Welcome Betty,
It is nice to hear your views and your love of midwifery, but please
don't ever think that the spirituality has left midwifery or birthing
how can it.
The essence of every womens birth carries on through generation after
generation.
Readers of my dribble on this chat line will be aware that I am
voiciferous if not eloquent. Yet I limited my comments on spirituality
to playing devils advocat and challanging established and identified
views. The only evidence I gave to my belief revolved around a passing
remark of a seemingly flippant nature, which was a comparison of my
beliefs to the idea of the circle of life! Something which seemed to
be readily identified by fellow readers. However this covers only one
small yet consequential aspect to my belief. For those of you that are
tired of my ramblings simply skip the next bit.
I believe that spirituality is the essence that unites us all, It is
not a single faith, a religous doctrine, or an ethereal property. It
is the touch without touching the words spoken in the mind yet clearly
heard by the intended recipient, it is the tear shed for someone elses
pain, it is the fear for the person who has reason to fear. It is
identification of the universal, it is our connection.
It is respect not because of fear of reprisal but because of respect in
its purest form. The knowledge of oneness.
It is the feeling of people with a common cause it is the need to be
loved, it is all these things.
It is the being not only with the women birthing but being that women
birthing and her baby and the father and the grandparents. It is Karma
good and bad.
It is collective history and our fated future and paths.
It is that longing, it is the identification with the aspects of nature
that smooth furrowed brows and strains of anger, it is the real or
imagined calm in the centre of a stone circle.
It is the belief that love will win and that death is the begining of
the next beautiful death and that life is the journey between places.
It is the belief of being part of the Earth. It is all these things.
How is this relevent to midwifery. My unashamed and non-pretentious
answer would be that it is midwifery.
The last Hospital birth I was priviledged to attend was a deeply
spiritual one. Both the mother and father were out of touch with the
roles that they found themselves in. The lady herself relieved on her
intellectual ability and her reading to drive and control her
perception of the birthing process. Scientific dissection was
destroying her self communication and belief. Instinct led me after
trying to communicate in other ways to change the ambiance from
controlled relaxation (text book appropriate) to one of image inducing
rythms (Afro Celt Soundsystem for those of you really interested). For
me images of history and women decorating its pages with their births,
their womanliness, their strngths, their struggles. Through
communicating these images and identifying the unity of birthing women
and the goddess within this lady transformed into her pre-existing but
buried boedicea like force of nature. We were on the Scottish
Highlands, We were in the african scrub, we were birthing in our
industrialised home WE WERE BIRTHING.
I thank the women who allow me and seek myself and Cathy to attend them
Privately, I thank the women who bestow the same honour at the
hospital that i work, I thank my colleagues and all the readers of this
chatline with their own valid views and i thank Cathy who is to me the
goddess always and Who I love very much.
If you have read all this you must be mad. Sorry for cluttering your
E-Mails. I guess the senate enquiry had me pinned down for a while!!!
Love and peace to you all.
NIGEL x
Here for What
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Dear people,
> this is my first time writing to the list, so
> hello to all. It's a bit scary
> the first time.
> I have been reading and enjoying for just a little
> time. I'm a midwife
> academic from Ballarat. Midwifery is the love of my
> life but I can't get enough
> of it.
>
> I have especially enjoyed the discussion about
> spirituality. It's funny how
> things happen (maybe that statement is significant
> here! ) but recently I have
> been thinking about writing a paper about how the
> spirituality has gone out of
> birthing. Then a colleague asked me to present at a
> conference re this topic. So
> are these mere coincidences or was it meant to be? I
> agree with several on this
> list who said they think they feel a research
> project coming on...I feel a
> 'paper' coming on. One midwife said to me recently
> that the spirituality in
> birth has been 'stomped on' or was it 'stamped out'.
> In any case I am enclined
> to agree with her. It is something to do with
> women's wisdom being lost...is it
> not? Is it also something to do with our western
> idea of the linear notion of
> time? ie do we need to nuture experiences as equally
> as we look to the future?
> Anyway I would like to share with you the words of
> Peggy Chinn who has lots to
> say about peace and power, which to me seems the
> same as spirituality: what
> follws is part of a list of suggestions:
>
> "...plant and nuture something that grows, practice
> the fine art of yeilding -
> in your car, in conversation, etc, become active in
> a group that works on
> principles of co-operation... do at least one thing
> to simplify your life and
> reduce your consumption of natural resources...."
> Peggy has more to say in
> Peace & Power: Building communities for the future
> published 1999. She is a
> feminist of course.
> I have also been reading the work of Thomas Groome
> an educator. He says that
> spirituality is "...one's way of life". I can't
> really argue with that, but I
> havn't sorted the whole topic out yet...so if others
> have something to say I'd
> like to hear it.
> Regards Betty
>
>
> --
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>
===
>From Cathy Bock and Nigel Duncan.
at
BIRTHING HANDS (Homebirth, ante/post natal care and hospital support)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
0414 886827 or 0414 554840
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