Belinda laboring with a smile!

Belinda wasn’t due until Christmas eve so I was very surprised when I heard from her and Eric early in the morning of December 4th! But after an hour it was clear this wasn’t warm-up later as her surges were coming every 3-4 minutes and getting stronger! When I arrived Belinda was working hard but doing a beautiful job relaxing with the contractions. Eric got the tub ready and she found some relief during transition in the warm water.

Baby Cal gazes up at his loving mama!

Belinda was strong and steady as she moved from the tub to the birth stool to her side in bed as she breathed her baby down and out. 7lb 5 oz Cal Arthur’s head emerged after a slow gentle crowning while Belinda smiled from ear to ear with joy and relief!

Cal enjoys meeting big brother Sam and his auntie!

His body slipped out with the next contraction and much to all of our delight this sweet little boy did the breast crawl and started nursing on his own minutes after the birth! Big brother Sam slept through the whole labor but joined his family soon after to welcome baby Cal. Congratulations to this great family!

Baby burrito swaddled up for the night!

A Father & Son moment

Baby Blake Benjamin is born!

Sweet little bundle! Welcome to the World Blake!

Sarah and Ben were expecting baby number four just before Christmas. Sarah had a history of very fast labors so when she started having contractions on Thursday December 15th we all thought it was going to be the day and rushed over to her house. But her sweet little boy wasn’t quite ready so we all just got to enjoy eating some of Sarah’s amazing cooking for a few hours and then decided we needed to wait and let the little boy pick his birthday.
Baby Blake was apparently set on being a Thursday’s child–just not Thursday the 15th. Early in the morning of the solstice Thursday December 22nd I got a call that this was the real deal. I raced out the door on the unseasonably balmy first day of winter and got a text when I was minutes away that Sarah’s water had broken. I knew that meant that the baby was coming quickly.

Baby Catcher Ben with his special delivery!

Big Sister Ava isn't the baby anymore and welcomes her brother!

Sure enough 7lb 9oz Blake was being caught by his daddy Ben as I was pulling up in front of their house! It was perfect and just as it was meant to be. I came in a caught the placenta and checked on the baby and this strong, healthy mama. All was perfect! Sarah and Ben were calm and happy and big brother Tyler and sisters Cassidy and Ava were ecstatic and lovingly welcomed their little brother! What a lovely solstice gift and early Christmas present! Congratulations!

ps-As I left Sarah’s Meredith called to inform me that another mama was in labor! What a solstice! More on that birth soon!

pps- Sarah made these amazing and yummy Vegan Banana Chocolate Chip muffins while up with early contractions at 2:30 am so we got to enjoy fresh muffins as we celebrated Blake’s speedy and healthy arrival! Here’s the recipe! Enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Muffins – Organic and Vegan
Yields 12 muffins

1 3/4 cups spelt flour
1 1 /2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas
2/3 cups maple syrup (grade b)
2/3 cup softened coconut oil
2/3 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly coat a 12-cup muffin tray with coconut oil.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Add the mashed banana and syrup, and oil. Stir just until all the flour is sbsorbed. Fold in the chocolate chips.

Portion the batter into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

"Slow-dancing" through transition with husband Chris!

Marisa and Chris came late to the homebirth decision. We had spoken earlier in her pregnancy but she had decided to just stick with working with midwives in the hospital setting. But as the birth grew closer she realized that in her heart she really wanted to have her baby at home. Her first appointment was her 36 week home visit and we all jumped into the journey together full force! At 39 weeks Marisa thought she was going into labor but things were very inconsistent still. We decided to keep in touch over the afternoon and I started heading back into the city from the Western Philly suburbs where I was with family. Right as I was pulling up to my house Marisa called reporting they were coming every 3 minutes all the sudden and strong! It was a Monday so Martin was in New York. My babysitter was on her way home from work to watch Itzela but given it was baby number two and rush hour I couldn’t wait the 30 minutes til my babysitter arrived. I headed over with Itzela in tow and my friend and sister Motherland Mama Inga agreed to meet me in the rain at rush hour with her two kids at the house to pick up Itzy (thanks Inga!!). We arrived and dad Chris put on Dora the Explorer in the living room for Itzela who was nonplussed having Marisa in transition in the bathroom just 4 feet away. Itzy knows her mommy is a midwife and “a midwife helps mommies and babies” so we talked in the car on the way about the fact that mommy had to help this other mommy and I needed her to just wait for Inga while I worked. She said “ok mommy!”. My little midwife helper.

