 I've been a practicing nurse-midwife for more than 20 years, and I've worked with thousands of pregnant women. I have delivered upwards of a thousand babies—I lost count a long time ago.
I know for sure that it's common and normal for a woman to encounter fears and worries during the prenatal time:
- "Will I be a good mother?"
- "Will the baby be normal?"
- "Will I be able to get through labor?"
- "Can my partner and I work well together as parents?"
- "I have a strange symptom . . . is something
terribly wrong?"
It is quite usual for women to come to my office troubled about something someone said, something they've seen on TV, something they remembered, something that happened to a friend, or some bad dream. Usually, concerns like these inspire a woman to seek support from a trusted friend, health care provider, or family member.
Over the years in my practice, one of the first things we've always done for pregnant women is develop affirmations. Sometimes I would write them on a prescription blank for the woman to take home and post on her refrigerator or bathroom mirror. Over time, I observed the same issues showing up again and again, so I started keeping track of them . . . and The Pocket Midwife was born.
In my practice, I was fortunate to have lots of time to support women to work though their worries and prepare themselves for the transitions to come. I suspect that as time pressures increase in many obstetrical and midwifery practices, opportunities to explore feelings and cultivate strength may be less and less available to women who need it. After all, how far can you get in a ten-minute visit? Now more than ever, women need support to nurture and fortify their
power to birth normally.
I've seen women connect with deep pockets of courage and determination they didn't know they had, and I've seen them surpass internal obstacles and challenges in some pretty extraordinary ways. I believe sincerely that using affirmations, like the ones in The Pocket Midwife, really does help!
I have an undergraduate degree from Yale, and I earned my Master's degree in Nursing and Nurse-Midwifery there as well. For several years I practiced in Texas, and then joined the holistic women's health group "Women to Women" in Yarmouth, Maine, where I worked with Dr. Christiane Northrup. Now I practice at the "True North Center for Health and Healing" in Falmouth, Maine. This is a fantastic group practice which began with affirmations and dreams about how health
care should be. You can learn more about "True North" at www.truenorthhealthcenter.org.
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