Being Born is Important

American poet Carl Sandburg said that. The phrase resonates in my head most days. Four words that describe why I do what I do. I realize, when I ponder the meaning of the phrase, that most of the things that bug me in the way we "do childbirth" stem from situations where we don't treat the birth as an important thing. For example...
Preparation: The majority of my patients opt NOT to do childbirth preparation classes. And these are midwife patients. I know, classes aren't perfect, they cost, they are inconvenient, they might gross you out. And the most common reason..."I'm planning to get an epidural anyway". Childbirth preparation is about a lot more than pain. A good class will help you understand the physical and emotional process of birth, how to know if labor is really starting, how to know what's normal and what's not normal. It will also help you prepare for the biggest physical event of your life (other than your own birth). Epidurals are a wonderful tool, but they're not perfect either. You need preparation for dealing with pain before and after an epidural. You need to know what to do if your epidural is one of those that doesn't work so well.
Would you run a marathon without training? Would you step into the most important job interview of your life without learning something about the job?
Here's the second example. The people at the birth: Fully respecting all the different cultural and family dynamics that swirl around a childbirth event, I am still often flabbergasted by who and what attend a birth. The boyfriend's school friends? The second cousin once removed that the woman has not seen in 10 years? Pizza parties going on when all the laboring woman can do is vomit? Horror movies playing? Making fun of the laboring woman? Come on.
Being born is important! Let's not drown it out with hospital policies, family drama, fear, lack of basic preparation, and idiocy. It's the most important day of the child's life. It's a sacred event, a miracle that we get to be in on. I'm not saying you have to be somber and serious, but be prepared and respectful, you may get a lot more out of the experience than you ever imagined. Here is Sandburg's poem.

Being Born Is Important
by Carl Sandburg

Being born is important
You who have stood at the bedposts
and seen a mother on her high harvest day,
the day of the most golden of harvest moons for her.

You who have seen the new wet child
dried behind the ears,
swaddled in soft fresh garments,
pursing its lips and sending a groping mouth
toward nipples where white milk is ready.

You who have seen this love's payday
of wild toiling and sweet agonizing.

You know being born is important.
You know that nothing else was ever so important to you.
You understand that the payday of love is so old,
So involved, so traced with circles of the moon,
So cunning with the secrets of the salts of the blood.
It must be older than the moon, older than salt.

News Flash! Two Certified Nurse Midwives Practicing in Waco.

I've been away from my desk and at some one's bedside for most of the past year. It's been a wonderfully busy time with lots of beautiful babies born. Because that also means I haven't had much sleep, I am particularly excited to announce that Waco will soon have two practicing Certified Nurse Midwives. Many of you know and love Cindy Mabry. After a hiatus of 4 years or so, and some much deserved solid sleep, Cindy has decided to join forces with me and begin delivering Waco babies again! I am so pleased.We're going to make a great team. We've been working side-by-side as Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife at Waco Center for Women's Health for the last 4 years. As the practice continues to grow we hope to add even more midwives, so tell your friends, family and neighbors that Certified Nurse Midwives are the way to go!
In addition to the news of more midwives exciting changes are going on at Providence Hospital. The Labor and Delivery unit is undergoing a huge renovation and there are big things for midwifery in store. We will have 2 beautifully appointed rooms for the midwife patients, complete with labor tubs, telemetry monitoring (when needed), birth balls, squat bars and all kids of natural labor goodies. As the practice grows we hope to have our own midwife office space. With more space we hope to start programs such as Centering Pregnancy, outpatient lactation consultancy services, a lending library and counseling services. So, keep posted and keep spreading the word about midwifery care!