This blog is a part of a thriving network serving to re-normalise safe breech birth. Here's a link to a facebook group, Coalition for Breech Birth. If you are reading as a mama with a baby who's head is in your ribs then blessings to you, beautiful woman, you will navigate this moment beautifully in the way that is right for you. There are lots of other posts on following your inner guidance alongside the information available to work out what will be best for you. I've experienced it with two of my pregnancies, no.1 and no.3 babies which is how this blog was initiated.
In this moment, I am hosting a head-down baby who is in her last few days or weeks in utero. My purely physical understanding of this is that her head is a different shape to my breechies heads (intuitively judged by looking at the 20 week scan images) and that this is the way she will best find her way through my pelvis.
If I look deeper at mental, emotional and spiritual reasons why a babe might choose head down, I would share the following. It may be helpful if you are wondering: Just why is my baby choosing breech presentation?
With a head-down baby, I sense a moving away from each other - that through her birth (just like my previous head-downer no.2 baby) she begins straight away this separation and launching into life. I'm an attachment mama, so I don't mean I will be treating her any differently to the rest of my babies!! I'm a bed-sharer, baby-wearer, on-demand breastfeeder, snuggler mama. But what I'm describing is perhaps more about the kind of personality my baby has -- she is ready to go, to dive head first into the world, to make her mark, she will have less need of me as she grows.
In comparison, my breechies (as talked about in Holding on to the mother's heart strings) are more walking by my side. We have similar issues that we work through as we grow. I feel that we are tied, joined, perhaps through our journey that was navigating the health system for a safe vaginal birth. Feet ready to go, landing on the earth with two feet, able to look me in the eyes straight away, moving together through life.
My osteopath pointed out a way that I hold my womb (right hand down low as though shielding from period pain) that may well hinder a baby turning if it was trying to. I am resting my hands on the top of the bump now -- and also taking her advice I move my hands in a clockwise motion around the bump.
I loved this prompt that we as mothers can be physically involved in the baby's choice. For me, they have chosen the best way to come for them and I have been facilitator for their choice. So in this pregnancy, these hand gestures were appropriate and baby happily took up the opportunity to turn head-down -- whereas for my breechies, any techniques like that would perhaps not have 'worked' and I may have felt useless and a failure at not being able to get them to turn but that actually, they were just right being breech. They glided out of me with the elegance of dancers, both of them.
Clearly there's no answer as to why, yet I wanted to offer some of my reflections on this as I'm in the position to compare the two presentations! Who knows, this baby may be an elusive breech like no.3 was (undiagnosed despite 5 different midwives palpating him towards the end of the pregnancy!) -- and I may indeed me surprised to find myself holding a bottom during second stage labour!!
May your journey be full of opportunities to notice the gifts being offered to you - may you know when the advice is heartfelt and true for you, and when you can simply blink, look away and say 'well that's not relevant for me right now'. You are the master of your experience divine woman.
Tuesday 26 March 2013
Sunday 3 March 2013
On resilience and surrender
So here's our birthing mother, savvy about the possible interventions that may be offered to her, birth plan in hand, inner strength activated, aware that she is likely to be attended by someone she's not met before, moving into the birth zone of surrender and release. Wow what a combination!
I wonder if here is where one of the cruxes of safe birth lies? Being able to steer a course between the two extremes, being able to say No assertively at the same time as accepting the flood of labour as she opens up with a joyful Yes!
As I write I'm aware I'm directly recalling the words of my doula at last week's birth group, thank you Rachel!
Each of my pregnancies and births have offered me a gift, an area for development and growth and whilst this balance of Yes and No is true for anyone birthing in our culture, it feels very close to my heart in particular at this time.
To be resilient is not to be closed to those around me, but to be clear and centred in myself and aware of the skills I have to bounce and to cope with whatever a situation arises.
To surrender is not to pass over control to someone else blindly though it is an opportunity to lay back into the hands of God/Source/All That Is and trust.
To be 'in control' can necessarily accomodate surrendering, as it is my choice to do so.
I am re-reading a book called Birthing from Within which encourages the uncovering of layers of questions, focuses, anxieties to prepare oneself for birth. Using creativity to help unpack anything which may stand in the way of a flowing birth experience. I found a peaceful spot around dawn this morning to journal (which I totally recommend!) and played for some time with some oil pastels, and felt some real breakthroughs with addressing this balance within myself.
The image my subconscious drew helped me see that when I birth I am accessing a power greater than the hills. When focusing on the part of my body that physically needs to coast the balance between surrender and resilience, my Pelvic Floor, I drew rainbows of healing to any pain and worry held there. Rainbows for me represent the whole spectrum of experience. The act of colouring in this image really shifted some blocks and I will be revisiting it.
I didn't expect this blog to have further personal journeys within it as I thought my birthing days ended with my 3rd! I'm going with the flow as to where this takes the blog -- lets see if she chooses breech or cephallic!
I've found it so helpful to learn what other pregnant people are experiencing as we are each on such a personal path approaching birth. I feel there is always more to develop and open up, and again really encourage any reader to delve deep down into how you are (the book I mentioned above is a great support, like a manual, for doing this) and what this experience is bringing up for you.
Its a real joy to be fully present with the pregnancy, my body, its reactions, emotions, sensations. From this place of self-knowledge I can look upon the valley of surrender with the resilient strength of the mountain and it not feel like a contradiction!! You go girl!!
I wonder if here is where one of the cruxes of safe birth lies? Being able to steer a course between the two extremes, being able to say No assertively at the same time as accepting the flood of labour as she opens up with a joyful Yes!
As I write I'm aware I'm directly recalling the words of my doula at last week's birth group, thank you Rachel!
Each of my pregnancies and births have offered me a gift, an area for development and growth and whilst this balance of Yes and No is true for anyone birthing in our culture, it feels very close to my heart in particular at this time.
To be resilient is not to be closed to those around me, but to be clear and centred in myself and aware of the skills I have to bounce and to cope with whatever a situation arises.
To surrender is not to pass over control to someone else blindly though it is an opportunity to lay back into the hands of God/Source/All That Is and trust.
To be 'in control' can necessarily accomodate surrendering, as it is my choice to do so.
I am re-reading a book called Birthing from Within which encourages the uncovering of layers of questions, focuses, anxieties to prepare oneself for birth. Using creativity to help unpack anything which may stand in the way of a flowing birth experience. I found a peaceful spot around dawn this morning to journal (which I totally recommend!) and played for some time with some oil pastels, and felt some real breakthroughs with addressing this balance within myself.
The image my subconscious drew helped me see that when I birth I am accessing a power greater than the hills. When focusing on the part of my body that physically needs to coast the balance between surrender and resilience, my Pelvic Floor, I drew rainbows of healing to any pain and worry held there. Rainbows for me represent the whole spectrum of experience. The act of colouring in this image really shifted some blocks and I will be revisiting it.
I didn't expect this blog to have further personal journeys within it as I thought my birthing days ended with my 3rd! I'm going with the flow as to where this takes the blog -- lets see if she chooses breech or cephallic!
I've found it so helpful to learn what other pregnant people are experiencing as we are each on such a personal path approaching birth. I feel there is always more to develop and open up, and again really encourage any reader to delve deep down into how you are (the book I mentioned above is a great support, like a manual, for doing this) and what this experience is bringing up for you.
Its a real joy to be fully present with the pregnancy, my body, its reactions, emotions, sensations. From this place of self-knowledge I can look upon the valley of surrender with the resilient strength of the mountain and it not feel like a contradiction!! You go girl!!
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