Catching Babies

I did my last 24 hour shift around the full moon. Ya know I had tried to determine if the moon had any impact on women going into labor here in the states but couldn't find any real pattern. In Bali it was easy. New moon: quiet; Full moon: babies popping out everywhere! I am sure it has to do with the artificial light so ubiquitous in the western world -as opposed to the very little light and outside stimulus in the villages that our mommas were coming from. And I am curious if the fact that they have a ceremony and give offerings for every new and full moon - every Balinese person, not just the women, has anything to do with it.

So anyways, I arrived at the clinic at 9 am to 3 women in labor, 2 women with PROM ( premature rupture of membranes, aka broken waters) and a brand new babe with a momma needing to be sutured. Robin put me to work stitching her straightforward 2nd degree tear with Olivia generously staying on from her 24 hour shift to assist me. Although we only got to work together a few times Olivia was and is a blessing to midwifery and definitely to me! We had known each other vaguely from the bay area and it was fabulous to attend births with her. It was especially helpful to have her assist me in suturing because we were around the same level with our skills-  as opposed to challenges I had had with other volunteers telling me I was doing great when they had no clue, the Balinese midwives and I struggling with language barriers and different techniques, and more experienced midwives who I was very grateful too but definitely pushed my anxiety buttons. As soon as I had finished I moved over to the next momma, admired her new babe that Robin had just caught and repaired her first degree tear.

On to the next moms of the day. Like I said, the clinic was busy, and everyone worked hard and long helping 3 more babies be born. One woman was soft and gentle, another was loud, exhausted, and so ready to escape from giving birth. I was grateful to have a translator in the room and coach her through it, as well as make sure she didn't faint on me! She did well but it took at least a few hours before she could smile at her baby- she was 21 years old and shocked by the power of birth. I get it- birth is no small thing! I think it was about 5 pm when we finally ate lunch. The evening was busy but there was still time for Robin to get on the internet and forward us all an email chain letter prayer of St. Theresa : ).

Hello dear ones.

I have visions of sharing a few more birth stories before I officially complete my "Bali adventures" blog but at the moment I want to give a little update from my bike accident as many of you have asked.

I have healed amazingly well from my run in with the dog in my little village of Nyuh Kuning. I could not have picked a better place to have an accident than down the street from Bumi Sehat. I received more support than I would have ever imagined and I believed it created a new imprint of what health is - on a cellular level. I had to learn on an even deeper level the power of surrender. I kept wanting to go back to work but was not allowed! I  guess I had this irrational fear that if I really stopped working and did nothing for awhile, that I would start liking it and never want to work again. Well it ended up just being a really wonderful resting time, and yes a reminder to move slower - but definitely not a loss of my passion to work and do good things in this world. It was really wild for me - over and over folks reassured me that there was enough volunteers at the clinic, that my body was asking me to rest, and that there was no way I could do a water birth anyways with all my healing wounds! So rest it was.

I want to share some of the sweet healing that I received from the Bumi Sehat crew and beyond. The clinic Acupuncturist, Bobbi, this hilarious and sometimes downright abrasive ex-patriot who has been volunteering at Bumi Sehat for 4 years, came over and stuck about 30 needles in me on a few occasions. She is not the gentle type of Acupuncturist but she does help people!  She did these "surround the dragon" protocols around my wounds - ouch(!) and helped relieve the inflammation in my left shoulder and arm. She also had me apply yu nan bia yao powder topically to help my wounds dry up ( Yu nan is the chinese herbal formula for stopping bleeding - we give it to women to drink with honey postpartum to prevent hemorrhage ).  In the tropics it is easy for wounds to get infected because it is so wet. It was a little intense for my raw skin but it did create some mighty interesting scabs. My dearest friend Shannon was also a huge help. She is an energy worker  who had just arrived from North Carolina and had actually been biking with me the day of the accident. She kept me sane and helped me find the teachings and wisdom of being down on my back for 2 weeks. This amazing Naturopath/Nutritionist Esther did this type of applied kinesiology called Body Talk on me immediately after the accident and a few times afterwards. There is a whole Body Talk emergency first aid protocol that helps the brain release shock and trauma. I found it extremely helpful and am now curious to study it myself (another thing to learn! ). And actually I watched her do it a few times with the moms and babies and saw it clear whatever was in the way of the birth process, help with successful breastfeeding, etc... My sweet friend Lisa, an excellent homeopath from Oakland, arrived for a visit just in time to wean me off arnica and prescribe bellis pereniss for deep bruising and ledum for healing puncture wounds.

