Connecting with

THE SHAMANIC DIMENSIONS OF PREGNANCY

with

Jane Hardwicke collings

ABN 88533646143
enquiries@moonsong.com.au
PO Box 290 Robertson NSW 2577 Australia
www.moonsong.com.au
2005
My 17 year old daughter, Ellie, came home from school the other day telling
me about a conversation that had happened in her art class. One of her
friends was asking the teacher about childbirth, “does it really hurt?” She
replied “I don’t know, epidural all the way for me.” Ellie, herself homeborn,
asked me “Mum, what’s the point of natural childbirth?”

The Point of Natural Childbirth

It is a commentary on the mindset and beliefs of our culture that I need to

precede Childbirth with the word natural to be specific about what I mean, to
clearly describe a simple physical process that has been high-jacked by
medical technology.

Many women today, when making their choices around childbirth may well
ask the question -
“what is the point of natural childbirth?”
Today in our modern high tech’ world, women don’t need to wait until their
babies let them know, by the initiation of labour, that they are ready to be
born. Rather than be inconvenienced by this unable to be planned for birth-
date, a mother can book in to the hospital for a procedure to induce the
labour or surgically remove the baby from her on a chosen, convenient day.
Rather than endure the expected pain of labour and birth the mother can be
numbed and feel nothing or choose a caesarean section and bypass the birth
process entirely.
For many women who lead the fast paced, ‘in control’ lifestyle there needs
to be a very good reason to seek an alternative to what sounds easier, faster
and much more convenient. Besides, the doctor actually says its quite safe to
have analgesia or anaesthesia or a caesarean section.
So, it’s the right question - “what IS the point of natural childbirth?”
And the answers implicate the proponents of other than natural childbirth
and asks the question “what really is the point of unnatural childbirth?”.

To start with, when we move further and further away from our natural
human state, that is the inborn, genetically programmed way, we encounter
problems. Evolution is slow.
Natural childbirth can be grouped with the rest of our natural bodily
functions.
The signs and symptoms of what happens when such functions are
compromised or tampered with are all there.
Two examples:
We are realising (too late for many) that the over consumption of unnatural
ie a long way from source, high carbohydrate processed foods and sugar has
led to physical problems such as diabetes, heart disease and allergies.1 These
diseases plague a generation or two and their misinformed descendents.
We are realising that television and video games vs outside play and made
up games for children, gives rise to physical, emotional and psychological
problems that range from obesity to ADDH and depression.2 Children are
genetically programmed to run, jump and play, to be creative and inventive
so that they grow and develop to their human potential, that is what comes
naturally, is of their nature.
When we don’t feed and care for our children and ourselves according to our
cellular needs, our natural, health-full way is replaced by lack of health and
sickness (dis-ease) on many levels.

And so it is with natural childbirth. If women are robbed of the chance to

give birth in their own time, in their own way, then how can they develop
naturally as mothers? If they have to do it the way they are told to - by a
certain date, within a particular timeframe, they will not know their own
way, time and rhythm. With the stop clock on her labour a woman may not
be able to notice the natural ebbs and flows that come and go in labour. She
then may not be able to notice in any ebb (a slowing down or deviation) she
experiences, an obstacle in the form of a fear, created in her mind. Through
the process of natural labour and birth a woman accesses her inner
programming for review. Her fear related obstacles are part and parcel of
natural childbirth and are the creative opportunities to hone ourselves to be
the best possible mother for our children. These are how we know ourselves
more fully and can then be ourselves more (w)hol(e)-y.
If Mother’s are told to be in certain positions rather than hearing from within
themselves how to be to best facilitate the natural birth process and if the
process is disturbed and the Mother cannot do what is inbuilt to come
naturally, then she is denied the opportunity that Nature provides to turn on

1
Carbohydrates Can Cause Disease By Kent Rieske
http://www.shdc.com.au/downloads-links.php
2
“The Good, The Bad and The Educational – Television and our Children’s Brains” by
Heather Ostman, Big Apple Parent April 2005 (ParentsKnow.com)
“Your Child’s Growing Mind” by Jane Healy 3rd Edition, Broadway Books, 2004
all the instinctual and intuitive mothering behaviour, the primal system of
mammalian mothering.3
Without her intuitive mothering behaviour switched on, she will be looking
outside herself for the answers to the questions that will come incessantly as
a mother, looking in the wrong place for the answers that are really only
found inside herself.
The instinctual mothering behaviour that happens when a birth is
undisturbed has huge implications for the newborn. Each action the mother
intuitively does, like lift the baby into her arms with his or her head in the
crook of her left elbow, which approximates the baby’s heart to hers and
best facilitates eye contact, has a significant and nature programmed
purpose. On ‘hearing’ the mother’s heart beat, and this happens on more
than the auditory level, the baby ceases to produce the stress hormones he or
she did to help it through the birth and starts the physical adjustments to life
outside the womb. The mother’s touch and eye contact as well as a myriad
of other things she will do if undisturbed, switch on the baby’s five senses. If
the baby misses out on this process, his or her senses will be switched on,
but later than when nature intended.4
When they find out all this, how will the Mothers feel, who chose, by
suggestion and with support of their doctors, to bypass the birth process
entirely?
If Women are tempted by drugs to numb them of the pain of childbirth how
will they ever know how strong they are? And that they can endure the
challenges of Mothering, that they have an inner strength to draw on in the
middle of the night, again and again. If they don’t feel the depth and breadth
and height of natural birth what will they draw on to understand their
teenager?
Animals that are numbed at birth reject their babies.
Animal mothers of babies taken from them at birth, fail to recognise them
when they are reintroduced and reject them.
How will the Mothers feel when the truth is revealed that not only did the
drugs rob them of the necessary experience to know their inner strength and
power that would prepare them for Motherhood, the land of the strong and
the brave, but that the drugs also taught their babies that when the going gets
tough, get numb.

3
Evolution’s End, chapter 12, p115 by Joseph Chilton Pearce
4
Evolution’s End, chapter 12, by Joseph Chilton Pearce
How will the Mothers feel when they see the scientific studies that link
drugs used in labour with drug abuse in young adults5, that invasive
instrumental procedures used at birth (most often done because of the
inhibitory effects of the drugs used, on the natural process) link to suicide in
young adults6?
No one has ever died of the pain of childbirth.
Pain is a gateway, and the part of the natural process that leads us to the
altered states of consciousness where there is no pain, just birth and ecstacy.

Successful breastfeeding is more commonly associated with natural birth.

How will the Mothers feel when they learn that breastfeeding turns on an
internal mechanism inside the baby that for life enables them to produce
serotonin, the hormone responsible for happiness7?

This is not an attempt to create feelings of guilt for what has happened, it’s a
call for informed choice and informed decision making for what is to
happen.
What has happened has happened and needed to for whatever purpose.
Mothers have their ‘potential’ birth experience, and the lessons from the
experience, there to be learned or not, are the gifts.

Childbirth is a rite of passage into motherhood, and what happens

1) informs the mother of her culture’s values and expectations of her as a
mother
2) creates the lesson and therefore the theme for her mothering, distilling the
essence of her relationship as mother with that child and
3) creates her inner beliefs about herself as mother.
That all happens regardless of whether you bring consciousness to it or not.
And one of the reasons why the system, as unjust and absurd as it is, keeps
going on is because of this rite of passage effect. The modern birth informs
the mother that she couldn’t have done it without the doctor/hospital/drugs
etc and what she subconsciously deduces from that is, it is because she
doesn’t have in her whatever she may need to do it without them. This
perpetuates the system by creating a dependent out of the mother and she
passes this on to her children. She doesn’t trust her inner knowing or inner
strength, she hasn’t even met it. ‘Natural’ birth is Nature’s opportunity and

5
www.birthworks.org/primalhealth/databank.phtml?kw=*drug+addiction
6
www.birthworks.org/primalhealth/databank.phtml?kw=*suicide
7
“The Mood Cure” by Julia Ross Chapter 3 p 28 Viking Publishers
invitation for the mother to do just that. When a mother gives birth naturally,
she starts her mothering with all the switches on, knowing she is the best
carer for her baby, that she as Mother – knows best.
Childbirth is also the rite of passage for men to fatherhood. I wonder how
many men who experience a typical hospital birth feel displaced and how
this effects their relationships with both the child and the mother. I wonder
what the relationship is between the father’s experience of childbirth and
longevity of relationship with the mother? I wonder how the hi-tech birth
experience has effected man’s relationship with the feminine. No need to
wonder too hard, just look at the way the Earth (the feminine, our Mother)
has and is being treated. And imagine for those men, who were, the effects
of being circumcised on their relationship with their mothers who they
‘thought’ would protect them.
Birth is also a rite of passage for the baby, setting a theme for it’s life,
creating their life “work”. We know that babies imprint – learn responses to
stimuli from their mothers - on everything that happens during their time in
the womb, the birth and up to seven years old.
What does a controlled birth experience teach this new (to this lifetime)
person? How will the mothers feel when they come to know that they have
unwittingly sealed an aspect of their baby’s fate.
But then, we know that souls make deals in ‘heaven’, to be part of life
lessons for each other. Birth is one of those opportunities and the souls
involved, the mother and the baby, have conspired together to create the
perfect experience. Perfect doesn’t mean ‘really good’, it just means perfect,
right, appropriate to the given circumstances. So perhaps it’s all ‘sealed in
heaven’ and there’s no real point in trying to change the direction.
What a dilemma…..
However, many women ‘wake up’ to their divine nature during their
pregnancy as it pulls their focus to their centre, and as they do, their ears will
open and they will hear what they need to hear at the time they need to hear
it and so it is therefore that these words need to be spoken.

The multitude of unnatural birth experiences that are so much more the norm
than natural ones, are nobody’s in particular fault, but are rather the
manifestation of the ‘wounded feminine’ that we see in our patriarchal
culture. Each birth that is allowed to be natural heals this wounded feminine,
reminds us of the power inherent in the feminine and shifts the dominant
model of suppression of that power.

This and much much more is the point of natural childbirth.

Natural birth is to be trusted, it is an ancient mammalian process that works.
Natural birth is not dangerous or more dangerous than a monitored,
controlled, high-tech medical experience, it is actually safer. When analysed,
the mothers and babies of homebirths in the care of Midwives, the closest
thing to an undisturbed natural birth (that has been analysed), fare better than
the high-tech majority in the western world.8
The fact is 80% of the world’s births occur “at home” with women as the
primary carer, and the world is certainly not suffering a population problem.
Jane Collings
2005

I’d like to dedicate this to my daughter Ellie and to my mentor and friend the
late Jeannine Parvati Baker, also a friend of Ellie’s.

