The Garden and the Family

When I joined my husband's family, I found that I had to learn a new language...latin! All his sisters seemed to be avid gardeners and would chatter about moving the pieris japonica, or the joys of alchemilla mollis (I love showing children how the rain drops glisten on this plant, also known as Lady's Mantle). Three of us were pregnant at the same time, and we would dig and plant flowers and vegetables at the family cabin as our bellies grew, after our babies were born, and as our extended family expanded. Pregnancy strengthened our need to nurture the gardens.

As my love of birth grew, so did my bookshelves fill with gardening books that linked women's bodies and plants, from Herbal Healing for Women to Susun Weed's Wise Woman's Herbal, The Complete Book of Herbs, Plants of Coastal British Columbia (great on car trips!) and Michael Pollan's books, the first of which was my favourite, Second Nature.  I discovered that the Lady's Mantle that I loved has been used since medieval times as a medicinal herb, and rainwater collected in the leaves was used for its alleged magical powers. I never tested its use as a tea to reduce excessive period bleeding, but I like knowing that women in the past had used this plant for that purpose.

Crawling on hands and knees, digging and dividing in the perennial garden, helped me to turn my son from posterior to anterior.  Squatting and weeding between the vegetable rows helped prepare me for my daughter's birth. There's no sitting still when you have a growing garden! Sheila Kitzinger's daughter laboured in her garden and held trees as she pushed. My own clients have laboured on hillsides in the dark, in Queen Elizabeth Park by the flowers, leaning on trees, and squatting on the grass. Many birthing centres in warm climates encourage women to labour in gardens specifically landscaped for labour and birth. This "Birth in Nature" video shows a woman whose labour is entirely outdoors.

One Master Gardener, Donna Guillemin, opened my eyes to the "art" of gardening, and the world of Plant Spirit Medicine. While I would work in my garden, raising my children and attending births, she would (seemingly magically) help clients of mine to conceive, or cure their PUPPS, or relieve their anxiety. She would send them (or me) to Finlandia Pharmacy or Gaia Garden for tinctures and teas, if her own tinctures and teas weren't quite what was needed.

Fast forward to today - and we have two more helpers, Jack and Finn, in the garden. They have changed the soundscape of my mother's garden - windchimes, stellar's jays and shrieks of laughter are now heard over the sound of the sprinkler. They are also learning to ask if they're pulling out a weed or a plant, or if the berry they hold in their hands is a "bird berry" or a "people berry". We pull and squat and crawl in the dirt and work hard and play hard together. From age 3 to 89, our family work together in the garden, connecting to the earth and each other.

Do we garden safely? Pregnant or not, we try to remember to wear our gloves (or at least have a good soap and water wash at the end of a gardening session), and take precautions to avoid toxoplasmosis or chemicals, and avoid strains or sprains. But any potential risks of gardening during pregnancy (or postpartum or otherwise) are far outweighed by the positive emotional, physical and spiritual benefits (check out the Canadian Horticultural Therapy Association for more). 

Our gardens in Point Roberts, Tsawwassen, and Vancouver have nurtured four generations of our family. They have helped our babies turn into the perfect position, strengthened our legs for labour, watched us nurse our babies on the grass, calmed our minds when we've been anxious, and cleared our heads when the 21st century has been going too fast. Sure, we buy our vegetables most years (yes, we must connect more with the Urban Farmer)...but we try to buy local and ride our bikes or walk to the local farmers markets. This year's markets open this weekend!

So, if you're starting to grow a baby, try adding a garden to your family.  There you will find joy for a lifetime (and you might just be able to avoid a posterior labour, too!)

Doula Myths...and the Reality

Oh, those urban doula myths...they just keep circulating...

Myth #1: 
I'm always fully booked. 
The reality: I usually have openings! Many clients call as soon as they're pregnant, but, it's never too early nor too late to call. Sometimes, clients birth early (or move away), making room for a last-minute client. So, please email or phone me and we can have a good chat!

Myth #2:
I work with 7-10 clients per month. 
The reality: Eek! I'm a busy doula, but not because I work with that many clients.  I actually book an average of 4 clients per month (to a maximum 50 births a year). That way, I am able to attend 98% of my client's births each year, and rarely need a back-up doula. (In fact, my last missed birth was in September 2011, when I was in Europe.)


Why the myths might have started:
Myth #1: Yes, I am often fully booked within a month or two of a due date, so please call early.
Myth #2: Yes, there are some rare months when I might attend six births. Earlier this year, one baby was born at 32 weeks, one at 38, one at 40, and another at 42 weeks - all in a 6 day period. Then two more babies came the very next week. Nature has a wry sense of humour. My "4 births a month" can be theoretical at times.

Deeper into the reality:
So, with just four booked clients a month, I often do short "tea visits" before a client books me. Then I make two prenatal visits with each family in their home...and I might squeeze in an extra visit if a client would benefit from the extra care in the final anxious weeks.  I also allow lots of time for postpartum visits, and any extra breastfeeding help that might be needed. Yes, I often have to reschedule some visits so I can attend a birth, but that's the way birth works. It's random. It's unexpected. It's also amazing.

Going slow:
Because I walk, cycle, or car2go to client visits in a small catchment area, there's a natural slow pace to each day. Today, my first prenatal visit was at 9am, but I was able to chat with another postpartum client on the phone as I walked over.  Then I walked to Matchstick to warm up before my second "repeat client" visit, while answering new client emails. Later, I talked with some postpartum clients before popping over to see another family for their first prenatal visit. All told, I had three client visits today, and connected with another 11 clients.

Yours forever:
11 client chats in a day? That's right. I always tell my clients that "I'm yours forever", so I do spend time each day connecting with former clients, answering their questions, brainstorming, and talking about breastfeeding, parenting, sleep!, growth spurts, baby-led weaning, and more sleep! It keeps me current, connected. And I hope each client comes away feeling uplifted, confident that she can trust her instincts and her baby.

Slow and Simple Parenting:
I keep current with "the boys," my twin grandsons. I'm with them on Wednesdays...and as much as I can between client visits.

So, please don't hesitate - give me a call. If I don't pick up right away, I might just be slowly riding my bike to a client visit. Or I might be bike riding to Jericho Beach with the boys. Yes, I'm a busy doula. But be assured, I'll call you as soon as I pull over!

