When a mother is confident and determined to have a natural birth in the way she chooses, there’s no stopping her.
Jax, a tiny lass from Scotland, had been a practising yogi for many years before she met Sy in South Africa. Sy is also a practicing yogi. During the pregnancy, Jax stayed in perfect balance with her body, eating organic and healthy food and practicing several hours of yoga a day. Robyn, from Mamabamba and I, who were nurturing and guiding the couple during the pregnancy were a little concerned when Jax mentioned she was still doing headstands at 37 weeks, although it seemed to have no detrimental effects. We did notice however that the baby’s head had not descended into the pelvis or ‘engaged’ officially.
Jax was definitely not concerned.
Near to the time of the birth, a bath was set up in their lovely and light loft apartment with a view of the Atlantic Ocean. Labour began in the early morning and I arrived at their home around breakfast time. Jax allowed me to examine her once only. For the rest of the labour she wanted to be left alone so that she could sink deep into her body and be in the calm she had learnt to create through meditation and visualization. She was connected, peaceful and soft in her body, yielding to the ever increasing pressure as the most powerful muscle in the human body coaxed her baby through her pelvic bowl.
Sy was loving and attentive to her needs, wiping her face, offering sips of water and tender whispers of love.
I receded into the background and observed quietly, checking the baby’s heart rate now and again. Towards the afternoon I noticed that the labour sensations seemed more intense and Jax showed signs of being ready to give birth. I requested permission to check and felt the baby’s head at the curtain of the perineum, waiting to emerge into the water. Jax felt the power of the waves of her uterus and flowed with the movement, aiding the process with her efforts. Soon Jai’s head emerged and then waited. I checked around his neck and felt a cord, which I gently slid over Jai’s head, unravelling him. With the next wave of the uterine muscle, Jai emerged into the water and his parents lifted him onto Jax’s chest and into their arms.
Jai cried at first and then settled on his mother’s chest in response to his mother’s gentle encouragement. He breathed and waited for his body to adjust to air and space. He opened one eye, then two and blinked at his parents. He was not hurried or co-erced into this world, he was not meddled with, other than a deft movement of the fingers to unwrap the cord. The cord was not severed until it had stopped serving its function.
He has grown into the most balanced little boy I have ever seen.
Great….. Hats off