Author Archives: admin

“Normal” Birth Paradigms

This month I have the honor of teaching a midwifery module of normal birth. I am excited since I am very protective over what I see as being “normal.” However, I find myself asking two questions: 1) What is “normal?” … Continue reading

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Birth Workers and the Medial Woman

The other day I was asked to speak to San Diego Birth Network about myself and my practice, but I decided also to tell a story about the commonality of the birth workers attending. As doulas or midwives we are … Continue reading

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The Gravity of the Situation: Architecture, our Body, and Spinning Babies

So I’ve already attended the spinning babies workshop, and I’m still excited that Gail Tully is headed to San Diego for a second round. Why? Because I have so much more to learn. Spinning Babies as a website (spinningbabies.com) is … Continue reading

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Imprint: The Birth of Generations

I was going to get back to Imprint, but I thought I’d start with a story that occurred a few years after Imprint was created. My middle daughter, Amayi, when she was about 4 years old was looking at her … Continue reading

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Mary Birch Hospital for Women: Feigning Powerlessness

On December 18th, 2011, over 50 men and women showed up for a rally for change in front of Mary Birch Hospital for Women. Mary Birch has one of the highest cesarean birth rates for first time mothers in the … Continue reading

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Midwife History: Articles from the 70s and 80s

I’m looking through articles from 1977 about home birth’s resurgence. So much mirrors that time now as “doula” becomes a common household word and homebirth has increased by 20% even before “The Business of Being Born” came out. One article … Continue reading

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Using your BRAIN: Soliciting Informed Consent

Using Your BRAIN: Soliciting Informed Consent So I am going to be teaching (mentoring) Documentation and Charting to the new group of students going through Nizhoni Institute of Midwifery. Of course, since this is the first time I have been … Continue reading

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Imprint, 16 years later

November 23, 2011 I’m going through old files this week and opening a part of my life as well as others’ lives that I haven’t seen for a while. It really inspires me to (re)member much of what I’ve taken … Continue reading

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Brainstorming: Rediscovering Power Throughout the Menstrual Cycle

As I get older and my daughter gets older, I see the importance of passing down what history I have left to her of connections to our bodies. History or her story, it is the body’s story that has etched … Continue reading

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The Power of Birth Story

Storytelling is quite powerful. It can be sweet, expressive, soul-revealing. Storytelling can disguise parts of you that you don’t want to reveal and still allow them to be present. Storytelling can entrance a person and soften them to explore themselves … Continue reading

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