The Possible Effect of Yaletown Condo Living on Labour Length

Pssst. I think I have discovered a secret formula for birth. I know, I know, every labour is unique and distinct, and you just can't apply a formula to birth. But, this has worked so many times recently that it's blogworthy. Here's the secret:

1. Take one new condo with a view of the water (False Creek, especially).
2. Add one spacious and powerful shower.
3. Add one first-time labouring woman whose contractions have just dipped under the 5 minute mark.
4. Take one doula who says, "I will sit silently on the floor outside this door so you can labour undisturbed. I hope you will be able to stay in the shower for at least 45 minutes. I won't disturb you, but I will respond to you if you express a feeling or a need or ask me a question. But remember these words. Trust your body. Trust your baby. You are strong. You are spiraling your baby down, down and through. You are open, wide open."
5. Take one partner who says, "I will make sure everything is ready for you when you need to come out of the shower. I will put towels in the dryer for you, and place the clothes you will need on our bed. I will not disturb you. I will be here when you need me. I trust you, I trust our baby, and I trust your body."
6. Add filtered sunlight through a crack in the door.
7. Add liquids and food within easy reach.
8. Add the sounds of an iTunes playlist created by the woman, her partner, or loved ones.
9. Gradually, add the apparent dissolution of time and space.
10. Add one fast elevator and a short drive to the hospital (or the arrival of two midwives at home)...and the addition of a baby soon after with very little (okay...maybe a little) drama.

Okay...there's more to Step 10, but you get the idea.

I've just had such luck lately with condo labours, with unlimited showers, beautiful views of the water, no disturbance, a fast elevator ride, and a short drive to the hospital (if planned) with few stop lights. And, recently, one woman never made it out of the quiet dark space, and gave birth on her bathroom floor (yes, her midwife was there).

Am I just in the middle of a statistical blip that balances the challenging births, or am I onto something here?

I pulled the info from my database, and was truly surprised to discover the high percentage of women living in the tall condos around False Creek (think Yaletown, Crosstown, Fairview, Olympic Village, etc.) who have had relatively short labours requiring limited technology or assistance. Okay, I'm not just imagining things. But why are these labours going so well???

Perhaps, it's the women who live in condos in Vancouver? Okay...I'll give you that one.

Perhaps, it's the unlimited hot water.  I have had similar experiences with women who have laboured at home in tiny basement suites with flash hot water heaters. But, it's rare to have a flash heater in a single family dwelling in Vancouver.

Perhaps, it's the speedy elevators. One study linked a fast elevator ride with a reduction in cesareans (strangely, the working theory was the elevator ride to the OR somehow repositioned the baby, resulting in the cancellation of the surgery).

Perhaps, it's the ability of these women to remain undisturbed high up in a concrete condo. No one knocks unannounced if you live on the 23rd floor. There are no mail carriers tromping up your stairs. No garbage trucks barreling down the lane. No neighbours to worry about. We know that disturbance can slow down a labour (we've seen the effects of jackhammers in the hospital during renovations and a labour speeding up after the roofers go home for the day).

Perhaps, the answer is as simple as one word. Many women have said the word "spiraling" had a huge impact on their labour. "I saw myself as being calm, zen, quiet, in the middle of a storm, and the baby was spinning, spiraling down to earth. I released everything, and the baby starting pushing his way out!"  Aha! Ina May Gaskin's sphincter law in action.

Or it could be that one special song that her partner added to the playlist.

Or it could be his, "I trust you," that made all the difference.

So...I guess I have to retract my announcement of a secret formula. There are so many combinations of things that can add up to a smooth and short labour. Each labour takes as long as it needs. Each baby takes as long as it needs. Each woman takes as long as she needs. You aren't at a disadvantage if you don't live in a condo with unlimited hot water. There is a big world out there.  You can have lovely smooth labours in Dunbar and on The Drive, inside or outside, in birth pools or on dry land with slow dances and kisses and just one word. You can also have a challenging birth. That's just how it is sometimes.

I'm sorry that I took you on lighthearted ride to look at our universal need to make sense of birth.  I doubt there's a secret formula involving Vancouver condos. But, if you remove all the noise and chatter from the labour equation, you might just find one word, one concept, interwoven throughout...

That one secret word might just be...

undisturbed

(Although, in an alternate universe, I would dearly love to know the results of a randomized controlled trial on "The Effect of Living in Yaletown Condos on the Length of Labour in Primiparous Women".)

A Lesson from Nardia

With maturity there comes
an
awareness

that there is darkness at birth

Walk with it. Respect it. Never forget it.

But do not make your choices
out of fear
of the darkness

Trust birth

Trust

birth

1000 Births

A baby called Wyn was born this week, and in that moment I reached 1000 births.

Wyn is connected to all those 1000 births through his mother, through me. Every birth, every woman, has left me with a lesson, a memory...something that has helped the next woman and baby. One touch of the hand connects us.

It's not a straight chain. It's a wonderful, tangled, messy linking of hands. But birth is wonderful and messy...so that's just about right.

Someone asked how I'm sure I've reached 1000 births. I've kept a record of every birth that I've attended, every family, and all their connections, right from the first birth I attended in 1987. At first, my notes were written in a coil binder. Blue cursive writing. Now, I have my complete database on my MacBook. It's organized, but not as much fun to read through as those early binders, stuffed with baby photos and years of Christmas cards showing taller and taller children.

But there's one part of the dry database that I love to study - the connections. Wyn's mother is connected to Evan's mother through me...and Kian's mother through work...on and on...interwoven connections, through three generations. I'm now a grandmother. My first clients' babies are grown up and are starting to have babies. I have attended the births of all the women in some families. I have learned so much from this community of 1000 women.

I love running into them on my rounds..."Hi Beth!" (on Granville Island, as I run to grab a car to head downtown to visit a week old baby and his mum)  "Hi Sarah!" (at Elysian Coffee while I meet someone new). Even after the babies are born, I try to keep those links strong. "Beth - I have another client who's interested in EC." or "Tara...I have a client who would dearly love to hear from you." then "Leigh...someone might be calling you." We are always making more connections.

After 1000 births (there's more than 1000 babies - think twins!), you'd think that the births would blur together. But, nope.  I have lightbulb memories of each and every woman who has given birth. It's never usually the moment of birth.  It's often the memory of a sound "shhhhhhh, ha ha ha, shhhhh"...or the memory of the smell of ylang ylang in the tub...or the glorious snapshot of how she threw a scarf around her neck as she grabbed the keys and ran out into the snow at 7 centimetres.  A thousand connected images stretching back 25 years. Each one, a lesson.

