To Do Lists

I don't know if it is just me, but I find it eternally gratifying to cross things off of my "to do" list. Heck, when I make up a long list of things I need to accomplish and I miss something important that I did, I have even been known to write it down so that I could cross that off!

It also really helps me to keep focused. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the projects I have on the go and a list a great way to get organized. By writing down what is on your mind, you can let go of the "I can't forget to do that's" because you now have it on paper. That gives you room to remember things you might have forgotten with your big concerns on the top of your mind and it helps to prioritize what needs to be done.

I like to write my list close to my calendar so that I can look up what upcoming events I need to prepare for and to write down those things I haven't had a chance to get on it. A phone nearby helps me to touch base on some of the urgent matters that will only take a quick phone call to resolve and there goes several of my "to do's" quickly. Finally, it is good to remember that delegation is important for everyone. Ask others to help when you are feeling overwhelmed. Children can certainly help. They NEED to do chores and feel the sense of accomplishment having learned and done something well.

I have several more things to cross off today before I hit the hay, happy "to doing"!!

Teaching about Birth

One of the things that I have long pondered as a childbirth educator, and many other educators do as well, is how to reach pregnant women and their partners in class.. I mean really reach them. Not just laying our perceptions of birth on their conscience, whether that be "how to be a good patient" or "natural birth is the only way." What I have found in teaching both pregnant couples and birth professionals is that we need to teach skills not just provide information.

Information can be found in any number of books, but birth skills are not common knowledge in today's medicalized birth atmosphere. Where once these skills were handed down from mother to daughter as daughters grew up seeing, understanding and knowing birth from a young age, now you would be hard pressed to find a women who has attended a birth prior to giving birth to her first born. I am not talking about the popular birth shows sensationalized to the point where every birth is deemed a life or death emergency... "Will mother and baby survive? Find out after this commercial... "

This leaves chidlbirth educators with the struggle of teaching women how to give birth despite the miriad of distractions, interruptions and interventions common in obstetrics today. The answer? By women having the skills to birth no matter what the situation... something that is NOT taught in most prenatal class and which is essential if women are to survive institutionalized birth emotionally and physically unharmed.

Birth Interference

I find it extremely ironic that where physicians have long touted their belief that birth is safest in hospitals, the new homebirth study proves the opposite, home is indeed the safest for mother and baby. Why? I am glad you asked because at first glance that doesn't make sense. When a life-threatening problem does arise, it makes logical sense that having the equipment, medicine, surgical facilities and expert staff available to handle the problem. However, very few births are ever life-threatening and most life-threatening circumstances can be predicted prior to birth based on mother's health.

Which leaves us with almost all women giving birth normally and without complication... As proven by the homebirth study. So why do women who birth in a hospital have higher complication, cesarean section and worse outcomes? Another great question! Because medical professionals view birth as a catastrophe waiting to happen and instead of allowing women to birth, they feel the need to control the process which greatly impacts the birth process.

Birth is a physiological, emotional and even spiritual process. As a child growing up I observed many births of farm animals, mostly cattle, on the farm my parents own. I learned quickly that if a mother is disturbed during labour either her labour would stop to await a quiet time where she could birth without disruption, become complicated because of the cows fear. If the birth was imminent, the calf would be expelled quickly with often the bonding process impeded where the cow may reject the calf, a life-threatening situation because a calf who does not consume colostrum rarely survives.

Humans, as mammals, are not different. Sure we have a conscious which sets us apart from all other mammals, but birth is an instinctual process designed perfectly to ensure the survival of our offspring. Only rarely does the birth process not work as it should, though variations of normal are far outside of the medical parameters doctors prefer. Look at postdates pregnancy. My sister gave birth to her daughter at a full 43 weeks gestation with a "term" baby (meaning she did not show "overdue" symptoms like dry skin, etc.). She had the support of a midwife or she would never have reached her true due date, having faced induction weeks prior. That is only one example... There are hundreds where doctors opinion outweighs mother's knowledge and instinct... fetal monitoring, movement during labour, birth position, privacy, vaginal exams (like any dilation assessment will in any way tell caregivers when a mother will give birth... unless there are notes in utero they are reaching for that tell when baby will be born that I didn't know about), and so on.

Which brings me back to my point... why are women safer birthing at home? Can I ask you a question in return? How can women birth naturally, as their bodies are designed, when there is constant interference from well-meaning caregivers? My answer is easy, avoid them. How? Birth at home of course... the homebirth study proved that by avoiding the interference and fears of hospital-based caregivers, birth happens with much less problem and with better outcomes because it is viewed as a normal process.

