Doulamama’s Weblog

I read your blog about Obama’s win and thought I would share some thoughts on how it looked from my corner of the world in Ontario Canada. Many of my friends, family and neighbours were actively engaged in this election. For a long time we have admittedly looked to our Southern friends and family and shaken our heads in disbelief at the administration of your Country. When George Bush was elected 4 years ago we were very saddened that the American people voted once again  for a man who spoke so often of hate, terror and fear. That individualism and power seemed more important than community and peace.

But all that changed with this election. I loved watching the excitement and energy of the American People in the lead up to the election. There was so much passion, energy and hope. Last night we spoke to our children at the dinner table about the election and explained how millions were going to vote that day just as we had over a month ago in our own Country. We told them that we hoped that the people would vote for a man named Obama because he believes in people and cares about the world (my children are 5 and 3 so we were keeping it simple). My daughter Ainsley beamed at me and said that she too hoped they voted for Obama because he seemed like a good man. Later my partner and I  sat down and watched the coverage and were ecstatic when Obama was awarded  victory. It was a proud day for Americans and we were and are so happy that the US voted for change. This seemed to be an election for the people and I think it demonstrated how good democracy can work when citizens are inspired to be engaged. It serves as an example for all of our Countries to expect more from our leaders and contenders for office. That we shouldn’t have to vote for the lesser evil or against someone but instead for someone and for values we believe in.

Everywhere I go today people in my city are talking about the election and the hope that has come with it. What it means for our own Country policy wise is less important to me right now than what it means for us as people who can believe in change. We elected a minority Conservative government here about a month ago who is reminiscent of George Bush and the Republicans. Many of us fear that our Country is headed in the wrong direction and that so many of the values we as Canadians hold dear will be undermined by our leaders. The election in the US reminds me that it is the people of a country who truly make a difference and that when we come together and put our energy into something we can accomplish great things. I carry this with me as I look forward to what our country needs and how I as a citizen can influence that change.

This weekend I will be teaching a lamaze childbirth education series to 5 couples. Lately I have been thinking about the value that prental classes play in the preparation of women and couples on their journey to being parents. I believe in education and information as empowering tools to help us learn and prepare for life’s events. I have spent the better part of my working life faciliating and developing workshops for adults. But still I am left with the question of whether prenatal classes do what they are intended to do?

Research is mixed as to whether cbe classes help parents be better prepard for birth and parenting. Many couples who take standard cbe classes will tell you that it is a waste of time. Yet, I know the couples that take our classes find value in them. Not only do their inital evaluations reflect that but so do their thoughts when we speak to them after they have had their babies. What is the difference and what is the value? What are we actually providing of value?

I think what we provide is the space to explore fears, while reinforcing the message of having trust and confidence in a woman’s body and herself. We live in a culture of fear around birth and a culture that sets up women’s bodies as deficient. Our classes and other good cbe classes provide a different lens to see birth and women through. We normalize birth as a natural event that women are fully capable of handling. We don’t set up natural birth as the only option but we do use it as a starting point, while recognizing that each woman needs to come to her birth with different things that will work for her. Each of us has different life experiences that will influence how we want to give birth. For some that will mean being at home in water and for others it could mean being in the hospital and having an epidural. Each of these are valid choices.

We approach women’s choices from a place of trust in them and their ability to make the best choices for their lives. Options in birth are there if women want them but they are meant to be done ‘for’ women, not ‘to’ women and they should be offered with full disclosure of the benefits and risks of each one.

Other messages around birth instill fear and distrust in women. They send the message that we really aren’t capable, that our bodies are deficient and in need of intervention. Interventions are necessary and any woman who denies herself these interventions is either trying to be a hero, putting her baby’s life in danger or she is someone who cares more about her birth experience than her child. Usually the message being sent to women is all of the above. These are powerful messages, dificult to counteract.

So what we provide in our cbe classes beyond the basic information of birth is a clear and confident message that women are capable, strong and wise. That birth is a normal, natural, event in a woman’s life. That the birth experience and baby are the responsibility of the parents – not the system. The system is there to work for them. That all birth options are valid and it is important to know the benefits and risks of all your options. But mostly what we provide is a place for women and couples to come and explore these topics with others who are about to embark on the same transformative event as themselves.

Today is election day in Canada. I asked my 5 and 3 year old girls today what qualities they would look for in people who would lead their country. Here are their answers:

* someone who picks up garbage and takes care of the earth

* someone who helps other people

* a person who will leave bugs alone when they are hiding under a leaf

* somebody silly

* a person who respects other people’s wishes

* someone who listens

I found that the qualities that they listed get to the essence of the same things I am looking for in a leader and my local candidate. I want someone who sees taking care of people as an important part of their job, someone who has a plan for our environment and respects the earth, a person who I can relate to and trust and someone who listens to the citizens of this country.

My girls are wise. When I take them with me to vote today,  I will be letting them know that I am voting for the things that are important to them because it is children who are our future. We need to be thinking generations ahead to what kind of country and world we want our children living in. My kids obviously want a caring, cohesive and healthy world – same as I do.

So I thought I would be blogging about birth, breastfeeding or some other mothering type issue. Thoughts on these issues is usally what occupies the majority of my brain space. Lately I have been preoccupied thinking about the Canadian election that is taking place tomorrow and the direction our country will be heading in. Of course it is related to women, birth and breastfeeding because everything is intertwined – particularly when talking about politics.  Harper’s record on women’s rights is not comforting and given that it looks like the conservatives will likely form a minority government I wonder how much worse things will get?

