Choosing Waterbirth: Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth

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Choosing Waterbirth

"A spiritual breath of fresh air reflecting heartfelt practical tools during pregnancy, labor, birth, and parenting. An inspirational gift to help women remember what's too often forgotten: our bodies and our babies know how."

—Judith E. Halek, director of Birth Balance, a waterbirth center in New York

"Lakshmi graciously creates a way of birthing that is supported by nature and surrounded by love. After floating through
Choosing Waterbirth
, I feel as if I have been reborn."

—Nischala Joy Devi, author of
The Healing Path of Yoga

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Choosing Waterbirth

Reclaiming the Sacred Power of Birth

Lakshmi Bertram

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Copyright 2000 by Lakshmi Bertram

Photos Copyright 2000 by Stephanie Gross

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this work in any form whatsoever, without permission in writing from the publisher, except for brief passages in connection with a review.

Cover design by Grace Pedalino

Cover art by Frank Riccio

Photos by Stephanie Gross

For information write:

Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc.

1125 Stoney Ridge Road

Charlottesville, VA 22902

Or call: 8042962772

FAX: 8042965096

email: [email protected]

Web site: www.hrpub.com

If you are unable to order this book from your local bookseller, you may order directly from the publisher. Call 18007668009, tollfree.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 9995406

ISBN 1571741526

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed on acidfree paper in Canada

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Dedication

This book is lovingly dedicated to my children,

Sampath, Nataraja, Rani, Madhuri, and Lalita,

without whom I would not be a mother.

And to all the sweet babies of the world

who bring us love and joy unbounded.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my most Beloved Sri Gurudev, Sri Swami Satchidananda, for being the guiding light in my life, for protecting me from harm, and for encouraging me always to be my highest Self.

Thanks to my husband, Nilakantan, for being my partner through thick and thin, for being there for me whenever I need him, for loving me and being my funny companion, and for having the original idea that got me started on this project in the first place.

A most hearty thanks to my children for teaching me about love and joy, selflessness and patience; to my mother for sweet lullabies and card games and popcorn; to my father for cowboy songs and Candan Deseme; to each one of my beautiful sisters, and my equally beautiful brother, for their unrivaled encouragement and support;

and to my extended family, the Yogaville Community, for all that they have meant to me throughout my life.

Thanks to Rivers Cuomo for wading through a deluge of letters—and for loving them; to Pat Thornton for the new author package and for saying, "Hey, you should write a book on waterbirth"; to Prakash Shakti for first believing in me and for encouraging me to keep on writing; to Jyothi Caroll for teaching me how to believe in myself; to Ken Eagle Feather for seeing my potential and for being willing to work with the possibilities; and to everyone else who has expressed an interest in Page viii

my writing, excitement about my book, and enthusiasm for my ideas.

Thanks to Dr. Sandra McLanahan, Janet Balaskas, Judith Halek, Michel Odent, Sheila Kitzinger, Ina May Gaskin, and Barbara Harper for lending their professional support and guidance to this project.

Thanks to Richard Leviton, my editor, for helping me to write
this
book and for showing me very clearly where to go right.

And a very special thanks to Bob Friedman who opted to publish my book even though, as he said, "We don't usually publish this kind of thing"; and thanks to the rest of the people at Hampton Roads Publishing Company who, aside from being wonderful, have become like an extended family to me.

Thanks everyone.

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CONTENTS

Preface

xi

Foreword

xii

Part I

The Theory

Chapter 1. Soul Searching

3

Chapter 2. Nature's Lesson

8

Chapter 3. A Challenging Reality

12

Chapter 4. Why Water?

