Why I Teach Birth First Aid
I was not trained first in emergency. I was raised first in trust. I grew up in the mountains of Ceres, about an hour down a dirt road from the nearest town. We cooked on fires. We had no electricity. If you called an ambulance, you would wait at least an hour. So we learned to take care of ourselves. My mother grew medicine in her herb garden. She dispensed remedies to the local people. We learned first aid simply because it was necessary. I remember sitting at twelve years old with tweezers, picking glass out of a man’s scalp. It wasn’t dramatic. It was just part of living far from everything. That was my first education in steadiness. My mother became a traditional midwife almost by accident. The first birth she attended was a breech. She turned the baby in labour and the baby was born well. After that, the local women called her when they were in labour… I have no memory of anything “going wrong” at those births. Birth happened in the middle of the night.And life went on. That imprint shaped me. So when I teach Birth First Aid, I need to be clear: The focus is not emergency.The focus is physiology. In most cases, birth unfolds beautifully when the mother feels safe and unobserved, when adrenaline is low, when the environment is right. But nature also teaches us that not every flower opens. Not every peach ripens. There is a small percentage of mothers and babies who require some help at birth. Over the years, and across roughly four hundred births, there have been rare moments when I needed to step in. And I have been deeply grateful for the muscle memory in my body when that happened. Not to control birth.Not to manage it.But to gently bring things back onto their path. Birth First Aid, for me, is about this middle path: Deep trust in physiology.Clear understanding of normal.And the steadiness to respond when something truly requires action. Using your head.Using your heart.Following your gut.And when needed — using your hands. That is why I teach this course. Not because birth is dangerous. But because birth is powerful. And power deserves steadiness. Join us for the next cycle of the Birth First Aid course:...
Read MoreBirth First Aid: Roots, Trust, and Preparedness
We are three weeks away from starting the next cycle of the Birth First Aid for Mother and Baby and I find myself wanting to speak to where this course actually comes from. Not in terms of curriculum or structure, but in terms of roots. From the age of 8, I was raised in a rural, mountainous part of South Africa, far from towns, hospitals, and easy access to help. We lived without electricity or hot water, and “making a plan” was simply part of daily life. My mother, a farmer and a self-taught rural traditional midwife, was my first teacher. Part of her work revolved around growing herbs, preparing natural medicines, and offering care to the local community. Birth happened quietly, often in the background of everyday life. Sometimes in the middle of the night, and then life simply went on. To be honest, it wasn’t something we, as children, paid close attention to. It was simply part of the landscape we grew up in. Women trusted my mother to sit with them while they birthed their babies, and this trust felt natural and unremarkable at the time. Birth wasn’t feared. It was accepted as a normal part of life. My mother had a still, calm, and deeply accepting presence. The women she supported often spoke of her quiet nature and her healing hands. And although much of this was absorbed unconsciously, it shaped something fundamental in me: a sense that birth, when held with trust and respect, usually unfolds as it should. Later, as a birth attendant myself, I experienced those rare situations where a baby struggled to breathe, a mother lost more blood than expected, or a birth asked something extra of those present. These moments taught me that preparedness does not need to mean fear, and that calm, grounded response is very different from panic. This understanding was later deepened through my work teaching Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Mothers Survive in African hospital settings. These experiences reinforced that even in moments of urgency, calm presence and simple, well-understood responses matter more than fear-driven reaction. This is the soil from which the Birth First Aid course that I now offer grew. The course is not about anticipating disaster or turning birth into a clinical event. It is about cultivating steadiness, discernment, and confidence. Knowing when to trust the process, and knowing how to respond when gentle, respectful support is needed. Birth isn’t about fear. It’s about trust. And when we hold birth with trust, and pair it with simple, well-understood first aid skills, we create safer, more held spaces for mothers and babies, without unnecessary intervention. If this way of approaching birth speaks to you, you’re warmly invited to read more about the course and its upcoming cycle...
