"Heard am I, healthy am I, holy am I"

Last Friday, I had the exceptional opportunity to attend an evening conference with Ina May Gaskin at the Bronsan Center, in Ottawa. She truly is the Dalaï Lama of natural birth! This said, I was so pleased to witness how personable and easy going she is. Her most revealing quality appears to me to be her ability to integrate humor into any situation. Her light-heartedness is so calming and generous. Her respect for life based on "just common sense" is so refreshing!

I took such interest in listening to all her stories. I especially enjoyed her discussing the importance of children feeling comfortable eliminating. She made the comparison between our society's high rate of constipation vs. the way Brazilians potty train their children. She even made a very loose translation of a children's song a little turd sings in Portuguese. He has a pretty low self-esteem because all the animals on the show make fun of him. Until one day, he realizes how important his role is in the ecosystem, and in helping their food be nourishing. She also made an important remark on society's taboos regarding exposing breast for the purpose of breastfeeding education. There was a simple truth to her that validated my instincts, as she reminded us that we are animals too.

When I first started my practice, a friend and colleague of mine lent me her Spiritual Midwifery book. I ate it up! All the birth stories felt so right. Even when the couples were faced with challenges, they surmounted them with bright spirits, while keeping their focus on what was most important: their love for each other and the child they were birthing. Confirmation came to me when I read that The Farm's first cesarian came after 187 vaginal births.

The evening closed with a beautiful chant we shared, from which I took the title of this article. As we held hands, I was moved by our unity and common goal: bringing us back to our innate capacity to give birth freely.