2012 was strange. The most challenging births started to coming one by one as summer (and birth 1000) approached. Everything seemed to slow right down.  I was forced to take notice, be aware. I couldn't write about any of it. I just had to live it. It was like the birth gods knew I could handle new and unusual scenarios now. So they came.

One. at. a. time.

The births were messy and tangled and, in the end, in the end, the drama ended. The stitches have healed. A boy called Finn has a new heart. The preemies are home. The babies have safely left the NICU. They are all at home, in their mum's arms. But the emotions are still swirling.

So, I will leave the story-telling of these births for another time. Right now, I'm weaving one memory from each of these births into the memories of all the other 1000 births. Making connections and giving thanks. And I'm hoping that birth 1001 will be smooth...

- Jacquie Munro, Slow Birth, Vancouver Doula

**With so many thanks to the 1000 mums...and dads and babies and families and friends...who have held my hands and taught me for 25 years.
**In memory of Dr. Kerry Telford Morrissey and Debra Karby, who are woven into our hearts.
** Thanks to Adam and Ever, for the photo of their hands...

The challenge of slow birth

I spent today delivering the new Slow Birth doula cards to different practitioners' offices. One supportive physician read the words "slow birth", and laughed - "Some of our doctors won't like that...they're always talking about births that are progressing too slowly!" 

...slow...birth...

These words might prove challenging for some people. 

I am an example of Slow Birth. I think maybe, just maybe, after over a quarter century as a doula, I'm starting to understand birth. It has been a slow gradual process. Each birth teaches me what I need to know for the next birth. Birth forces me to slow down, then stop, then really look at it. I feel like I'm just starting to fully appreciate the nuance of birth. 

It shakes me and demands my respect.

I have heard some people say that I know birth. I don't. None of us can truly know birth, because each birth is totally different.  But, I know this much - Birth takes its time. Birth is challenging in every way. Birth doesn't respond easily to control or what we want. Birth loves surprises.

...slow...birth...

So, think about it. Slow Birth is not about having a slow labour, or having a fast labour. Slow Birth is about honouring birth and surrendering to the rhythm of the body and the baby.

Slow Birth reminds me to take whatever time is needed to prepare each family for the early years of parenting. This takes time. Time on the phone. Time in person. Time texting back and forth. Time talking, laughing, crying. Every client requires a different approach. This is not a conveyor belt. It's not textbook. It is a creative process. It is bespoke. It is organic. It is slow.

As a Slow Birth doula, my job is to remain aware, to remain flexible, to read the body, to translate its messages, to listen to each woman and family, to remind each woman that she can trust her body, to help her draw on her life lessons, to help her build her own community. 

Slow Birth, as an extension of the slow movement, is my commitment to each doula client and her family to nurture stronger connections, and to discover each family's pace, each family's needs.  Slow Birth is about supporting the birth of each family with time and care. Ultimately, the aim is to help clients build their own connections within their community, slow down, and enjoy the first years of family life together. 

Whatever is needed...as long as it takes...that's what Slow Birth is about. 

- Jacquie Munro - Slow Birth, Vancouver Doula

On Surfing...and Facebook...

Googling during pregnancy can be a big bad scary activity.  For sanity's sake, I encourage clients to avoid general googling of pregnancy topics at this time.  I do, however, encourage clients to become informed about birth, breastfeeding and parenting. How can you filter all the information? My favourite books and research resources are linked on my site, so that's a great place to start.

But, another easy way to have a steady flow of current research and opinions and an overview of "best practice" is to "like" some of the great sites below on Facebook. And don't forget to bookmark the best birth and parenting websites that I have linked in the sidebar (for those burning questions at 4am!)

In no particular order, here are some recent articles/sites/videos that I recommend:

The Alpha Parent The Timeline of a Breastfed Baby
KellyMom (!!!) Sleeping Through the Night
Lakeshore Medical Breastfeeding Clinic (Dr Jen) Just One Bottle and Breastfed Newborn Weight Loss
TED Talks The Shocking Truth about your Health and What We Learn Before We're Born and The Linguistic Genius of Babies
NPR What's Behind A Temper Tantrum?
Mother-Baby Behavioral Sleep Lab Dr James McKenna
Infant Sleep as a Public Health Issue (10 parts) Dr Wendy Hall
Mothering Car Seats are for Cars

These are some great Facebook pages that you can "Like":
Power To Push (Best Birth Clinic)
Family Practice Maternity Service (BirthDocs)
Science & Sensibility

Enjoy the surf! More to come...

12 Times a Day...

I have a dilemma...after all these years as a doula, I'm still trying to discover the best way to help pregnant women have a successful start to breastfeeding. 

Breastfeeding classes are great, La Leche League meetings are supportive, our talks over months of pregnancy provide continuity, the breastfeeding books are inspiring, kellymom.com and Dr. Jack Newman's videos are linked on my blog. But one client just nailed the problem on the head in a phone call tonight: "It feels like I'm putting the cart before the horse if I try to think about breastfeeding now! I'm trying to finish up at work! I feel like I'm not prepared to have the baby yet! I have to get the baby born! I can't think about breastfeeding now!" (Yes, I know, I'm paraphrasing, but the exclamation marks were certainly there.)

My clients say that everything flies out the window as soon as the baby is born.  In the first few days, despite my encouragement to each woman to feed her baby skin to skin, and to feed early and often (12 feeds per day gets you a gold star!), both sleep deprivation and the overwhelming nature of being a new parent can shatter prior learning and all self confidence. Add to that a stream of visitors, and you have a perfect storm. No wonder the breastfeeding relationship suffers or sputters to a halt.

So, what will work? Talk to each other. Find yourself a friend who will be your breastfeeding mentor. Put the cart before the horse. Start to build your breastfeeding community!

To start you on the right path, I've asked some of my clients to write down their words of wisdom after a year of breastfeeding. Many clients are ready and willing to offer their support and be your mentor. So, first up, let's hear from Abby!  

"When I gave birth to my daughter I, like every other new mom, was completely exhausted. I was (and still am) dedicated to breastfeeding my daughter so when the nurses in the hospital told me to breastfeed 8-12 times per day I made sure to feed her at least 8 times per day (sometimes 9) and I thought I was doing great! 3 weeks later she wasn't gaining enough weight and I was diagnosed with "low milk supply." I was devastated and I couldn't understand it -- I was doing everything right, wasn't I? 