Jane, a homebirth midwife for the last 21 years, lives in the bush in Australia
near Sydney. She is married to Paul and they have four children between
them.
Besides homebirths, Jane teaches workshops called
MoonSong – Reclaiming Feminine Power Through Reconnection with the
Women’s Mysteries.
She has created some great tools to assist women to understand the cycles
that influence her.
Check them out on www.moonsong.com.au

8
BMJ, 2005 June 18, 330(7507):1416-19
! !Drumming!During!Pregnancy!and!for!Labour!
Jane!Hardwicke!Collings!
Imbolc!2011!
!
Information!and!Stories!
Shamanic!Cosmology!
Guide!to!Shamanic!Journeying!
A!Shamanic!Drum!Journey!into!your!womb!to!meet!your!baby!
My!story!
!
!
!
Information!and!Stories!
!
Drumming!is!an!ancient!shamanic!technique!used!cross3culturally!for!healing,!
harmonising!and!journeying!within.!!The!drum!is!as!old!as!human!kind!and!has!
been!used!in!all!cultures.!It!is!a!feminine!symbol!–!a!round!container!that!
vibrates!life.!!In!the!ancient!cultures!of!the!Mediterranean!and!Middle!East,!the!
predominant!players!of!the!drum!were!women.!They!used!the!drum!for!religious!
functions,!rites!of!passage,!communal!bonding!and!healing.!The!drum!has!been!
traced!back!to!the!Goddess!traditions!of!these!ancient!cultures.!There!are!many!
images!from!temples,!wall!paintings,!vases!and!reliefs!depicting!women!playing!
the!frame!drum.!
In!her!book,!When%the%Drummers%were%Women,%Layne!Redmond!explains:!
“Priestesses%of%the%Goddess%were%skilled%technicians%in%its%(the%frame%drum)%uses.%
They%knew%which%rhythms%quickened%the%life%in%freshly%planted%seeds;%which%
facilitated%childbirth;%and%which%induced%the%ecstatic%trance%of%spiritual%
transcendence.%Guided%by%drumbeats,%these%sacred%drummers%could%alter%their%
consciousness%at%will,%travelling%through%the%three%worlds%of%the%Goddess:%the%
heavens,%the%earth%and%the%underworld”%
!
Drumming!for!women!during!pregnancy!and!labour!is!a!skill!and!tool!to!be!
reclaimed,!this!is!something!women!have!been!doing!for!much,!much!longer!than!
they!haven’t.!
!
During!pregnancy,!shamanic!drum!journeying!is!a!wonderful!technique!that!can!
be!used!to!help!the!mother!connect!with!her!baby!inside!her,!as!well!as!connect!
with!her!womb,!vagina!and!vulva.!So!often!women!feel!disconnected!from!their!
babies!and!their!own!bodies!and!this!process!helps!work!toward!healing!or!
dealing!with!whatever!it!is!that!blocks!that!connection.!Shamanic!drum!
journeying!is!like!a!self!guided!meditation!into!the!unseen!realms,!or!into!the!
body,!to!the!beat!of!the!drum,!for!the!purpose!of!seeking!information!and!
spiritual!guidance!that!will!contribute!to!and!help!situations!in!our!ordinary!here!
and!now!conscious!reality.!
!
“Drum Journeying during my pregnancy allowed me to go deeply within, into my
womb to journey with and meet my baby. I could see baby up close and personal. This
was amazing! I felt as though I touched my baby before the birth, our souls connected
on a deeper level - it was our private journey and this connection again deepened our

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relationship. The ability to travel to the womb was very sacred, enlightening. I was
able to visualise my baby after each drumming journey with more clarity - this
enhanced my communication with the baby. I drew a picture moments after the
journey and hung the completed artwork up on the wall for the remainder of the
pregnancy. Just having this there in my proximity allowed me to download the sacred
moment into my subconscious every time I walked past.”
Sophia
!
When!used!in!labour!drumming!can!help!transport!a!woman!into!the!altered!
state!of!consciousness!that!best!facilitates!labour!and!birth.!Drumming!in!the!
birth!room!helps!create!a!sacred!space,!keeps!the!energy!focused,!enables!the!
mother!to!move!her!attention!inward!and!reduces!disturbance!to!her.!Using!the!
drum!during!labour!helps!to!reduce!the!intensity!of!contractions!3!the!vibration!
dissipates!the!pain!and!the!sound!offers!the!woman!a!focal!point!that!enables!her!
to!access!an!altered!state!of!consciousness.!
!
“One of my support women played a large frame drum over my sacrum through each
contraction, which was amazing. The drum gave me a point of focus that allowed me
to instinctively go within and be with the pain of the contraction. I was able to focus
and relax and I noticed that as the contraction started with the drumming, the pain of
the contraction would melt away as I felt the drum beat vibrate through my sacrum.
The tension seemed to lift and this allowed me to experience many painless
contractions. As I focused on the feeling of the vibration in my sacrum it took my
focus off the pain and I experienced the contraction with the rhythm of drum beat
guiding me through. I felt relaxed through labour. Babe and I worked as a team and I
was tuned in with her and my needs, I was aware of what I was thinking and feeling in
a very "observer" kind of way.”
Pip
!
Vibration!is!known!to!have!an!analgesic!effect,!and!is!used!in!the!treatment!of!
chronic!pain.!Studies!suggest!that!vibration!might!interfere!with!the!
transmission!of!pain!signals!from!various!parts!of!the!body!to!the!central!
nervous!system.i!Drumming!has!also!been!reported!to!reduce!the!severity!of!the!
symptoms!of!Parkinson’s!Disease.ii!
The!sound!of!drumming!creates!strong!repetitive!neuronal!firing!in!the!auditory!
pathway!that!could!block!out!other!stimuli.iii!
Listening!to!drumming!synchronises!the!hemispheres!of!the!brainivv!this!results!
in!a!sense!of!balance!that!also!links!the!conscious!and!the!subconscious!minds!
and!enables!the!intuitive!knowing!of!what!to!do!(next).!For!a!woman!in!labour!
this!knowing!takes!her!deeper!into!her!self,!where!she!shuts!out!the!outside!
world.!This!is!exactly!what!will!best!facilitate!labour!and!birth,!reduced!neo3
cortical!activity,!and!the!unimpeded!involuntary!process!of!labour!and!birth.!
!
“My partner drummed for me to journey out shamanically and connect with my baby
when I was in early labour (approximately 12 hours prior to birth). ‘Meeting’ my
baby only hours prior to her birth was a very powerful experience which offered me
much peace, confidence and power for the labour that followed.
I felt us journey the labour ‘together’ – I felt very connected to her in every moment,
the psychic channel between us was clear and strong the whole way.
During this early labour journey I was shown what the process of her incarnation

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would be spiritually in the moments just prior to her birth and I carried this vision as
my beacon through the labour. It became a point of focus and an encouragement to
stay open and in trust of the process that was unfolding. This journey also offered me
a strong connection to the Earth, my Spirit Allies and my Ancestors who I felt
surround me throughout my labour and offer me strength and confidence during this
time.
I laboured mostly in solitude with this spiritual support as my anchor and felt very
safe, held, powerful, confident. I felt very expanded and at one with everything around
me…unity consciousness….and very inner and focused.
My first stage labour was painless and my daughter was born quickly and with ease
at home in a pool with my immediate family in attendance (planned freebirth).
I believe drumming has the capacity to facilitate clear, open channels of physical,
emotional and spiritual communion between the mother and baby, her support people
and her chosen mode of identification with Spirit (ie. God, Goddess, Ancestors, spirit
allies etc) both throughout pregnancy and into labour and birth. Drumming supports
the mother’s consciousness to move beyond the identification of labour as pain and
into a more expanded, united sense of consciousness which offers her a way to
transcend the physical challenges of labour and birth and connect with her role of
sacred vessel for the incoming soul to arrive through at the moments of incarnation
and physical birth.”
Melinda
!
Drumming!can!be!used!for!healing,!it!actually!boosts!your!immune!systemvi,!for!
prayer,!for!calming!and!for!balancing.!!
!
“Drumming during my pregnancy connected me deeply to my myself and my baby. I
would often feel to sing while drumming and it was as if the spirit of my baby was
singing with me. Drumming without a doubt deepened my connection to the earth
also, and instantaneously. Often when I found myself rushing around in all of the
"doing" that comes with preparing for a new baby I would pick up my drum and after
only a few minutes of drumming I felt as if I was coming back into my body. The
vibration seemed to open my heart and assist me in letting go of my head. In a way I
find drumming like a form of meditation and it provided me with great healing and a
deeper connection with myself as woman and my baby inside.”
Lizzy
!
!
“I drummed a few days before she was born, I was past forty weeks, people were
asking what I was doing, pressure to get things moving was coming in – ‘have lots of
sex’, so much pressure to get the labour started and the baby out. It really annoyed
me, I wanted to wait for her when she was ready. I explored where I was at with all
this, how was this pressure effecting me? I drew some cards, Kwan Yin and
Quetzalcoatl, who’s card said drum. I went outside and I drummed for ages. All the
dogs in the neighbourhood went crazy, howling, I drummed for a long time. Stu
drummed around my body as well. I knew I needed to get rid of other people’s
worries and fears. I was getting trapped in them, believing them. I needed to clear all
that from wherever in my body I was holding it. The drumming did that, I felt so good
after the drumming, I felt calm knowing she’ll come when she wants to come. I tapped
into an inner confidence, knowing my strength, bare foot on the earth, connecting in

