I became a Midwife to attend births, but the births I attended as a Midwifery student were not what I was dreaming of. I wanted more softness and trust in the process, I think I found that in Ystad. A deep belief in women's ability to give birth to the babies they carry.

For each person what makes them feel safe varies. But we all function in the same basic way: if we feel safe our nervous system works well and as it is supposed to. When we are in a constant state of stress, fighting/flight/freeze our nervous system is in a state of alert and focused on escaping danger. It’s basic human biology.

In Sweden birth at home is quite rare. It is estimated that around 180 births in 2020 were planned home births (this out of an estimated 113 000 births in total in the country that same year). A planned home birth is a birth that was planned to take place in the home with a midwife present. This is not to be confused with unassisted home births that is a birth that takes place at home without any medical personnel present. Most births in Sweden do still take place in hospitals, and I will soon explain more on why this is.

“Your touch may be the only touch that person receives that day.” Working as a nail tech I learned to touch other people’s bodies, strangers. I learned that some want to talk, some one to read, some want to sleep when they get their nails done. I don’t think about my nail tech days that often, but for some reason what my teacher said back then popped up in my head the other day. Touch, such a basic human need that we sometimes forget how important it can be. 

When you are in the hands of health care you may not know which options there are, which decisions you can make, etc. Today I will talk about the very useful tool B.R.A.I.N.S. to make informed decisions. 

According to Swedish law you as a patient when you are being treated by health care, any type of health care, are entitled to making informed decisions about your treatment. You are also, legally allowed to say no to part of the health care offered and yes to other parts, without receiving lesser care because you are opting out of certain parts. 

The birth of my daughter was empowering. I felt so strong after that experience, like I had been a part of a rite of passage into a group I had admired before. My birthing experience was something I looked back on later in life and would use as a motivator “You gave birth, you can handle this, come on now.” It was very positive, yet intense, induced birth. Needless to say we didn't get to read any of the books we had brought for the weekend.

Some may say there is no reason to prepare for birth, it never turns out as you want anyway. But I don’t agree. I think preparing for birth is essential to having a good birth experience. Yes, birth doesn’t always turn out the way we plan but having prepared may help you figure out what is important for you and even though things may not go according to your highest wishes there may be part of your wishes that can be accommodated regardless of what happens. Regardless if it’s your first birth or you have given birth before preparing can be helpful. If you have had a traumatic birth experience previously it’s important that you have gotten the support you need to process the events.

When we started our midwifery studies one of our teachers kept saying "Becoming a midwife is not taking on a new profession, it's not a speciality of Nursing, it's an identity.” I think I wasn't the only one who felt that this statement was a bit much.

Over the years one of the questions I’ve received the most is how to write a birth plan and what to include. Most people aren’t sure what to write or what to expect, especially when you are expecting your first child.

This has been a long time coming, but I am finally blogging again. "Again?” you say. Well in 2011 I started a natural hair blog that I ran for several years called Hair of Heritage (it's domain is now owned by someone else, so all the content is lost).