To my wonderful mamas, all their sweet babies, my dear friends and beloved family...
As this year comes to a close and begins to birth another year…
I am filled with GRATITUDE!! I give thanks to all the women, men, babies and families who have been a part of my life this year…who have trusted and allowed me to be a part of their lives and families…Thank you so much!!! I hold you all dear and close in my heart.
I am sending you pure love and a blessing that you and yours may find Fulfillment, Peace, Joy, Love, Happiness and much Gratitude this Holiday Season and in the New Year ahead.
Moving forward into 2012, as Spirit of Life Midwifery continues to grow, I give thanks to each mama, papa and "freshly born" baby for your support. I LOVE my work as a midwife and look forward to the opportunity to share in this powerful, magical time with you.
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, and confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ by Melody Beattie ~
(A French proverb reminds us "Gratitude is the heart's memory.")
Sheila Simms Watson, LM, CPM,
Spirit Of Life Traditional Midwifery, Inc
Join Spirit of Life Traditional Midwifery's Village Forum! In our village forum connect with others with a shared commitment to traditional, natural out of hospital birth. Meet here to share your ideas, hopes, questions, and dreams. Join Us Today [...]
One World Birth Blog 4,000 miles and over 100 interviews later…
We've just got back from our amazing whistlestop One World Birth trip to US / Canada. We travelled over 4,000 miles from Canada down to Florida and filmed over 100 interviews and wow, what an eye-opener. Our trip took us from the MANA/ACNM/CAM joint conference in Ontario, down to filming homebirth midwives in New Jersey, Continue [...]
Celebrating Our Latest
"freshly born" Babies of 2011...
We are helping our mothers, families, and community through practicing traditional midwifery. Women have been helping, supporting and teaching women since the beginning of time. Pregnancy and birth are fundamentally healthy processes that are normal, natural parts of a woman's life. Share in our celebration of life...We are proud to introduce to you our latest "freshly born" babies of 2011 video!
[MANAmidwivesofcolor] Celebrating the wonderful Katsi Cook - Congrats on receiving the SAGE FEMME 2011...
Our very own sister Midwife Katsi Cook received MANA's annual Sage Femme award at Niagara Falls this year...Blessings Katsi!
New stories are often rooted in old stories that were swept aside by more powerful cultures. Now, some indigenous groups are reclaiming their stories and traditions, integrating modern science on their own terms
by Katsi Cook ~
posted Mar 31, 2000
I was born to a Mohawk woman from a reservation across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal, Kahawague, by the rapids. When she was young, my mother fell into those rapids and damaged her mitral valve. She was told by her uncle, who was the first Mohawk physician at Kahawague, that she should never bear children because it would be a threat to her life. But she chose to have four of us, and I was her fourth one, born at home.
Read Into Our Hands [...]
Dear Friend, we wanted you to know that Patricia Harman's new book, Arms Wide Open: -
A Midwife's Journey is now out (Beacon Press). You can take a peek on www.amazon.com and her website www.patriciaharman.com This one goes back to the hippie, home birth, homesteading days...then fast forwards to now, a midwife's story of innocence, survival and hope dedicated to all who love Mother Earth.
Hope you like it. Keep up the good work, Patricia (Patsy) Harman CNM.
Learn about the many resources available in our village community
Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) 2011 Conference:
A look back:
In November,—I attended the Midwives Alliance of North America's (MANA) 2011 Conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario. The conference theme this year was — North American Midwifery: Beyond Boundaries—and this speaks to value we place on diversity and multiculturalism, and also on shared knowledge, skills, stories, and strategies.
Midwives, students, maternity care professionals, and midwifery supporters from across North America attended to receive information and inspiration for achieving many of our collective goals. One of the speakers at this year's MANA conference was Naoli Vinaver Lopez and her presentation was entitled On Curiosity and Love: The Ins and Outs of Birth
Thanks to You, Breastfeeding is Getting Easier From: U.S. Breastfeeding Committee...Mon, Dec 12, 2011
As 2011 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on the year's journey... and what a journey it has been! Breastfeeding has celebrated unprecedented successes and triumphs, thanks to your support. The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee supporters and fellow advocates have played a pivotal role in the progress made to ensure that all moms are supported to reach their personal breastfeeding goals. Every story they've shared, every email sent or action alert forwarded, every resource offered, and every dollar so generously contributed has led the U.S. Breastfeeding Committee to where they are today.
Here are just a few examples of how we are making a difference, together:
The Actions: You Spoke, The U.S. Breastfeeding Committee Amplified Your Voices…
OH, BABY Sarah Griffith of the Atlanta area put footage of her home birth on YouTube.
By MALIA WOLLAN, Published: June 11, 2009
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
FASHION & STYLE
If YouTube can illustrate how to solve a Rubik's Cube, pick a lock and poach an egg, maybe it can also demonstrate how to give birth.
(NYT) -- BY her eighth month of pregnancy, Rebecca Sloan, a 35-year-old biologist living in Mountain View, Calif.,
had read the what-to-expect books, taken the childbirth classes, joined the mommy chat rooms and still had no idea what she was in for. So, like countless expectant mothers before her, Ms. Sloan typed "childbirth" into YouTube's search engine. Up popped thousands of videos, showing everything from women giving birth under hypnosis, to Caesarean sections, to births in bathtubs.