After many visits with lactation consultants, many hours with my pump, and many breastfeeding articles later I had a realization: I should have been feeding my baby AT LEAST 12 TIMES A DAY, or even better every hour. You're going to be tired anyways, so buy a good breast feeding pillow, sit back, watch TV, snooze, avoid visitors, and feed your baby all day! You'll be surprised how relaxing it is. Your breasts need the stimulation from your baby and your baby's brain needs nutrition constantly. It took me months to learn all this so I hope that my experience can help other new moms learn this in minutes instead of months. My daughter is now 1, and I have met many women who were diagnosed with "low milk supply." Every time we went to a baby class there was at least 1 or 2 women who had the same problem as me. That just can't be right. We were made to feed our babies to it can't be possible that so many women "can't make enough milk." Many women may be able to make enough milk with minimal stimulation (i.e. 8 times a day), but a large minority of us cannot. So PLEASE FEED YOUR BABY AT LEAST 12 TIMES A DAY!" - Abby, mum to Ellie 

(One way to keep track of those 12 feeds per 24 hours, without relying on a clock, is to have two bowls by your breastfeeding "station".  One bowl is filled with 12 pennies.  Just move a penny over to the second bowl after a feed.  At the end of 12 hours, just look and see how many of the pennies have been moved to the second bowl. How are you doing? Will you be able to make 12 feeds in the day? No worries if you're a bit low on feeds. You can just pick it up. No need to write anything down. No need to look at the clock. No need to stress! It's just a great way to feel the rhythm of breastfeeding your baby in the first few weeks.)  

The Sweat Lodge

This Christmas Day, I offer you the gift of a story told by a new client:

I see that going into the sweat lodge in remote northern Ontario when I was 17 is something that I can use to propel me through birth. The experience was a powerful one then and now, as I face a long pregnancy and its culminating labour, the event is taking on new significance and its power is spinning in the expanding darkness of my womb.

I went into the sweat lodge to heal. I didn’t even know what parts of me needed healing. All I knew was that I was being offered a chance to experience something profound that might just change the course of my life. The sweat lodge itself was like a womb--dark inside but for the orange glow of rocks heated by fire until they took on their own light. The air was wet from water sprayed periodically on the burning rocks that would immediately vapourize and turn the tight dome into a small ocean that housed us all. There were perhaps ten girls and two men -- our first nations guides on this journey into the Sweat.

Once we had all gathered inside and been given instructions the animal skin flap of the sweat lodge was closed and we were cradled in primal darkness. I could feel the other girls breathing around me. I could feel the warmth of their bodies and their anxious energy. We didn’t know where we were journeying to or what sort of people we might be once we emerged from our process of rebirth. It was a moment very similar to what I have been experiencing in my state of early pregnancy, where very little has changed on the surface of things but I can feel strange ripples of energy coursing through my body and smell the electric smell of great change rolling in like a summer storm.

My memories of the Sweat are hazy. But images flash back to me like prophecies. I think there was a drum. The steady heartbeat of the world reminding us of our embodied state. The sweat has four stages each marked by one of the sacred herbs--sage, sweetgrass, cedar, and tobacco. At the end of each stage the lodge would be opened and we would have the choice to leave or to stay on for the next stage. We could decide that we had learned what we came to learn or that we needed to go deeper to reach whatever lesson was meant for us. Inside the sweat lodge I descended into the core of the earth to access the essence of myself. I imagine labour will be much like that--a spiralling downward into the most secret spaces of the soul where reserves of power you never imagined you had can be accessed and put to use.

I floated in the humid air of the sweat lodge as the ceremony commenced. It wasn’t long before I was soaked with the wet air and my own sweat that poured out of me like rain. My body slowly emptied itself of fluids and I’m sure that I became severely dehydrated. Stories poured out of us with the sweat. We told of our young lives’ greatest hurts, the things that were holding us back and torturing us. Tears began to mingle with the sweat. Girls cried out in pain or because they saw visions emerging from the blackness. Each time the flap was opened at the end of a stage some would leave, desperate for water, content that they had gleaned all they could, or simply exhausted physically and mentally.

I was becoming worn down myself. My body needed water and I was deeply aware of that. But I couldn’t bring myself to leave. I was sure that there was something at the end of all this that would be worth the suffering and somehow, amidst the agony of the Sweat I was able toembrace the experience as transformative. By the end of the Sweat I was deep within my own body and had become animalistic in my thoughts and movements. I was lying on the dirt floor of the lodge with my head in the lap of another girl. I was screaming a low animal scream that originated deep in my throat and resonated at my core. I clawed the ground like a dying creature letting the earth bury itself under my nails. I thought that I might die yet refused to leave until the flap was opened for the final time.

I find that my memories of the Sweat sound much like the experiences of labouring women who find intense beauty amidst pain, fear, and confusion. Labouring women connect to their animal selves just as I did in the suffocating final moments of the Sweat. And while I wasn’t comfortable or even fully conscious of the world around me I believed that I was safe. I believed that the guides wouldn’t let me come to harm, that the girls would hold me. This feeling of safety in the midst of chaos will be crucial to birth as well. I will need to feel that I am held in competent arms and that I will be told if there is real danger at hand. I think that if I can maintain a feeling of safety that I will be able to bear whatever pain or discomfort comes my way and hold on to the belief that bodily trial can be a gateway to spiritual truths.

When the sweat was finally over I lifted myself up off the earth and ate canned fruit that was being passed around. As liquid and sugar entered my body I felt deep relief and also a great sense of well being for having made it to the end. I drank water and water has never again tasted so pure and delicious. When I stepped out of the lodge I was given a moment that will forever be a part of my personal mythology. I emerged from the heat of that womb and into the cold fresh air of the northern summer night. The sky was spattered with stars and I walked carefully on unsteady legs to the edge of the lake where the water was black and silent. I let the air cool me and many of the girls swam in the midnight waves, coming fully alive after touching the edges of death. Time had lost all meaning. I have no sense of how long I stayed in the sweat lodge. It could have been minutes or hours. All I know is that I went in when the sun was still up and when I came out it was long past sunset.

