Thoughts from: student midwife, Rebecca Starkey
A week ago, Kaleen and I had the pleasure of attending a
rebozo class, taught by Gena Kirby. The
class was profoundly insightful, deepening my appreciation for the midwife’s
role and widening my understanding of childbirth as a trans formative experience
for all members of the family. We
learned many ways to use the rebozo; the central theme was that using the
rebozo is a means to facilitate relaxation, which can be helpful and necessary
in many ways when attending a laboring mother.
First, a rebozo – what is it? It is a long piece of woven fabric,
indigenous to Mexico. Women in Mexico
wear them and use them in a variety of ways, including during childbirth.
At face value, it is easy to understand that relaxation
is necessary during labor. Gena presented
the idea of using the rebozo for relaxation as a means to effect the baby’s
position. She emphasized that the intent
of using the rebozo is not to turn the baby, but to relax the mother. This relaxation is very likely to facilitate the
rotation of the baby into its optimal position for birth. We learned a variety of ways to use the
rebozo as an extension of our arms to help relax the mother.
Most profoundly, Gena’s focus on incorporating the
partner created a huge impression on how I view birth as a trans formative
experience for both the mother and the partner.
In midwifery school, the focus is predominately on the woman. We learn about women’s health – gynecology,
primary care, prenatal, intrapartum, and postpartum care; we learn to view health
care from a feminist perspective. It
makes sense; we’re providing care to women!
The experience of the partner is largely neglected and ignored. I love women’s health and learning to be a
midwife, so I never realized this void. Gena
puts the relationship of the mother and the partner at the forefront of her
class and in the forefront of her interactions with her clients. She urged us to remember that the partner is
undergoing a trans formative emotional event, as well. This is an aspect of childbirth that is often
overlooked. Again, using the rebozo for
relaxation was key in Gena’s teaching. She
taught us to use the rebozo as a tool to facilitate the inclusion of the
partner during labor. To be a champion
for the woman, the midwife must support and foster the development of the
family.
Gena concluded her class with a very realistic mock
birth. Kaleen played the part of
midwife, and was great. Through this, we
were able to see the rebozo “in action”.
Additionally, Gena shared with us the idea of waiting for the mother to
ask for the baby, instead of immediately handing her the baby. To many, this is completely counter-intuitive,
as many midwives say “And the baby goes right to mom!” when espousing their
birth philosophy. Gena advises that allowing
the mother to ask for the baby gives her much needed time. In this time, she becomes a mother and is
validated by all in the room; she slips from a level of consciousness characterized
by delta brain waves, which is also the state that people are in during deep
sleep or transcendental meditation back to the typical awake state,
characterized by beta brain waves. Gena
referred to this time, between the birth until when the woman asks for her baby
as the “delta download” in which she receives everything she needs from the
universe to become a mother. She
recognizes that for some women this happens almost instantaneously, and for
others it takes a few moments. I
interpreted this as a logical succession to the way midwives advocate for women
to labor – by following their lead.
Thus, mothers that want their babies immediately will be given them, and
mothers that need a moment or two can feel secure that their needs will be respected
while their babies wait in the arms of a midwife who loves them. While only tangentially related to the
rebozo, this was a fundamental piece of information from the class, and I felt
it was necessary to share.
I’ve already seen Kaleen incorporating these ideas into
her practice, and I am excited for the continuation!
