Midwifery

The Earth Birth "ambulance"

A good friend of mine, Rachel Zaslow, is the co-founder of Earth Birth, an International Women’s Health Collective run by midwives to foster a movement that encourages and promotes safe and peaceful birth as an act of social justice and community healing. Rachel is a homebirth midwife who lives in Brooklyn when she is not on-site at Earth Birth in Uganda. We met a few years ago when I was at work as a labor and delivery nurse, and was assigned to the laboring mama Rachel had transferred to the hospital. We had an instant connection as we did Reiki together and supported this family in welcoming their newest member. Last night I was talking to another midwife I met through Rachel, Kate Prendergast. Kate spent six weeks volunteering at Earth Birth and she shared with me the ways that experience impacted her current practice. I found it fascinating, and thought you might too. Kate agreed to write a guest post for Holistic Doula NYC, here it is:

Midwives Rachel Zaslow and Olivia Kimble founded Earth Birth to reduce maternal and infant mortality in several locations around the globe by providing maternity health services in environmentally sustainable facilities. One of the goals is to teach the use of safe, economical protocols and sustainable equipment to the local birth attendants. Dependency on expensive, disposable and imported equipment and medication eventually leads to worse outcomes when those supplies are not available. I was lucky enough to spend 6 weeks volunteering at Earth Birth in Northern Uganda and now, almost a year later, I have begun to realize how two aspects of that experience have influenced my homebirth midwifery practice here in the New York and New Jersey metro areas.

Kate and some of the traditional birth attendants in Uganda

The first influence was my official title while I was in Uganda: “Senior Staff Midwife”. I am normally not one for titles and labels and did not think much of it at the time, but in retrospect I can feel how the title combined with the reality that when Olivia (who was onsite in Uganda during my 6 week stay) was away or busy with the other business of the project I was the obstetric authority everyone looked to if problems arose. My role was to teach and supervise the local midwives, helping them gain skills and overseeing prenatal appointments, labors, births and postpartum care. The reality that at times, “I was it,” had a great effect on me, and my confidence level. The other influence was the simplicity of the birth kit.

In an American hospital a large cart with drawers is at the ready with many instruments and medications. In addition, disposable and washable linen, disposable pads, oxygen and IV poles, infant resuscitation and monitoring equipment are in every room. For my homebirth practice here in America, both my partner and I carry multiple large bags with equipment and medication. The expectant family also assembles a large tote box of towels in various sizes, baby blankets and clothing, and orders a variety of supplies from one of several businesses set up for this purpose. Typically American families will also have a myriad of other infant equipment from a car seat to a boppy pillow.

Earth Birth co-founder Olivia Kimball with a group of traditional birth attendants

In contrast, the birth kit at Earth Birth in Uganda fits entirely in a dishpan or locally woven basket. It consisted of: a plastic sheet, a cotton sheet, 3 or 4 towels, a pair of scissors, a Delee and bulb syringe, all of which had been washed and hung to dry in the sun after the previous birth. Gloves, two lengths of cord tape and a handful of cotton wool were the only disposable items. A fetoscope, blood pressure cuff and stethoscope completed the standard equipment in the birth room. Sutures and some medication were available in an adjacent storage area. The family brought a small bundle of rags for pads and diapers.

The effect of these two realities—full responsibility and sparse equipment—on my personal process as a midwife deepened my already strong faith in the normalcy of birth and in my skills and ability to address complications with only my heart, mind and hands. My gratitude for the availability and proximity of higher levels of medical care is now deeper then it was before. Most people, including my midwifery partner Carole, who visit Africa on a medical care mission, are forever changed by the experience of seeing the disparities in resources around the world. I am thankful for the ways Earth Birth changed me.

Kate is currently taking home birth clients and is also available for postpartum doula work. Kate has been doing birth work since 1996 and has two grown sons of her own.

Rachel is also available for home birth clients and can be reached at rzaslow@gmail.com.

If you want to help support Earth Birth, click here, and to view Earth Birth’s amazing flickr photostream, click here.

Construction on Earth Birth's flower-shaped birth center. Click the pic to find out Earth Birth's current needs.

Check out the amazing progress! Click the pic to see more photos and to join Earth Birth's Facebook page for the latest updates.

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National Midwifery Week is being held across the country this week. As part of Midwifery Week, Holistic Doula NYC encourages women to take charge of their health care and their lives. Nurse-Midwives are here to help empower women to take charge of their health.

Let’s continue to advance women’s health, together. Take Charge! For more information, visit the American College of Nurse-Midwives’ Web site at www.midwife.org.

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