I will hold on to the sweat lodge when I enter labour. I will let time lose meaning and surrender to the animal impulses of my body--letting it cry out when it needs to and growl deep in the throat and belly. I will let myself be cradled by my husband and the midwives, and doula who will attend me. I will remember that I am safe so that I can ride out the waves of birth without getting lost entirely. I see suddenly the the sweat lodge was a gift that I didn’t see the full value of at the time. It was a perfect preparation for birth given to me in days when I never expected to have a child. How strange that I can travel backwards now and see new aspects of the experience and new ways to apply it. I have already been both the mother and the child: The labouring woman clawing the earth in wild torment and the new baby crawling from the womb into the wide wide world under the slowly gyrating sky. May this experience give me strength and courage in the months to come and at the moment of birth.

"It doesn't get easier, it just gets different"

As part of my doula service, I provide two prenatal visits, attend my clients' births, then make a postpartum visit to debrief and hug, but that's only the tip of the iceberg.

I encourage my clients to call or email me frequently...for years (yes, I mean that). I'm often on the phone for a few hours each day, answering clients' questions, brainstorming, or providing support and encouragement. I encourage my clients to call me whenever a question arises during pregnancy or postpartum, which is SO much more helpful than asking them to store it up for visits. We're able to work through each concern in the moment.

Please don't be shy about calling! It makes everything smoother in the long run!

Recently, I checked in with a former client to see how things were going (three years after she gave birth to twins). "Any words of wisdom?" I asked.

"It doesn't get easier, it just gets different," she said.

With those few words, she reminded me of the daily reality of mothering little ones.

Change comes in an ever widening circle. Change comes daily with a newborn, then weekly...then monthly...then yearly, as she grows. The physical and emotional challenges of raising children are dynamic. "Someone keeps moving the goal posts!" said one client. "Did they cover this prenatal class!? I can't remember anything anymore!"

Who knew that flexibility, creativity and spontaneity (along with a whole whack of family and community support) were the keys to successful parenting? In the beginning, we thought we just had to learn the basic rules of "How to Parent" and everything would be smooth sailing! Boy, were we wrong! It's all about rolling with the changes...

But you don't have to reinvent the wheel. You are not alone! Someone else is going through the same thing...right now...

So, give me a call. Whatever you're dealing with...I've probably chatted with another client about something similar, just yesterday. And maybe, you might just want to connect with her. Together, we can support each other through the daily changes and challenges of mothering.

For example...One day this week I was standing in the rain on Granville Street, discussing a woman's overabundant milk supply, then an hour later I received a call in the IGA about another baby gagging and spluttering on his mum's gushing breast milk.

Then, the next day, I was sitting in my parked car talking with another client about how to increase her low milk supply, just before receiving a call from a different client to ask about donor milk.

Various solutions, including the "Human Milk 4 Human Babies" Facebook group (community milk-sharing), the local Donor Milk Bank, and my favourite lactation consultant, popped into my mind. Personal connections were made...and they were off!

Yesterday, a mum called looking for some support dealing with the changes that happen around six weeks. She had found her rhythm a few weeks earlier. Feeds had been going well, sleep had become more predictable. Then...wham! the six week growth spurt had begun. Her baby had become more alert and started to sleep less. She was having to feed more to increase her milk supply. The goal posts had moved!

We talked...I made tea while we talked...and we talked some more...

I'd better call her again on Monday to check in, and encourage her to go to her local community mum's group.

Every time a client calls me with a mothering question, it increases my ability to support the next woman. Each woman teaches me something completely new. I encourage her to share her experiences at the local mum's group or La Leche League meeting. We each strengthen the chain of women helping women. We support each other through the daily changes.

I won't tell you what to do when you call. None of this parenting stuff is black and white. I'll just help you add to your mothering tool chest, share recent research, brainstorm.

But, above all, I'll just do my very best to listen.

I'll do my best to share the wisdom that I've learned from my years as a mum, a grandma, and as a doula, and learned from all my other clients.

Yes, there will be times when I won't have the experience to address your particular problem. But, at the very least, I'll know someone...maybe a professional...or maybe even another mum...who will be able to give you the tools to help yourself.

And then, I'll remind you that each day will be a mix of joy and tears and laughter. That's mothering. It's always changing, it's always challenging. It's never boring.

My client was right..."It doesn't get easier. It just gets different."

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula

What have I been doing all this time?

In addition to my doula work, "loving the grandsons" has been added to my list of passions. With twins, there's a lot of room for family involvement, so we've all been chipping in daily to help out. My memory of this past summer is long long walks by the seashore with my husband, carrying the boys in slings, allowing their parents a break at home...to sleep or eat, or just plain enjoy the peace and quiet.

It's been eight months filled with love and joy (we're not the sleepless ones).

Is there any downside? I tend to forget things more easily now, with so many things happening every day, but my calendar alerts keep me on task. So, clients...I may whisper when I answer my phone (sleeping babies!), and I might screen some prospective clients' calls if I'm rocking a tired boy while another stands holding my leg (I just can't reach my phone). Please accept my apologies in advance. BUT...the upside is that I now have a renewed and updated understanding of breastfeeding issues, sleep issues, introduction of solids, safety issues, attachment parenting...and a multitude of other topics. It's like I'm living a daily refresher course in how to support my clients through their pregnancies and postpartum experiences. You will benefit!

I'm now taking on fewer clients per month (4-5 at the most), so that I'm (hopefully) able to provide the best care to all. So, you'll need to call me early in pregnancy to book a spot. With this growing family, I'm learning to multitask all over again - and love it!

So, please don't hesitate to call or email! I'm here...just covered in babies from time to time....

Jacquie - Vancouver Doula

Dear Jacquie...

Dear Jacquie,

We've not met, but I just wanted to thank you for my daughter's birth. I live in Edinburgh, although I'm from Victoria, B.C, and I stumbled across your blog about a year ago. My son (who's now 2) was born in hospital: my flat wasn't big enough to fit a birth pool and 2 midwives, and I hoped I could have a water birth in hospital instead. In the end, I was induced due to blood pressure and got a very controlled, restricted labour: I was on my back, monitored, for the whole thing.

When I became pregnant last spring, your blog was the final inspiration I needed to plan a home birth. You and Ina May were my encouragement through 4 days of slow contractions. In the end, though, my beautiful daughter came racing into the world, one hand over her head, into an empty bathtub. (The midwife had arrived 17 minutes before and let the water out of the bath to check me over...never happened! The birthing pool was filled and waiting in the next room but into the empty bathtub she came.) I had a wonderful, wonderful birth with no one monitoring, examining, or worrying me and the difference in my two birth stories still amazes me.