Pushing that posterior baby was hard work!

Anyway, back to Marisa!!! She was on the toilet laboring hard with the support of husband Chris and her friend Rikki who is an acupuncturist and doula in training. It seemed like the baby was going to come very soon. But after her water broke while on the birth stool things didn’t progress as quickly as I expected. Looking at her belly it seemed the baby had rotated posterior as he was finding his way through the birth canal. We did some positional things to help the baby get in a better position but at this point Marisa was full-on pushing and baby was descending. Ana arrived just before baby 7lb 10oz Benjamin emerged “sunny-side up” and Marisa brought him to her belly.

Weighing Benjamin!

Marisa was amazing and Chris was calm and excited about his first baby! I’m so glad this sweet family made the switch to homebirth! Congratulations!

Happy mama!

Marisa, Chris and Benjamin two hours after the birth!

Maria working beautifully with the intense surges!

Maria had been at my house at 5 pm on November 14th so I could check on the baby’s heartbeat. She was around 41 weeks and we just were making sure the baby was moving ok and still happy being on the inside. Maria had been at acupuncture earlier in the afternoon. As she was leaving my house at 5:30 pm she started to have a few contractions. We joked about the baby coming in the next few hours as my mom who was my childcare had just left (since Maria was my only client in her birthing window, was a first-time mom and wasn’t in labor) and Martin wasn’t going to be home for a few hours. Maria got home and sure enough contractions picked up. By the time her husband Matt was home from work at 6:30 pm she was having contractions every 6-8 minutes. Within an hour they were coming every 5 minutes and super strong and I got ready to head over. As I was packing up my car Matt called saying he thought Maria was pushing! Ahh! I was delayed a couple blocks from my house when I apparently -with the surge of adrenaline – didn’t exactly stop for a stop sign and had to explain to the police I was racing to catch a baby. Thankfully they waved me on and  I arrived, parked illegally and ran up the three flights of steps to find Maria in the midst of a furiously strong contraction and sure enough sounding like she was pushing! Matt asked me if he should fill the tub and I told him it was way too late for that! Maria remembers after I said that there was a pause during which Matt realized the birth was happening NOW! Exciting!  I did a quick check and she was 10 cm with a bulging bag of waters. Maria was amazing! Matt exclaimed- “What a Motherland Mama you are!” in his excitement and was so sweet and supportive. Maria moved to the birth stool and began pushing began in earnest. Janeyne was on her way and arrived just before the baby was born.What an exciting and unexpectedly rapid labor!

First Family Photo!

8lb 4oz Anders Paolo was born at 9:57 pm- less than 5 hours after Maria left my house having no more than sporadic short contractions–wow! Talk about fast and furious! Daddy Matt was very impressed shouting “This is the most awesome birth ever!” Congratulations to this sweet family!

Anders on Day 2 sleeping peacefully

Anders checking out his mama moments after birth!

Julian trying out the pouch for the first time!

Liz and Jared were due on 11/11/11- what a cool due date! As some blood pressure concerns arose the end of pregnancy Liz was super diligent about nutritional and alternative ways to help keep her BP under control. She went into labor the night of 11/9. It was a hard labor pattern and her body had a difficult time keeping anything down as the surges came. When her water broke and there was pretty thick meconium in the fluid and we were still in the first part of labor, we all decided the hospital was the safest place to be and knew Liz could benefit from IV fluids since she was nauseous and throwing up too. Baby Julian Felix was born Wednesday November 10th weighing in at 8lb 11oz.

Mama and baby

He was such a cutie with a lot of hair and just plain adorable! Julian spent a week in the NICU due to respiratory concerns that the doctors thing were due to an infection that developed during her labor. Liz recovered beautifully and was soon able to nurse her son and was very calm and present with him through it all. He went home at a week old healthy and strong and an amazing breastfeeding baby!