! 3!
with the baby, I remembered its about her birth, her life, not everyone else’s fears or
the clock. A few days later labour started.”
Jess
!
Different!beats!serve!different!purposes.!A!steady,!single!beat,!has!a!masculine,!
yang!energy!and!sends!forth!the!intention!the!drummer!holds.!A!rapid!pace,!180!
beats!per!minute,!is!used!for!shamanic!drum!journeys!and!will!also!serve!the!
purpose!of!arousing!and!vitalising.!A!two!beat!rhythm!like!a!heart!beat,!lub3dub,!
at!60!beats!per!minute!(30!lub3dubs)!has!a!calming!and!centering!effect.!A!faster!
lub3dub,!180!beats!per!minute!(90!lub3dubs)!generates!a!feminine,!yin,!
descending!energy!that!is!conducive!to!healing!and!regeneration.vii!
!
The!drum!echoes!the!heartbeat!of!the!Earth!and!enables!us!to!connect!with!the!
rhythm!of!life.!!Studies!have!shown!that!the!Earth!vibrates!at!a!frequency!of!7.8!–!
12!cycles!per!second;!the!drum!has!a!frequency!of!7!–!14!cycles!per!second!so!
when!we!listen!to!a!drum!beat!we!are!aligning!ourselves!with!the!earth’s!
vibration.!Each!time!we!beat!the!drum!we!send!out!healing!vibrations!to!the!
Earth.!The!indigenous!people!of!North!America!call!the!drumbeat!the!heartbeat!
of!the!Earth!and!believe!that!through!the!drum!we!can!feel!the!heartbeat!of!the!
Earth.!
!
!
“During my labour and birth experience, drumming helped me come back into myself
and seemed to carry me into a much deeper space within, a meditative space. It
allowed me to open in places I was holding tension and the vibration connected me to
the earth energy. I felt as if the vibration and the beating was the Earth surrounding
me and it was an incredibly powerful support in my labour. I feel drumming opens us
to the unseen realms of energy and in birth these are the places we find strength and
connection to both our ancestors and to the wisdom that lies within us. I had a
wonderful experience of drumming during pregnancy and labour and I highly
recommend it as a tool for birthing women.”
Lizzy
!
In!shamanic!traditions,!the!drum!is!used!to!call!the!spirits!and!to!facilitate!the!
transition!of!the!shaman,!via!a!trance!state,!to!the!other!realms!for!the!purpose!of!
mediation!and!healing.!Often!referred!to!as!the!Shaman’s!Horse,!the!drum!and!its!
beat!are!what!the!shaman!“rides”!between!the!physical!and!spiritual!worlds!
when!she!is!journeying.!
!
When Dan drummed for his partner in labour he felt, held and focussed on his
intention. “An intention to energetically prepare the space for birth. A call for
stillness, an opening of heart and a welcoming of spirit. I observed that the other
people around, our older children, became aware that the space had now been called,
the circle was complete, and had become a space of sacredness, love and purity. For
the children, words are often less effective to what the call of the drum can do,
especially since they had already identified with the sacred use of the drum.
I felt personally that the time had come to call upon the universe, to disperse
distractions and nonessential tasks. The drum I used has always been used with
intentions so when it comes out to play, the experience is very powerful.
I drummed softly and allowed the drum to take control. It was a rhythm similar to a

! 4!
drum journey, and varied slightly as the journey called. I predominantly drummed a
soft drum journey rhythm.
I drummed for Melinda to journey in early labour. I also drummed up the birth space
in preparation and drummed during the labour in an adjoining room to Melinda. My
intention as support/husband/father was to create an energetic space that was
welcoming and safe. To clear away the daily distractions, hold our older children
both in presence and energetically in a calm open welcoming place and not interfere
with the birthing woman’s process. Melinda’s journey could therefore be free to
extend to the limits, this being possible only with the required knowing that her space
was held strong and was ready to welcome her and baby.”
Dan
!
Pregnancy!and!birth!are!shamanic!experiences,!deep!inner!experiences!that!are!
transformational.!!In!a!shamanic!drum!journey!a!mother!can!access!her!inner!
knowing!and!strength!and!seek!and!find!guidance!and!support!via!the!shamanic!
realms,!through!connection!with!the!Divine!Feminine,!her!Guides,!and!Power!
Animals.!She!can!connect!with!her!baby!during!pregnancy!via!shamanic!
journeying!and!use!this!connection!to!communicate!with!her!unborn!one!at!all!
times.!This!is!a!potent!process!and!the!connection!formed!often!brings!great!
healing.!Valuable!tools!and!information!for!the!labour!and!birth!can!be!accessed!
by!the!mother!as!well!as!such!things!as!the!baby’s!name!and!advice!on!who!
should!be!present!at!the!birth.!Shamanic!journeying!during!pregnancy!offers!
great!preparation!for!labour!and!birth!as!both!are!best!approached!from!a!
similar!altered!state!of!consciousness.!
!
“Prior to each journey, I set sacred space and made an intention to connect with my
baby and receive any information he / she needed to convey to me.
Over the course of the pregnancy I was told, shown many things by my baby to
support my journey of pregnancy and birth – what she would look like, her chosen
names, what foods to eat more or less of in pregnancy, where she would be born, who
would be present at the birth, what position would be best facilitate her birth at the
time of 2nd stage (eg. I was told to “mind the shoulders” and take an upright position
to provide maximum pelvic outlet space for this – I did and she was born very quickly
from head to toes in one contraction), who her Power Animal was, what our Past Life
connection had been, what the process of her incarnation (just prior to her birth)
would be spiritually and what my role and responsibility in this would be.

Receiving all this information each week and “getting to know” my baby emotionally
and spiritually during the journeys, was an amazing support in helping me stay
conscious and connected to her and the process of my pregnancy, physically during
my outer life as a busy mother of three other children. Having the ritual of journeying
each week kept me “plugged in” and in tune with what was happening in my inner
life when I wasn’t consciously engaged in it. I believe this influenced a lot of my daily
choices in the pregnancy such as intuitively knowing what my body needed at any
given moment and responding appropriately eg. which foods to eat more or less of,
what type of exercise was needed, the choice to rest more, sleep more etc.”

“Of all my 4 pregnancies, I felt most strongly connected to my baby physically,

emotionally, psychically, spiritually in this one I did drum journeys throughout.
Drum journeying in pregnancy can offer the Mother a regular opportunity to ritually

! 5!
connect with her baby and her body to receive important information for her
pregnancy, labour and birth and strengthen her connection with the soul of her
unborn child.”
Melinda
!
With!the!shamanic!motherbaby!connection!established!during!pregnancy,!the!
journey!to!birth!for!them!both,!can!be!healing,!empowering!and!enlightening,!all!
that!Mother!Nature!intended.!!
!
“During the labour with our second baby I needed drumming. I was beginning to feel
disheartened that the labour was progressing slowly and longer than I had expected.
My focus on working with the waves was there though always in my periphery, was
the thought that it was taking 'longer'. The drum, the beat, was like the pulsating of
the heart. It was pulsating energy through me and through the space. I felt grounded
and alive, primal and rhythmical. At this point as I write, I still feel and hear the
echoes of the drum and re-member our labour journey. It is strikingly clear to me,
how powerful this technique was in connecting me with my ancient grandmothers,
mother wisdom and my labour process. It tuned me out of my head and into my body,
it maintained the labour waves and strengthened me and my process. My contractions
were powerful but not painful, intense and exciting. My baby loves the sound of the
drum!

I feel that the drumming vibration is like the beating, pulsating of the heart. It allows
a woman to enter this heart-space and feel free to receive messages from her
mind/body. It allows her to transcend her normal state of consciousness/ordinary
thinking and be present to, well... the present. It allows breathing to regulate itself.
And what arrives are unexpected images and information. I feel this can be enhanced
by having drumming time during the pregnancy to deepen the connection with the
baby and then continue this as a point of communication during the labour.”
Sophia
!
During!labour,!journeying!deep!within!to!the!beat!of!the!drum,!the!mother!easiliy!
experiences!the!altered!state!of!consciousness!that!is!part!of!the!birth!process.!As!
the!labouring!mother!focuses!on!the!rapid!drum!beat,!her!brain!waves!alter!and!
she!shifts!her!awareness!deeply!inward!to!the!place!where!physical!pain!is!
reduced!and!fears!are!gone.!She!taps!into!an!inner!knowing!of!how!to!best!to!
flow!with!the!labour!and!often!she!feels!a!connection!with!all!women!who!have!
birthed!before.!
!
“My partner drummed for me for a while in my labour. I felt like I could just close my
eyes and go inside my body more. I stopped thinking while he was drumming. I felt
really relaxed. He was drumming slowly, I wanted it faster, it wasn’t matching the
intensity of the contractions and the whole experience. I was in late first stage and felt
I wanted the drumming to match the intensity.
My shamanic sisters were drumming for me too (remotely), I think I could feel it, I felt
held, so comfortable, my labour didn’t take over me, I was able to be with it. I could
see them all in the room with me.
It felt amazing to have all those women thinking of us and holding us, being present
for us. We didn’t call our midwife and support person to come to the labour because
it felt like everyone was there. They came just before she was born. I was so

! 6!
comfortable and relaxed, I didn’t have an intense labour, just 2 hours of active
labour.
I feel like having everyone drumming for me kept me really present and just gave me
the space to let go. I was anticipating lots of pain and it just never came. The
contractions were intense, full on, but not lots of pain. I didn’t have to push, I just let
go and my body did it. I thought – I don’t need to work I just need to let it happen.
With everyone drumming and thinking of me, maybe what happened was people
helped the pain go away. I was scared of the pain coming and maybe it got drummed
away with peoples’ intentions to help me with that.”
Jess
!
Drumming!for!women!in!labour!can!be!done!remotely,!holding!the!intention!that!
the!healing!vibration!be!sent!to!her.!!!
!
“I have drummed in support for birthing women at a distance and felt a sense of
offering each woman psychic and energetic support. I have felt I was participating in
helping to weave together and around her, her sacred circle of spiritual support that
offered her sustenance at times of flagging energy and confidence.
The women have reported back that they have felt this “extra” presence in their birth
space and it has been a wonderful support for them in their labour especially during
times of feeling tired, frightened, and despondent.”
Melinda
!

“During my pregnancy I did a couple of drum journeys with the intention of

journeying to meet my babe. It was a profound experience that helped me to make a
strong initial connection with my baby in those first early weeks of the pregnancy. The
second journey was much later in the pregnancy and was equally as profound. I was
able to really communicate with my babe and I received messages from her for the
other members of the family she was about to be born into. This was my third
pregnancy, and I have always felt very connected and intuitive during pregnancy, but
doing the drum journeying this time, for the first time during pregnancy, did alter my
birth expectation as I was more fully aware of how powerful this being was and was
very focused on working with this baby to deliver her into the world. I knew I was
influenced by my experiences with the drum during pregnancy because even though
on a more logical level it felt strange to me, I wanted to use a drum during labour,
intuitively it felt right so I went with it.”
Pip
!
The!healing!power!of!the!drum!and!the!capacity!for!transformation!that!labour!
and!birth!hold!for!a!mother!can!shift!beliefs!and!fears!that!have!been!long!held.!!
!
“Drumming during labour for my doula clients enables me to tune into where they
are 'at' in their labour, what they are feeling and even to sense obstacles they may be
experiencing. I have felt these things when I have drummed both remotely (away from
the labouring woman) and when I have been with them. Here are two birth stories
where the drum played a healing role.
During one labour, when I was present, and the mother was experiencing very slow
progress, we used the Goddess cards to find out what the issue was that was
preventing the birth from progressing, they were amazingly accurate and one of the

