Kath and Tom's Birth

Finally I've worked out how to upload pictures!! Woohoo!!
These gorgeous shots are of the beautiful Kath and her partner Tom waiting for their little girl to arrive.
Kath and Tom had changed care provider towards the end of their pregnancy, when they realised that the OB they had chosen was not supportive of their birth choices. They changed hospital and OB so they could have the natural labour and waterbirth they wanted.
Kath was so focussed throughout her labour, this pic is of her blowing onto the water to help her focus on breathing through the contractions.

Tom was absolutely fantastic. He was really involved and supportive of Kath, and very protective, NO-ONE was going to do anything to Kath that she didn't want! His presence and strength was such a huge comfort to her.

Kath was determined to have a waterbirth, but as she got closer to birthing, we discovered that there were no midwives available who had experience with waterbirth, and it was starting to look like it may not "be allowed". The lovely dutch midwife caring for Kath informed her that although she would be happy to support a waterbirth, she had no experience with it and protocol demanded that she get out of the bath to birth. Kath and Tom faffed around in the bath until it was too late to get out, so the midwife rolled up her sleeves and with Tom in the bath with Kath, their beatiful baby was birthed exactly as they had planned, with her father lifting her out of the water into her mothers arms!

What a beautiful mother and baby!! It's such an honour to be able to support women and their families during birth, and to be able to support 2 such amazing people as they welcome their baby into the world is an absolute privilege!

In Kath's words, "Both my partner and I walked away in disbelief, amazement and excitement at both the miracle of birth and that we had been so lucky to have such a wonderfully positive birth experience."

"Brains 'rewired' to aid motherhood"

This is the little article in Sunday's paper that caught my attention;

Science has finally caught up with what mothers have been saying for years.
They are superwomen with superpowers thanks to an influx of hormones during pregnancy and labour to enable them to cope with the demands of childrearing.
Neuroscientists have discovered that women's brains are rewired during that period making them faster, more robust and less stressed than before.
Professor Craig Kinsey, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond, Virginia, found the lifelong transformation is caused by an influx of hormones, including estrogen and oxytocin, to the brain.
The revolutionary findings could lead to a new world of chemical therapies to transform "bad" mothers.
Professor Kinsley said if females with a deficit of the brain chemical oxytocin can be identified, "when they are first interacting with the baby you can give them a boost of oxytocin at a critical time".
Sunday Mail April 27, 2008 p26

Have they considered the natural rush of oxytocin that a mother's brain is literally washed with when she births naturally? This rush of hormones only happens during a natural birth, as the drugs used for epidurals stops the natural oxytocin from doing it's job. Synthetic oxytocin fools the body into producing contractions, but it blocks the natural oxytocin from being produced and having the incredible effect it is designed for.

Maybe, instead of trying to identify the "bad" mothers (their quote) after birth, perhaps they should be working on supporting mothers properly before and during birth, to maximise the opportunity for these women to start motherhood with every advantage that should be theirs, naturally.