Tag: natural birth

Birth: This is Talitha’s Story
The Birth of Noah, 21 January 2019

Post author By Leah
Post date May 22, 2020

I got the call from Talitha at about 1:30am. I grabbed my gear and drove the hour to her house through the quiet dark highways.

The house was so quiet and dimly lit. I put down my things and slowly went upstairs to the loft bedroom where Peter, Talitha and their midwife Ayla were.

I quietly greeted and sat for a while to acclimatise and feel the space out. I tiptoed down stairs a little while later and brought up my tripod and camera and a spare memory card and battery and started, very occasionally, to take a few pictures to capture the scene.

Talitha was at quite an advanced stage of labour when I arrived and within an hour things had become increasingly intense for her. She moved around very little until at one point she kneeled, on a yoga mat, at the end of their plastic and sheet covered bed and she began to moan and push through active labour. Her husband Peter quietly but firmly held her in her space and Ayla stood back behind her, her hands in blue gloves, waiting calmly.

She began to push, she was surprisingly quiet, I almost didn’t realise it was that time. I moved around as fast and quietly as I could to the other side of the bed. A better vantage point. I caught the moment as all three caught Noah as he made his way out of the womb and into the world. Peter and Talitha gently pulled him up into their arms. A warm aura clung to them in those moments. The look on Talitha’s face was peaceful yet intense. I wondered how her body must feel after having a baby leave her moments ago.

They slowly got up, Talitha holding Noah and Peter holding Talitha and they made their way onto the bed where, relieved and thrilled, they stared at their baby and kissed each other.

Those moments were sublime but also became increasingly difficult as we all waited for the birth of her placenta which usually comes out within 30minutes of the birth of the baby. Eventually Ayla clamped the umbilical cord and handed Peter the scissors.

They touched his toes and his tummy and his face and between smiles Talitha cramped and cringed in pain with the contractions of the placenta, which, after more than 35min, had not yet come out. Ayla spoke about ambulances…she put a drip into Talitha’s arm and I took the baby so that Peter could stand on the bed with the drip held up and Talitha could focus on pushing. It was agonising to watch and at the same time a precious moment to hold in my arms such a brand new little human.

Thankfully her placenta eventually made its way out after injections and drips and pushing. I handed Noah back to his parents and peace slowly settled into the room. It was about 3:30am now and I made my way downstairs where I rested and waited for dawn, for the house to wake up.

Little Summer, their daughter, woke up, her hair sweetly dishevelled. Talitha’s mother and Summer made their way upstairs behind me. I wanted to capture this special meeting for them.

Early morning light flooded the loft and Summer tentatively met her little brother for the first time.

After capturing a few moments I said my goodbyes, packed away my gear and quietly left into a beautiful, fresh early morning.

Tags birth, birth photography, birth shoot, birth story, home birth, natural birth

Interviews & Conversations Projects

A Conversation with Independent Midwife Natasha Stadler

Post author By Leah
Post date March 8, 2018

Natasha Stadler is a midwife based in Somerset West, 30 minutes out of Cape Town, we met at the Midwifery & Birth Conference hosted by Home Birth SA in 2015, when I photographed her portrait amongst many other South African midwives and doulas that were present.

We chatted at the event and, a while later, in March 2016, I visited her home-based birthing and meeting space which is in a private cottage apartment in her peaceful neighborhood. Natasha has been in her profession since 1990 and we spent quite some time chatting about her experiences with women.

Birth: a perfect process

Natasha spoke about the somewhat magical element of protection she observes taking place in the labouring mothers body and that of the birthing baby. Many of her observations and remarks where new to me and totally intriguing. For example, Natasha observed how, often, babies that were not receiving what they needed in utero often arrived earlier than expected. She saw similarly aligned elements occurred when for instance, a knot was found in the umbilical cord, the labour had been far quicker and the contractions shorter, perhaps as an automatic protection of the life of the baby she suggested.

Details from Natasha’s home birth space in Somerset West. The picture on the left is a capture from the Vietnam war,- a soldier assists a local giving birth.

We discussed how, very often, labor begins in a safe place, at night, when we would naturally be in a sheltered environment. When potential problems occur or labour is not progressing as it should, it is often natures indication that something is wrong. It gives time for the body to respond as best it can.

Another intriguing observation,- Women seldom go into labour when they are ill or stressed. Generally when the process of labour is quietly observed and a pregnancy has been closely monitored, elements have the opportunity to fall into place, to align.

I imagine midwives as the guardians and story-keepers of natural birth, the ones who allow the process to unfold, a womans wisdom to stay intact and she and her babe to be supported.

Their personalized approach to midwifery, and astute observations, create space for birthing mothers to labour in their own way. It struck me how straight forward birth could be when not interfered with, a safe environment is created and when fear is eliminated from the process..