! 7!
cards actually said to use a Native American drum preferable with deer skin to drum
away and transmute some grief. It was amazing... the mum stood crying while she
drummed, crying, drumming, healing... at the perfect point her 3 year old daughter
walked in and touched her leg. I sat with her after this and asked if I could drum some
more around her. An issue with her mother came up as we talked and she sat as I
drummed around her aura. In some places the sound changed or went off so I felt that
the rhythm needed to be different, I drummed in that place until I felt that it cleared,
then continued with a faster pace. It was mostly over her left shoulder. My client said
that she felt that she was giving her grief and emotions to the drum. I asked
afterwards if we needed to do some EFT tapping to clear the emotions and she tried
to access them again and they were gone! However things still moved slowly. So I
knew there was more work to do. A text message came through from a midwife and
she accidentally deleted it twice instead of responding which made her start talking
about that midwife. She had had a difficult experience with the midwife at her with
first birth and was not feeling comfortable with one in her group practice that she
knew was on duty right then. We used the cards again and they spoke about changing
the way we deal with challenges and doing things yourself. We chose to drum again.
She said she felt lighter and more grounded. Half an hour or so later she was in
established labour. Things progressed really fast, two hours later, she decided it was
time to go to hospital (planned hospital birth). On walking to the door she began
pushing! We called the ambulance and a short while later she was holding her
beautiful baby girl in her arms on her lounge room floor.
Another baby was born in the back of an ambulance on the side of the road on the
way to the hospital. The Mum had spent 12 hours in hospital the previous night and
had decided to go home when her labour had stopped. The next day she hadn't slept
and was very teary and not coping. She was having contractions every twenty
minutes. The hospital said for her to take some panadeine and go to sleep. So Dad
went off to buy some. Making this plan eased her fears a bit and her contractions had
started coming closer together, 10mins or so apart. With Dad out the house I took the
opportunity to use the goddess card Mum pulled earlier and I got my birthing drum
out of the car. The card was Sekmet, and spoke about hidden anger. The mum didn't
resonate with the idea of hidden anger and so it took awhile of just chatting before
she opened up, also I think it took the dad to be out of the house, that gave her the
space to feel. Then it came up about her father, she was angry that he was moving
away at this time when she needed him. The Sekmet card says to drum and repeat ‘I
am angry’ and let Sekmet witness your anger... so she did this and there was a little
shift... but I still felt that we had not gotten to the real issue. Then I was drumming
around her and noticed a change in sound around her left knee, to me the left knee
means mother. I thought about how her mother had passed away and asked how she
felt about the possibility of her mother being in the room with her, in spirit, as she
birthed, and she began to cry a lot. She did not want her mother there. She was angry
at her mother. She said her mother was very overbearing and overprotective and
among other things had said that her daughter had such a low pain threshold and this
judgement was worrying her. She said from this, that she doubted her ability to
handle the pain of childbirth. It also explained why she was clinging to the tens
machine the entire labour. I drummed around her knee some more and then we
decided to move into a different room. Her contractions got closer together
immediately after this. She got into a great position hanging over the edge of the bed
to bring baby forward and we turned out the lights to help her relax. The pressure
was off her labour progressing, and now the contractions were 5 minutes apart. Not

! 8!
long after, she had to get up and move as she was getting really uncomfortable. She
was very tired and just wanted to collapse but she couldn't lay down through
contractions. I coaxed the tens machine from her and helped her into the shower to
revive and comfort her. Before she got into the shower we spoke about how we should
go in to the hospital after the shower and if she was not progressing then it was
probably time to get some help. This helped her to feel ok with where she was at and
she felt a shift, all her tension went. Once in the shower and with the tens machine off
the contractions came on stronger and faster. I woke the Dad who was finally getting
some sleep. He packed the car. Before we left I said if she starts pushing pull over,
two minutes down the road he pulled over and she was vomiting. Another five minutes
down the road and he pulled over again, She was beginning to bear down. We rolled
down the front seat, helped her get one of her feet up on dash and encouraged her to
just breath through the contractions. Dad called an ambulance. The ambulance
arrived and forced her to get out of car even though she didn’t want to and the baby's
head was on view. I followed the ambulance, it screamed down the road lights
flashing doing 100kms. Then three minutes later, the very next contraction, they pull
over and a beautiful baby boy was born. I was sitting in the car behind just sending
lots of love and energy to them. Then one of the ambulance people came to my car
and told me they’d delivered the baby and asked if I had a camera! So I went and took
photos in back of ambulance for them!”

So, I’ve seen in my practice as a doula, the wonderful way the drum enables women
to relax, access and release the issues they have that have been blocking their labour
from progressing. The drum almost effortlessly shifts and transmutes the negative
energy or fears.
Cattalia
!
“Drumming and Journeying – offers the Mother and her support people a “tool” to
use in labour and birth that provides information via “internal enquiry” without the
need to physically enter the mother’s body (vaginal examination) or disturb her
instinctive behaviour at any time. This encourages the Mother to bring forth her own
answers and maintain a sense of autonomy and empowerment throughout her
experience.

Fathers and siblings could also use drumming and drum journeys to strengthen their
spiritual connection with the baby. Drumming in a labour in the birth space could
through the process of entrainment encourage a “united consciousness” between the
Mother and the support people in her space – better supporting the intuitive
connections and behaviours that can occur between them at this time.”
Melinda
!
!
You!can!journey!with!either!a!live!drum!or!a!recorded!drum!beat.!
For!labour,!the!best!drumming!is!live,!a!drum!and!an!intuitive!drummer!who!you!
know!and!trust,!who!you!feel!comfortable!to!have!in!your!birth!space.!This!way!
the!actual!vibration!of!the!drum!beats!will!help!reduce!the!pain!of!the!
contractions.!If!that!isn’t!possible!you!can!reach!the!same!level!of!focus!with!a!
recorded!drum!beat.!
!
There%is%something%very%primal%about%a%drum%beat%which%I%think%brings%that%aspect%

! 9!
to%the%fore%in%labour%which%I%think%is%also%a%very%primal%experience.%Pip!
!
!
Shamanic!Cosmology!
!
The!shamanic!world!view!sees!the!Earth!as!alive,!and!all!beings,!creatures,!
plants,!matter,!etc!also!as!alive,!with!a!spirit!and!part!of!the!whole,!the!‘divine’,!
the!‘all!that!is’.!The!interconnectedness!of!everything!is!the!basis!of!the!
‘structure’!and!shows!us!both!the!opportunity!and!the!responsibility.!
Throughout!and!within!the!whole!of!existence!and!experience!is!a!pattern!and!a!
weaving!of!the!thread!of!the!divine.!This!holds!both!mystery!and!power.!The!
patterns!that!reveal!themselves!in!our!lives!and!our!being3ness!can!be!seen!in!
the!patterns!of!nature,!the!cycles,!the!structures!of!life!and!are!often!reflections,!
mirror!images!of!what!is!around!us.!There!are!three!realms.!!
!
The%Lower%Realm%is!the!place!of!animal!spirits!and!helpers,!spirit!guides!and!
guardians,!power!animals,!the!dead.!It!may!also!be!called!the!Underworld.!
Journeying!to!the!Lower!Realm!is!done!to!find!one’s!power!animal,!to!recover!
lost!power,!and!to!find!and!retrieve!parts!and!aspects!of!someone!for!the!
purpose!of!‘soul!retrieval’.!
!
The%Middle%Realm%is!both!the!reality!in!which!we!live!and!the!spiritual!parallel!to!
it.!We!can!access!other!parts!and!places!of!our!‘ordinary’!reality!shamanically.!
We!may!do!this!to!effect!positive!change!in!places!that!need!that;!investigate!a!
situation!in!process!–!be!‘a!fly!on!the!wall’!so!to!speak.!And!we!may!access!the!
magical!spirit!realm!of!the!plants,!creatures!and!minerals!that!also!inhabit!the!
Middle!Realm!as!well!as!our!Inner!Goddess,!Inner!Shaman!and!inside!our!body.!
!
Upper%Realm%is!the!place!of!archetypal!knowledge!and!patterns,!spirit!guides,!
teachers,!Gods!and!Goddesses,!angels,!‘the!matrix!of!!possibilities’,!and!un3
manifest!potential.!Journeying!to!the!Upper!Realm!can!be!done!to!meet!your!
teachers!and!various!archetypes,!for!the!purpose!of!learning,!clarification,!
inspiration!and!insight.!
!
The!three!realms!are!linked!together!by!a!vertical!axis,!the!‘axis!mundi,’!or!the!
‘World!Tree’!and!can!be!easily!accessed!using!the!image!of!a!tree,!the!Upper!
Realm!as!the!branches!and!above,!the!Middle!Realm!as!the!trunk,!the!Lower!
Realm!as!the!roots!of!the!tree.!We!can!also!see!this!image!in!ourselves,!with!the!
Upper!Realm!above!us,!the!Lower!Realm!below!us!and!our!presence!in!the!
Middle!Realm.!
The!worlds!or!realms!of!the!shaman!are!both!actual!and!metaphoric!and!are!
accessible!by!everyone.!The!Shamanic!Journey!is!an!inner!journey.!

! 10!
!
Guide!to!Shamanic!Journeying!
!
Journeying!to!the!beat!of!the!drum!is!a!simple!and!easy!way!to!access!the!other!
realms.!Scientific!studies!have!shown!that!as!we!listen!to!a!rapid!monotonous!
drum!beat!our!brain!waves!slow!down,!and!move!from!the!normal!state!of!
consciousness!(Beta!state)!into!a!deep!meditative!state!(Alpha!state)!or!even!a!
deeper!hypnotic!state!(Theta!State).!In!these!trance!states!we!are!free!to!enter!
into!the!parallel!universe!of!non3ordinary!reality!enabling!us!to!have!visions!and!
access!to!the!archetypal!field!of!information.!You!can!choose!to!journey!with!a!
specific!intention!such!as!to!meet!your!baby!inside!if!you!are!pregnant,!your!
Inner!Goddess!or!simply!to!meet!what!is!“there”!for!you!at!any!given!time.!
Sometimes!during!a!journey!you!may!encounter!a!Being!or!Presence!that!you!
feel!unsure!of.!If!this!happens,!ask!this!entity!“Are!you!for!my!highest!good?”!If!
they!are!not,!they!will!disappear.!If!they!are,!they!will!stay!and!you!can!ask!them!
a!question,!like!“What!are!you!here!to!show!/!tell!me?”!
If!you!know!your!power!animal;!it!is!customary!to!travel!with!her!to!the!other!
realms!each!time!you!journey.!She!may!guide!you,!assist!you!and!be!able!to!
access!further!information!during!your!encounters!in!the!realm!you!visit.!You!
may!also!shapeshift!into!your!power!animal!for!or!during!a!journey.!
To!start!your!journey,!create!a!vision!in!your!mind!of!a!favourite!place!in!nature.!
Depending!on!which!realm!you!intend!to!travel!to!(Lower,!Middle!or!Upper),!will!
decide!which!way!you!go!from!here.!
!
To!journey!to!the!Lower!Realm,!the!initial!process!is!to!‘descend’!3!down!a!hole!in!
the!earth,!a!tunnel!or!via!a!tree!root.!
To!journey!to!the!Upper!Realm,!you!‘ascend’,!perhaps!up!a!tall!tree.!Once!you!
have!reached!the!top!there!is!generally!a!passage!through!clouds!or!a!fog!before!
arriving!into!the!Upper!Realm.!
To!journey!to!the!Middle!Realm,!you!may!go!inside!your!body!or!via!a!place!in!
nature!wherever!the!journey!takes!you.!
Regardless!of!which!realm!you!initially!head!off!to!and!the!original!reason!for!
which!you!have!chosen!to!journey,!you!will!always!have!the!journey!you!need!to!
have.!In!the!shamanic!world,!the!possibilities!are!endless!and!varied.!There!are!
no!set!rules!or!definites.!Perhaps!instead!of!visiting!the!Middle!Realm,!on!the!way!
there!you!suddenly!find!yourself!in!the!Upper!Realm.!Or!maybe!you!have!set!off!
to!ask!a!question!of!your!Inner!Goddess!and!your!Power!Animal!arrives!to!share!
some!wisdom!instead.!
Flow!with!what!happens!and!trust!that!whatever!unfolds!will!be!perfect;!there!
will!always!be!information!there!for!you.!
To!return!from!your!journey,!it!is!important!to!retrace!your!steps!back!to!your!
body!into!this!world,!so!remember!to!go!back!up!the!tunnel!or!down!the!tree!the!
same!way!you!came.!
Once!back!into!your!present!moment!awareness,!it’s!a!good!idea!to!immediately!
write!your!experience!in!your!journal.!Drawing!or!painting!a!picture!can!be!very!
useful!too.!Grounding!the!experience!in!this!way!helps!you!remember!and!
interpret!later!what!happened!in!your!journey.!
!
!