However, I don't see birth leaving the hospital any time soon despite the risks. Obstetrics have long sold their "benefits" to birthing families and the fallacy of that advertising will not be questioned any time soon.

Project Central

I am working on several projects right now, some I have blogged about and some I haven't. Each of these projects are very meaningful for me despite their diversity. Let me show you what I mean.

1. Canadian Birth Professional series: I am writing a four book series on the business aspect of being an independent birth professional; Business Fundamentals, Birth Plan Basics, Marketing and Record Keeping. The second and third are finished, the first is almost done and I have a fair amount done on the fourth. They have taken longer than I promised my editor because I keep adding to them!

2. Landscape Design for the Immanuel Lutheran Church of Rosenthal: I am working on a three phase plan for their landscape development. I spent a couple of hours this week pouring over site plans and addition blueprints (there has been four additions to the church over the years and each has their own measurements not contained on subsequent plans, so I had to dig through them all! I have preliminary drawings of everything, I just need to formalize it onto scale drawings and put some costs in (yikes, this will be the big job) to bring to the committee in August.

3. ICAN's Accreditation Program: Having finished all the groundwork, and launched the program in May, we (as in myself as Education Director and the Education Committee) are now completing the modules not yet written. We are also using the feedback from those currently working through the program to refine it.

4. Immanuel's Healthy Family Ministry: Coordinating a multi-faceted program to support perinatal and mature parents; Christian Prenatal Classes, Birth Doula Support, Postpartum Doula Support, New Moms Group, Helping Hands and Parenting Programs. Our launch date is "Labour Day" on September 5th with a Healthy Family Fair which will promote all the programs, including our Healing Ministry and offer sign up for Sunday School, Alpha and other fall programs.

5. Being the main person on ICAN International's board of directors with affiliation knowledge and a vested interest in having these agreements in place as a Canadian, I will be working on ICAN affiliate agreements for Canada, Ireland and Singapore this fall.

6. Becoming a Lactation Educator Trainer. This is something I have been wanting to do for years and have just not put as a priority. It is now and I am working through the preliminary work towards becoming approved.

Busy you say? Insane maybe? Well I cannot tell you how much each of these projects excites me and gets me up in the morning ready to build each program in a different way. I find that if I don't have at least two projects on the go at once I am bored and if they are diverse I can switch around and not bog down with one. I can go back to one that I felt frustrated with and have a new perspective, having worked on something else for a while!

Sisterhood

I spent a few hours yesterday with myparents, my sisters and our families, in the guise of celebrating two birthdays. It is hard to believe that our close-knit family of five has grown to 14, soon to be 15!

Tracy and I have almost always shared birthday celebrations being only a year and sixteen days apart and this year was no different. Though Tracy and I see each other fairly frequently, Terri I see so seldom because of her very busy horse training business and it taking her out to the mountains most of each summer. It was her having to bring horses to the vet that brought her to our party which we had planned to celebrate without her. It is amazing how God answers prayers some times, Tracy and I have both been missing her greatly of late, only to have her come out of the mountains when we least expected, and on our birthday to boot!

Tracy is planning to stay home as a full time mom after the birth of her second baby next spring and I cannot wait to spend more than the occasional meal with her... all we need is Terri to find a way to train her horses closer to home.

Playground Hunting

We have decided today that we are going to go to a new playground each day or every other day to checkout what we like and don't like in playground design. This is in preparation for designing Immanuel's landscape proposal that we are working on.

Today we went to a newer, small playground that, despite it's size, was a wonderful combination for all ages (2-10 are who primarily use playground equipment). It's drawbacks were no shade (there is a perfect location for a tree adjacent to the equipment which would easly shade the picnic table there) and metal slides - NOT fun for little ones in shorts... though they admittedly last longer than plastic slides. The kids had a ball and are looking forward to future outings next week.

C/SEC Inc. - Cesareans/Support, Education and Concern

A package arrived yesterday from ICAN Int'l Bookstore guru Debby Crail. It contained several C/SEC newsletters from days past and I have been pouring over them... as I always do when it is something to read and about birth. These newsletters are from the late 80's and it is truly amazing how relevant their information is today as it was then. I am treasuring the wisdom of these women who were doing the same work we are doing today in lowering unnecessary cesarean rates, equipping women for the reality of hospital birth experiences and reducing the rampant trampling of women's rights and emotions by physicians. I would like to share some of that wisdom with you now...

