Pain relief medication interferes with the neuro-endocrine systems of mother and baby during labour and birth. While the short term impacts may be negligable, no research has yet been undertaken on the long term effects.
I will be holding a Natural Birth Preparation Workshop at my cottage in Scarborough from 10am – 5pm on Sunday the 20th of May 2012. Due to the intimate (and beautiful) location of this workshop
Thokozile, a Zulu maiden from Kwazulunatal gave birth last week in the most physiological spontaneous way, that I have no doubt Michel Odent would approve.
The first contact a newborn baby has is usually with the midwife or obstetrician, as she catches the baby and ‘hands” the newborn to the mother or places the baby on her abdomen or chest.
Marianne Littlejohn will be presenting her workshop, “The Biology of Spiritual Birth” in Johannesburg on Sunday the 6th of May 2012, to be held at Genesis Clinic in Saxonwold, Johannesburg.
Fathers at birth are a regular occurrence in our western world and their presence is encouraged. But preparation is needed for them to gain the full benefit of the unfolding process of changing from a couple to becoming a family. Being with their partners at birth is a profoundly moving event for fathers.
I imagined how through the centuries, African people had been giving birth in their thatch roofed dwellings, now replaced by glistening tin roofs that do not insulate the home from the heat of the strong African sun. Almost akin to the hospitals and clinics where African women now give birth and that do not insulate them from the emotional and physical trauma of medicalized childbirth.