The power in sharing information and the changes happening in the birth arena:

“Women are the source of life, the choices we make directly influence the generations to come”

Interestingly, there has been much pro-natural birth talk in the last decade and thus, it seems, media has picked it up and past it on as well. Natasha has noticed a steady increase in requests for natural births in the last 4 years. I believe the sharing of stories, a very feminine characteristic, is responsible for carrying this information between women.

Details from Natasha’s home birth space in Somerset West.

Fact sharing and communication are shining light on topics women have not properly informed themselves about in the more recent past (so many alarming reasons for this). I like to think that the changes seen during birth and in early motherhood (such as immediate umbilical cord clamping and the value of breastmilk and breastfeeding) have started to shift. This is as a result of an increase in research and information available online.

50% of Natasha’s clients wanted home births in the past, now an incredible 95% of her mothers-to-be request this from the outset…

Details from Natasha’s home birth space in Somerset West.

The empowering process of letting go- observations from a midwife:

“Never are life and death so close together than (as) during birth. The mother has two lives and the possibility of two deaths (her own and that of her child) at stake”, Natasha pointed out during our conversation, which I found humbling.

Natasha spoke about how labour and birth can open up portals to any trauma a woman may have experienced up to that point in her life. It’s a well known fact that many women revisit past abuse or traumatic experiences during birth, coming face to face with their subconscious in these moments. It’s at these junctions that one leaves much of one’s past behind and steps into the new and compromising role as Mother.

We spoke about the healing birth has brought to many of the women in her care. In Natasha’s words,

“Because birth is a process of letting go and trusting, (yourself, your body, any higher powers you may believe in) it grossly effects a women’s experience of being, after the process of labour and birthing her baby”.

Being informed, prepared and incorporating the wisdom of a midwife or doula to investigate and prepare for the process makes sense and I hope that many women in future will seek this out. Thanks for your wisdom Natasha.

Tags birth, birth advocate, birth professional, birthing in south africa, home birth, independent midwife, independent midwife south africa, interview with a midwife, midwife, Midwife cape town, midwife somerset west, natasha stadler, natasha stadler midwife, natural birth, south african birth, water birth, water birth south africa, widwife

Interviews & Conversations Projects Women I've Shot

Positive Birth in South Africa: This is Heidi Padoa

Post author By Leah
Post date July 24, 2017

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 the processes before, during and after birth.

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.

–

Heidi is a doula based in the Garden Route area, Western Cape, South Africa. I met her at the Midwifery and Birth Conference in Cape Town in 2015. Heidi has been a doula for 6 years. She qualified as a professional labour and birth assistant through WOMBS in 2010 and has birthed 8 children herself (her own and surrogate), including; home, hospital, caesarean, breech and twin birth.

“I believe that the birth of a baby is a deeply sacred and miraculous event, filled with mystery, challenges, beauty, power, love and great joy which will affect women emotionally for as long as they live. It is divinely created to be a perfect, safe and strengthening process.

A woman is in her greatest power during childbirth, working with the co-creative forces of nature to allow the miracle of life to pass through her.”

“I most love to help women throughout their journey in pregnancy and birth, by providing emotional, informational and physical support, as I serve them as a doula.

I have attended many home, hospital and caesarean births, including the unassisted, undisturbed HBAC of twins and an amazing, unassisted HBA5C (home waterbirth after 5 cesareans), amongst all the other miraculous births I have had the privilege to support”.

–

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

Tags birth in south africa, birthing professionals south africa, Doula garden route, doulas south africa, Heidi Padoa, home birth in south africa, interviews with doulas, interviews with midwives, midwifery and birth conference south africa, midwives south africa, natural birth, normalizing birth, portraits of doulas, portraits of midwives, positive birth movement, positive birth south africa, pregnancy south africa, south african midwives, woman's issues in south africa

Interviews & Conversations Women I've Shot

Birth: This is Shakirah’s Story
The Birth of ‘Abd al-Matin, 6 October 2015

Post author By Leah
Post date April 4, 2016
No Comments on Birth: This is Shakirah’s Story
The Birth of ‘Abd al-Matin, 6 October 2015

It was Lana Petersen who connected myself to Shakirah and Ya’eesh. I met with them in their home in Seekoeivlei and was immediately impressed with their sense of confidence and trust in each other, themselves and the process. We discussed their expectations and any concerns or ideas surrounding my presence and that of the camera in their birthing space. They were so open and trusting which left me feeling excited to be present in their process.

The experience of witnessing and documenting them was such an honour and left me on an incredible high. The images tell the story just as it was that morning. I asked Shakirah to share her ideas around birth as well as her experience with me, this makes up most of the text below in-between the photographs.

I am an introvert and felt the potential threat to the progress of my labour, by unfamiliar surroundings and strangers in my personal space, to be a very real one. I did not want to birth my baby into the artificially lit, cold, clinical confines of a hospital ward, in a building housing sick and suffering people.

I believe that the act of birthing a baby is a natural physiological process, that the body is intrinsically equipped for and that it is not a medical condition. I also did not want my brand new baby to be handled roughly by birth attendants who did not view the process as spiritual but merely as routine.