! 11!
A!Shamanic!Drum!Journey!into!your!womb!to!meet!your!baby!
!
To!begin,!cleanse!yourself!of!any!negative!energy.!This!can!be!done!by!smudging!
or!through!willful!intention!by!speaking!the!words!“I!cleanse!myself!of!all!
negative!energies”.!
Lie!down!and!cover!yourself!for!warmth.!
If!you!are!in!the!company!of!others,!be!careful!to!not!touch!anyone!else!3!you!may!
go!on!the!same!journey!if!you!do!!
Lie!down,!or!sit!if!you’d!prefer!
Cover!yourself!for!warmth!
Relax!your!body!
Melt!into!where!you!are!
Check!your!body!for!any!held!tension!and!let!it!go.!
Take!your!awareness!to!your!breath!
Deepen!your!in!breath!
Slow!your!breathing!down!
Relax!
!
The!drumming!will!be!at!a!rapid!rate!
Focus!on!the!beating!of!the!drum!
If!you!start!thinking,!or!getting!distracted,!!
just!bring!your!focus!back!to!the!drum!beat.!
Single!pointed!focus!on!the!drum!beat.!
!
For!the!journey!into!your!womb!to!meet!your!Baby!!
you!need!take!your!awareness!to!your!vulva,!enter,!!
travel!up!your!vagina,!checking!it!out!on!the!way!through,!attend!to!any!
housekeeping!you!may!need!to!do.!!
Notice!what!there!is!to!notice.!Come!to!your!cervix,!make!friends!with!your!
cervix,!know!where!it!is,!what!is!looks!like,!!
and!arrange!that!you!will!be!in!communication!!during!your!labour!as!you!open!
to!bring!your!baby!earthside.!
Then!go!through!your!cervix,!and!enter!your!womb.!
Once!inside!your!womb,!call!out!to!your!baby!–!
“Mummy’s!here”!Call!the!baby!to!be!with!you.!
Tell!your!baby!what!you!want!to!tell!them.!
Ask!them!questions!–!how!can!I!best!help!you!be!born?!
Where!do!you!want!to!be!born?!
What!do!I!need!to!know!now!for!our!journey!together?!
Enjoy!their!company.!
!
You!may!get!your!information!visually,!with!pictures!or!hearing!sounds!or!voices!
or!by!feeling,!and!probably!a!combination!of!these.!
You!may!travel!to!other!realms.!
!
If!you!encounter!anything!on!your!journey!that!concerns!you,!or!you!are!not!sure!
of,!ask!it!“are!you!for!my!highest!good?”!if!it!is,!it!will!stay!and!you!can!ask!it!a!
question,!!
if!its!not!for!your!highest!good!it!will!disappear.!

! 12!
!
When!the!journey!is!over!and!its!time!to!come!back!!
I!will!change!the!drumming!from!fast!to!slow.!!
At!that!point!say!Thankyou!and!say!Goodbye,!perhaps!arrange!another!meeting,!
and!retrace!your!steps,!coming!back!the!way!you!went!in.!!
!
Pay!attention!and!enjoy!the!journey.!
!
State!three!times!to!yourself:!
“I!am!travelling!to!my!womb!to!meet!with!my!Baby.”!
!
Now!take!your!awareness!to!your!vulva!and!enter.!
!
DRUMMING!
!
When!it!is!time!to!return!from!the!journey,!you!will!hear!a!call!back!through!the!
change!in!the!drumming!rhythm.!!
In!preparing!to!leave!say!thank!you,!say!goodbye,!arrange!to!meet!again.!
As!you!return!from!your!journey,!it!is!important!to!retrace!your!steps!back!to!
your!body!in!this!world,!so!go!back!down!through!your!cervix,!your!vagina,!out!
your!vulva!and!back!into!the!world.!
Once!back!into!your!present!moment!awareness,!wiggle!your!fingers!and!toes!
and!take!some!deep!breaths.!Write!down!what!you!can!remember!in!your!
journal.!
Remember!you!can!return!to!your!journal!writing!again!at!any!stage.!Often!you!
can!recall!more!details!later!after!you!have!written!down!the!initial!entry.!
If!you!feel!a!bit!shaky!or!faint,!drink!some!water,!splash!some!on!your!face!and!
eat!something.!If!you!are!still!not!feeling!fully!present!and!in!your!body!then!lie!
down!on!your!belly!on!the!earth!and!if!necessary!have!someone!shake!a!rattle!all!
around!you.!
!

! 13!
My!Story!
!
I!had!journeyed!with!the!drum!often!and!deeply!before!and!during!my!pregnancy!
with!Jackson,!my!third!baby,!in!1992.!!My!learning!about!shamanic!practices!had!
really!started!around!the!time!that!Jackson!was!a!‘twinkle!in!my!eye’!a!couple!of!
years!before.!Knowing!what!I!know!now,!nineteen!years!on,!I!would!say!that!was!
all!connected.!
!
The!shamanic!drum!journeys!I!did!during!my!pregnancy,!greatly!informed!the!
choices!I!made!around!the!pregnancy!and!his!birth.!I!received!specific!
information!about!particular!herbs!to!take!for!healing,!psychological!shifts!
required!by!me!to!proceed!in!an!integrated!way,!and!amongst!other!things!who!
to!invite!to!be!present!at!the!birth.!During!one!particular!journey,!late!in!my!
pregnancy,!when!I!travelled!to!the!Middle!Realm!to!meet!my!baby,!I!‘saw’!him!in!
a!most!remarkable!scene.!I!saw!an!open!two3story!building!with!perhaps!100!or!
more!people!dressed!in!orange!robes.!It!seemed!that!they!were!gathered!for!a!
purpose.!The!one!I’d!come!to!meet!was!moving!through!the!group!from!the!top!
floor!to!the!ground!floor!and!finally!out!the!front!door.!He!was!saying!goodbye!to!
them.!Once!he!left!the!building!through!the!front!door!he!came!toward!me.!It!felt!
amazing!to!have!a!glimpse!of!this!process,!perhaps!leaving!one!life!to!come!to!the!
next?!!
!
As!a!mother!I!was!loving!the!deep!connection!I!was!experiencing!with!my!baby!
and!the!process.!As!a!midwife!I!have!to!admit!I!was!doing!an!experiment.!!
!
I!planned!to!have!my!shamanic!teacher,!Blackbear,!our!friend,!to!be!present!at!
the!birth!to!drum!for!me!in!labour.!I!hadn’t!experienced!that!before,!but!felt!the!
desire.!Blackbear!arrived!a!couple!of!hours!before!Jackson!was!born!and!
drummed!while!I!laboured!in!the!birth!pool.!The!drumming!was!loud!and!fast!
and!gave!me!a!focal!point!beyond!the!pain!I!was!experiencing!with!the!
contractions.!I!was!completely!inward,!not!speaking!to!anyone.!During!each!
contraction!I!toned!loudly!with!the!drum.!Making!these!sounds!helped!me!stay!in!
the!present!moment!which!enabled!me!to!‘bear!the!pain’.!At!transition,!I!told!
myself!I!couldn’t!go!on,!that!I!would!surely!die,!I!‘pulled!myself!together’!and!
focussed!all!my!attention!on!my!cervix,!and!then!a!miracle!happened.!I!had!a!
shamanic!experience,!I!saw!a!vision!that!I!had!had!during!a!pregnancy!shamanic!
bodywork!session!of!an!eye,!and!holding!the!vision,!I!launched!myself!through!
the!eye.!This!resulted!in!a!change!in!consciousness,!and!me!feeling!absolutely!no!
pain!from!the!contractions.!I!experienced!what!I!later!learned!to!be!known!as!
Unity!Consciousness.!In!that!mind!space!I!continued!to!labour!and!give!birth!to!
Jackson,!with!no!pain,!in!a!space!of!complete!bliss,!nothingness!and!everything3
ness,!all!at!once,!at!one!with!Jackson,!my!body!and!the!birth!process.!What!I!
know!now!is!that!the!drumming,!in!connection!with!what!wants!to!happen,!the!
biological!blueprint!in!labour!and!birth,!resulted!in!me!reaching!a!mind!space,!
where!I!knew!what!to!do!to!best!be!with!the!process!of!giving!birth.!And!that!was!
to!focus!with!all!my!attention!on!the!part!of!me!that!was!the!centre!point!of!the!
physical!experience,!the!‘eye!of!the!storm’!so!to!speak.!This!then!launched!me!
into!the!state!of!consciousness!that!best!facilitated!the!birth!of!Jackson,!the!birth!
he’d!come!for.!Our!births!are!our!rites!of!passage!to!this!life!and!they!inform!us!in!

! 14!
so!many!ways,!how!we!engage!with!creativity,!how!we!understand!love,!how!we!
do!process.!Our!experience!of!birth!becomes!our!default!setting,!as!it!were,!for!
how!we!‘birth’!things,!ways!and!ourselves!over!and!over.!And!now!at!19,!I!see!
Jackson!express!this!in!all!his!pursuits,!he!seeks!the!‘eye!of!the!storm’!whenever!
he!needs!to!balance!himself,!he!uses!the!gateways!to!other!realities!and!states!of!
consciousness!to!access!information!and!abilities,!he!seeks!transcendence!
through!daily!meditation!and!qigong!practices!whilst!pursuing!his!dream!to!be!a!
professional!snowboarder,!using!levels!of!mind!control!and!focus!befitting!of!one!
in!orange!robes.!
!
And!my!experience!of!giving!birth!to!Jackson,!with!all!its!shamanic!dimensions,!
launched!me,!as!midwife,!into!lots!of!research!to!understand!and!writing!to!
explain!and!share!what!I!had!learned.!My!practice!as!a!midwife!changed!to!
incorporate!the!shamanic!dimensions!of!birth,!I!began!workshops!to!teach!it,!
wrote!my!book!Ten!Moons!the!Inner!Journey!of!Pregnancy!in!2007!and!founded!
The!School!of!Shamanic!Midwifery!in!2009.!
!
Blessed!Be!
!
Imbolc!
2011!
!
!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i!http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/219835.php!

