Tag: midwifery and birth conference south africa

Categories
Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Positive Birth in South Africa: This is Sarah Meder


The Gate-Keepers: A Portraiture Project

This is a portraiture project, documenting the “gatekeepers” of a growing movement regarding positive birth experiences in our country.  My aim: to promote those who are enabling women to identify with their power and femininity and therefore normalize birth and the body.

These are their stories / anecdotes / opinions about what they do and how they see it…accompanied by my portraits and some general information on each sitter.

–

Sarah trained with British Doulas in 2004, giving her 12 years experience in the nursing and birthing industry. She is also a Birthing From Within Mentor, hypnosis professional and a reiki master. She is currently a student nurse aspiring to become a midwife. She works in the greater Cape Town area.

Sarah Meder student Midwife South Africa Photographed by Leah Hawker

“I think the history of birth in South Africa has been strongly paternalistic with a majority still “buying into” this model, both as patient and care provider. However, people are slowly finding their voices…change is slow. I feel hopeful that both parents and care providers will help dismantle this system which is incredibly dis-empowering to everyone involved.”

–

“Attitudes to women’s bodies and rights seem closely tied to their wealth or poverty. Women who are impoverished seem to expect to be treated badly when giving birth, those who are wealthy often have unrealistic expectations of control over every aspect of birth. Artificial-feeding can be seen by some to be an example of wealth or by others as a sign that the mother is HIV+.”

• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).

Categories
Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Positive Birth in South Africa: This is Thea Hurenkamp


The Gate-Keepers: A Portraiture Project

This is a portraiture project, documenting the “gatekeepers” of a growing movement regarding positive birth experiences in our country.  My aim: to promote those who are enabling women to identify with their power and femininity and therefore normalize birth and the body.

These are their stories / anecdotes / opinions about what they do and how they see it…accompanied by my portraits and some general information on each sitter.

–

Thea Hurenkamp has been a doula for close on two years. She has a past in teaching, marketing and social work. Thea works predominantly in the CBD and Northern Suburbs of Cape Town.

Thea Hurenkamp 0 Doula South Africa Photographed by Leah Hawker

“One of the most important aspects of my Doula work, as I see it, is to talk about birth more – just talk! It’s what women do best. It’s connection. The more we talk about birth as an empowering and natural phenomenon, the more we shed light. All fear lives in silence and darkness.”

–

“My opinion is that there is so much fear in both the public and private sectors. We seem to have lost our collective trust in the process and in the birthing woman.
It manifests in different ways: emotional, verbal and physical abuse from care providers, coercion, hasty and often unnecessary intervention, elected caesarean births – and I think these manifestations will continue until women feel empowered enough to challenge it.
I don’t believe it is a problem unique to South Africa but we definitely have a host of aggravating factors to deal with concurrently which makes progress slow. I would like to see more emphasis placed on fostering trust, respect, compassion and empowerment in the birth space. Research shows us that when our women feel safe they birth better and our children don’t deserve to be born into fear.”

–

“As a young woman I faced childbirth for the first time with absolutely no preparation from the women in my family. Nobody ever spoke about it. Ever. All I had to go by was the media and my vivid imagination. By some stroke of luck I was blessed with incredibly gentle team of care providers who guided me through it with such respect for my authority over my body and I emerged on the other side feeling strong and in awe of my ability.
It’s something I want more women to know about and to experience – that’s what being a Doula means to me.”

• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).

Categories
Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Positive Birth in South Africa: This is Gayle Friedman


The Gate-Keepers: A Portraiture Project

This is a portraiture project, documenting the “gatekeepers” of a growing movement regarding positive birth experiences in our country.  My aim: to promote those who are enabling women to identify with their power and femininity and therefore normalize birth and the body.

These are their stories / anecdotes / opinions about what they do and how they see it…accompanied by my portraits and some general information on each sitter.

–

Gayle has been in health care for over 30 years and been a doula for 8 years. She specializes in color therapy and is also a qualified aromatherapist, reflexologist and yoga instructor. She works in areas between the Atlantic Seaboard, CBD and Southern Suburbs of Cape Town.

Gayle Friedman Doula South Africa photographed by Leah Hawker

“I myself have had three home births but I choose to work in actual medical hospitals because someone has to hold the spiritual, psychological, emotional space for women to relax, feel safe and calm so that their brain/body can do what it knows- Let go, breathe out and let babies be born.”

–

 “If I could see some statistics change? It would be for South African women to have more vaginal births.”

• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).

Categories
Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Positive Birth in South Africa: This is Joy King


The Gate-Keepers: A Portraiture Project

This is a portraiture project, documenting the “gatekeepers” of a growing movement regarding positive birth experiences in our country.  My aim: to promote those who are enabling women to identify with their power and femininity and therefore normalize birth and the body.

These are their stories / anecdotes / opinions about what they do and how they see it…accompanied by my portraits and some general information on each sitter.

–

Joy is a doula. She works predominantly in Cape Towns city centre and the South Peninsula areas. She has been a doula for three years now.
Joy is a member of The Birth Hub where she is an antenatal course facilitator and one of the doula’s making up the team, she is a also a qualified Shiatsu Therapist. Apart from her work with women, Joy feels strongly about education and how to make change come about from the roots up.

Joy King - South African Doula Photographed by Leah Hawker

This is what inspires Joy about being involved in birthing in South Africa…

“Besides my chosen vocation, I am also a mother to three daughters. If anything motivates me to change beliefs around femininity, womanhood, pregnancy and birth, it is them.
I look forward to the day where the instinct inherent in women is respected and honored; where women’s desire to trust their bodies is held in high regard.”

 –

“Sex education at schools should be changed to be inclusive of the love and trust of the feminine. Without this positive education, women become mothers surrounded by fear and distrust rather than love and faith. This must change for a healthier, more peaceful future for our descendants. This must Change.”

• (I invite more participants to join the project, you are welcome to email me for more information).