I'm attaching a photo of me and Rosa with my midwife team, an hour after the birth (the one in blue was the midwife, the one in white was a student on her first week - I was her first birth!, and the one behind was the second midwife who arrived 20 minutes too late).

I have loved reading your blog, and I really can't thank you enough for the inspiration you gave me.

All the best,

R (Edinburgh)

My Words

Wide open

Your face is soft

Your shoulders are heavy

You are safe

Your baby is safe

This is your power

You are strong

Feel your cervix melt like butter

Your muscles open

Your baby tucks chin on chest

You are wide open

Soft

Slow breathing

Your hands are soft

You are safe

You are with all the women in labour

The women are with you

You are doing this

Breathe in strength

Breathe out worry

Breathe in power

This is your power

Wide open

Wide open

Soft

Melting

Safe

- Jacquie Munro, Vancouver Doula - Slow Birth

"Around the World, Down the Prime Meridian..."

As you sleep, Finn, I stroke the world onto your forehead

cheeks

chin

Circling, drawing the lines of our planet with my fingers

Transferring the love of your great grandfather into your skin

Just as we did to your mother.

"Around the world

Down the Prime Meridian..."

You sleep, your eyes playing beneath their lids

Soaking in the words, the touch.

Are you dreaming of where you were three days ago?

You were hiding behind your brother Jack

Feet down

Ready to make a surprise entry

like a parachuter.

I can't even remember what it felt like to believe

that your mother was having only one baby.

It feels...

incomplete.

We waited that bright Saturday

waited for "the baby"

sitting outside in the sunshine

in the buffeting wind

at a cafe table

outside Capers

where your parents met

We waited

watching two men play UpWords

the same game your grandad and I played

when I was in labour.

Every movement on 4th was a sign

The woman pushing a bicycle

humming

The pregnant women heading

to Semperviva

yoga mats tucked under their arms

Heading to the noon class

where your mother was supposed to be...

...where you would have been

Child's pose

Listening to the music chosen by your mother.

But you weren't at that class

You were with your mum and dad

at home

in the tub

hidden behind Jack

waiting to be born...

...waiting to surprise everyone!

"Across the Equator

Tropic of Cancer

Tropic of Capricorn

North Pole

South Pole

Mount Everest

Mariana Trench..."

You have always been with us

and we never knew it

You have always been part of our bodies

our planet

You have always been...

"Tundra..."

...Blue Pacific"

Tomorrow I will stroke

the cartography of love

into your brother's face...

(Finn, the hidden water fairy, was only discovered a few minutes after his older brother, Jack, was joyfully born into his mother and father's arms, at home, on Saturday afternoon. Finn then declared his presence, kicking the midwife's hand... "Jack was not alone! I'm here!" Then, over an hour later, Finn, already master of the great entrance, responded to his mum's pushes and came, splash, feet first, before a large audience in the hospital...

Bright surprises can still happen in this world!)

Jacquie Munro - Grandma to Jack and Finn, Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Silence, s'il vous plait...

No words

as we open ourselves to birth

Close your eyes

breathe

and feel the whispers of women

past

present

future

No words

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Slow Food in labour

Remember my very first client in the 1980's? Vaginal breech? Well, you might remember that I wrote about her stopping off to pick up a hamburger on the way to the hospital. Yes, her doctor was in the car with her, encouraging her to eat. All was well...and boy, was that birth smooth! During my early years as a doula, though, I discovered that the hamburger-eating client was not the norm. Eating in labour was discouraged. "The digestive system shuts down in labour..." "If you eat and then have general anesthetic, you might vomit and then aspirate the contents..."

Way back in 1993, one of the (apparently radical) studies presented at the International Congress of Midwives in Vancouver encouraged women to eat and drink as needed in labour, and argued that it was probably detrimental to the flow of labour to starve a woman during the process. The audience applauded. We thought this would start a movement to allow all low risk women to eat in labour. But, the protocol at most hospitals in our area remained the same. Women were allowed clear fluids only...water...ice chips.

In the 1990's, despite the general recommendation of "clear fluids only" in many hospitals, older nurses (most of them midwives from overseas) would still bring in lunch trays for women in labour at St. Paul's Hospital. I remember one nurse at Lion's Gate Hospital running the bathtub, helping the labouring woman into it, then passing her a big fat sandwich. "Oh, honestly, you need to eat!" she said, hands on hips.

Then, as the years passed, more family doctors would encourage my clients to eat as much as possible before they left home. One client took her doctor's recommendation to heart, and ate 6 scones in the car while heading into the hospital (she gave birth soon after). Another client made sure her husband and I (and her) cleared our plates of roast beef, yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and loads of gravy, before dashing off to Richmond Hospital. She'd huff and puff and then eat some meat...huff and puff and eat a potato. She also gave birth soon after arrival at hospital.

But, the majority of women in hospital found it very challenging to get any food to eat during labour. One woman became so distressed when she wasn't allowed to eat during her induction. She started crying...couldn't stop...and her contractions disappeared. "I just want peanut butter on toast!" We eventually got an official "go ahead" from her obstetrician. The toast came...she ate...labour started again...and she had progressed from 2-10cm in about 15 minutes. Now, I'm sure not every woman is going to have such remarkable results after eating one piece of toast, but the emotional benefits of being able to eat and drink as needed in labour cannot be questioned.

At home births, women have always been able to freely eat and drink throughout labour. Homemade soup, papaya, omelettes, coconut water...even one client's beloved peanut butter chocolate chip muffins (eaten in the shower)...these are what sustain women. I would love to see a world where there is no difference between home and hospital (I hope I'm not a dreamer!)

So, it was heartening to see that a January 2010 Cochrane review identified no benefits or harms from restricting food and fluids during labour in women at low risk of needing anesthesia (Singata M et al. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;[1]:CD003930). The authors concluded, “Since the evidence shows no benefits or harms, there is no justification for the restriction of fluids and food in labour for women at low risk of complications. No studies looked specifically at women at increased risk of complications, hence there is no evidence to support restrictions in this group of women.”

Thank you. Now, let's go eat!

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Outside of time/The whisper of water unites us

Slow Birth lives outside of time. Women in labour are often supported by caring people who are unwittingly blocking the slow birth process by writing down the time, charting, calculating, commenting on the progress of labour.

