On the subject of familial traits - I recently had the joy of being midwife for my sister who birthed her first baby. Collegues of mine thought I was strange when I expected the birth before her due date, but as no woman in my family had ever reached her 'due date' - I was not the least bit surprised when my sister went into labour at 38 weeks.
My sister was inspirational in her ability to labour in her own way. Some 18 hours after 'starting' to labour (and after some 48 hours of painful 5 minutely tightenings), she crawled onto the bed (her choice) for the first time and birthed her baby into my hands. She had no pharmaceutical pain relief, was 'wiped out' by her own high endorphin levels, and managed her whole labour in her own way. In her own words - she was 'so ready for this baby'. She believes her ability to birth was also due to the fact she had total confidence in her midwife (me) and in the General Practitioner that cared for her. The GP knew me well, and understood our (mine and my sister's) philosophies, and spent his time during the actual birth blocking other staff from entering the birthing room. Three cheers for Max - a GP who believes in midwives, and in women's abilities to birth. A truly wonderful day!! Love to my new neice Shayarna Lisa XX -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