Read MoreA Gentle Orientation to Birth First Aid
When people first encounter the Birth First Aid for Mother and Baby course, questions often arise, not just practical ones, but deeper, quieter ones too. This page is here to offer a gentle orientation and to answer some of the questions we’re most often asked. Birth First Aid is not about fear or anticipation of emergencies. It’s about preparedness, calm thinking, and being resourced enough to respond with care when something unexpected arises. Do I need to be a trained midwife to take this course?No. This course is open to anyone attending births at home: including doulas, traditional birth attendants, student midwives, birthkeepers, and parents. It’s designed to meet people where they are, whether they are just beginning or deepening an existing practice. Is this course only for home birth attendants?The course is designed with home and low-resource settings in mind. That said, many hospital-based birthworkers, especially those working in rural or under-resourced environments, find the principles and skills supportive and grounding. What if I can’t attend the live sessions?All live sessions are recorded and shared within 24 hours. Many participants join live when they can, and catch up later when needed. You’ll have access to the material for several months. How long do I have access to the course?You’ll have access to the course content from 24 February 2026 until 4 August 2026, allowing time to revisit material and integrate what you’ve learned. Are payment plans or scholarships available?Yes. We offer flexible payment plans in USD, EUR, GBP, and ZAR. Scholarships, sliding scale options, and returning student discounts are also available, because accessibility is a core value of this work. Is this a clinical or protocol-based course?No. While practical skills are taught clearly and carefully, the course is rooted in traditional midwifery, physiological birth, and respectful care. It’s about thinking clearly, not following rigid scripts. If you’re feeling a quiet pull towards this course, trust that curiosity. You don’t need to be certain or “ready” in any particular way — just open to learning, reflecting, and preparing with care. You can read more about the course and enrol here And if questions remain, you’re always welcome to reach out directly to...
Read MoreTHE BASIC NEEDS OF THE NEWBORN
Listening at the Threshold of Life There is a moment, just after birth, when everything is still tender, open, and profoundly alive. The newborn is adapting to life outside the womb.The mother is adapting to life with her baby in her arms.Both are exquisitely sensitive to their surroundings. How we meet this moment matters. The first hours and days after birth are not simply a time of transition; they are a time of imprinting. What is felt, sensed, and experienced here echoes forward: into bonding, regulation, health, and our capacity to meet the world. When we speak about the basic needs of the newborn, we are not speaking about techniques or protocols. We are speaking about conditions. About atmosphere. About the quality of presence offered around new life. In this reflection, we turn toward a simple yet radical orientation:zero separation and zero interruption. ––––––––– LISTENING THROUGH THE LENS OF MONTESSORI AND ODENT Looking through the lens of Maria Montessori and Michel Odent, we are invited to reconsider what care truly means in the earliest moments of life. Montessori understood that birth and early life must be protected, not managed. She spoke about the newborn as a “spiritual embryo,” a being in a profound state of formation, deeply affected by the environment into which they arrive. Privacy, warmth, continuity, and calm were not luxuries, but basic needs. Michel Odent later articulated this understanding through the language of physiology and Primal Health. He showed how early experiences shape the interaction between the primal brain, the hormonal system, and the immune system: systems that guide us for a lifetime. High levels of stress and interruption in the early hours after birth can have lasting effects on bonding, regulation, and health. Both Montessori and Odent remind us of something quietly challenging:any unnecessary help can become an obstacle. ––––––––– THE NEED FOR SAFETY, SERENITY, AND SILENCE The most fundamental need of the mother and newborn is to feel safe. Safety allows the body to soften.Serenity allows hormones to flow.Silence allows adaptation and bonding to unfold. After birth, both mother and baby are recovering from an immense physiological and emotional passage. They are learning each other. Their senses are heightened. Their nervous systems are open and impressionable. When the space around them is filled with noise, conversation, observation, or subtle interference, energy is pulled outward. When the space is quiet, respectful, and restrained, energy can turn inward: toward healing, connection, and rest. Silence is not emptiness.It is an offering. It allows mother and baby to reconnect after an abrupt separation. From this reconnection, everything else flows. ––––––––– LEARNING WITH KARIN SLABAUGH This work is at the heart of the teaching shared by Karin Slabaugh, who has dedicated her life’s work to studying, guarding, and protecting the newborn. Karin brings together Montessori’s original insights with decades of lived experience and careful observation, bridging traditional wisdom with contemporary understanding. Her work is grounded, humble, and deeply respectful of the newborn as a sensitive, relational being. Karin and I collaborate closely on the Basic Needs of Babies work, and it is a deep honour to walk alongside her in exploring how we meet life at its very beginning. You can learn more about this shared work here:https://www.montessori-for-life.org/the-basic-needs-of-babies/ ––––––––– A QUIET INVITATION When we change how we meet the newborn, we change something fundamental, not only for individual families, but for the wider culture. This reflection is an invitation to listen more closely.To protect the earliest moments of life.And to remember that sometimes the most powerful care we can offer is silence, trust, and reverence. ––––––––– This session is...
