04/17/2025                                                                            
                                    
                                                                            
                                            A beautiful and powerful editorial about the sovereign rights of women to birth, behold, and touch their newborn before anyone else. 
The Birth Pause is a critical moment for a new mother that is often robbed from them with the excessive rubbing, stimulating, and touching of the baby by a provider. As long as all is well, the mother and father embracing this moment  is a vital and scared space that should not be broached.
Several years ago, I attended to a family whose little one came rather quick in the wee hours of the night. It was just me and the parents in a small bathroom. The baby slid out, calm and peaceful while his mother leaned over the tub breathing heavy to recover from her hard work. I place the baby on towels right under her now empty womb and sat back to watch. The baby was calm, pink and drawing his little arms up. The mother was steady and calm as the moments passed, taking her time to return to the room with us. Several minutes left us in stillness and then the mother opened her eyes to take in the room. Looking down, she reached for her baby for the first time, touching his face with the tips of her fingers and holding his hand. She leaned back sighing, then whispered "My son" as she brought him to her chest and rocked him back and forth. I don't cry often at births, but as her husband joined her and they all held each other in celebration and awe, my eyes welled up and I could feel the power of the Almighty all around. I don't know why this birth stands out so colorful in my mind, there are many others, but this birth pause was such a lovely moment in my career and one I will cherish all my life.                                        
                                    
                                                                        
                                        A doula and expectant mother’s view of birth is forever changed when she sees a midwife simply place a newly born child below her mother at the moment of birth.