Moving from one birth skill to another

Oct 25, 2006

Finally we discussed a very specific type of touch that can really help a woman relax inside her body. Massage was common in this village. It tended to be a type of patting different places on the body.

The whole group was beginning to put these skills into the memory of many past births and also into future ones. They became incredibly eager to start now. There were a few young women who had not had children yet. One older woman asked one of these young women who was her daughter if she had understood what was being said. At first the younger woman said she wasn’t paying attention at all! This is so typical of many of us who aren't pregnant or having our first child ... hands over the eyes and ears.

However, when the mother pressed her, she then almost word for word repeated what she had just learned. Everyone laughed. The women could imagine the joy of passing on these skills to their daughters.

After lunch we continued. We brought the three skills: Breath, Language and Touch together. Even though they patted the labouring woman all over the shoulders and back telling them everything would be ok and gave encouragement, they could feel the difference in the type of relaxing Pink Kit touch.They instanteously understood the profound nature of this type of touch when put together with the breathing and language.

This is typical of village women in every country where I've lived in villlages ... practical. If something works it's immediately incorporated. To have something work, it must be immediately experienced as 'working.' Then it's not questioned. None of the women in that village would think of questioning whether or not these skills work. They know they will work because they feel them in their own body and know the woman sitting next to them does as well.

They were keen to have us come back the next day and share some of the body preparation. They couldn’t stop talking. We stayed an hour later just listening to them putting their new skills together for their future.

Zeeba had never heard anything about The Pink Kit. I arrived from Doha, Qatar to her family the day before. I had asked her whether she needed me to explain anything about The Pink Kit as the translator. She said 'no, I'll just translate whatever you say.' As a doctor for 28 year, I wondered what she would think about The Pink Kit. Doctors in developed countries have had no opinions really. Modern doctors love to see a woman cope with birth pain and fathers coach well, but if a woman isn’t coping they have their medical care ready and waiting.

Midwives have always been the more challenging group about The Pink Kit concept of having a skilled birthing population. Within the Natural Birth and Midwifery Model there has been such a strong belief birth doesn’t require any skills The Pink Kit Method has not been embraced by many families seeking ‘natural’ or ‘alternative’ birth.

There was no doubt the Dai who was present was absolutely delighted The Pink Kit was not a set of midwifery skills. She didn’t want more responsibility or to do more. She sat looking at the other village women realizing how much easier her job would be once they became skilled. Since most of women in this village both give birth then help the younger women when it’s their turn, the role of coach or birth provider is not as clearly defined. The Dai does not attend every birth. All the women present saw the benefit of having all the women in their village know these skills. They kept repeating … ‘Everyone should know these skills’.

In modern countries Pink Kit families have never defined themselves as being for natural or medical birth, they’ve just been interested in their own birth whatever that might be. The true success of The Pink Kit Method is that these birth skills are very everyone and every birth.

Visit:

http://www.commonknowledgetrust.com
http://www.birthingbetter.com
http://www.thepinkkit.com