VBAC pioneer Justine Clegg wrote, "The birthing women of the '80s seem to be committed primarily to succeeding in the business world, largely on men's terms. They seem quite willing to allow professional men to define for them the optimum way to birth. Perhaps it is because they buy into high technology in business, or their primary goal is to have a perfect product. These women seem to put their trust in high-tech birthing with medical experts. "

Hmm, I would extend that to the 90's and beyond because I too see the fixation on technology as the optimum choice, even in childbirth.

Valerie Franklin pointed out the obvious, "With a cesarean, if it's scheduled there's no pain beforehand. However, the pain after surgery can be excruciating. With a vaginal birth the pain is excruciating beforehand but the instant the baby is born the pain is totally gone. All in all, any kind of birth is difficult, painful, and at times traumatic."

The new "trend" of elective cesareans the doctors are blaming the increasing cesarean rates on are all about avoiding the pain of childbirth. Well avoid the pain by adoption! But back to the point, the reality is very few women are choosing elective cesareans and those who want one are fearful of the loss of empowerment and pain that is widely portrayed on current television series showing highly medically managed birth as the norm. Once they are counseled about the reality of normal birth, their options and the truth of cesarean risk, very few do ultimately choose surgery.

"Although at times before our daughter's birth I teased my wife about being obsessed with the idea of a VBAC. I am glad we were able to experience our daughter's birth the way we did, instead of living through a repeat cesarean. It gave me an opportunity not just to see my daughter born, but also the chance to share this incredible event with a partner able to be alert and elated as I." These were the wise words shared by Michael Moran, father of both a cesarean and VBAC borne.

Another father, Roland Janbergs writes after his wife's second cesarean, "I still think modern medicine could be improved in one very important aspect. For some reason, physicians keep people in their care in the dark as long as possible. Then they ask for a decision in no time, usually with incomplete information. This is not really fair." Fair, interesting wording. How about ethical? Primary caregivers are chosen because of their knowledge and expertise, theoretically to provide us with our options where needed during the time we have retained them, and paid them well for that expertise I might add. Would we appreciate our accountant or landscape designer to withhold important information that may impact our lives? Indeed not, so why do we allow physicians to do so during the most vulnerable time of our lives?

There are many, many experiences and knowledge shared but I will leave you with Valerie Franklin's voice of pain, "Barely a day has gone by that I have not cried for the precious first hours of our baby's life that were stolen from my husband and myself, for the pain and scars, both physical and psychological, inflicted upon me, and for the lack of compassion and understanding we received." These emotions are a common echo among women who have experienced a surgical delivery of their precious baby, whether life-saving or not.

Still Landscaping...

This is becoming a trend in my blogs it seems! Though this time I am focused here at home on my own yard. I spent the day moving shrubs, sod, edging and rock as I re-defined our front yard a bit. It seems that the surveyors were a bit off when they marked our front corner last May and I was indeed landscaping on my neighbours lot last summer! I pulled it all in to our side today and though it was HARD work, it was fun.

The Flowers, our new neighbours whose property adjoins my newly-landscaped front yard, are a wonderful family with three boys aged 13, 5 and 3. "The boys" (theirs and ours) can't wait for them to move in, which we anticipate to be in a couple of weeks at the latest.

I have to move one shrub and a teeny bit of the very front bed tomorrow. I can't wait to visit my chiropractor after it is done!

O Canada

I love Canada Day, but then I am biased because we also share a birthday! Beyond that though, I love this country I share with so many wonderful, diverse and amazing people who call it home. However strong and beautiful Canada is though, it was marred by the decision to allow same-sex marriage which is a direct mockery of the basis on which our country stands, that of strong families and the sanctity of marriage. That decision was not based on a free vote by our government, but rather by coersion on the part of the leading governing bodies. Something as important as this decision should not only be based on a free vote, but should be based on a public vote by all who live here.

Beyond the fallicies of our government however, I wanted to end on this note. Our national anthem, which I have learned and sang in front of assemblies in both official languages, is a wonderful song. It took our leaders far longer to decide on it's wording than for them to allow the sorrowful same-sex marriage bill.

More importantly, did you know it is a prayer to God? Indeed! Let us continue to pray that same song/anthem/prayer that our country may move towards a stronger, more enlightened, future.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!

Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!

Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.

Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.