Breathing for Two

I have started breathing For my mom as she lies in the hospital bed again in PA, struggling to breathe. All of Life is Breath. Breath is Life. It is so simple it is hard to comprehend.

The past few times in meditation and even on a run, I've started visualizing my lungs filling up and expanding with Life, Love, and Light on my inhalation and on the exhalation, I see myself breathing into her mouth all the way down to her lungs. I do this a few times, and I feel very connected to her, as if I am right there with her, breathing life into her. I can't explain it but I feel as if it is working. Maybe, more so to calm me and to empower me to help her in some way. It is kind of like praying for someone. But, why not breathe for them when they need it?

My mom ate, walked, and breathed for me nine months while in utero. The placenta her body grew sustained me and nourished me. It is my time to provide her with an 'outer placenta' which can sustain her through my breath. Full circle.

Will I midwife my mother towards the Light? I've been preparing for years now subconsciously, spiritually, psychically, and mentally. For now, I breathe for her in Texas while she is in PA, seeing her soul in perfect health and happiness. I have to remind myself over and over, that we are not the body, we are not the mind. This physical plane is a blink of the eye. There are so many other realities. I have to remind myself to not be afraid of death, my mother's or my own. It is as normal and natural as being born. I must accept our humanness and mortality. Is death the beginning and birth the ending? I must have faith and trust this is only a short stop for our soul's journey, and that my mother's soul knows where it needs to go next. Her soul has agreed to all of this before she even came into this lifetime, as challenging is that is to accept for most everyone on this planet.

I'm rattling now...I will continue to comfort her and myself by breathing for her. Find solace in the breath, dear friends. You are not alone. You are not alone, mom.

What is a Doula?

A professional labor assistant, or doula, is gaining popularity as a member of the childbirth team. Doctors, labor nurses, and midwives often must care for more than one laboring woman at a time. A doula supports only one woman throughout her labor. A doula does not replace the partner in any way. She helps him support the mother, and guides the couple as they labor together. While the father-to-be will most likely want to be present for the birth of his baby, he doesn't always feel comfortable being the only support for his partner. Most often, he has never been at a birth before and may not have the knowledge and confidence that everything is going just as it should, even when it is. A doula assists the labor nurse in making suggestions for comfort and in giving encouragement and reassurance to the mother or couple. It is her continuous presence, along with her touch, knowledge, and experience with birth that makes her a valuable addition to the birthing team.

Several studies have found that mothers accompanied to labor by a doula had fewer cesarean births, shorter labors, fewer requests for pain medication and anesthesia, less need for oxytocin to stimulate labor, and less need for forceps to assist birth.

The role of a doula is not new, but the studies showing her value are. We are living in the best of times when we can offer the high technology of this century for research, emergencies, or complications while holding on to the high touch skills of women helping women with birth as they did a century ago.

Prepared Childbirth, The Family Way by Debby Amis and Jeanne Green

Research shows that women who were supported by doulas during labor reported:

labor and birth as less painful
feeling more in control of birth
less anxiety after birth
feelings of increased self confidence
a lower incidence of postpartum depression
increased incidence of breastfeeding at 6 weeks
improved relationships with their partners

The Doula Book by Klaus, Kennell, and Klaus