Nurturing Your Inner Wisdom
As a doula/ birthkeeper my passion is to provide holistic support in all areas including physical, emotional and spiritual during pregnancy, labour and postpartum, with a focus on the woman’s wisdom, instinct and autonomy. Following on my training with the late Dr Michel Odent, his partner Liliana Lammers and my mentor and tutor Nicola Mahdiyyah Goodall, I offer traditional and community-based wisdom, non-medical guidance and emotional care throughout the birthing process and beyond, with an especial focus on the sacred 40 days post birth practice that many cultures across the world still hold deeply.
“Being a doula is the loving art of mothering the new mother and supporting the family. Traditionally women were cared for in the loving arms of the women of their own families and tribes as they made the miraculous journey, of bringing a baby to earth”
Robin Lim
Jeannine Parvati Baker used to refer to this work as a birthkeeper as one who is an Earth Keeper (eco-activist and holders of the sacred Earth-based wisdom) and a Birth Worker (doula, midwife) meaning a birth activist and keeper of the sacred wisdom of birth.
THE DOULA HULA
Could you do the doula hula,
Dance with woman dusk till dawn?
Chanting beats with ancient wisdom;
Coaxing baby to be born?
Could you sit by phone on tenterhooks
Your own life put on hold?
Waiting patiently and gracefully,
Allowing nature to unfold
Can you sift and shake and massage?
Create a sacred space?
Can you laugh and cry and ‘disappear’
Giving nature its own pace?
Whisper words of reassurance
Whisper words of comfort too
Take each step and be beside her
Mop the spills and even poo!
Then, you are a doula
A birth-wise woman of the now.
You can train and hone your skills
But already, you know how.
Verina Henchy