Awakenings Birth Services

02/09/2022

This is a beautiful reframing we might all benefit from…

‘I've been rocking and cuddling my baby to sleep since that day he was born. I mentioned this to a nurse at my clinic recently. She said that she did the same thing with her son, and everyone warned her that she would still have a teenager sleeping in her bed. And then she told me that, a few weeks ago, her teenage son came home from school very upset. He didn't want to talk, and just went to his room and listened to his music, typed on his phone and cried. The mother gave her son space, and night time came and she went to bed. Just as she was about to turn off her side light, the door opened, and her 15 year old padded into the room. He climbed into the bed with her, laid his head on her shoulder and cried. He told her all about the girl that broke his heart, all about the friends who laughed, all about the stresses of being him. She told him about her first broken heart, about friends who'd been cruel, and told him she understands. They talked in the dark for hours, until he feel asleep in her bed. Still sad but relieved after their talk.
'So you see' she said to me, when she finished the story. 'I was so scared that I wound wind up with a teenager who would 'need me' at night, that I never stopped to consider how beautiful that would really be.' 🌟
One of my favourite stories ever. Had to .
Words by the beautiful
Photo

26/07/2022

✨What if we told women the truth about birth✨

We’d have to tell them that contractions will probably be more than “surges” or “sensations.”

That they’ll probably rock your f✨cking world and leave you begging for salvation as you clutch the edge of the tub or the hospital linens

That your gentle breathing exercises and your Spotify soundtrack will be left in the dust as you sweat and pant and sway and swear your way through it

That you’ll trip harder than any mushroom you ever did in college and vomit with the same ferocity and travel to places deep within yourself that you didn’t know existed. That you’ll float above your body and simultaneously be trapped in it with an intensity you’ve never tasted

And in that intensity, in the sweating and the swearing and the swaying and the vomiting and the endless hours of contractions crashing down upon you
You’ll find your strength
You’ll find a resilience you’ve never known
You’ll find the power you need for the journey of motherhood ahead

In the messy humanity of it all
You’ll find that you are holy
A portal to the divine
Capable of indescribable miracles
A vessel of sacred life

What if we told women the truth about birth?
We’d have to tell them they are capable of anything
Worthy of being treated like goddesses
Made to walk through the flames
Surf the tidal waves
Dive into the underworld
And come out alive

Not unscathed
Not unchanged
But whole
And healed
And ready to take on the world

If we told women the truth about birth
We’d have to admit that we’ve lied about everything else
And that they are more powerful
More fierce
More capable
More beautiful
Than we’ve ever let on.

If we told the truth about birth?
We’d shatter the world.”

~ Words and Art by Catie Atkinson
Spirit Y Sol
www.linktr.ee/spiritysol

06/02/2022

25/07/2021

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but attachment parenting in a detached society is exhausting.
No. It’s not your baby.
There is nothing wrong with them if they want to be held all the time.
No. It’s not you.
You’re not doing it wrong.
Your feelings of exhaustion and depletion and being touched out are normal- considering the weight you’re carrying. Those feelings, and the deep ache underneath them - are a reminder that you were never meant to do this alone.
Babies want to be held. And we want to hold them close. Exclusive/extended breastfeeding, cosleeping, babywearing- all of these are intuitive, ancestral practices that have kept our species alive throughout history. Attachment parenting is just parenting!!
But never before have we parented in such isolation. There were always other hands stirring the soup pot, other aunties, and sisters, and uncles and grandmas, and cousins, and neighbors helping with the daily tasks and child rearing. Other arms carrying the weight of raising humanity. Together.
And now, it’s just you. Alone in the kitchen, trying to stir the soup and bounce the baby and play with the toddler and keep an eye on the big kid and answer the phone and sweep up the mess and tackle the laundry and .....
No matter how magical your baby wrap is — it can’t take the place of a whole village.
So no, you’re not doing it wrong. You’re just trying to stay connected in a world set on tearing you apart.
But don’t give up mama. I know you’re tired and touched out, but you’re giving your baby exactly what she needs. And maybe one day, when she’s raising her own babies,there will be a village around her, helping her hold it all together.

Beautiful words and Pic by on Instagram

08/07/2021

They are two healthy babies, three months old, both exclusively breastfeeding and, believe me, neither the one on the left is obese, nor the one on the right is undernourished. They are variations of normality! Most likely, when they start crawling, the one on the left will slim down a little and the one on the right will gain muscle mass.
Do not compare your child to other children.
Each of us is different.

29/03/2021

A team of leading international researchers has discovered significant links between medical interventions used in the birthing process – such as caesarean section and induction – and a child’s long-term health.

06/11/2020

Exciting news for the Ca association of licensed midwives:

Next week the Medical Board of California will be reviewing and approving its Sunset Review Report including the following recommendation:

“Given that physician supervision has been removed from licensed midwives, the Board does not believe that they should be licensed and regulated by the Medical Board, and is supportive of licensed midwives establishing their own board.”

We need people available to stand by at the MBC meeting next week to speak up in support of a midwifery board!

It is critical that the MBC knows that the midwifery community is in favor of an independent midwifery board.

Please join us on Monday, November 9 at noon, for a phone/Zoom information session with CALM, where we will share details about how and why to attend the MBC meeting, what the MBC needs to hear from us, and what our next steps will be after the MBC meeting.

Topics will include:
- Why a midwifery board is the best answer for advancing midwifery policy and achieving self-determination as a profession
- How to effectively advocate for a non-controversial Sunset Review bill that includes provisions for a midwifery board
- What our next steps are

We hope you are as excited as we are in looking ahead to the future of midwifery in California!

Register here for Monday’s information session. Read here and bookmark for more information, updates and to contribute to our FAQ page.