We are all guilty of this. We turn our heads to the clock. We look at the numbers on the monitor. We whisper of our own need to eat lunch, dinner, breakfast. We are stuck in time. But a labouring woman needs our help to stay out of her left brain, her 21st century mind. If we help her to labour without time constraints, her autonomy is supported. There is no pressure. She is undisturbed.

What happens to a woman who is hampered from entering her labour trance? What happens when she becomes fixated on time? The more we note the passage of time, the more she might start to calculate..."Okay...1cm per hour...and I'm at 5cm now...that could be five more hours...I can't do five hours!" She may become so anxious that her labour may stall...

But, give her a quiet, cave-like space, the sound of water, and the rhythm of swaying hips - all that will help her to labour outside of time. Add a calm, quiet voice if she likes it... "How about trying the shower again...listen to the sound of the water...listen to the sound of your breath...in...out...live with your breath...you are safe...your baby is safe..."

She steps into the shower. "Oh, this is lovely!" and she has finally left time behind. An hour later, and she is deep in a trance and her birth sounds are becoming deeper. She is progressing. Her eyes are closed. A man sits silently on the edge of the tub. Then the bathroom door opens, and someone leans into the dimly lit space. "It looks like you're doing fine right now. I'll be back in four hours," says a voice, and then it's gone.

"Four hours? Was that the doctor?" cries the woman. "I can't do four hours! That's a lifetime! Does she think I'm so early on that she has four hours to do other things?" The spell has been broken. It takes a long time to help her to regain her trance.

Hours later, a new voice whispers into the darkened shower room, "Oh, what a lovely calm space you have made here. How are you?" "Good...you stay..." It's the doctor, and she stays, silent, sitting cross-legged on the floor, totally trusting the woman. The shower sounds like a waterfall. We are all living outside of time now.

Outside of time/

The whisper of water unites us

And then she's suddenly pushing, standing, aware and present, and, as flawed humans, we are once again guilty of turning our heads to the clock. "It's now minutes, not hours! You are doing this!" And the baby tumbles out into her arms.

"8:12!!!" someone cries.

Will we ever be able to escape time? Perhaps not. We are humans, bound by time. Perhaps we should just laugh at our imperfect attempts to support women in labour, and keep trying to do our best...by turning the clocks around, keeping our words quiet and few, keeping our fears and impatience at bay, and trusting each woman to birth in her own way. Always reaching for a slow birth, outside of time...

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Slow Birth Preparation

There's so much expectation surrounding the preparation for birth in our culture. Strangers will ask, "Have you signed up for your prenatal classes? Have you prepared your baby's room?" Friends and family can press all the wrong buttons, too. "You shouldn't even think of labouring without taking the Inner Barracuda Course"...or whatever the prenatal class of the day is called.

I've had three phone calls in the past 36 hours from women whose hearts tell them that they shouldn't take any classes for this pregnancy. "I didn't need to read books before I made love for the first time, did I?" These clients are well-informed women who have chosen great teams for their birth. They are insightful, intuitive, and deeply trust their own bodies. They understand that birth is a triumph of the reptile brain over the analytical brain. And because of that, they are concerned that prenatal classes might hinder their reptile brain from being in charge on birth day. They've thought long and hard, and, for them, prenatal classes aren't the best option.

And I completely support them in their decisions.

A recent client laboured without any preparation for vaginal birth. She had chosen a cesarean for her first baby - a glorious breech baby girl. She had been anticipating a repeat cesarean for her second baby...until she decided that she would cancel her surgery, and just see what happened. After a slight panic over her lack of "vaginal birth training" ("Shouldn't I read some books?!" "Shouldn't I study up on birth?") she went into labour all on her own the next day. It was beautiful watching her labour without expectations, without the clutter of book knowledge. I talked her through each contraction, reminding her that this was something that she already knew on a deep level. She drew on her inner wisdom and breathed through each contraction. It was like watching a preschooler dive into a challenge without fear. She was strong, intuitive, capable.

When her baby was born into her arms (yes, it was a vaginal birth!) she looked awestruck by what she'd achieved. I don't think she'll ever question her own abilities ever again. And she'd done it all without studying.

We're given 9 months to prepare for our baby's birth. In that time, we have to process so much. We have to consider our changing selves, our changing relationships with our partners and families and friends. We have to draw on our past life experiences, both physically and emotionally, to gain the strength and will-power required for the transition to motherhood. We have to examine our family boundaries, understanding that the birth of a child will turn us from being a daughter...into a mother. We will weather the changing emotions of pregnancy, and watch our single girlfriends draw away from us. We will worry about our ability to maintain our core self, to maintain a loving intimate relationship with our partner... We may become overwhelmed by how we are now connected to all living things...to the entire world.

Too much.

And add to that working a five-day week, organizing finances, perhaps moving, perhaps buying a new car, attending exercise classes, yoga classes, buying baby supplies, strollers, carseats, painting, and weekly prenatal classes...

Too much!

I call on you, each of my clients, to slow down, take time to do nothing, take time to empty your brain. Walk on the beach. Sit on a log and meditate. Breathe in the wind. Connect with your baby. Connect with your partner.

If you need to do yoga, go when it pleases you. Or do it at home. Turn on music, sit still, and let it enter you and calm you.

Consider delegating jobs to your family and friends. Give them lists of things to do for you. Ask for help. Many families buy nothing until the baby is born, then have family members make all the purchases and organize the house. Think about how that could give you the joy of release - could you do that?

Read books that speak to you. Poetry, novels, essays. And, yes, it's wonderful if you read inspiring writing by Ina May (and those on my recommended list). Call me for talks on subjects close to your heart. But, don't forget to look at the big picture... watch a TED talk each day (best start with Sir Ken Robinson...then Jamie Oliver) and enjoy discussing it with your partner as you walk on the beach after dinner.

Throw away all lists. Follow your heart. Leave work as early in your pregnancy as you can. Allow your pregnancy to draw you into the reptile world, as it must do.

Rather than following the crowd and doing what everyone else tells you what you should do, think about what really matters to you, to you and your partner, then decide what you need and what you want. What is essential for your new family? Remember, "do nothing" is an option.

Be slow,

Be conscious and conscientious,

Meditatively knit a baby blanket,

Breathe,

Then see if you still need prenatal classes.

