The Art of Opening
Holistic Midwifery Services – Serving San Diego County
Category: birth from within blog
The Value of Simulations for Teaching Normal Breech
Simulating normal breech birth with a doll and a pelvis is important for me when I teach breech. It reinforces the importance of midwifery model of care and the value of knowing normal. In fact, from the feedback I have…
Read MoreMidwifery Tools: My Venn Diagram Response
I’ve seen this Venn diagram going around where the doula and midwife are separate with an overlap of working together to make sure that the client feels supported in every way. In the diagram, the doula is the emotional support…
Read MoreInformed Consent Goes Both Ways: Responsibilities of Care Providers
“Consent is only meaningful when we are informed.” -Edward Snowden. Information has a dual aspect to it for both the care provider and for the birthing family. What does being informed look like for those serving families? 1) The Responsibility to…
Read MoreBefore an ECV: What can nurses do?
Recently after a Spinning Babies class, a nurse asked me what can be done for families waiting for an External Cephalic Version (ECV) before the doctor arrives to turn the baby. She said she usually had about an hour with…
Read MoreBasic and Advanced Side Lying Release Positions for Spinning Babies™
Side Lying Release is a basic tenant of Spinning Babies that was created by Carol Phillips. It can be used in pregnancy for general balancing and opening of the lower back, the pelvic floor, the IT band and so much…
Read MoreOrigins of the Breech Tilt
When I was pregnant in 2005, I used a bunk bed ladder for the breech tilt instead of an ironing board. However, getting onto the upside down ladder was probably dangerous and I pulled a ligament (or two) which was…
Read MoreThe Posterior Cervix: Distraction or Spasmed Ligament?
When people are concerned about a posterior cervix, the first question that comes to mind is, “Where is the baby in the pelvis?” The cervix is possibly posterior because the baby is high and not even engaged. Some may believe…
Read MoreTeaching and Unteaching Pelvic Types
When I was in midwifery school we learned the 4 basic types of pelvises that are discussed in western medicine. At the time, my belief system was that the information was just information to pass a test and wouldn’t change…
Read MoreBreech Body Balancing Isn’t Only About Breech
What we feel in our hands is not just touch. It is relationship and exchange. How we come into relationship with another and they come into relationship with us informs our practice emotionally and physically… and even spiritually. We listen…
Read MoreThe Rise of Skeleton Woman: A Postpartum Unwinding (Skeleton Woman is an Inuit Story)
Let us follow an unexpected journey after a hard birth or an abusive experience. Or maybe the journey seemed easy and one still found themselves frozen, broken, or unable to move at the bottom of the sea. Overwhelmed. It…
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