Ringtone: Space Bell

I don't sleep well...never have as long as I recall. I love, love, love my sleep, but when I am on call for a baby mama, my whole being lights up when I get that anticipated call in the night.

Last night/this morning, as I drove the quiet highway and roads to meet up with my client and her husband, within me sat a quiet peace. I had reviewed how I planned to support my first VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) client, based on her wishes and desires for how her labour would flow, and the skills I have used as well as the new things I had learned in order to support her the best I could. That peace, I am realizing, in being invited into a space and into such an intimate experience that is as old as the beginning of mammal life on Earth, is creating quiet and profound change within me.

This client took the time to educate herself on how best to prepare her mind and body in order to birth. Birthing a child is a messy, primitive, instinctual and beautiful natural process, and when mama is supported well, she is, in those moments, the most powerful a Goddess she will ever be. Guiding a woman and coaching her to work with her body and mind, instead of fighting them is such a privilege. I have witnessed a woman's struggle turn to empowerment in just a few contractions. Baby L made his way into a room filled with calm, loving energy. His mama, while she was open to asking for pain meds if she had to, birthed him without.

While I have learned, and continue to learn more skills, I know that the soft skills that are brought to the table are equally as important, if not more-so. Supporting a woman through her birthing process, and having a small role in her story, is such a profound felt experience. This give me pause this morning, as my foggy head begins to digest the events of the night, to once again see how much our touch, words, demeanor and energy affect everyone we encounter. I feel humbled and honored, and am once again, so grateful to have had the opportunity to do something of value and importance.