!
ii!http://www.drumming3event.com/articles/article_parkinsons.htm!

!
iii!The%Shamanic%Drum%–%a%guide%to%sacred%drumming!by!Michael!Drake!
iv!ibid!
v!When%the%Drummers%Were%Women!by!Layne!Redmond!

!
vi!“Group!drumming!boosts!cancer3killer!cells!in!study”!Barry!Bittman,!MD,!

Alternative!Therapies,!January!2001!
!
vii!The%Shamanic%Drum%–%a%guide%to%sacred%drumming!by!Michael!Drake!

! 15!
 Vaginal or Cesarean Birth:
What Is at Stake for Women and Babies?
A Best Evidence Review
 Contributors

About Childbirth Connection

2
 Table of Contents

Executive Summary 4

Introduction and Background 12

Methods 13

Results 15

1.
15

2.
20

3.
22

4. 23

5. 25

6. 26

7.
28

8. 32

9.
35

10. 38

Discussion 40

References 48

3
Executive Summary

4
Table 1:

5
What physical effects may occur in women more frequently with
cesarean delivery?

6
What physical effects may occur in babies more frequently with
cesarean delivery?

What role may cesarean delivery play in the development of

childhood chronic disease?

7
What complications are unique to cesarean delivery?

What complications are unique to vaginal birth?

What are potential psychosocial consequences of cesareans?

8
What are potential effects of cesareans on women in future
pregnancies and births?

What are potential effects of a scarred uterus on future babies?

9
Does cesarean delivery protect against sexual, bowel, urinary, or
pelvic floor dysfunction?

Does cesarean delivery protect against injuries to babies?

10
References

11
Introduction and Background

12
Methods

13
Table 1:

14
 Results
1. What physical effects occur in women
more frequently with cesarean delivery?

15
16
17
18
19
2. What physical effects occur in babies
more frequently with cesarean delivery?

20
21
3. What role may cesarean delivery play in the
development of childhood chronic disease?

22
4. What complications are unique
to cesarean delivery?

23
24
5. What complications are unique to vaginal birth?

25
6. What are potential psychosocial
consequences of cesareans?

26
27
7. What are potential effects of cesareans on
women in future pregnancies and births?

28
29
30
31
 8. What are potential effects of
a scarred uterus on future babies?

32
33
34
9. Does cesarean delivery protect against sexual,
bowel, urinary, or pelvic floor dysfunction?

35
36
37
10. Does cesarean delivery protect
against injuries to babies?

38
39
 Discussion

Table 2:

40
 Table 2 cont’d

41
 Table 2 cont’d

42
Strengths and Limitations

43
Priorities for Future Research

44
Implications for Policy and Practice

45
46
Recommended Additional Resources

47
References

48
49
50
51
 Childbirth Connection
260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016 USA
T 1 212 - 777 - 5000, F 1 212 - 777 - 9320
info@childbirthconnection.org
www.childbirthconnection.org
Orgasm as Teacher and Preparation for Childbirth
Jane Hardwicke Collings
Southern Spring 2010

During a recent Pregnancy - The Inner Journey workshop, during our

discussions on the sexuality of pregnancy and birth, we explored the
concept of orgasm as teacher.
A woman needs to surrender in labour and birth for the 'birth force' to
flow through her. When she does, she is physically relaxed and open and
the process happens physiologically, simply, with the least pain and as
uncomplicated as possible in that particular situation. It is widely
believed that 'prolonged' labour is associated with 'issues' the mother may
have that she needs to be with, to let go of, and enable her to surrender.
This is not an indicator of any degree of lack of self awareness the mother
has, but rather it is a 'gift' of labour and birth, this time. And it enables the
mother to know herself more fully, to facilitate her life journey, her soul's
path to wholeness, the be the mother this baby has come for.
So, orgasm as teacher - the surrender a woman needs to do in labour and
birth is the same surrender she needs to do to orgasm. We all know the
likely scenario of approaching orgasm and losing it when our mind cuts
in with something or other. This might be an internal conversation, a self
judgment or any manner of thoughts. Likewise in labour the same mental
activity will interfere with the flow of labour. A labouring woman needs
to stay focused, and not be distracted from the crescendo building in her
that will ultimately lead to the climax of birth. Orgasm teaches us that
focus, which is ultimately ‘presence’. Presence to what your body is
feeling and 'telling' you to do, not thinking or fearing or relating to
anyone.
I always suggest that women practice in their love making to be more and
more familiar with the process of orgasm, to familiarize themselves with
the pathway and the experience of surrender. And then during this
particular Pregnancy - The Inner Journey workshop, the brilliant Melinda,
mother of four, doula, naturopath and student of the School of Shamanic
Midwifery, brought forth an insight into the moments just before orgasm.
With her new baby girl's birth fresh in her mind and body she related her
experience of the relationship between orgasm and childbirth, and what
there was to learn about the pre-orgasmic state that could help prepare for
childbirth.

Consciously connecting with my own inner territory of sexual arousal and orgasm
during my last pregnancy provided me with such valuable insight into how our sexual
experiences can mirror our birthing ones and how through an intimate relationship
with orgasm we can learn to ‘map’ our own unique journey towards surrender, as
excellent preparation for labour and birth.
The more familiar I became with the terrain of my own orgasmic experience, the more
intimately I came to know the critical places along the journey that were the deciders
of whether I would meet the surrender of orgasm or the energy would falter and I
would miss the climax. The more practiced I became at achieving orgasm readily and
with ease, the more quickly I came to be able to decipher the signposts along the way
and map out where the green lights existed and learn why the red lights arose when
they did. Green lights were aplenty when I was feeling safe, relaxed and uninhibited,
Red lights were numerous when I was tired, stressed or stuck in my head.

The most potent and pivotal place for consideration on the journey were the seconds
just prior to orgasm, when I could feel the energy building steadily in my body and
knew the release of climax was imminent if I was able to maintain my presence and
remain open to the unfolding process. It was here that I gathered the most valuable
insights about myself and my own unique relationship with surrender. In this place I
had the opportunity to observe firsthand what the ‘perfect’ conditions were for me to
feel as safe, open and surrendered as I could possibly be. It was empowering to later
be able to take this information back to my preparation for birth and apply it to the
way I was making my nest in readiness for labour to commence.

Useful questions that arose for me through this process were:

What does my perfect birth space look, feel, smell and sound like?
Who do I feel safe to have as my companions at this intimate time?
In what context do I need my partner to participate?
What role does my voice / sound / song play in my experience of opening?
What positions best facilitate a sense of comfort and pleasure?

Reflecting on the previous homebirths of my 3 older children, I could clearly see how
my sexual expression during these pregnancies had played out during the labours and
births that had followed. As I had grown in my sexual unfolding as a woman between
each birth, my relationship with the space of Transition had transformed from one of
fear and overwhelm to a place of ecstatic spiritual communion with my baby and the
universe at large. Embracing the pre-orgasmic space as a gateway to higher planes
of pleasure and consciousness had taught me that surrendering to the flow of energy
through my body was not only safe and could be trusted, it was also an opportunity to
meet my own Divinity.

Carrying this learning into my 4th pregnancy, I prepared for my baby’s birth as a
Vision Quest – a spiritual journey of focused intention and seeking for deeper purpose
and direction in my life, both as a mother and a woman. After a swift and sweet
labour journeyed mostly in solitude, I met the space of Transition as practiced in
orgasm - with absolute trust and surrender. A powerful song called through me as my
precious daughter slipped effortlessly into the world in a glorious, peaceful
waterbirth at home surrounded only by the love of her family. At the moment of her
birth I was gifted with a potent vision of myself suspended between the worlds - in full
mastery to the awesome experience of surrender, with the entire Universe flowing
through my Being. It was the most powerful moment of my life.

This level of attention and the related birth potential is what is possible if
and when we reclaim the sacred space of birth, the sexuality of birth.
When we treat the birthing mother as the Goddess and her chosen birth
place as the Temple, then we can best help her feel safe enough, and
honoured, enabling her to surrender in trust and faith in the process that
will bring forth her baby.

Many women share during the workshops that their partners feel unsure
of whether they will really be able to help them in labour, what will I do?
they ask, how will I know? When they get the picture that birth is a
sexual experience and that transition, the time when the woman needs the
most help, is related to the time just before orgasm, they relax, they know
what helps at that point, they know they can be there with her.

Glenys, planning a VBAC, at a recent Pregnancy Workshop, reported the

relief her husband felt in understanding the sexuality of birth and seeing
the connection between labour and birth and making love.
“Because our first labour ended up a caesarean, Sandy came away not
really knowing if anything he did helped or didn’t help, and now planning
to have a VBAC he’s been worrying that he won’t know how to help me.
He found making love a great analogy for birth because it was something
he could understand.”
“Making love works because you’re in a partnership - you read your
partner’s cues and respond to them. Your partner knows what they need
and the minute you start imposing your will on them, it stops working.”
he said. Thinking like this, Sandy felt prepared to be able to help Glenys.
They are excitedly awaiting their pending birth.

My own experience giving birth to my third baby 18 years ago also

speaks to this concept. Our plan had been for Paul, my husband, to catch
the baby and as I felt our baby coming down preparing to be born, I said
to Paul who was holding me from behind, “you’d better get around the
front if you want to catch the baby”. This of course would have ‘broken
the spell’ that I was completely immersed in, taken me out of ‘the zone’,
my altered state of consciousness. He helped me stay completely focused
on our baby coming through me by simply staying with what was
happening, what was working, as he does in our love making (blush!).
And I birthed Jackson into my own hands.

Kristan was able to understand her first birth when she saw the
connection between her experience of birth and her experience of
orgasm.
“Just at the point of orgasm, when the mountain had been climbed, I
would ‘check out’ and think - I’ll wait a little longer - and then it would
pass, no orgasm and I could not get it back. And so when my son was on
his way, at the point of birth, just at the moment of the last contraction,
the moment of the final climax and release, he got a little stuck, or one
could say the process stopped, a familiar experience for me! Once I
uncovered this and shared this with my husband, I practiced letting go
during our love making. When the orgasm was there to have, I had it, I
didn’t try to make it go longer or even think about it, I just stayed with the
process as it was unfolding. Got it!
My second son was born with my husband supporting me, and at the
moment when I would have checked out and not let go, he started OMing,
helping me stay with the process and I had an ecstatic, orgasmic birth -
evidence!