Jacquie Munro - Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Slow Rainbow

I've been on a journey of slowness during the past few months. Reflection, recovery, rebirth. Every free moment has been filled with cycling, running, long walks. I needed to be incredibly fit to face the births this winter. I was fit and well, but I just couldn't write.

I needed to be totally private this winter, in order to grieve for my dad, help my mum, support my family, and have the strength to help other families walk through their searing life struggles or challenging pregnancies and labours.

We're told that life never gives us more than we can bear. After years of being a doula, and recently dealing with loss at a personal level, I think the gods thought I finally had enough experience to support a large number of clients dancing with great challenges - a client whose husband has been battling inoperable cancer, another whose baby is still in NICU, another whose mum has recently died, and so many clients whose pregnancies ended far too early.

I just couldn't write. These women's stories were too fragile to write about immediately.

Don't think that it's only been a winter of unusual loss. We've just seen a slow rainbow of birth experiences. In between the losses, there have been groups, or should I call them "clumps", of babies speeding through the gate like downhill skiiers. I've expected some of these babies to pump their fists into the air and scream, "Yeahhhhhh!" One was born so quickly into her mothers arms, born at home 25 minutes after her mum called me to say, "I think the baby might come today." Born with mum kneeling alone in her bathtub, husband careening around the corner - "A baby!" When I arrived, mum was nestling her baby in her arms in bed, laughing.

And then there were the amazingly triumphant VBACs. Three women this winter whose first babies had been born by cesarean. The emotional challenges in the last few days were hard to bear for one woman - "Oh, they say that you have an 80% chance of it working, but it's really only 30%." (Booking clerk) "Decide whether you're having your cesarean within 5 minutes." But with strong support, all women successfully pushed out their second babies "the old-fashioned way" (OB quote). What joy! These births will truly change lives.

And there have been so many women who have accepted the unexpected with such grace. They have been so calm. The woman who had to take an ambulance ride at 10cm when her baby pooped in the water...the woman who had to move down from the sweet Cedar rooms to the higher risk area at hospital when her baby's heartrate demanded action...the woman who had to make a decision to have a cesarean because her baby's knees were in the pelvis. These women listened to their babies and made their decisions with slow grace.

I've been able to live in the moment with these women and those they love, helping them to honour their bodies, honour their babies, and cross over to being parents...no matter what. The joys have been so great. Isn't it always the way when you are walking beside sorrow.

Just as one client vowed to "smash" cancer, these clients have all been strong, powerful, determined, and amazing.

- Jacquie Munro, Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Pauline's Words

We had a beautiful nurse for the birth yesterday.

Pauline, originally from Togo, is a mother of five, and a grandmother of two. Her last child was born on her own bed, birthed into her own hands. She birthed this baby on her own, with joy.

Our time with Pauline was magical. She spoke to us like she was taking us on a spiritual journey. She spoke low and slow, rolling her R's. Her words were like poetry...or a prayer...

As she was speaking, I copied her words onto paper...hear her...

The woman's body is so unique

It is well made.

Birth

the body knows this story

I don't write this story

That's how it is.

I will hold you in my heart all the time

I speak to your baby in my tongue

Your baby speaks my language

That's how it is.

Baby Zoe came into this world with grace, full of life. That's how it is.

- Jacquie Munro, Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth

Slowly...While Waiting for Baby...

My daughter just asked me why I haven't been posting to my blog for some time. Well, like my mum, who just can't seem to read an entire book since dad died, I seem to be having trouble writing. Oh, I could write and write about all the amazing encounters that I've had with my father's spirit, especially in France... But, write about birth? There's been a block...

So, I thought that I'd best just sit down and start writing while I'm waiting for another baby to come - a baby girl. Her mum and dad were supposed to be moving today, and were feeling quite stressed about it...so baby girl decided she would make things easy for them. She's coming early and now mum and dad get to cancel the movers! Babies can make magic happen!

I was at another birth this morning. A shiny birth... "Oh, this is fast!" "Good baby," says mum. "Great vocabulary!" says dad. "Can you say vocabulary?" "Vocabulary!" says mum after arriving at the hospital at 7cm, already feeling the first signs of wanting to push... Marcello came quickly, so that his mum wouldn't have to miss a meal. "Good baby!"

Then there were the other first babies this week... Two were both born on the same day (no overlaps!) How does this happen? First babies...under 12 hours? Yes, it happens. Marvelous denial of prelabour, I think! One woman called me to say she was already 2-3cm at her weekly checkup, but was still planning to complete her day's errands. She knew she could trust her body to tell her when it was serious about labour. But, things quickly changed, and I drove over to her house soon afterwards. Ten hours later...after dancing and lunging in the unlimited hot shower...out spun her over-eight-pound beauty!

Soon after, another baby decided to come at 37 weeks. Mum worked hard to deny the early contractions - "It must be pre-pre-labour!" She made it almost through the night, lying on her side, really not enjoying this at all! But she did it! And I did back circles, whispered calm words, while dad ran about, gathering everything possible. "Nuts!" I heard him cry. I thought it was an exclamation. But, he'd been toasting nuts for snacking... So great! We managed to make it through rush hour traffic - construction traffic - back-lane detours - phew! "Smooth and slow. Smooth and slow." I chanted. Fully dilated on arrival. "He's an angel!" said the mum over and over and over again when baby arrived. Dad stayed awake to watch him sleep all day...

And last weekend...a 2-3 day epic birth made me lose my ability to think in complete sentences. This birth taught us so much about surrendering to baby's cues, always trusting mum's instincts. This birth was so joyful...not that the others weren't joyful. But, there was ample time during this long birth for mum to contemplate the utter joy of labouring slowly. She truly had the time to think deeply about what she needed to learn in order to be the best mother for her baby. She decided to decide - and her baby came beautifully into the world by cesarean. What a triumph in so many ways!

You might think that only the long birth was a Slow Birth. But, I consider all these births to be "Slow Births." Don't be confused by the word "slow." It doesn't have much to do with time. It has more to do with giving each birth the time and attention that it deserves. It means not rushing through the experience. It might naturally be fast. It might naturally be slow. But it just needs to be what your body and the baby intend for it to be. And while it is happening...we are all listening to the body's lessons. We become connected.

Slow Birth is not hurried, not forced. It is calm, intuitive, patient, receptive. Slow Birth is about seeing the big picture and trusting each body's own rhythm. Fast or slow...

Now...I'm off to another Slow Birth...

- Jacquie Munro, Vancouver Doula, Slow Birth