A Day with Ina May was the title of the 9th annual family conference in Pittsburg PA this year and Jeanine and I attended.

It was great spending all day listening to Ina May talk about birth and politics surrounded by like-minded Midwives, Doulas, Childbirth Educators, and Moms. It was a warm, cheerful, and empowering room of women making a difference.

Jeanine and I shared a hotel room with our doula instructor Julie Thomson and a PA Midwife Jill Johnson the night before. We shared our thoughts on the climate of birth not for mothers as much for midwives and doulas. We shared our stories and drank wine until the early morning. We had high hopes for the conference and we started the day with nervous anticipation.

Ina May was beautiful. She wore a cute plaid swing shirt with coordinating blue mock turtle neck sweater and a tan corduroy tapered waist coat. She also wore a nice heel in navy. Her hair was down and straitened just past her shoulder. I tell you this because I like many expected something different. Remember, this is the hippy lady we see in spiritual midwifery in braids and tie-dye. When she came in and walked though the masses most people did not recognize her because of her professional appearance.

She started with talking about “Hands: Our Treasured Tool”. The notes are:

Objective:

• Participants will be able to describe how external version is done.
• Participants will be able to list three manual skills that are threatened by overuse of ultrasound.
• Participants will be able to describe how Catharina Schrader could save mother and child in seven out of ten cases of total placenta previa without cesarean section.

Content:

I. Manual skills that we can’t afford to lose during 21st century

• Abdominal palpation
• Manual pelvimetry
• Manual estimation of fetal weight
• External version
• Internal podalic version
• Pelvic reshaping
• Apple-shaking

II. Reducing a swollen cervix

• Hands that comfort, hands that don’t- what’ s the difference?
• Care of hands for caring

The three thing that I took away from this talk, Good Midwives, Doula, Childbirth educators, OBGYN, L&D nurses and the mother herself have a responsibility to use their hands to communicate and educate mother and baby. Because nobody is touching the mother and baby she herself stops touching herself and the baby in the womb. The next thing is there is great healing in touch. The third is a trained hand and open mind are the best tools any women could ask for at her birth.

The second talk was “Sphincter Law and Its Implications for Birth in the 21st Century”

Objective:

• Participants will be able to list some of the basic properties of sphincters.
• Participants will be able to explain why reversal of cervical dilatation has not been widely documented in medical literature of the 20th and 21st centuries, although it was during the 19th century and earlier.
• Participants will be able to explain why laughter, coughing and vomiting may aid the opening of sphincters.
• Participants will be able to describe ideal settings to maximize chances for normal physiological birth to take place.

The next talk was “Forgotten Powers of Vaginas”

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to explain why the episiotomy rate in the US exceeded that in most countries during the 20th century.
• Participants will be able to explain why policies of routine episiotomy are considered likely to be harmful.
• Participants will be able to list several routine practices that contribute to perceptions that most women’s vaginas are unable to expand enough to prevent trauma during birth.

Next talk was “Post-date Inductions”

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to discuss why induction
• Participants will be able to list the five signs used in Bishop’s cervical scoring system
• Participants will be able to list six midwifery methods of induction that can safely be used in out-of-hospital settings.

The last talk was “Demand Cesareans: What Women Probably Don’t Know”

Objectives:

• Participants will be able to list some of the dangers of cesareans without medical indication that are little known to most pregnant women.
• Participants will be able to explain why the dangers of cesareans have traditionally been downplayed by childbirth educators.
• Participants will be able to describe the changes in surgical technique in cesarean section that have taken place over the last two decades.
• Participants will be able to explain why obstetricians are often not aware of the increased dangers to mothers from demand cesareans.

She had a Q&A just after lunch. At this time she brought up her remember the mother project. Please visit www.rememberingthemothers.com. The project is bringing to light the staggering number of maternal death in our country. Quilt squares are donated and designed in remembrance of women that have died of birth related cause. Its mission is to bring awareness that our maternal mortality rate is out of control.

Ina May also has a website www.InaMay.com. She has written Spiritual Midwifery and Ina May’s Guild to Childbirth. Another way to see and learn more on Ina May is through youtube.com. Some searches on YouTube to try are Ina May Gaskin, Sphincter Law, remember the mothers, natural childbirth with Ina May Gaskin. You will be surprised how many videos of Ina May are on there.

We enjoyed our day and had a safe enjoyable drive.