17

Chapter 5. The Great Appeal

19

Chapter 6. First Impressions

22

Chapter 7. Waterbirth Explained

26

Chapter 8. Making It Happen

29

Chapter 9. Birth Basics

33

Part II

The Preparation

Chapter 10. Yoga for Pregnancy

43

Chapter 11. How to Begin

46

Chapter 12. Prenatal Yoga Class

48

Chapter 13. Deep Relaxation

70

Chapter 14. Breathing Techniques

75

Chapter 15. Following Your Instincts

78

Chapter 16. TimeOut

81

Chapter 17. Free Movement Dance

86

Chapter 18. The Perfect Place

88

Part III

The Practice

Chapter 19. Birth Stories

94

Chapter 20. My First Water Baby

96

Chapter 21. Birth of an Englishman

103

Chapter 22. Thanksgiving Surprise

108

Chapter 23. A Hospital Stay, and Then a Home Birth

112

Chapter 24. Birth Center Waterbirth

120

Chapter 25. My Sister's Waterbirth

132

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Part IV

The Celebration and Afterwards

Chapter 26. Congratulations and Welcome

138

Chapter 27. Babies Don't Keep

140

Chapter 28. Mama Juice

143

Chapter 29. Bed Habits

149

Chapter 30. Massage Message

152

Chapter 31. The Lifelong Challenge

155

Resources

159

Index

167

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PREFACE

While reading
Choosing Waterbirth
by Lakshmi Bertram I could not help thinking of a recent comment made by a wellknown British professor of obstetrics. He was wondering why there are still women who want to go through the stress and pain of labor at a time when it is possible—thanks to epidurals and drips—to give birth and watch TV at the same time. I could not help thinking also of a recent survey among British women obstetricians: one third of them would prefer not even to try to give birth naturally and would choose to have an elective Csection. I wish these socalled experts in childbirth were given the opportunity to listen to this other category of experts, as exemplified by the author of this book.

Lakshmi writes as a mother. She focuses on the births of her five babies. My role is to enlarge the topic and to hint at those who made different choices and also who gave birth without any precise plan. To do so, I'll just select a significant anecdote.

In the late 1970s an Italian woman from Venice came to our hospital in France to give birth. This woman was a diver and a doctor who specialized in diving medicine.

She used to spend two hours a day in water. She was convinced that a birthing pool was, for her, the only possible place to give birth. That is why she traveled here from another country at a time when the idea of a birthing pool had not yet spread out. The day of the birth she spent some minutes in the water, got out Page xii

of the pool, and finally gave birth on the dry land, like most women.

On the following days she was sharing a double room with a local woman who had previously claimed that all these ''tricks" (such as the use of water during labor) were good only for "crazy women coming from far away."

When in hard labor, this same local woman was irresistibly attracted by the water and she eventually entered the birthing pool. She had complete privacy while in the water—having the father present or using a camera was only good for "crazy women coming from far away." There was nobody else around other than an experienced and lowprofile midwife. The labor was therefore fast and easy. It did not take long before she reached this particular state of consciousness clearly described by Lakshmi as the time when the mothertobe is "dropping back into instinct, instead of reason, feeling instead of thinking." In another language, I would say that she had reduced her neocortical control. While in such a state of consciousness she knew that her baby could be born safely under water. She did not get out of the bath until the contractions announcing the placenta began.

These two happy mothers became good friends, overcoming their differing backgrounds and their language barrier. Seemingly their experiences of childbirth were different, but in fact, they had just used different ways to reach the authentic knowledge of this unique short period of time when a woman becomes a mother—the authentic knowledge Lakshmi is so clearly able to express with words.

—DR. MICHEL ODENT,

AUTHOR OF BIRTH REBORN

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FOREWORD

I highly recommend everyone read this book. It contains wisdom not only for prospective parents, but for all of us. It celebrates a unique approach to birthing, but also paints a vision for the way in which we humans can reconnect to the strength and joy of our intuitive and spiritual selves, living in fullest harmony with nature.

What makes this book especially valuable is that Lakshmi writes from her own experience. She brings muchneeded poetic beauty and thoughtful reflection to a pivotal arena of our lives. Especially necessary are patience and tolerance for the varying rhythms of natural childbirth, as she so meaningfully explores. The song of the heart is written here with melodic, meditative awareness.

Power rests in tranquillity. Surrounding yourself with inspiration is always helpful, but is especially influential during pregnancy. This book provides images and suggestions that can help you make your birthing journey a sacred one.

Most people love the water. I run to the ocean whenever I can, hike alongside waterfalls on weekends, and lean back into a warm bath daily. The peacefulness of a serene soak after a tough day has obvious stressrelieving effects. Since eighty percent of illness is stressrelated, we need to find ways to address this component, both preventively and therapeutically. Water is a simple, available, inexpensive, and effective antidote to stress.

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We now understand that the physical stress of labor and delivery is significantly influenced by the important connection of body and mind, and mind to body. Both mother and baby are affected by tension, worry, or any physical or mental strain. Techniques that can reduce these elements, such as the breathing methods discussed by Lakshmi, can serve to help the mother maintain a state of relaxation beneficial to her own health and that of the child, and help assure a smooth delivery.

Water provides an especially powerful tool to help in this relaxation process. Most women associate bathing with stressrelease, and this connection alone can serve to assist them during labor and delivery. The physical benefits of the warm water include directly allowing the muscles to relax. Since tense muscles have higher oxygen requirements, this reduction in their strain helps ensure that optimum blood supply and nutrition can be available for creating balanced hormone release and, thereby, ease of delivery. The hormones associated with stress, such as adrenaline, impair this process.