Cutie pie!

Congratulations!

Liz, Julian and the family cat enjoying a babymoon day!

Big "brother" Toby was able to get some rest waiting for Bhima to be born!

Snow in October in Philadelphia is not a common occurrence. But after this year’s weather, we all know anything is possible. So when I heard from Ammie and Schuyler early on the morning of the 29th that early labor had begun, as we prepared to set out for some snowy Halloween parties, I wasn’t at all surprised. Both because I had a feeling Ammie wasn’t going to wait for November to have her baby, and because big changes in weather often bring on labors!

Contraction waves stayed about the same for the day and the family (big “brother” Toby the dog included) went on a snowy walk in Mount Airy. Close to midnight Ammie’s water bag released and things intensified so Janeyne and I headed over. It was such a treat to see several inches of snow on all the fall trees in Mount Airy, a veritable pre-winter wonderland, in contrast to just the sleet and slush in South Philly. Those couple degrees of heat in the heart of the city make a big difference I suppose!

Squatting to help bring the baby down-strong yoga teacher parents!

This yoga mama was relaxing well through the contractions and mostly upright in her bed. That yogic breathing is so helpful for labor–Ammie’s powerful breath directed the energy of her surges and things were moving along. But baby Bhima (sanskrit for “The Mighty One”) was still working through things on his journey. Mama cajoled her son encouraging him to cross the threshold into life on the outside and making sure he knew they were ready and he was most welcome! At one point she said, “Let freedom ring Bhima-it’s time to be born!”.

Ammie stretches to make room for Bhima and radiates love with that smile!

As dawn approached we were all a bit surprised to not have met this little one yet. I encouraged Ammie to try some squats with Schuyler supporting her as she really did not like the birth stool but we wanted some gravity and to help her really sink into the sensation of the baby moving down. That was the trick– what a sight to see this loving, strong, couple both squatting for most of a half an hour with no other support than each other. Ammie really began to moan and move the baby downward and Schuyler was quietly focused on supporting her and reminding her he was there for her to lean on and to offer strength and love for their family. At one point during this time, Ammie finished a contraction and with wide, beautiful eyes shared, “It’s not about opening your cervix, it’s about opening your whole heart!”. And then just after saying that, exclaimed, “Something’s happening!”. We shifted back into the bedroom and after a bit more work including some hip rocking to help baby navigate the pelvis, Bhima’s head emerged. Ammie was semi-reclined on the bed with Schuyler behind her helping her pull back her knees towards her ears during her pushes. With Ammie being as incredibly flexible as she is this was quite a sight as her knees were literally up behind her ears really accentuating the passage of the baby through the birth canal towards crowning. The parents had a great view from that vantage point of seeing the head slowly emerge and baby Bhima moving his head around even as it passed through the ring of fire- those babies are such active participants in their births working with their strong mamas!

Bhima gazing at his mama moments after birth

Father and son meet eyes for the first time!

6 lb 13 oz Bhima latched right onto mama’s breast and had continued to be an amazing nursling gaining weight like crazy! Ammie & Schuyler & Bhima snuggled up together for a snowy Sunday in October- what a (trick-or-) treat! And little Bhima is another early EC baby-he’s even learning to signal for pees at 10 days old! Wow!

Lydia listens to her sibling with the fetoscope!

Cheryl and Tim are a lovely, kind, compassionate couple that live in the Camden Community House in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden and are very involved in efforts to bring social and environmental justice and resources for positive change to their community and city. Martin, Itzela and I are occasional attendees of the church they do work with and through–Sacred Heart–and so we’ve gotten to know them through church and another Motherland family, Cassie, Chris and Simon Haw. Itzela and Lydia have become buddies, especially through prenatal visits (where Lydia perfected her fetoscope skills per the photo here!) and playing in the back of the church. It has been fun to see the girls get to know each other more throughout Cheryl’s pregnancy–to the point that now when Itzela and I have come to the house she says, “No church, just Lydia’s house”. Timothy is such a fun, engaged dad (and, as we saw during the labor-an engaged, loving partner) that Itzela often talks about him and asks for “Michael Jackson dance parties with Lydia’s daddy”.