So I give many thanks. Oh wait- I didn't even share this amazing story. So I got brought to the clinic immediately after the accident to be bandaged up and such and about 2 hours after being there Leonid walks in. Leonid was my craniosacral teacher and while I had been laying there I was thinking oh I am going to need Leonid to come and assess if I broke or sprained anything. And all of a sudden he was there. How did he know to come right then?!! I couldn't figure it out as he rarely came by the clinic in his normal life but at that moment it didn't really matter- I just felt like I was looking at an angel : ). He sat down and did his magic and told me that it seemed like nothing was broken but it would take a lot of rest. There is that rest word again...

Well I hope that you all don't mind my sharing a little of my healing journey. I believe I have always been on a healing journey actually - that one that some of you may know - healer, heal thyself - but the acute healing experience is a whole other journey and I am grateful for every moment of it. They say that Bali chews you up and spits you out. Ya - I think I would agree.

So 40 hours later I have arrived back home in Berkeley - my second day of experiencing February 29th - yesterday I was in Hong Kong and it was also Feb. 29th. Spiraling in and out of time and space I land here and settle into a meal of my roommate's farmer's market steamed veggies, the beauty of the redwood tree out my back window, and my first sweatshirt and socks in 3 months.

Hello dear friends.

After several days in bed healing from flying in the air and landing on the cement ( ! ), I am back in the world feeling better than ever. They say that Bali chews u up and spits u up and I feel honored to have received a little "Bali magic"  ; ). I received tremendous support from the volunteers here and wild things happened like my craniosacral teacher showing up at the clinic hours after the accident to drop something by ( which he never does). I looked up at him like he was an angel - how did you know to come? I didn't understand but was grateful to receive his healing touch so soon after being hurt. I also received all sorts of healing powders and creams that were applied to me by friends. One has to be careful in the tropics as open wounds can lead to infection all too quickly. The acupuncturist, Dr. Bobbi came by to see me as well. She is an amazing doctor and a very intense acupuncturist. She stuck a million needles in me - interesting treatment called surrounding the dragon- putting needles around the wounds. I made my friend Shannon stay with me for moral support because it hurt! But it seemed to help and I am grateful. I also received some interesting work called Body Talk. It is an advanced form of muscle testing that works with first aid, trauma, past lives, chinese medicine...The woman who does it is a Naturopath who has been using it very successfully with the moms and babies and of course I am now excited to learn it and add one more tool to my medicine bag.

I did my first shift back at the clinic and got to catch a little one that came through a sweet 20 year old- wow these young women! I did prenatals last night and there was a 16 year old with her sister. Robin came by and chatted with her which was awesome because although i have learned some indonesian in my time here, and actually i was fortunate to have a translator with me, Robin will be the one that will be here when her baby comes! Ya- it just hit me yesterday that I am almost done with my 3 month stint here and that it is time for me to begin letting go of all the attachments I have made to the community here. Even after being gone from the clinic for 10 days it just felt so easy to come back yesterday. The women are so so sweet, the staff is amazing, and the volunteers are extroardinary.

When I was laying in bed I actually considered staying longer here, or maybe going to Aceh- Robin has asked me to go there ever since i arrived - and although my heart lept with excitement, my mind and body said- no, it's time to go home and rest in the states. And it is actually perfect because there are new volunteers showing up every day and it is good to pass the torch and let others experience the beautiful craziness of Bumi Sehat.

So as of today I have only one or two more shifts at the clinic. The rest of my time here will be spent with the wonderful community here and having fun with my friends and family who are visiting! 

Many blessings, Chanti

Hello to everyone who loves Chanti!

This is Olivia Page, writing on Chanti's behalf as she is a bit out of commission at the moment.  About a week ago, riding her bicycle to the Bumi Sehat Clinic,  Chanti collided with a dog, who immediately ran off and left her scraped up in the middle of the road with injuries up and down the left side of her body, especially to her jaw, shoulder and wrist.  She is recovering well, and being extremely brave and positive about everything, but is staying at home to restore her energy and heal her body.  All of her friends here, many of them healers, have rallied around her and come to her aid.  She asked me to write to all of you so that you could add your well wishes, love and healing vibes to the energy already flowing towards her here.  We miss her at the clinic and want her back as soon as she is fully recovered!  Someone from the community comes by the clinic everyday looking for her, so the impact she has made here (and her absence) are keenly felt.  Hopefully Chanti herself will be able to post a proper installment on her blog soon, as she has much to tell.  Until then, send her emails as I am reading them and passing along the contents to her.

