Michele Klein authored the National Jewish Book Award winner, A Time to Be Born: Customs and Folklore of Jewish Birth (Jewish Publication Society 2000).
Photos from istockphoto.com
Cultural traditions can dictate special protocols for the postnatal woman and determine how much blood is “normal.” Author Michele Klein examines cultural ideas about postnatal blood in Asia, the Middle East and on the Internet.
Author Michele Klein uses the archetypes of the stork and the phoenix to delve into the issues surrounding burnout within the midwifery profession, and provides examples of “phoenix midwives” who have reinvented themselves and their roles “with women.”
Read more…. The Stork and the Phoenix: Birth, Burnout and Rebirth
“Due to some pregnancy difficulty, the birth will be induced today. Fingers crossed, prayers and thoughts for the baby’s health (and the mother’s) will be accepted.” This was the text of an e-mail that I received a few weeks ago from a very worried Israeli father.
Photo by Paul Volkmer
A reflection on the nature of time, our culture and midwives.
Photo by John McArthur
This article discusses how midwives’ caring natures has conflicted with making money.
Read more…. Profits and Rewards—Why Don’t Midwives Earn High Salaries?
Photo by Jordan Whitt
Another article on the positives and negatives that mothers and mother-in-law can bring to the birth experiences of their children, and how midwives might respond.
Photo provided by author
There is a special midwife in Nazareth named Izdihar Abu Eid. Her name means “progress” in Arabic, her mother tongue. She lives up to the name given her by her Bedouin parents and does all she can to advance the cause of her profession, to empower midwives and birthing women.
Photo by Eric Payne
The environment is the surroundings in which we live and act. We also use this term to refer to the natural world that is affected by human activity. We can think about how the environment affects birth. For example, how does bright light or a crowded or empty room affect the birth process? But, we can also think about how birth affects the environment. What does a birth do to the space and the people that take part in this activity? Whose space is it? Is it sacred?
Photo by Caroline Brown
A few weeks before I gave birth to my first child, I woke up in the night sweating and frightened. I had dreamed that I was lying in a pool of blood and had just given birth to a little lamb. A friend told me of a dream that she had before giving birth; someone was chasing her, she lay on her back and was pricked by a thin stick and a stiletto heel.
