For someone who, like so many out there, had been under the illusion that their hideous cesarean births were ‘just the way birth was’ and not justifiably classified as traumatic, Kiki, having just birthed her third baby at home, has quite the story to tell! She and her husband, Adam, share about initially being under the veil of disempowering conditioning, and the journey they went on to achieve an undisturbed home birth just 6 weeks ago.
Kiki’s is a powerful story of courage and self-determination. The system had her labelled as ‘high risk’ due to multiple factors that Kiki came to see were not based on good evidence, didn’t align with what she instinctively knew, and were tools in the patriarchal birth machine, designed to keep her scared and under the control of the system. Once she learnt that she was rightfully the one behind the steering wheel, Kiki stood in her power and readied herself for the birth that she and her baby needed and deserved.
I had the honour of being a part of Kiki’s pregnancy journey, helping her to learn the truth about her earlier births, and sourcing the tools, understandings and wise woman sisterhood that she needed in order to take radical responsibility for the way her birth would unfold. At almost 39 weeks of pregnancy, her midwife dropped her, afraid of Kiki’s uncompromising approach to planning her birth. This turned out to be an absolute blessing, opening the door for some incredible midwives to rally around Kiki, supporting her right to birth her way.
Kiki now seeks to pay it forward. She has found her voice and has a fire in her belly, and she’s determined to do all she can to tear down the patriarchal structures that keep birthing women from accessing their power in the wondrous rite of passage that birth is.
Also discussed in this episode:
* NFP ‘The Village NZ’
* Australian maternity system - no continuity of care
* Artificial rupture of membranes - meconium
* Syntocinon augmentation
* Epidural
* Crash c section under GA
* Lack of initial bond with baby
* Gestational diabetes
* Inaccurate ultrasound scans
* ‘Advanced maternal age’ (41 years)
* VBAC
* Detailed birth plans
* Responsibilities
* Soulful Birth course
* Freebirth
* Doula
* ‘Unravelling Your Trauma’ session with Healing Birth Practitioner trainee
* Born at Home and Birth Time films
* Sibling at birth
Join the Wise Women Network NZ Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/538842372367843
Check out The Village NZ: https://thevillagenz.org/
Contact Michelle if you’re a birth worker who is interested in becoming a part of the ‘Authentic Midwifery - Wise Women Collective’ - email her on info@wisewomennetwork.co.nz. Or connect with her via her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/MichelleandIzzy
Join my (Carla’s) Soulful Birth course: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/soulfulbirthgroup
Look into my Healing Birth Practitioner Training: https://www.healingbirth.co.nz/hb-practitioner-training