Love to you all from the hot, hot heart of Bali, Olivia

hello dear friends.

It has been awhile since i have written and wow where to start. i think this entry will be a sort of stream of consciousness if you don't mind....

So at the moment there are children parading by with drums and dragon costumes for the holiday Kuningan. It is the end of a 10 day holiday Galungan, where there are many ceremonies to appease the bad spirits and welcome the good ones. There are a million more offering than the usual thousand in a day and my host family has said that tomorrow will be a special feast of yellow rice and smoked duck and chicken. The family which I live with ( i rent a little studio in their family compound) is very religious and always going to the temple, making offerings, and having feasts. I  would love to go to temple and such with them but my priority is midwifery which they are supportive of because Made, the father, serves on the board of the clinic. They are a very respected family in the village and i feel honored to live with them- and there is always time to feast with them! : )

It is actually my first day back at the clinic in a week. There are tons of volunteers here right now - volunteer coordinating is not the strong point of Bumi Sehat- so I decided to take a craniosacral class that was being offered in Ubud. It was taught by a Russian man who lived at Esalen for 10 years and blends a few types of craniosacral therapy. We had mutual friends so I knew it would be a good class. And it was. 8 of us at a quiet balinese villa feeling the depths of anatomy in our hands, in the space,.... in the pool in which we swam every day at lunch!! I invited 2 of the midwives to join me- one New York CNM whose world got opened up in the best of ways and the other one the midwife who has been assisting me in the perinatal psych sessions. It was tricky for me not to bring in perinatal psychology at every turn but all in all it was a beautiful learning with my teacher having great respect - most of the time- for what I contributed. It made me excited for my long term  plan of doing a full craniosacral training with  the teachers who have done the perinatal psychology training already and integrate it into their teachings.

What else?
My friend Shannon has just arrived for a 3 week visit. She is an intuitive healer and it is so nice to have her here!! She came to the clinic earlier today and did a little healing for the clinic in general and then we went around to all the new moms and babies and did energy work, craniosacral, and the basic breastfeeding support of course. It felt really peaceful and sweet to support the families in this way. So speaking of babies- I just heard one crying so that is my cue to do another check in.

More later I promise - and tell me how you all are doing!!

Chantia

So I was telling you all about the 2 women with ruptured membranes...

The first mom did amazing. She got into a groove with her labor, started believing she could do it, and pushed her baby out around noon that day.

The second mom, the 4th timer, never got into labor on her own. Eventually she went to the hospital where she received pitocin to induce the labor but it didn't take and she had a cesarean. It was interesting- she had had 3 normal births but this one was the biggest baby she had ever had- 4800 grams - that is equivalent to 10 pounds 9 ounces.

For those of you who don't know what releasing of the waters means it is when the "water breaks" or in midwifery terms we call it SROM- spontaneous rupture of membranes. If it happens before labor begins it is called PROM- premature rupture of membranes. Many people think that this is the first thing that happens to initiate labor but actually most waters release ( as the hypnobirthers like to call it- a gentler term;) ) when a woman is pushing. The other day we had  a baby born in the caul, meaning the waters didn't rupture at all- a sign of good luck in many cultures.

Anyways, last night we happened to have 2 moms come in with PROM. The first mom arrived at around 1am with her family, per Balinese custom. I usually love having the sisters, aunties, mothers, and children at the births but this time it was a bit of a nightmare. The challenge being that once the water breaks in the tropics there is a very limited time a woman can hang out not in labor. In the states in the hospital it is often a similar problem, the fear being risk of infection for the mom and baby. In homebirth we have a longer amount of time to work with ( times vary for midwifery practices but usually fall between 24-72 hours) because we know that the mom is the healthiest and most protected in her natural environment and that we are keeping in constant communication and helping to support her immunity, etc... So here in the tropics things grow like crazy- yep, it is pretty gnarly some of the staph infections that people have come in with ( not the moms so much but folks coming into the acupuncture clinic). Anyways, the deal with Bumi Sehat and the hospitals here is very interesting. There is a government hospital that is free but only allows a woman to have ruptured membranes for 2 hours before they begin an induction! 2 hours! So of course Bumi Sehat encourages patients to have their back up be at a local clinic which is not free but Bumi Sehat explains they will help pay for the costs if the patient chooses to go there. If they choose this clinic they have 12 hours at Bumi Sehat before having to transfer. This is still a short period of time considering the research shows that most woman go into labor spontaneously  within 24 hours post PROM, not 12 hours. But the reality is here we are in Bali.