“What gets the baby in there gets the baby out”.

The brain waves a woman creates during making love are like what will
be created in labour, this will give her a familiar example of the influence
on the process of the beta brain waves of an active mind.
During sex, surrender starts way back, before the building to orgasm
phase. This is similar to childbirth in that the surrender starts as labour
starts.
Encouraging a woman to bear witness to her aroused and orgasmic self
will give her information that will help prepare her for how ‘best’ to be
with labour. Trust the process, its probably, actually, quite a familiar one.
!
!

Jane Hardwicke Collings is a mother, grandmother and midwife from Australia. She
facilitates Pregnancy The Inner Journey Workshops and has founded The School of
Shamanic Midwifery which is starting its second year long program.
Jane also facilitates Moonsong Workshops – Reclaiming Feminine Power through
Reconnection with the Women’s Mysteries. And has self published “Ten Moons, the
Inner Journey of Pregnancy, Preparation for Natural Birth”.
www.moonsong.com.au
www.placentalremedy.com
http://schoolofshamanicmidwifery.blogspot.com/
http://janehardwickecollings-moonsong.blogspot.com/
!
RESPECTFUL MATERNITY CARE:
THE UNIVERSAL RIGHTS
OF CHILDBEARING WOMEN

The Distinctive Importance of the Childbearing Period

In every country and community worldwide, pregnancy and childbirth are momentous events in the lives of
women and families and represent a time of intense vulnerability. The concept of “safe motherhood” is usually
restricted to physical safety, but childbearing is also an important rite of passage, with deep personal and cultural
significance for a woman and her family. Because motherhood is specific to women, issues of gender equity and
gender violence are also at the core of maternity care. Thus, the notion of safe motherhood must be expanded
beyond the prevention of morbidity or mortality to encompass respect for women’s basic human rights, including
respect for women’s autonomy, dignity, feelings, choices, and preferences, including choice of companionship
wherever possible.

By design, this document focuses specifically on the interpersonal aspects of care received by women seeking
maternity services. A woman’s relationship with maternity care providers and the maternity care system during
pregnancy and childbirth is vitally important. Not only are these encounters the vehicle for essential and
potentially lifesaving health services, women’s experiences with caregivers at this time have the impact to
empower and comfort or to inflict lasting damage and emotional trauma, adding to or detracting from women’s
confidence and self esteem. Either way, women’s memories of their childbearing experiences stay with them for a
lifetime and are often shared with other women, contributing to a climate of confidence or doubt around
childbearing.

Growing Evidence of Disrespect and Abuse

Imagine the personal treatment you would expect from a maternity care provider entrusted to help you or a
woman you love give birth. Naturally, we envision a relationship characterized by caring, empathy, support, trust,
confidence, and empowerment, as well as gentle, respectful, and effective communication to enable informed
decision making. Unfortunately, too many women experience care that does not match this image. A growing
body of anecdotal and research evidence collected in maternity care systems from the wealthiest to poorest
nations worldwide paints a different and disturbing picture. In fact, disrespect and abuse of women seeking
maternity care is becoming an urgent problem and creating a growing community of concern that spans the
domains of healthcare research, quality, and education; human rights; and civil rights advocacy.

In 2010, a landscape report by Bowser and Hill, Exploring Evidence for Disrespect and Abuse in Facility based
Childbirth, summarized the available knowledge and evidence on this topic.i While the review revealed a relative
lack of formal research on the topic, the authors’ in depth search of published and technical literature as well as
interviews and discussions with content experts described seven major categories of disrespect and abuse that
childbearing women encounter during maternity care. These categories overlap and occur along a continuum
from subtle disrespect and humiliation to overt violence; they include physical abuse, non consented clinical care,
non confidential care, non dignified care (including verbal abuse), discrimination based on specific patient
attributes, abandonment or denial of care, and detention in facilities.

Interpersonal care that is disrespectful and abusive in nature to women before, during, and after birth is appalling
because of the high value societies attach to motherhood and because we know the intense vulnerability of
women during this time. All childbearing women need and deserve respectful care and protection of their
autonomy and right to self determination; this includes special care to protect the mother baby pair as well as
marginalized or highly vulnerable women (e.g., adolescents, ethnic minorities, and women living with physical or

1
mental disabilities or HIV). Furthermore, disrespect and abuse during maternity care are a violation of women’s
basic human rights.

Assertion of the Universal Rights of Childbearing Women

Human rights are fundamental entitlements due to all people, recognized by societies and governments and
enshrined in international declarations and conventions. To date, no universal charter or instrument specifically
delineates how human rights are implicated in the childbearing process or affirms their application to childbearing
women as basic, inalienable human rights. This Charter aims to address the issue of disrespect and abuse among
women seeking maternity care and provide a platform for improvement by
Raising awareness of childbearing women’s inclusion in the guarantees of human rights recognized in
internationally adopted United Nations and other multinational declarations, conventions, and covenants;
Highlighting the connection between human rights language and key program issues relevant to
maternity care;
Increasing the capacity of maternal health advocates to participate in human rights processes;
Aligning childbearing women’s sense of entitlement to high quality maternity care with international
human rights community standards; and
Providing a basis for holding the maternal care system and communities accountable to these rights.

By drawing on relevant extracts from established human rights instruments, the Charter demonstrates the
legitimate place of maternal health rights within the broader context of human rights. Seven rights are included,
drawn from the categories of disrespect and abuse identified by Bowser and Hill (2010) in their landscape analysis
(see table). All these rights are grounded in international or multinational human rights instruments, including the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights; the
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights; the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women; the Declaration of the
Elimination of Violence Against Women; the Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights; and the United Nations Fourth
World Conference on Women, Beijing. National instruments are also referenced if they make specific mention of
childbearing women. Each right is sourced to the relevant instruments.ii

Tackling Disrespect and Abuse: Seven Rights of Childbearing Women

Category of Disrespect and Abuse i Corresponding Right

1. Physical abuse Freedom from harm and ill treatment
2. Non consented care Right to information, informed consent and refusal,
and respect for choices and preferences, including the
right to companionship of choice wherever possible
3. Non confidential care Confidentiality, privacy
4. Non dignified care (including verbal abuse) Dignity, respect
5. Discrimination based on specific attributes Equality, freedom from discrimination, equitable care
6. Abandonment or denial of care Right to timely healthcare and to the highest
attainable level of health
7. Detention in facilities Liberty, autonomy, self determination, and freedom
from coercion

2
In seeking and receiving maternity care before, during, and after childbirth:

ARTICLE I: Every woman has the right to be free from harm and ill treatment
International Standards
Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1994, Article 1
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 7
International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative: A Human Rights Approach to Optimal Maternity Care, 2010,
Article 9
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996, Article 12
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 4
Multinational and National Standards
European Charter of Patient’s Rights, 2002, Article 9
Ley Orgánica sobre el Derecho de las Mujeres a una Vida Libre de Violencia de Venezuela, 2007, Article 15j

ARTICLE II: Every woman has the right to information, informed consent and refusal,
and respect for her choices and preferences, including the right to her choice of
companionship during maternity care, whenever possible
International Standards
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 7, 19
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996, Article 6
International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative: A Human Rights Approach to Optimal Maternity Care, 2010,
Article 3, 4
Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on preventable maternal
mortality and morbidity and human rights, 2010
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 6
Multinational and National Standards
Birth Justice as Reproductive Justice, NAPW, 2010
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000, Article 3.2, 7
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the
Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, 1997, Article 5
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Articles 1.5, 2, 3, 4.6, 5
European Charter of Patient’s Rights, 2002, Article 3, 4, 5, 12
Ley de Acompañamiento durante el Trabajo de Parto, Nacimiento y Post parto de Puerto Rico, 2006,
Article 3e, 3f
Ley de Parto Humanizado—Ley Nacional No. 25.929 de Argentina, 2004, Article 2f, 2g
The Rights of Childbearing Women, Childbirth Connection 1999, 2006, Articles 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 14, 16, 19

3
ARTICLE III: Every woman has the right to privacy and confidentiality
International Standards
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 17
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996, Article 4
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 9
Multinational and National Standards
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Article 1.4, 4
European Charter of Patient’s Rights, 2002, Article 6
The Rights of Childbearing Women, 1999, 2006, Article 7

ARTICLE IV: Every woman has the right to be treated with dignity and respect
International Standards
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 2
International MotherBaby Childbirth Initiative: A Human Rights Approach to Optimal Maternity Care,
Article 1
Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on preventable maternal
mortality and morbidity and human rights, 2010
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 8, 10, 11
Multinational and National Standards
Birth Justice as Reproductive Justice, NAPW, 2010
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000, Article 1, 3, 7
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the
Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, 1997, Article 1
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Article 1.1, 1.4, 1.5
European Charter of Patient’s Rights, 2002, Article 7

ARTICLE V: Every woman has the right to equality, freedom from discrimination, and
equitable care
International Standards
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), 1979, Article 1
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1976, Article 2
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 26
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996, Article 3
Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on preventable maternal
mortality and morbidity and human rights, 2010
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995, Article 28
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 10, 11
Multinational and National Standards
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000, Article 21, 23
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Article 5.1

4
ARTICLE VI: Every woman has the right to healthcare and to the highest attainable
level of health
International Standards
Declaration of Alma Ata, International Conference on Primary Care, 1978, Preamble, Articles 4, 6
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights. 1996, Article 9
Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on preventable maternal
mortality and morbidity and human rights, 2010
United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing 1995
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, Article 25
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, 1997, Article 14.2
Multinational and National Standards
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000, Article 35
Constitución Política del Estado Plurinacional de Bolivia, 2008, Article 45.V
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Dignity of the Human Being with regard to the
Application of Biology and Medicine: Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, 1997, Article 3
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Article 5
The Rights of Childbearing Women, 1999, 2006, Article 1

ARTICLE VII: Every woman has the right to liberty, autonomy, self-determination, and
freedom from coercion
International Standards
Declaration of the Elimination of Violence Against Women, 1994, Article 1
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), 1976, Article 1
International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and Reproductive Rights, 1996, Article 2
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, Article 9.1, 18.2
Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights, Article 5
Multinational and National Standards
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, 2000, Article 6
Declaration on the Promotion of Patients’ Rights in Europe, 1994, Article 1.2

i
Bowser, D., and K. Hill. 2010. Exploring Evidence for Disrespect and Abuse in Facility based Childbirth: Report of a Landscape
Analysis. Bethesda, MD: USAID TRAction Project, University Research Corporation, LLC, and Harvard School of Public Health.
ii
The Charter borrows heavily from the framework of the International Planned Parenthood Federation Charter on Sexual and
Reproductive Rights, 1996.

