There is power that comes to women when they give birth. They don't ask for it, it simply invades them. Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it.

Sheryl Feldman

A midwife has posted an inspiring video of a beautiful baby emerging in the caul, in a posterior position and managing beautifully on her own just as nature intended. Here's the u-tube link ...

Talk Soon, Cynthia x

Hi Everyone,

Ever since I saw this picture, I've been thinking about fashion designers, manufacturers and retailers and how they influence how we dress, eat, drink and indeed how long we breastfeed our infants....

A few years ago the picture of a standing child (toddler) breastfeeding would have been shocking, confronting and even indecent...still is to many.

There is copious medical evidence to substantiate the value of prolonged feeding to the health of our infants, and still mothers are judged by some for doing what they deem best for their child.

I personally recall sitting at a cafe discreetly feeding my eighteen month old child and having a middle aged man stare at me and pointedly move his chair to face his back to me.

Now, I'm pretty confident as a mother and within myself but I felt that touch of embarrassment, shame and anger creeping in at his obvious ignorance and intended rudeness. Fortunately I was with someone who reaffirmed with me my rights around these issues...what a blessing a good strong friend is :)

With this in mind, it's interesting to me that one retailer in a trendy European maternity boutique (above pic) has chosen to make this statement in a store window and it's flying around the internet to great acclaim. It would seem that there is a shift toward public acceptance of breastfeeding.

Maybe now that it's becoming fashionable to breastfeed, this will become the accepted norm, and our society will actively encourage mothers to nourish their children in this way, for as long as they wish.

We can but hope....

Talk Soon, Cynthia x

The Natural Child - Book Review

Hi Everyone

The Natural Child is a gorgeous book which I enjoyed from cover to cover. It's written by parenting counsellor and director of The Natural Child Project, Jan Hunt. It is full of compassion, ideas and gentle promptings about how we can all improve the quality of life for the children around us.

The Natural Child is divided into sections dealing with issues such as parenting with empathy and trust, living with a baby, siblings adjusting to baby, living with children, guiding children, helping children learn and advocating for children.

The section on parenting infants recommends Dr Elliot Barker's steps for healthy children. Summarised as a positive birthing experience, extended breastfeeding, minimal separations and consistency of caregivers, and careful spacing of children. Of course this is an ideal not always possible to achieve, but definitely worth thinking about as a theory.

I particularly like that Hunt has not left off caring for our children's emotional needs once they pass infancy. Children remain highly sensitive and impressionable beings well into childhood and attachment parenting is advocated throughout this book not as over protection or neurosis but as a necessary connection to maintain with your child to ensure independence in thought and emotional well being through to the teen and adult years.

Hunt shares her experiences as a homeschooling parent, and offers suggestions about how to best serve the learning needs of children, including those with a learning disability.

In The Natural Child, Hunt advocates caring for all children within our community rather than just our immediate family. She believes that children are the responsibility of the society they live in and that if they are suffering through dysfunction, then we as a community are all accountable. She offers practical suggestions for improving the experience of the parents and children around us, and shares that even if we see no immediate effect from our actions

the sheer act of standing up for the child can have a
significant impact on the child herself

Definitely something to consider.

I will finish with the concluding paragraph because I believe it sums up the book better than I ever could...

When we believe in our child fully, we trust that they are doing the very best they can at every moment, given their age, past experience and present circumstances.......Having someone dependably "on their side" is absolutely critical if a child is to grow into adulthood with a generous capacity for love and trust.

If we aren't on their side, who will be?

Talk Soon, Cynthia x

Hi Everyone,

There is a new film called One World Birth that's just been released, and I was really impressed by the first installment. You can access it by following this link and signing up.

Cynthia x

Waterbirth Story & The Neo-Natal Ward

Hi Everybody,

In today's post I want to share with you my experience of my daughter Freida's waterbirth followed by her time in the Neo-Natal ward of our local hospital.

During my pregnancy with our youngest daughter, Freida I experienced a lot of sickness. I had low blood pressure and felt lightheaded a lot of the time, and vomited several times a day right up until the six month stage of pregnancy.

I accepted this as part of being pregnant, and assumed I was having another girl as I felt similar to the way I did when carrying my elder daughter, Alexandra.

Things went along smoothly apart from this, so when I felt those first twinges to say that she was on her way I was really excited. We had planned for a natural waterbirth like we had for our last child, and I had been practising meditation and visualisation exercises in the lead up to this time, so I felt confident and relaxed.

We called the midwife and went to the birth centre once the contractions became closer together. After labouring in the birthing pool for several hours, our beautiful baby girl arrived and I settled onto the bed with her.

Our midwife noticed that Freida's breathing was a little shallow and suggested that I offer her to feed to see if she would latch on. I now realise that she was making every effort for Freida to start feeding and progress naturally into breathing independently without alarming me. Freida showed no interest in latching on and continued to breathe irregularly and we were told that the neo-natal unit would need to take a look at her.

This was not what I expected but I thought it would be five minutes until we would be back snuggled together in the birthing unit's bed. This didn't happen as Freida needed an x-ray which showed congestion on her lungs which was causing her problems breathing.

She was put into a humidicrib and the only contact we could have with our beautiful newborn was by resting a hand on her head through a hole in the crib. This was definitely not what we had expected or wished for and I just cried because I couldn't stop this whole experience from happening.

I believe that a newborn needs skin to skin contact and that she would respond to this as much as all the poking and prodding, but I also knew that her breathing is crucial and who knows if she would have survived without intervention.

Luckily this was my third baby and I felt confident in insisting on feeding her (and persisting until it did work) that evening and as this was successful, we avoided nasal tube feeding and heel prick blood tests every six hours.

Thank goodness, Freida's breathing cleared after a short time and she could be held outside of the humidicrib in periods. I was told that I needed to go home and leave Freida at the hospital after two days but as that wasn't an option for me, I was given a bed and stayed with her until her release after five days when the x-ray showed her lungs were clearing.

This is not a scenario I would ever have wished for and I also know that I was fortunate that Freida's illness was shortlived and not as traumatic as some of those around her. I am sharing my experience to demonstrate that while birth can at times be unpredictable and even heart wrenching, it is what it is and things usually work out for the best.

I would also like to say trust yourself as a mother, you really do know what's best for your child and if you would like to breastfeed, co-sleep, whatever, you do have the right to ask for what you feel you and your baby need.

My girl is now 2 1/2 years old and smiley, cuddly and I'm sure feels absolutely loved. I worried about the impact of her first week on the planet for a while but now can see that she is fully up to the challenge and the love and affection she has received since have more than compensated for a bit of a rocky beginning.

Talk Soon, Cynthia x