Good Reads

I am taking full advantage of the library here, especially because it is so wonderful to have thousands of English titles at my fingertips  (I must say that I miss Gothenburg's library as well... the cafe on the first floor was really great.)

I've been digging into my doula studies (almost done, finally) and so my mind has been quite birth-centered again.  Two of the books I've picked up recently are midwive's memoirs and I devour them like I did The Babysitter's Club books when I was seven.

Cara Muhlhahn's Labor of Love tells how she got to where she was when she was prominently featured in The Business of Being Born (a must-see for any pregnant people out there!).  What I particularly like about her is that she knew she wanted to possess very strong clinical skills in order to be the best homebirth midwife.  She fully acknowledges that there are risks in birth and chose to be the best prepared for those that she could.  I think this really bucks the perception that a lot of Americans have of midwives and of homebirth, that it's only hippy, earthy, Birkenstock-wearing, patchouli-smelling women that engage in such an activity. 

The second memoir I'm almost done with is Peggy Vincent's Baby Catcher.  Her career started as a nurse in the 1960s where she recounts some truly atrocious tales of how women were treated in hospitals with regards to labor and delivery (I'll have to ask my mom, also a nurse in the 1960s and '70s, if she witnessed like things), and her journey through hospital midwifery and then on to also have her own homebirth practice.  Reading some of her stories it becomes a wonder to me that any woman chose to have more then one child back then.  I'm also extremely thankful that there are midwives like Peggy Vincent out there to provide a true service to pregnant women.

So yes, I am almost finished with my doula studies.  I need to submit a final draft of a written assignment and then attend two births, and then I'm done.  I think I'll throw a party when I'm done because this has been a long time coming.  And, I like parties.  I am working with an organization,  Chicago Volunteer Doulas.  My first shift is this weekend, so I'm hopeful that I might get to actually support a woman through her labor.  Traditional doula work feels a bit daunting right now with the whole "being on call" aspect, what with Elijah not being quite self-sufficient and all.  And, as I've learned, not a lot of women are gnawing at the bit to hire a doula who has never attended a birth except her own.  So, volunteering seems like a good place to start.  I'll be on-call for three different hospitals during a 12-hour shift, approximately once a week.  I am a bit nervous having never done this before, but I'm also really excited because I know that I'm going to be a kick-butt doula.

This post was supposed to be about the library but like I said - I'm pretty birth-centric right now so I'm not surprised.