5
This charter was developed collaboratively by a multi stakeholder group with expertise bridging research,
educational, clinical, human rights, and advocacy perspectives. The following people contributed to this consensus
document as members of a community of concern working in concert to address the issue of disrespect and abuse
during maternity care within their various constituencies:

Debbie Armbruster, USAID Peg Marshall, USAID

Diana Bowser , Harvard School of Public Health
Neal Brandes, USAID
Catherine Carr, MCHIP/JHPIEGO
Blami Dao, JHPIEGO
Rae Davies, International Mother Baby Care
Initiative
Barbara Deller, JHPIEGO
Farah Diaz Tello, National Advocates for
Pregnant Women
Simone Diniz, Researcher
Soo Downe, University of Central Lancashire
Lorraine Fontaine, Regroupement Naissance
Renaissance
Lynn Freedman, Averting Maternal Death and
Disability, Columbia University
Maura Gaughan, Translating Research into
Action Project
Joanne Gleason, Population Council
Kathleen Hill, Translating Research into Action
Project
Debra Jones, Family Care International
Marge Koblinsky, John Snow International
Douglas Laube, USAID
Kathleen MacFarland, Family Care International
Liz Mason, World Health Organization
Mona Moore, Independent consultant
Nester Moyo, International Confederation of
Midwives
Martha Murdock, Family Care International
Winnie Mwebesa, Save the Children
Dave Nicholas, Translating Research into Action
Project
Doyin Oluwole, Academy for Educational
Development
Debra Pascali Bonaro, International Mother
Baby Care Initiative
Bertha Pooley, Save the Children
Annie Portela, World Health Organization
Veronica Reis, JHPIEGO
Aram Schvey, Center for Reproductive Rights
Mary Ellen Stanton, USAID
Ann Starrs, Family Care International
Erin Thornton, Every Mother Counts
Melissa Upreti, Center for Reproductive Rights
Helene Vadeboncoeur, Perinatal researcher and
author
Rachel Wilson, PATH

For more information, visit: www.whiteribbonalliance.org/respectfulcare

White Ribbon Alliance

One Thomas Circle NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005

OCTOBER 2011
VBAC Quick Facts
http://vbacfacts.com/quick-facts/
The mission of VBAC Facts is simple: to make hard-to-find, interesting, and pertinent information
relative to post-cesarean birth options easily accessible to the people who seek it.
After a cesarean, most women have two choices for future births: a vaginal birth after cesarean
(VBAC) or a repeat cesarean section (RCS). There is a lot of misinformation about these two options.
Let’s review some quick facts.

Per the American College of Obstetricians and

Gynecologists, VBAC is a “safe and appropriate choice for most women” with one prior cesarean and
for “some women” with two prior cesareans (1). Being pregnant with twins, going over 40 weeks,
having an unknown or low vertical scar, or suspecting a “big baby” should not prevent a woman from
planning a VBAC (1).
Research on uterine scar thickness (2) and single vs. dual layer suturing (3) are on-going as the studies
completed thus far are not strong enough to provide conclusive support for specific actions.
VBAC is successful 75% of the time (4-8). Successful VBACs have lower maternal complication rates
than planned repeat cesareans which have lower rates than VBACs that end in a cesarean (6), otherwise
known as cesarean birth after cesarean or CBAC.
Uterine rupture is the major concern in terms of VBAC and while it can be catastrophic, it is rare (9).
As the National Institutes of Health asserts, “VBAC is a reasonable and safe choice for the majority of
women with prior cesarean. Moreover, there is emerging evidence of serious harms relating to multiple
cesareans… The majority of women who have TOL [trial of labor] will have a VBAC, and they and
their infants will be healthy. However, there is a minority of women who will suffer serious adverse
consequences of both TOL and ERCS” (10).
Permitting labor to begin naturally after one prior low transverse (“bikini cut”) cesarean carries a 0.4%
risk of rupture which can increase upon labor augmentation or induction (6). These rates are similar to
other serious obstetrical emergencies such as placental abruption, cord prolapse, and shoulder dystocia.
Cesarean risks, including placenta accreta, hysterectomy, blood transfusion, and ICU admission,
increase with each surgery (11); whereas after a successful VBAC, the future risk of uterine rupture,
uterine dehiscence, and other labor related complications significantly decrease (12).
With each option, the risk of maternal death is very low: ERCD at 13.4 per 100,000 versus 3.8 per
100,000 for TOL (10). The evidence quality on perinatal mortality (infant death within 28 days of
birth) is low due to the wide range of rates reported by various studies (11).
45% of American women are interested in the option of VBAC (14), yet 92% have a RCS (15). Some
women chose their RCS or it was medically necessary. Others felt like they didn’t have much of a
choice for numerous reasons including hospital VBAC bans (16); immense social pressure; or the
misrepresentation of VBAC risks (17).
Our repeat cesarean rate feeds America’s rising total cesarean rate, currently at 32% (18). Declercq
(2009) links our high cesarean rate with our high maternal mortality rate relative to other developed
countries (19).
Throughout America, hospital and doctor attended VBACs are legal (20). In some states, it is legal for
a midwife to attend an out-of-hospital VBAC. However, of the women interested in VBAC, 57% are
unable to find a supportive care provider or hospital (14). This is due primarily to the 1999 ACOG
recommendation that a doctor be “immediately available” to perform a cesarean, yet they provided no
clear definition or standard for where the obstetrician and/or anesthesiologist should be or what they
could be doing (1).
As a result, hospitals developed their own definitions producing differing VBAC protocols and
requirements. The most severe variety was the institution of formal VBAC bans in 28% of all
American hospitals and de facto bans in an additional 21% (21), disproportionally affecting women
living in rural areas. The 2010 ACOG guidelines addressed these bans and confirmed: “restrictive
VBAC policies should not be used to force women to undergo a repeat cesarean delivery against their
will” (1). Hopefully VBAC will become a viable option to the many women who desire it (22).
______________________________________________________

Ready to learn more? Check out the list of articles and categories to your left.
Want more information on planning a VBAC? Go here.
Want to help get this basic information about post-cesarean birth options out to the public? The VBAC
Facts Micro Brochure are premium 100lb 3.5″ x 2″ matte finish folding business cards that do just that.
The front features space for your contact information and the inside contains much of the important
facts you just read. Due to their small size, they are convenient to carry and distribute without having
bulky pamphlets in your pocket or purse. Learn more and purchase.
______________________________________________________
1. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. (2010). ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 115:
Vaginal Birth After Previous Cesarean Delivery. Washington DC.
2. Kmom. (2009, February 12). Ultrasound Measurement of Cesarean Scar Thickness. Retrieved from
Well Rounded Mama: http://wellroundedmama.blogspot.com/2009/02/ultrasound-measurement-of-
cesarean-scar.html
3. Humphries, G. (2004, June 14). The Suture Debate. Retrieved October 1, 2009, from International
Cesarean Awareness Network: http://www.ican-online.org/vbac/the-suture-debate
4. Coassolo, K. M., Stamilio, D. M., Pare, E., Peipert, J. F., Stevens, E., Nelson, D., et al. (2005).
Safety and Efficacy of Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Attempts at or Beyond 40 Weeks Gestation.
Obstetrics & Gynecology, 106, 700-6.
5. Huang, W. H., Nakashima, D. K., Rumney, P. J., Keegan, K. A., & Chan, K. (2002). Interdelivery
Interval and the Success of Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Delivery. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 99, 41-
44.
6. Landon, M. B., Hauth, J. C., & Leveno, K. J. (2004). Maternal and Perinatal Outcomes Associated
with a Trial of Labor after Prior Cesarean Delivery. The New England Journal of Medicine, 351, 2581-
2589.
7. Landon, M. B., Spong, C. Y., & Tom, E. (2006). Risk of Uterine Rupture With a Trial of Labor in
Women with Multiple and Single Prior Cesarean Delivery. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 108, 12-20.
8. Macones, G. A., Cahill, A., Pare, E., Stamilio, D. M., Ratcliffe, S., Stevens, E., et al. (2005).
Obstetric outcomes in women with two prior cesarean deliveries: Is vaginal birth after cesarean
delivery a viable option? American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 192, 1223-9.
9. National Institutes of Health. (2010, June). Final Statement. Retrieved from NIH Consensus
Development Conference on Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights:
http://consensus.nih.gov/2010/vbacstatement.htm
10. Guise, J.-M., Eden, K., Emeis, C., Denman, M., Marshall, N., Fu, R., . . . McDonagh, M. (2010).
Vaginal Birth After Cesarean: New Insights. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality (US). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK44571/
11. Kamel, J. (2012, Apr 3). Confusing fact: Only 6% of uterine rutpures are catastrophic. Retrieved
from VBAC Facts: http://vbacfacts.com/2012/04/03/confusing-fact-only-6-of-uterine-ruptures-are-
catastrophic/
12. Silver, R. M., Landon, M. B., Rouse, D. J., & Leveno, K. J. (2006). Maternal Morbidity Associated
with Multiple Repeat Cesarean Deliveries. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 107, 1226-32.
13. Mercer, B. M., Gilbert, S., Landon, M. B., & Spong, C. Y. (2008). Labor Outcomes With
Increasing Number of Prior Vaginal Births After Cesarean Delivery. Obstetrics & Gynecology, 11,
285-91.
14. Declercq, E. R., & Sakala, C. (2006). Listening to Mothers II: Reports of the Second National U.S.
Survey of Women’s Childbearing Experiences. New York: Childbirth Connection. Retrieved from
Childbirth Connection: http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10068
15. Osterman, M. J., Martin, J. A., Mathews, T. J., & Hamilton, B. E. (2011, July 27). Expanded Data
From the New Birth Certificate, 2008. Retrieved from CDC: National Vital Statistics Reports:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr59/nvsr59_07.pdf
16. Kamel, J. (2010, July 22). VBAC ban rationale is irrational. Retrieved from VBAC Facts:
http://vbacfacts.com/2010/07/22/vbac-ban-rationale-is-irrational/
17. Kamel, J. (n.d.). Scare tactics. Retrieved from VBAC Facts:
http://vbacfacts.com/category/vbac/scare-tactics/
18. Menacker, F., & Hamilton, B. E. (2010, March). Recent Trends in Cesarean Delivery in the United
States. Retrieved from Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db35.htm
19. Declercq, E. R. (September, 2009). Birth by the numbers [video]. Retrieved from Orgasmic Birth:
http://www.orgasmicbirth.com/birth-by-the-numbers
20. Kamel, J. (2009, February 28). Is VBAC illegal? Is homebirth illegal? Retrieved from VBAC Facts:
http://vbacfacts.com/2009/02/28/is-vbac-illegal/
21. International Cesarean Awareness Network. (2009, February 20). New Survey Shows Shrinking
Options for Women with Prior Cesarean. Retrieved from ICAN: http://www.ican-online.org/ican-in-
the-news/trouble-repeat-cesareans
22. Kamel, J. (2010, March 9). American women speak about VBAC. Retrieved from VBAC Facts:
http://vbacfacts.com/2010/03/09/american-women-speak-about-vbac/
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