I decided to make soup tonight. I had carrots, potatoes, beef, yellow beets, red beets and cabbage and I found myself making borscht. I don’t think it’s because I have no imagination, rather, I think I have fond memories of borscht and when I have the ingredients at hand, that is what I want to experience again. I  love using the vegetables from our CSA (community supported agriculture). Also, my whole family enjoys borscht.

I also really enjoy the experience when I am able to attend a birth for a mom I have supported in birth before. There is something so satisfying about the honor of supporting a mother another time in labor. Her births are not the same, but they often do have a familiar flavor. As a doula, I have already developed a birthing groove with her. Some of my fondest birth memories, are of being with a mom for her subsequent births. Those memories are treasures of my heart.

I wonder how many births Orson Welles observed? I would guess none. I have never yet seen a birth in which the baby being born was alone. There is always at least, his mother. Beyond her, there are usually many people caring for both mom and baby. No one is alone at their birth. Even if he is referring to being alone in the birth canal, it is his mother’s body and she is with him every step of the way.

I can’t speak for death. Many people have loved ones around them as they die. Some die alone. But no one is born alone. No one I supported as doula labored alone. We humans crave support and companionship. Doulas enjoy being a part of the miracle of birth.

September 2011 was a banner month for me as a doula. I was privileged to attend five births in September. Each birth had its beauty and interest for me. Each birth was the unfolding and beginning of a baby’s life. Each baby started its nursing relationship with its mom. None of these babies were born alone. Not one.

Buddhism regards birth as one of the four inescapable sufferings of human life. The others being: old age, sickness and death. I hope that  I can ease the passage of birth for the mother or baby. I try to help the father and family through the birth. I assist mom and baby with breastfeeding. If I can help make this transition from pregnancy to family life a satisfying one, that I have done my job as a doula. Then I feel that I have added to the happiness of the world, one birth and one family at a time.

I wanted to add a little joy to your life, so I here is Beaker’s version of Ode to Joy. It is very joyful and continues to bring me laughs! Enjoy!

The photo is an early human milk-bank for mothers who weren’t breastfeeding, but whose babies needed breastmilk. I wish we still had a milk bank at Magee, but it is a relic of the past. The good news is, Magee did win the award this year for most doula friendly hospital in the area.