So it is 1am, or at this point 2:30am. I am alone with Ibu Ketut, a lovely senior midwife who speaks very little English. I am trying so very hard to understand what is going on in my limited understanding of Indonesian, as well as listening and watching closely to read the subtle dynamics occurring. It seems the family wants this sweet 1st time mother of 22 years old to go to the government hospital. Ibu Ketut just sits there patiently explaining the situation hoping that this family wakes up and smells the reality of what will happen to them if they go there. I decide I better act whatever the decision is to try to help this mom along in some fashion ( oh did I say she was barely 1 cm., long, and posterior). I start her on homeopathics as well as digging into her acupressure points ( because sadly the acupuncturists from NY have all departed and left us barren and distraught without them - just kidding, though we do all miss them a bunch). However, while they were here we did get a lesson in needling in the case of emergency, i.e. hemorrhage, retained placenta, and I  was in absolute heaven due to my obsession with Chinese Medicine and love of sticking needles in people - not to mention how much easier it is to insert an acupuncture needle into a specific point filled with chi as opposed to an IV catheter of a dehydrated woman!

Sorry, I digress-  I guess that  is what happens after 3 hours of sleep.
So where was I? Oh yes, I began doing acupressure on the mom while her mother began splashing holy water on her. I kept hearing the words rumah sakit ( the word for hospital, which literally translates as house of sick) and thinking alright, gotta let this one go. Ibu Ketut finally decided to call Ibu Robin to consult which made me very happy to get the skinny in my own language. Robin laid it out clearly and recommended the usual. If they decide to stay we can do castor oil in the morning and start antibiotics now. So it had been a couple of hours at this point and the mom had started having contractions - yea! She was learning how to breathe through them and even beginning to show some signs of a personality other than the daughter of a very opinionated mother. So they decided to transfer to the clinic if need be and settle in at  Bumi Sehat. It is 8:30am now and she is doing well. Will keep you updated.

Mom # 2. Nothing very exciting yet but I am curious how it will go. She is a 4th timer who has a history of macrosomic (very big) babies! So again I heard Ibu Ketut get on the phone with Robin and consult. And of course Robin gave her stamp of approval because she had had 3 successful normal births with a midwife. I have started her on the homeopathics and happily I called Jenny, one of the volunteer midwifery students here who is also an acupuncturist, who agreed to come over to do an induction treatment. Jenny is very clearly here to learn midwifery, not to practice acupuncture, but will do it on occasion for situations like this - and I knew she was awake!

I hope that life is treating all of you so very well. Thank you for reading my blog. I wish that in my spare time I had also  received a masters in creative writing to make this more exciting for you all...  I hope my love suffices for now : )

Well it has been awhile since I've posted because it has been super quiet for the past 2 weeks. Maybe the new moon in Capricorn, maybe the rain - who knows, but last night the action started up again and it was easy and joyous. Yes I know all the moms reading this know that it isn't quite fair for me to use the word easy, but as a midwife, it felt like the moms birthing last night were in the flow and it was sweet.

The first one spoke some english and we developed a rapport right away. Even though birth transcends language it is still so much easier to be able to communicate! So it was her 3rd baby and she wanted a water birth this time. It was the middle of the night and the Indonesian midwife was happy for me to do labor support and wake her when she was completely dilated and ready to push. I wish I had my camera because she ended up birthing her baby in the caul ( in the bag of waters ). It was gentle and smooth and soon mom and baby were happily in bed nursing.

The second mom came in ready to push! It was her 2nd baby and everything happened very fast. There was a tight cord around the baby's neck that we thought we might have to clamp and cut but she pushed and pushed and the baby was born with the cord. We easily unraveled the cord after birth and the baby started crying immediately ( which is a good sign of a healthy baby).

So both moms had baby girls, a disappointment in this interesting culture I have submersed myself in. Thankfully for these new babies, both moms had already had boys so they had fulfilled their duty to their families and could enjoy their little girls. I and the other volunteer midwives have all talked about how much this affects us and how we each cannot help but talk to these girls and tell them how special and important they are.

So there is a quick note from Bali. So much more to say about the clinic, the culture, life in general.

Soon I will write again but for now it is my day off and I am going to start it with a nap!