Tag: natural birth

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.

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Nomvula is a doula and midwife-in-training at Busfare Babies in the Peddie District, Eastern Cape, South Africa. She’s been working with birthing for 5 years.

 “What inspires me about my job is the way we do things here at Busfare Babies: I’m also so interested in helping others, supporting one another, especially as a midwife, here in the Eastern Cape.  I enjoy being there to support a  women in that hard process when she is scared and in pain, but we are there, watching and waiting respectfully, to make sure she is safe and to catch her innocent baby.”

“My experience is that as midwife you have to be someone whose got a passion for what you’re doing. Love and care is the best thing you can give a woman in birth, you have to be someone whose got a vision of a motherhood…”

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

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.

–

Sian Williams is a prenatal Vinyasa yoga instructor, a doula, and a baby massage instructor at Glow Prenatal Yoga in Cape Town.

“My doula journey began with the birth of my divine son, North in 2013.  That was the moment I chose to support women during one of the most phenomenal phases of their life; pregnancy & birth.  I absolutely honor the gift of fully supporting and guiding women on their chosen journey to embrace the process of pregnancy and birth from a deeper, more meaningful place within.   This spiritual and sacred journey of pregnancy and birth that is bestowed upon women is an opportunity to tap into their profound and powerful wisdom nestled deep inside the layers of their existence, their minds, their hearts, and to truly follow their intuition for the birth that they desire.”

“I wish to see for every birthing woman

more trust, less rush

more confidence, less fear

more research, less doubt

more ‘how, why?’, less ‘okay’

more compassion, less external pressure

more voice, less silence

However, the ultimate wish for my birthing goddesses is the very wish of their own.”

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

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.

–

Vania Truter is a doula. She works predominantly in the Northern suburbs and Belville. Vania has been a doula for just over 4 years now.

“These are things I’d like to see changing in South Africa:

• gynaecologists to be more supportive of vaginal births,
• newborns to always have skin-to-skin directly after birth,
• women to be more empowered and supported to breastfeed,
• gentler c-sections,
• more home births and
• more VBAC births!”

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

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.

–

Jill Bergman is a doula, counsellor and skin-to-skin (previously known as kangaroo care) specialist, she writes and lectures on these subjects as well as developmental care for pre-term babies.. She’s been in developmental care for 10 years and working as a doula for 4 years. Jill works in the Southern suburbs and central suburbs around Cape Town

“Parents are not properly informed on the negative impact of Inductions, Epidurals and Caesareans on the baby.”

“Statistics I would like to see changed? The caesarean Section rate to lower dramatically in South Africa (World Health organization says C/S should medically be between 15-20 %, in SA in private sector it is between 60- 90 % different in different areas and hospitals).”

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