"I just wanted to see the whole thing," Ms. Sloan said. And see it she did, compliments of women like Sarah Griffith, a 32-year-old from the Atlanta area who, when she gave birth to her son Bastian, invited her closest friends to join her. One operated the camera, capturing Ms. Griffith's writhing contractions, the baby's crowning head and his first cries. Afterward, Ms. Griffith posted an hour of footage on YouTube in nine installments, which have since been watched more than three million times. "Childbirth is beautiful, and I'm not a private person," Ms. Griffith said.
Mom-and-pop directors like Ms. Griffith think of their home movies as a way to demystify childbirth by showing other women — and their weak-kneed husbands — candid images they might not otherwise see until their contractions begin. If YouTube can illustrate how to solve a Rubik's Cube, pick a lock and poach an egg, maybe it can also demonstrate how to give birth. Recently, a British couple became tabloid fodder after the woman gave birth, assisted only by her husband using a YouTube birthing video as tutorial.
Inevitably most childbirth videos are graphic, challenging not just YouTube's rules but also societal conventions on propriety.
"Nudity is generally prohibited on YouTube," said Victoria Grand, the site's head of policy. "But we make exceptions for videos that are educational, documentary or scientific." YouTube employees regularly review graphic videos and, depending on the content, may decide to leave a video up, restrict access to those 18 and older or remove the video altogether. Explicit medical videos are among the exceptions, allowing cyberpatients and other viewers 18 and over to watch videos of colonoscopies, appendectomies and open-heart surgery. Most childbirth videos are age restricted.
At first Ms. Sloan says she felt timid watching. She remembers one video featuring a couple speaking Dutch or German in which the man embraced the woman gently from behind while she crouched and swayed. Soon, Ms. Sloan was in tears. "It was really moving," she said. "The videos are so unsensational, they're largely unedited and people aren't making money off of their videos. And so the purpose seems very genuine."
Editor's note: Voting for the CNN Hero of the Year continues through December 7 at CNNHeroes.com. The winner will be announced at "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," which airs live December 11 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Updated 11:21 AM EST, Fri October 28, 2011
Overview(CNN) -- Robin Lim is helping thousands of low-income women in Indonesia have a healthy pregnancy and birth.Lim is a midwife and founder of the Yayasan Bumi Sehat (Healthy Mother Earth Foundation) health clinics, which offer free prenatal care, birthing services and medical aid to anyone who needs it. She and her team have been working to combat the country's high maternal and infant mortality rates since 2003.
Interview with aboriginal midwife Julie Wilson: "It's an issue of autonomy."
By Mary Dirmeitis, Published: June 11, 2009
The Tsi Non:we Ionnakeratstha Ona:grahsta' Maternal and Child Centre at Six Nations Health Services is the first of its kind. Located in Grand River Territory, it offers midwifery care with a full-time Aboriginal staff. The birthing centre first opened its doors in 1996 with the mandate of bringing the birthing process back to families.
Julie Wilson is the Supervisor of the Maternal and Child Centre and took some time to talk with us about her path to aboriginal midwifery and the ability of this model to secure autonomy for First Nations people.
This issue we are featuring two celebrity birth stories. The first is from Elizabeth Davis, author and midwife who shares her moving birth story in this video. One World Birth is a new FREE online video resource aimed at sharing evidence-based information from the world's leading birth experts.
The second celebrity is model and actress Cindy Crawford whose two part birthstory video was featured on MyBestBirth.com. Use the link here to enjoy these videos. And remember that as always we are looking for your birth story. Please submit them using this link to our website and let us know if you want to be featured in our next edition of the Celebration Newsletter.
Milestones - "It is wonderful how life spirals around and around"
It is wonderful how life spirals around and around. I like the image of a spiral, as it is open and growing. There are always points along the spiral we can recognize as times of growth, or change in our lives – Milestones…I have had many such points along the way; two I would like to share with you.
Fast-track back to May 3rd, 1990… the first day of my apprenticeship and journey into Midwifery. I remember driving through the night from New Jersey to Virginia to be there for the morning start of the apprenticeship. It was a new beginning, a big point on the spiral. I was willing, open, excited. One year later, in May 3rd, 1991 I completed my Traditional Midwifery apprenticeship, graduated and claimed my title and role as a Midwife. I greatly appreciated the growth, confidence and experience I had gained.
Recording Content...If the Recorded Message is not playing correctly click here to download.
Florida Licensed Midwife, Sheila Simms Watson, the "Miami Midwife" shares some recent milestones as she continues her personal journey in the practice of traditional midwifery.
To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect. ~ by Oren Arnold ~
Please click here [...] If you would like to be featured and submit a journal request!...
ALL THE BEST TO ALL OF YOU IN 2012!!!
Sheila Simms Watson, LM, CPM,
Spirit Of Life Traditional Midwifery, Inc
Ok! So Baby Teagan is not quite one yet, his mama shared this picture with us and we just could not resist sharing his pic with you. We bet that you would give a penny for his thoughts. Please use this link to visit our home page to check out the babies that have just turned one, and don't forget to check back monthly to see a fresh batch... Look Now! [...]
'Birth is...'
'not only about making babies. Birth is about making mothers...strong, competent, capable mothers who trust themselves and know their inner strength.'
- Barbara Katz Rothman
'There is power that comes to women when they give birth...'
' They don't ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it.'
- Sheryl Feldman More Quotes! [...]
One World Birth Blog
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