I was also alarmed by the fact that the overwhelming majority of, otherwise healthy, young women I knew, were having their babies delivered by Caesarean section and not by choice. This made me very sceptical of the mainstream medical fraternity’s motivation for performing C-sections.

I was afraid of possibly having to undergo major abdominal surgery because performing a C-section made more financial sense or because my labour was taking ‘too long’ to progress. I did not want to feel disempowered by having my right to choose encumbered.

So when we found out that we were pregnant in January this year I started doing research on the local home-birthing industry, birthing centres and MOU’s (Midwifery and Obstetric Units). I searched the web for information on local homebirths and found the site homebirth.org.za, which had a directory listing midwives, doulas, birthing centres and antenatal classes.

It was also through an online article that I discovered the concept of lotus birthing, where the placenta remains attached to the baby until the umbilical cord dries and detaches naturally, usually within 3 to 5 days. There are many health benefits associated with delaying cord clamping to allow the transfusion of blood from the placenta to the baby, to complete.

It also tied in with the theory of birth without violence, where it is believed that our birth affects the rest of our lives and I wanted the birth experience to be as gentle, welcoming and reassuring for our baby as possible and therefore the decision for my husband to catch him was also a natural one.

If we could and hadn’t needed the reassurance of experienced birth attendants, with this being our first baby, we would have chosen to do an unassisted birth, as the baby was conceived with just the two of us and the birth was the culmination of that intensely private process.

When I broke the news to my family that we wanted a homebirth, it was met with much resistance and judgment. They were concerned for mine and the baby’s safety, believing that hospitals were the safest places to birth. I initially succumbed to the pressure and booked with the local government MOU, where I went for most of my checkups. Every time I attended an appointment, a different midwife would perform my checkup. It felt very impersonal. With the large volumes of women attending, it would take most of the day and we would be herded through the hallways, to the various rooms, like cattle.

Shakirah went into labour on Friday evening on 3rd October, a long and exhausting process which lasted until her baby’s birth at dawn on the 6th. Lana Peterson, her birth attendant, arrived at 9:30pm on the 5th as labour began to become more and more intense.

The night seemed to draw on forever with the pain intensifying and my back feeling like it was breaking and my tummy feeling like it was on fire, with each contraction. By 2am I started wailing, tearless, high pitched wails, while still rocking back and forth like a patient in a mental asylum, anticipating and dreading each contraction. I was doing the exact thing I was taught not to do. I started feeling fear and anxiety and it only increased my pain. Lana coached me to make low, guttural sounds but it was of no use. I was too far gone and started begging to be taken to hospital because I needed the pain to be numbed.

Lana had made contact with Lydia (Sr. Lydia Du Toit is a Midwife), who arrived shortly, at just after 5am, Tuesday 6 October. They both checked the bath water with torches and confirmed that my waters had broken. Lydia then requested that I get out of the bath so she could check me. She then started coaching me to push, while I held onto Ya’eesh for dear life, first laying on the bed then squatting on the floor being supported under both my arms. She told me to push like I was sitting on the toilet. I was repeating that I couldn’t do it and squirming through the pain. She spoke with authority and demanded my attention and explained to me what it was she needed me to do and how she needed me to do it. I obliged and started feeling my baby move into the birth canal and started feeling the urge to bear down spontaneously which happened simultaneously with me making a low guttural sound.

I arrived with my camera just before the break of dawn. Shakirah was drained and exhausted, rocking and groaning in the middle of the bed with Ya’eesh supporting her lovingly through each contraction. The room was filled with warm intense colours and she was wearing a flowing robe. The whole scene was very intimate, and very beautiful. Light was slowly seeping into the room and with the suns rising, so she birthed her baby, it was surreal.

I reached in between my legs and felt his head, which felt unusually soft and squishy. I heard him make a sound too. Then a few more pushes and his body followed quite quickly.

I remember hearing, “Quickly, the baby’s coming!” Ya’eesh caught him and I heard him crying then I got told that he would be passed through my legs.

The moment I saw him I was overcome with emotion and laughed and cried and kissed him at the same time. It felt as if everything disappeared for that second and it was just us. He was covered in slimy blood and I was kneeling in a puddle of blood and goo but none of that mattered.

I looked over at Ya’eesh who was crying and kissed him and looked up and saw my mom, who it seemed, had appeared out of nowhere and she was crying too. It was a beautiful and emotional moment and it made the pain disappear in an instant and breathed new life into me.

I am totally satisfied with the whole experience and believe it couldn’t have happened any other way. I got my natural homebirth, with the support of two phenomenal, experienced women, whom I could not have done it without and my husband got to support me and catch our baby and my mom got to see her grandson as soon as he was born and this amazing event was documented for us to share with our beautiful boy one day.

Tags birth, birth photography, birth photography south africa, birth story, birthing in south africa, doula, home birth, home birth south africa, lotus birth, midwife, natural birth, natural birth south africa, placenta, pregnancy