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Page 6—CLINTON NEWS -RECORD, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 1966
Local women
BY SUSAN HUNDERTMARK
Tears of joy stream down Jeanette Har-
ris's cheeks when she recalls the home
birth of her second child rive years
at her
o.
During a family birthday party
home just north of Blyth that December,
she started to labor. After calling her mid-
wife in Kitchener, she prepared for the
birth as she'd been taught at monthly
classes by her midwife.
As the labor progressed, it. started to
storm outside so she gathered her birthing
book, her husband and the birthing equip-
ment and retreated to. the bedroom. After
a short labor, their baby was born.
"She was just beautiful; she was all
covered in vernix. I grabbed her and put
her to my breast immediately and she
sucked. Then, the midwives arrived and
told me what a wonderful job I had done,"
she says.
During the birth, her mother and sister
had continued to prepare the turkey dinner
planned for the party and so afterwards,
the whole family sat down to dinner.
"It truly was a birth day dinner. It was
just great," says Jeanette.
Because she believes all women should
have the option to experience similar
natural births, Jeanette is a strong ad-
vocate of midwifery. She and a group of 30
other Huron and Bruce County women are
preparing a brief to present to the mid-
wifery task force on Oct. 16 in support of
midwifery as an autonomous, self-
regulating profession,.
Her home birth experience contrasted
greatly with the birth of her first child a
year before in hospital.
Because she wanted a.nat'ural birth, she
did extensive research about birth and of
local doctors and their attitudes about
birth. When she explained the birthing ex-
perience she wanted to one doctor, he leapt
to his feet asking her if she was crazy.
When she finally found a doctor in a city
hospital who would agree with her desire
for a natural birth, she was disappointed
by the few times she saw him at monthly
check-ups. Though she received con-
tinuous care, she saw so many different
health care professionals that she did not
develop a relationshipwith any of them
and therefore had less confidence going in-
to the birth.
Fearing unnecessary medical interven-
tion, she stayed away from.the hospital un-
til she was almost ready to have the baby
and during an
eps iotomy whi bhrtshh she ev s
beliedwas
unnecessary.
She also battled with hospital staff over
several points of hospital policy including
policy which said mothers must stay in
hospital for 12 hours after the birt ►�;,,
After much negotiating with her doctor,
he agreed to let her go right home with the
baby if nothing went wrong . but failed to
pass the message on to the rest of the staff.
Immediately after the birth, the baby
was taken to the nursery. When Jeanette
followed them to the nursery, the nurses
told her she couldn't have her baby. After
l3Iyth Standard
are advocates for midwifery.
•
•
•
Strong advocates of the formation of midwifery as a self regulating, autonomous pro-
fession, Jeanette Harris, of Blyth and Lois Marjin, of Teeswater are members of a
midwifery support group which is in the process of writing a brief for the Ontario Task
Force travelling the province this fall for public input about midwifery. Roth women
a lot of demanding and bargaining, she col-
lected
o -lected her baby and went home determin-
ed to have a home birth the next time.
"I have nothing against doctors and
hospitals. They're doing what they think is
best but what they're doing is not what's
best for me and my normal births:
Childbirth is not a disease. I respect nature
very. much and I think nature should be
allowed to run its course," she says.
By hiring a midwife, Jeanette says she
was able to learn much more about the
normal birthing experience and non-
interventionist techniques of coping with
labor pains as well as gain confidence in
her own strength and ability to give birth.
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Mostpre-natal .classes teach you how to
behave for the doctor and the hospital
They don't teach you how to birth your
baby. Midwives give you that knowledge
along with continuous care that is so im-
portant for you to be able to trust her and
yourself and be able to relax," she says.
"Midwives form a relationship with know
ou
and your whole family. Theft get
you as a pergen "alid what's important to
you."
When Jeanette became pregnant for a
third time, she continued to see the same
midwife because of the special relation-
ship she felt between them.
She phoned her midwife and told her to
hurry as soon as she began her labor and
because of the confidence she'd built up
from the first two births, she decided she
would give birth to her third child standing
or squatting. quickly this
The labor progressed very q Y
time and very soon, her husband could see
the baby's head crowning. When he notic-
ed the cord around the baby's neck, he
panicked.
"I told him to relax and to put his finger
gently under the cord and wait for the baby
to come and everything turned out fine. I
put him to my bredst right away and the
dog started to bark. The midwife arrived
and we joked that I'd beat her again," says
Jeanette.
"If I could have the same sort of ex-
perience at a hospital or birthing centre, I
would go. Being able to give birth at home
is important but what's more important is
having the care of a midwife."
"The bonding that goes on between a
family is incredible with a natural birth.
You can't explain it unless you've done it.
have hired midwives to support them through home births. Jeanette is pictured with
her children Teague, 3, Capucine, 5 and Zoellyne, 6 and Lois with her sons Darryl, 5
and Glen, 3. (photo by Susan Hundertmark)
It's incredible to be able to reach down and
take that baby right out from inside you,"
she says.
Lois Marjin, of Teeswater is another
woman who hired a midwife after an un-
satisfactory birth at a hospital.
"The place I gave birth was immaterial;
I just wanted to do it naturally. But, once I
had a. home birth,' I didn't want to do it
anywhere else," she says.
During her first pregnancy five years
ago, Lois's doctor left the country at her
eighth month so she had to rehash all her
feelings about having a natural birth with
her new doctor whom she felt was less than
receptive to the idea.
"She told me, 'Let's not get silly. Don't
ask me not to do an episiotomy!'" says
Lois.
Because she was nervous about chang-
ing doctors, Lois says her blood pressure
kept going up. Her new doctor put her in
the hospital for a week but she was out
again in two days because the blood
pressure had. returned to normal. But,
after that, Lois feels she was labelled as
"high risk."
The doctor was scheduled to go on
holidays on Lois's due date and told Lois
that she felt the baby was very large and
would have to be induced four days before
the due date.
"She gave me the ultimatum so I hoped
and prayed the baby would come by itself
early. And, he was a week early," she
says.
Lois says she felt the process of being
shaved, given an enema and an in-
travenous tube in preparation for birth
very dehumanizing.
She was also frustrated by being told to
change beds from the labor room to the
delivery room when she felt ready to give
birth. And, once she was flat on her back
on the delivery table she lost the urge to
push.
"The doctor and the nurses were en-
couraging me to push and I felt like I was
bursting capilliaries in my eyeballs I was,
pushing so hard but the urge had gone
away. And, I was afraid to push because1.
thought the baby would fall off the end of
the delivery table," she says.
When the baby came, the doctor did a
fourth degree episiotomy before the baby's
head had crowned.
"The blood was incredible. I was shak-
ing with pain while she was stitching me
up and I couldn't sit down for a week. The
episiotomy looked like a terrible gaping
wound," she says.
With her son born, Lois put the child to
her breast only to have him whisked away
to the nursery.
"I specifically got a private room so I
could have the baby with me but I still
didn't get him. I got bitter about the ex-
perience after I learned what birth could
• be like," she says.
Two years later, Lois discovered mid-
wives and decided to have a home birth.
She received care from a doctor as well
who thought she might have to go to the
hospital because he thought she was hav-
ing a breech birth.
The midwife agreed but was able to turn
the baby by pressing lightly on the outside
of Lois's abdomen so the birth proceeded
at home.
During labor, Lois appreciated the en-
couragement of the midwife whhowpaasgaable •
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