2014 Goals, Reduced Speed Ahead

2013, like 2012, was a very hard year. The first half was studying, NARM exam, finishing up homeschooling. The second half was dealing with major medical issues (still ongoing), finding alternative options, taking care of myself… along with a few wonderful births in the mix. Due to medical issues, I’ve been granted an extension on my midwifery studies, which gives me a big breath of fresh air with less stress having to finish in less than a year.

Here were my goals for 2013:
Every semester – submit AAMI midwifery studies assignments
Every day – study for the NARM exam up until the 2nd week of Feb
February - fly to the US for 2 weeks, sit for the NARM exam and then enjoy some time with my mom
March/April - wait nervously for the NARM results
May - work on starting an ICAN of Thailand (Cesarean awareness chapter)
September – fly to Sydney, Australia for the Trust Birth Conference
December – finish the breastfeeding counselor certification (time to stop dragging my heels on this one!)
All year – not so many births.

So how did I do during 2013? I did submit AAMI work, I did study for the NARM exam and took the test in February and found out in March that I did PASS. I decided that ICAN will not work so well from here and am brainstorming other Cesarean awareness/recovery support options. I did attend the Trust Birth Conference in Sydney, an amazing experience where I met so many midwives and like-minded birth workers (another blog on that someday). I did attend a few births last year. One special birth comes to mind: first time mother, waterbirth, caught her own baby… amazing!

Here are my goals for 2014:
Every semester – submit AAMI midwifery studies assignments
Every day – work on midwifery studies a minimum of 30 minutes a day
June/July – hopefully visit the USA and while there recertify for CPR/NRP
All year – not so many births. Just enough to be able to start precepting an apprentice.

I really am slowing down. I have been push push pushing for about 8 years, when I first started with CBI studying to be a doula. 8 years, 1000s of study hours, CPM, 150 births later… I’m tired.

Longterm Goals
Fall 2016 - graduate from AAMI. This keeps getting pushed back. I’m making steps and getting closer. Was due to finish Dec 2014, but if I pace myself without overdoing reading/studying, which is hard on my eyes, I think I can finish by then. I’ve been given an unlimited extension, but if I focus on “unlimited” I’ll procrastinate, so let me make the Fall 2016 deadline public so I’m held accountable!
2016 - I am seriously considering going beyond my Masters in Midwifery. Naturopath Doctor is next.

Trust Birth Conference 2010

The TBC 2010 was over two months ago and I'm finally getting around to writing about it. I've been busy with 4 births, assignments due, and planning to be in the USA for the summer. Here was my trip to Redondo Beach, CA:

The traveling: Looooong flight there. And even loooooooooooonger flight back. Easy to get to the hotel. Lots of restaurants, Whole Foods, etc. within walking distance. Great roommates that were also AAMI students. One was nice enough to drive me to Target to do a bit of shopping for stuff to take back.

The fellowship: I must say the best part of the conference was being surrounded by like-minded people. I met many wonderful Christian midwives and some were interested in our missionary work here and what I do. One midwife is friends with one of my friends here in Thailand... small world!

The preconference/skills lab days: For 2 days I sat in the midwifery skills labs. I knew a lot of the skills already from my time in Bali. Others were new, and hearing the philosophy of why/when/how behind each of them was important. I especially enjoyed learning how to do blood draws, IVs, and pelvic exams. Some of the other students were great models for us to learn on. The suturing on turkey legs was interesting and smelly! The two midwives that taught were very knowledgeable and funny too. On suturing, one of them (Jenny West) said, "If there are two pieces of vagina in the room, they should come together on their own"... meaning that vaginas can heal themselves usually. She also was the one to state that, even if we don't do many of these skills often, it is not an excuse to not do them well.

Other great people I met: Carla Hartley (AAMI founder), Gloria Lemay (famous Canadian midwife), Sarah Buckley (fabulous Australian author of Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering), and many more. I especially enjoyed meeting and eating lunch with Laura Shanley, author of Unassisted Birth. She had read my birth story of my twins' unassisted birth and was excited to meet me!

On to the conference sessions:

Opening session: Dr. Jeanne Ohm is a chiropractor and natural birth advocate. What I gleaned most out of the whole session was the importance of NOT touching the baby's head at birth. Do not mess with the mechanisms that are in place already!

Session One: Prenatal/Postnatal Depression: Pamela Hines-Powell gave a good description on the various mood disorders and how to use natural and pharmaceutical options for them. Very well researched, and I took pages of notes.

Session Two: Jodilyn Owen spoke about the newborn exam. She had some wonderful ideas about how to involve the parents in the exam.

Session Three: The postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and 3rd stage difficulties discussion with Gail Hart was extremely useful, and I know a lot of what I learned can be directly applied to the PPH situation in Bali.

Session Four: Practical Skills for Midwives in 3rd World Countries was more a discussion about how to practice in 3rd world settings. Preparation, cultural sensitivities, etc. I wished we could have talked for hours more!

Session Five: Another Gail Hart class - this time about the first 60 minutes of life. Maternal bonding, hormone flows, and baby hats (not to use them) were discussed.

Session Six: The toxins in breastfeeding class was cancelled so I very luckily ended up in Lisa Barett's class about variations from normal - specifically breech and twins. She was an inspiring midwife to listen to and learn from.

Session Seven: This was an almost 3 hour discussion with a panel about the pros and cons of licensure in the US, specifically the CPM credential. I learned a lot about American midwifery politics and midwifery bullying. Many perspectives were given and I feel that I understand midwifery in the US much better now.

Session Eight: The waterbirth talk by Jenny West was definitely the funniest. And it was very informative with lots of information and research. I decided to buy her book and asked if the book was as funny as her.... she said, "almost!"

Session Nine: Karen Strange's presentation on meconium was well-researched and something I ended up using at a birth a few week later. I took pages of notes and will continute to learn about this topic.

The ending session was incredible. Carla Hartley challenged us in two ways. First, she said that we need to ask ourselves not just what we stand for, but what do we NOT stand for.

Second, she challenged us to continue to shout out the message that BIRTH IS SAFE. Here is the video that she made and used to inspire us: