Birth Matters ME

✨✨ I’ve been fortunate enough to attend a couple of workshops with the wonderful from over the years. Always incredibly inspiring and uplifting. Barbara’s ‘if you can’t move the baby, move the mother’ song has stayed with me for years! 😁 Thanks to for hosting the event! ✨✨

・・・
This statement is everything 💥 In the words of regarding the state of abortion in America:
__
“What is transpiring in Alabama right now is a culmination of the ideology that women should not have 100% bodily autonomy. We are looking at a culture who has historically ignored, controlled and suppressed the rights of women. As a birthworker I have witnessed and been told about times when women were bullied, persuaded, and sometimes forced to do something with their body that they did not desire or agree with.
..
The root of these issues lies in the fact that a small group of people is deciding what is and what is not appropriate for OUR BODIES and the subtle yet deep principle that it is acceptable to usurp a persons autonomy IF you believe that your action is morally or scientifically justifiable. ...
I am not talking about wether it is right to be “PRO” or “ANTI” abortion. I am talking about women having the right to control what happens within their own bodies. ...
I think this very shocking situation is a huge opportunity for us to wake up and take a close look at reproductive health in this country. It’s time to realize that the entire spectrum of maternal healthcare (from conception to birth) has been built on patriarchal and capitalist ideals which inherently leaves the majority of women with little to no power.”
__

✨It is a big responsibility for your partner to take in guiding you through labour and birth when they haven’t taken this journey before. The path may take them to uncharted territory that they may not be comfortable with and how will they deal with all that comes with it. When you’re in labour your mind will be focused on what’s going on internally so you need someone there who knows how to guide you to where you want to be. A Doula that has gotten to know you and that you trust knows your wishes and even in the midst of the stormy moments she will be there to normalise everything for you and help you BOTH navigate the way. A Doula is there not just for the mother but for dads as well. This is something they have never experienced before and the weight that is lifted off their shoulders to know that they have someone there that knows and trusts birth and helps them throughout all the phases of labour is a huge relief for partners.✨

Repost

from the wonderful Tracy
・・・
These stats are not ok.
Being pregnant and having a baby can have an enormous affect on your mental health.

Symptoms can go unrecognised, undiagnosed and untreated. This can have massive affects on the woman and her family.
This can be antenatal depression, postnatal depression, OCD, anxiety, psychosis or PTSD.
Su***de rates following giving birth in the first 6 months still exist!

“Investing in maternal health, pregnancy and breastfeeding should be a priority for the human race.”

Perfectly put! 💖


・・・
G R O W T H • Did you know that we can smell trillions of smells, see millions of colours and recognise hundreds of sounds? We are alive in so many ways and it all started in the womb. Women have the ability to grow a highly complex human inside them and then feed their little human (who's brain doubles in size in the first year of life) providing all the nutrients necessary for the further complex development. Yet we know more about tomatoes than breast milk. Investing in maternal health, pregnancy and breastfeeding should be a priority for the human race. The government seem to care more about short term gains due to their cycle of election. has done an incredible job raising awareness about flexible working. But there’s still work to be done for pregnant women because pregnancy is where everyones health starts.
Beautiful photo by

💯

💪🏻 Happy International Women’s Day 💪🏻

・・・
Because for sure one won't be offered. I had a mother call me today who requested extra monitoring including a scan and was told this wasn't an option. NOT TRUE. No one can enact a medical procedure on your body without your consent and how can you give your informed consent if you aren't in receipt of all the information, physical information that pertains specifically to you and your baby's health as opposed to a highly generalised risk assessment ? Studies show that when women engage in their care and get actively involved in decision making, safety is increased .org .org

Perfectly put ❤️

.org.au
・・・
"This is you, and I know what you see. You see a soft middle, a round belly. You see too wide hips and your favorite jeans that don't do up. You see messy hair and tired eyes.

This is you, and here's what I see. A woman who held the universe in her womb, told by society she should be ashamed of it.

I see strength and power to hold that growing and changing body and I see a new woman has recently emerged, a Mother. I see a woman who will not bounce back or go back to what she once was. She is so different now in so many much more beautiful ways.

This is you, and I know what your baby sees. Your baby sees perfection, ecstasy, joy, life, peace, love. Your baby sees home. Your baby sees you."

Art by Art by thoughts by Barefoot Birth

Wonderful Rebozo workshop today learning how to properly and appropriately use this incredible tool to help pregnant, labouring and postpartum women. ✨


・・・
Wonderful day facilitating a rebozo workshop with these gorgeous birth workers in Dubai