Timothy offers himself to Cheryl to rest on between rebozo sifting during contractions

I attended a Mother Blessing for Cheryl and the common theme of the women sharing their thoughts was Cheryl’s quiet strength. It is a constant yet subtle presence in her day-to-day life and that carried through into her labor as well. As did her subtle and wry humor–always fun when mamas can keep their sense of humor through labor (though understandable when mamas can’t too!) With Cheryl’s first birth she had taken castor oil after her membranes had been open for awhile, so she was looking forward to spontaneous onset of labor this time around. After a few bouts of warm up labor weeks before her due date, early labor set in the morning of her 41st week of pregnancy. Timothy has written a lovely, detailed account of the labor and birth that I’m hoping they’ll share on the website, but I’ll share a few of my favorite thoughts/moments.

Lydia checks in with mama and tells baby to "Come out. Now!"

Cheryl and Timothy really made an impression on Ana with how connected they were through each surge and how Timothy was completely and deeply present to Cheryl for each moment of the labor even as he jotted down notes about the journey to record the story for the baby.

When I decided it made sense to do the rebozo sifting of the belly to help get the baby’s head aligned better, we offered to pile up pillows for Cheryl (who was on her hands and knees while I did the rebozo) to rest on in between contractions. But Timothy wanted to be helpful so he made himself into a human table for Cheryl to rest on (a phenomenon that I’ve witnessed before in labors but never ceases to move me!).

Cheryl supports herself in a squat from the birth stool to begin pushing

Lydia came into the room after missing mommy and after a few cuddles and kisses with mom, decided to give some direction by saying, “Baby come out. Now!!”.

Even with her focus on birthing her baby, Cheryl really wanted to make sure that the post-baby lasagna Timothy had prepared was defrosting and then getting heated up for her– she knew she’d be hungry!

When Cheryl was on the birth stool getting into the groove of pushing, I asked her at the end of the contraction how it felt to push and she commented “It feels crowded”. We all got a good laugh at that! Little did Cheryl know she’d be holding her baby only minutes later!

The head is out!

Welcome Matteo!

Baby Matteo Justus Shenk emerged at 1:22 pm weighing 8lb 9oz with his big sister Lydia there to greet him with her parents and auntie’s Cassie and Kristin. Timothy sang his son a welcoming song and Cheryl was able to gather up baby from between her knees and enjoy that Golden Hour postpartum with her son and family despite a bit of bleeding (which our team of Ana, Kate Aseron of Rising Moon -who had been at Lydia’s birth, and I handled smoothly together–go midwives!). And little Matteo was doing poops and pees into the potty bucket just a couple days after his birth! I even got to EC (Elimination Communication) him at one of the home visits : )

Itzela joined me on a home postpartum visit the day after the birth to have a little playdate with Lydia and her grandparents. Later that afternoon Itzela told me she wanted to be a sister–so Lydia must have really been doing a great job and enjoying her new role in the family!

Welcome Matteo! And congratulations to this sweet family!

From vegan raw foods cheesecake to veggie pot-pie, homemade apple pie to 7-layer dips and hot mulled apple cider to beautifully decorated shortbread cookies, and more- the food offerings didn’t disappoint! But it was seeing the families meet each other and all those amazing babies and the increasing number of toddlers enjoy playing together that was the real highlight! And of course giving Nora Grace a big welcome and seeing Meredith as a beautiful nursing mother!

We look forward to the next gathering! Enjoy the rest of your autumn & this Smilebox of photos from the day!

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Mama and daughter moments after a peaceful waterbirth!

Yolonda and Isaiah and their family moved to South Jersey when they were about 33 weeks pregnant and found me just in time to make plans for a homebirth! They had 5 girls and 1 boy and their last baby had been born at home in Ohio with a midwife I know from doing midwifery/birth political work nationally. This sweet family was excited for a homebirth to christen their new home. Yolonda had typically had long labors even with having birthed a number of babies. This time around however, she had a lot of warm up labor from Saturday night through the week until Thursday but the bouts of contractions kept stopping after a period of time. It was my hope that after all that warming up, the main event would be much faster for this quiet powerful mama. And that was certainly the case!