Ahhh…but life has a way of bringing us perspective. I just received s story from the Washington Post about a mother who died in childbirth in Sierra Leone and that states that the maternal mortality rate in Sierra Leone is 1 in 8! 1 in 8?  How does that happen? Fatmata’s story is heartbreaking and unbelievable in that it happens to other women over and over again.  Here is the link to the article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/11/AR2008101102165.html

It is astonishing the maternal mortality rate in the developing world. The fact that giving birth can be a death sentance to so many women in this day and age just doesn’t seem right. Lack of sanitation, medical facilities, training and lack of international attention are all to blame. An important campaign that I have supported for some time is the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.  It is a coalition to raise awarenss of the need for safe motherhood for all women, particularly in developing nations where death and birth are too often related events. Here is the link

http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/about.cfm

I urge you to support the White Ribbon Alliance and to feel outraged that mothers are dying all over the world. It shouldn’t be happening and it doesn’t need to happen. What happens to these children when their mother’s die? Where do they go and what do they do? What does it mean for a nation like Sierra Leone to have so many of their children growing up without a mother?  And for the girl children who some day face the same risks that their mother’s face if they give birth?

Birth should not be a death sentance. Health care is a human right for everyone.

Please add your name to the letter to ask global leaders to make women’s health during pregnancy and childbirth a political issues. Sign the letter here:

http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org/TakeAction/

Tomorrow in my own country I hope that Canadians vote for community, the environment, and a fairer more just Canada.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has released a book about Harper’s Record.  The Canadian Women’s Health Network listserv distributed this information from CCPA. I think it is very englightening in regards to Harper’s record  on women’s issues and his overall stance of issues related to equality. The information speaks for itself.

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CCPA’s national office recently released the book:  The Harper Record.  This book is a
comprehensive analysis of the Conservative minority government to date.  You can
download this book as a PDF file off the CCPA website.

CCPA-Manitoba is releasing a series of Federal Election Fast Facts called:  Five
Things You Need to Know About Harper and……..(various topics).  The Fast Facts are
quick summaries of some of the topics covered in the book such as crime, childcare,
civil rights, women, the environment and energy, water, governance and privatization.

Today’s Election Fast Facts deals with Stephen Harper’s record on women’s rights.

ONE:
In its first Budget, in 2006, the Harper government made deep cuts to the
Women’s Program of Status of Women Canada. Its budget was reduced by
43% and 12 of its 16 regional offices were closed. Funding for women’s
equality research and advocacy was eliminated, and the word “equality” was
removed from the program’s mandate. Funding for the Court Challenges
program, which had supported many women’s equality legal challenges, was
also terminated.

TWO:
Widespread public disapproval of these cuts resulted in some of the funding
later being reinstated. The Women’s Program budget was partially restored
and the word “advocacy” put back in its mandate. But the offices that were
closed in 2006 remain closed, and the Women’s Program still does not fund
women’s equality advocacy work. Funding for the Court Challenges Program
was not restored.

THREE:
The Harper government’s still-effective 2006 Budget cuts have caused
women’s equality organizations to reduce their activities and even forced
some of them to close down. The National Association of Women and the
Law and the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women,
among others, have had to scale back their operations because their
research or advocacy work is no longer funded. This has had a damaging
trickle-down effect on other organizations across the country which had
relied on these national agencies to provide the research and information
they require for their own work.

FOUR:
Although pay equity is a human right guaranteed by the Canadian Human
Rights Act, women in Canada working full-time and full-year still are paid an
average of only 70.5 cents for every dollar earned by men. A Task Force on
Pay Equity set up by the previous Liberal government recommended that a
pro-active pay equity law be enacted that would compel employers to
address gender-based wage discrimination and eliminate pay inequities
among their employees. It also recommended that a new Canadian Pay
Equity Commission be established to administer and enforce the new pay
equity law. These recommendations have been completely ignored by the
Harper government during its 32 months in office.

FIVE:
Women’s incomes typically fall in the lowest tax brackets (less than $38,000),
but tax policies that directly be

Performance Night

For a long time I felt the call to do more in the birth world. To pick up my activist shoes and go out there and make a difference beyond the one birth at a time work of being a doula and childbirth educator. I have been a doula for over 4.5 years and I love it. I love the couples I work with and the amazing births that they invite me into. What I struggle with is the pain and trauma I see women experience in childbirth due to their choices being limited or just not respected. I decided that I needed to do something more about it. I needed to make a difference in my own community beyond the support I provide to individual women and couples. That is where BOLD came in http://www.boldaction.org. BOLD is an internationa arts-inspired movement to create childbirth choices that work for women. Starting in January of 2008 I and 4 other passionate birthy women set aobut bringing BOLD to London Ontario by producing the play Birth, by Karen Brody and hosting a Red Tent Event for Mothers. Below is the email I wrote to the interntational group of BOLD women after our play. Instead of trying to recreate the words and emotions of that time, I will just copy what I wrote. What I would write today would be different, but this captures the essence of my experience so much better than I could do justice to right now.

Hi,

I have a wonderful partner who is very connected to the online world and has spent many an evening listening to my musings on birth, parenting and being a woman in the world. He has consistently encouraged me to start a blog and write it all down so here I am – in the beginnning, again.

I am a birth and postpartum doula, postpartum doula trainer and lamaze certified childbirth educator in London Ontario. I work with three other amazing doulas at Babeeze in Arms Doula Centre where we offer doula support along with a range of workshops for the childbearing years as well as for birth professionals. I am also the mother of 2 young daughters who have recently led me on a home schooling journey and who inspire much of what I do.

This blog was created to keep track of the evolution of my path as a doula and the other mutliple identities of my life. I have no idea where this blog will go but I am open to experiencing it.