacher  : )

So what would I like to see for my case load of clients and the country at large in the Year 2011? I would love to see more women ”break-up” with their doctors and hire midwives!

I actually just created a new website just for home-birth mamas.  It is called www.southbayhomebirth.com.  In the New Year I will populate this site with loads of information for home-birth mamas from appropriate childbirth classes to take that apply specifically for home-birth to learning more about the benefits of water-birth.

I will list my services as a birth doula. Many think that because they have a midwife they will not need a doula.  Wrong!  The doula and midwife serve two completely different roles and in most cases the midwife does not arrive to the birth until the labor has advanced well into Active Phase. In the meantime what do you? You call your doula to provide emotional and physical support during labor. Consider your - doula as your “epidural” at home! The truth is that when you are alone and scared the likelihood that you can get into the of  the Fear-Tension-Pain cycle increases. Well, at a homebirth, should the mother not manage the pain then this would mean a hospital transfer for medication. Isn’t it worth the little extra fee to hire a doula if it could help increase the success of your homebirth? Additional, should you need a hospital transfer the midwife stays behind but the doula follows the couple all the way through to birth if a transfer is needed. Check out this beautiful photo slideshow of my homebirth client that did transfer to the hospital after 3 days of labor. It was still a very powerful and beautiful birth and I was so happy to be there to make it a more joyous experience and capture such touching moments.  Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5ammnjE9N8

An added benefit of having your doula,  at your homebirth she will not only assist with ideas to progress labor and minimize “pain”, she can also be extra hands to take those precious photographs of you and your partner as you receive your baby! I am excited about being an advocate for increasing the rate of homebirthers in America!

Of course, I will still maintain www.serenitybirth.com and assist women birthing in a hospital setting because the truth is hospital birth moms will not only need natural pain relief ideas but they also need a guide to help them navigate through the labyrinth of  hospital interventions. I do believe that a Natural Birth in a hospital setting can be more difficult to achieve thus with the help of a doula, a hospital client can stay AT HOME AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. I do treat my hospital birth clients like a “homebirth with transfer to hospital” which in my mind is the best case scenario for a hospital birth!

I am wishing you best wishes on your upcoming Labor of Love and may your babies enjoy a more Conscious and blissful birth experience.  It has been my pleasure to serve you in Year 2010 and I look forward to serving new mamas and babies in the upcoming year 2011!

With much love and peace,

Patricia Grube

“…dehumanized treatment, an abuse of medication, and to convert the natural processes [of labor/birth] into pathological ones, bringing with it loss of autonomy and the ability to decide freely about their bodies and sexuality, negatively impacting the quality of life of women.”

It sounds amazing, doesn’t it?  But upon reading further into the article more I discovered that deliveries are all handled by physicians and that the option of midwifery does not exist.  Perhaps this medical model in and of itself is what is lending itself to “obstetric violence”?  Venezuela’s solution, although an admirable gesture, is to slap a fine of  two hundred and fifty units (250 TU) to five hundred tax units (500 TU) .  And like most legal proceedings, a doctor would be innocent until proven guilty, now placing the new mom into the position of having to prove and defend her allegations.  I don’t know too many new moms that would bother to pursue action against their doctor unless the action was severe and physically damaging.  Okay, so now I am putting on my paralegal hat.   Does Venezuela have levels of fines for obstetrical violence? Would the fee be more for more severe cases?   One could see how the main point of treating women with respect during the time or parturition can easily be buried into a  legal spider web and ultimately it is the mom and baby that suffer.

Slapping a fine does make a statement but ultimately will do little to reduce “obstetric violence” in the appropriate infrastructure is not in place.   I believe, and most birth advocates would agree, that a more obvious solution would be to introduce midwives into the labor and delivery rooms.     Having midwives, with full autonomy would have the potential to impact birth quicker and more effectively than punishing doctors.

I wonder if such a law would ever be considered in America <tongue in cheek> where the rate of obstetrical violence is quite high ( as evidenced by our enormously high cesarean rate)?  Nobody talks about it but if we examine our collective birth stories we would find, quite often, examples of obstetrical violence happening time and time again.  How do we help that on a micro level?   By choosing our birth place consciously and by selecting our medical provider wisely, we begin to humanize birth again.

My intention with starting this blog is to share useful and relative information concerning some aspect of pregnancy, childbirth, babies, and yoga.  I hope you will subscribe to this page and participate in a dialogue with me as I share my thoughts with you.  I look forward to hearing feedback from you too.

In the doula spirit,

Patricia Grube