Daddy Isaiah welcomes his sixth baby girl Taja!

Isaiah called just after midnight on the 7th to report it seemed like this was the real deal. Ana and I arrived within 45 minutes and it certainly appeared like Yolonda was in active labor. She had warned us she was a very calm laborer (so calm her midwife had missed her last birth because it seemed so early on) so we had that info. Ana had also seen her earlier in the day when she was having regular (but in restrospect much calmer) contractions and could attest to the fact that the surges we were witnessing that night were much stronger. Yolonda’s two oldest daughters were helping out timing contractions and awaiting the new arrival. Very soon after we arrived things shifted into a stronger pattern and before we new it Yolonda had the urge to push. After a beautiful slow gentle crowning baby Taja (all 7 kids have “T” name) was born in the water into Ana’s excited, caring hands- marking her first baby catch on American soil! Soon after the other big sisters and brother appeared to great the newest addition to this big happy family. The family preferred to let the cord dry on its own for a Lotus birth so we tucked the mama, baby and placenta (wrapped in a bag and then in a container) into bed before we were on our way a few hours later.

Ana charting after her first "American" baby catching

Ana joyfully proclaimed, “These are the births I’ve always read about! I’m going to dream about this one!” as she reflected on how happy she was to have the opportunity to assist at low intervention natural childbirths in the home setting. It’s been lovely to work with Ana and share experiences with one another and it was wonderful to see her so happy to serve this family!

Congratulations to Yolonda and Isaiah and family, and to Ana too!

Taja's toes peek out of our lovely new scale sling as we find out she is 7lbs on October 7th & baby 7!

Lee helping Michelle relax through the contractions

Michelle and Lee Clemmer patiently waited to meet their child as their due date came and went around Labor Day and they saw other families in the practice due after them welcome their little ones. When Michelle 18 days past her due date and the baby’s fluid levels had suddenly dropped we decided to try castor oil after three days of acupuncture hadn’t gotten labor started. Michelle’s full moon belly was impressive and she was strong and determined as she moved around her home and went on long walks trying to help her body move into labor. Her water broke after taking the castor oil (nice clear fluid even at that gestation for the healthy mom and baby!) but we still were unable to get into active labor after 18 hours at home and the decision was made to continue the induction efforts in the hospital. The test of endurance and patience continued there as the hospital staff used the tools they had to get Michelle’s cervix favorable for the use of pitocin.

Baby Jack and Mama Michelle face-to-face

After 18+ hours in the hospital Michelle was handling the contractions she had beautifully but the medications we tried had not worked to the point pitocin could be used. At that time the difficult but reasonable (given the gestation, open bag of waters with GBS and challenge getting any regular labor going) decision to have a C-section was made as it seemed that the baby was maybe communicating that he or she didn’t want mom to go into labor. With Lee’s love and support and Michelle’s eye towards a long life with a healthy baby, this sweet couple shifted gears to excitedly celebrating the birth of 11lb 8oz (!) Jack Albert Clemmer on Sunday Septebmer 25th! We were expecting a 10 lb+ baby but were all impressed with his size. Jack was the third baby in three days for Motherland that weekend!

Those almost 43 weekers are strong nursers!

Nurse Kate holds up big baby Jack to show off his stepping reflex!

Jack is almost unbearably cute and an excellent nurser-mama Michelle was over the moon when Jack latched in recovery soon after birth. Michelle is absolutely delighted to be a mom and falling more and more in love with Jack each day and Lee has become a championship baby wearing daddy!

Father and son gazing at each other

Neither mom nor dad can resist Jack's chubby cheeks!

It was such an honor to see the family move through this challenging journey with grace, humility, love and perspective on the long-term vision of their family life together.

Congratulations!

Lee and Jack are stylin' in the Moby Wrap!

Happy at home skin-to-skin!

Proud papa!