Read MoreWhen The Days Feel Full, Go To Nature
When the days feel full, go to nature You should sit in nature 20 minutes every day…Unless you are busy, then you should sit for at least an hour. I have always loved this Zen proverb. It feels simple, almost obvious. And yet, when life gathers momentum, it can be easy to forget. The pull of work, responsibility, and constant communication can draw us into a kind of mental compression. The never-ending hamster wheel of to‑do lists and overflowing inboxes that sometimes feels like opening Pandora’s box. We know we need space, but we tell ourselves we’ll take it later. This week marked my return to work after a month away from my computer, emails, and projects. I was aware, even before opening my laptop, that it might feel like lifting the lid off a bubbling pot of soup, that familiar sense of urgency, the feeling that everything needed attention all at once. Just anticipating it had my nervous system on edge. With it still being summer, and after having spent so much time outdoors over the past month, I decided that before sitting down to work, I would go for a short walk. Nothing ambitious. Just a chance to stretch my legs, walk the dog, and allow my thoughts to arrive gently. That twenty‑minute walk turned into an hour‑long wander down to the bay at low tide… and a spontaneous dip in the ice‑cold Atlantic. Somewhere between the sea air and the shock of cold water, my to‑do list rearranged itself. My body remembered how to settle. My breathing deepened. By the time I returned home and finally opened my computer, I felt resourced rather than overwhelmed. It was a quiet reminder of something I return to again and again in my work: tending to our most basic needs is not optional. It is foundational. Whether we are mothers, birth workers, caregivers, or simply human beings moving through full lives, regulation, safety, and presence are where everything else begins. That morning set the tone for my return and it filled me with renewed excitement for the offerings unfolding within the True Midwifery community. As we begin a new year of Study Spirals, I’m delighted to be welcoming my dear friend and longtime collaborator, Karin Slabaugh, for our first gathering. In this upcoming Study Spiral, we will explore the fundamental needs of the newborn and the delicate unfolding of the mother‑baby relationship in the first hours and days of life. Drawing on the wisdom of Maria Montessori and the insights of Michel Odent, Karin invites us to reflect on how birth and early adaptation shape what is often called Primal Health, the subtle interplay of hormonal, immune, and primal brain systems. Through this lens, we will consider what it means to create environments of zero separation and zero interruption: spaces where the newborn’s deep need for safety and serenity can unfold naturally, and where the quiet presence of attendants allows mother and baby to reconnect and begin life together in peace. If you are interested and would like to learn more about this upcoming spiral, and the programme for 2026 see HERE These reflections are not only about birth. They speak to a wider truth: that life thrives when we slow down, listen closely, and protect the conditions that allow connection to emerge. As I move back into work this year, I’m holding that morning by the sea as a compass. When the days feel full, go to nature.When the mind feels loud, return to the body.And when in doubt, tend first to what is most basic. With...
Read MoreClosing the Bones of 2025, Opening the Spiral of 2026
As this year draws to a close, I find myself reflecting on what it has meant to move through 2025 together, not just in content, but in relationship, presence, and shared inquiry. Our final Study Spiral of the year, Closing of the Bones & Honouring Lineage, arrived as a fitting threshold. It felt like a conscious closing of the bones of the year itself, an invitation to gather what has been lived, learned, and felt across the Study Spirals, and to allow it to settle. Closing of the Bones is an ancient rite found in many cultures, most widely recognised through Latin American traditions and the use of the rebozo. In our final gathering, we explored it not as a technique, but as a rite of passage, one that supports integration after birth, loss, illness, initiation, or profound life change. A central thread of the session, and of the year as a whole, has been lineage and integrity. We reflected on the responsibility that comes with receiving and passing on ancestral knowledge, and on how ancient wisdom can live in modern contexts without losing its soul. As the spiral widened, we spoke about rites of passage across the lifespan and the deep human need to be witnessed and held in community. What emerged clearly was this understanding: these thresholds are not meant to be walked alone. As I close the bones of 2025, I feel deep gratitude for this community, for the way it continues to flourish, nourish, and grow with each spiral. Thank you for the depth, care, and presence you bring. At the same time, I am quietly delighted to be opening the next turning of the spiral. The 2026 True Midwifery Study Spirals The 2026 Study Spirals will unfold as thirteen monthly gatherings held across the year. Together we will explore newborn care, reproductive health, birth justice and legal terrain, grief and creativity, elderhood, herbs, freebirth, and the reclamation of midwifery, always held within an intentional, respectful, global container. You can view the full 2026 schedule and details here:https://true-midwifery1.teachable.com/p/true-midwifery-study-spirals-2026 As we move toward the solstice and the festive season, True Midwifery will be entering a summer pause from 19 December to 19 January, honouring the seasonal rhythm here in South Africa. I am trusting this time of rest and integration, and looking forward to returning in the new year, ready to gather...
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