Remembering my friend Michel…
In all honesty, I have no words to express the loss of my friend, mentor, teacher Michel Odent. At this time I feel I just want to sit in silence to honour his passing…in the same way he encouraged us to do for mother and baby as they transition. I will miss his wisdom, his humility, his endless curiosity, his ability to think outside the box, his constantly challenging us… His sense of humour… May those of us left behind remember and stay true to his work and legacy. May we continue to bring peace to Earth by healing birth on this planet. Go well Michel. Hamba Kahle….* “Hamba kahle” is an isiZulu and isiXhosa phrase meaning “Go well“. It is used as a farewell, often said to someone who is leaving, and it can also be a respectful way to say goodbye to a person who has...
Read MoreReturning to the Source: Sitting Again with my Mentors in Birth
Fifteen years ago, as a student midwife and doula, I was beginning to question my place in the world of birth work. Though the language of “trusting birth” was everywhere, the practices I witnessed told a different story. Coaching, managing, intervening—whether subtle or overt—seemed baked into even the most “natural” birth environments. I felt uneasy, isolated, and uncertain. At that time, I found myself drawn again to the writings of Michel Odent. His words gave shape to something I instinctively felt but couldn’t yet articulate: that birth, as an involuntary process, cannot be helped—only protected. I searched to see if he had written anything about doulas and discovered something unexpected: a doula course in London, taught by Michel and a woman named Liliana Lammers. It was happening just days before I was due to attend a birth in Edinburgh. I changed my travel plans. Those three days became a turning point in my life. I remember the feeling of finding my teachers—my mentors. Sitting in circle with Michel and Liliana, I experienced a kind of cellular realignment. Their presence, their stories, their science, their reverence for undisturbed birth helped clarify and confirm everything I had been feeling. It was like being handed a compass. That experience birthed something else too: my book, The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour, was a direct attempt to capture and share the essence of what I received from them. Over the years, I’ve had the honour of reconnecting with them—teaching alongside Michel, attending their online courses, and most recently, sitting with them in person again in Amsterdam. But now, with Michel having just turned 95, and his public teaching naturally becoming more rare, each opportunity to sit at their feet feels even more precious. This weekend, I’ll be supporting the upcoming Paramana Doula Course, and I’m filled with both reverence and joy. It’s open to anyone who wishes to protect and honour the physiological process of birth—from doulas to midwives to anyone called to this path. Whether you are just beginning or coming full circle, I warmly invite you to join us. Paramana Doula CourseWith Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers12–14 July 2025 | OnlineRecordings available for all participants True Midwifery community members receive a 10% discount.To book: moonfeather7@gmail.com | +44 7443 656855 And as a gift to honour this return, my book The Basic Needs of a Woman in Labour will be available as a free Kindle download during the course dates (12–14 July):https://mybook.to/basicneedsENG With love and trust in the birth...
Read MoreWhy Birth First Aid?
The First Time I Ever Resuscitated a Baby on my own I remember the first time I had to resuscitate a baby on my own. It had been a fairly average first labour. It started in the middle of the night and trotted along into the new day. The mother was surprised at the intensity of the surges but she rode them quietly and stoically. The emergence of the baby was slow and as her mother crouched, she was born gently onto the floor onto a soft pile of towels. Some mothers scoop their babies up immediately, while others take their time, looking, smelling, and touching. Still, others need to take their time, first processing the enormity of the event before being able to look and engage. As long as the space is warm and the mother and baby are left undisturbed all are variations of normal. In this case, the mother was slow to interact with her baby, I believe she was initially taken aback at the sight of her newborn. It became evident that this baby was not responding after being born, not showing much muscle tone and not breathing. Helping Babies Breathe I had recently been trained in the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) programme as a facilitator through Operation Smile and worked as a volunteer for some of their educational missions in Africa. What I love about this programme is its simplicity: its focus on normal birth, preparedness, its understanding for working in low-resourced and out-of-hospital settings, as well as the all important MotherBaby needs like skin-to-skin and not cutting the umbilical cord. As a skilled birth attendant, you make a difference In the HBB programme, we are taught that the majority of babies are totally fine at birth and require little more than skin-to-skin contact with their mother – but that around 10% require gentle assistance in transitioning from womb life. These are some of the skills we will be focusing on in the upcoming Birth First Aid series of workshops that I will be offering for the month of November. Extreme neonatal resuscitation is rare in healthy pregnancies and births and usually is an indicator of some other underlying issue. Why Birth First Aid? If we are attending births on a regular basis, especially when a birth is left to unfold as it should, we come into contact with the beauty and simplicity that is birth and we receive the regular imprint that birth works and that birth is safe. But every once in a while, nature throws us a curve ball, and in the same way as we expect someone who works with children to be prepared if a child chokes, we want to be prepared for those rare times when a mother or baby does require assistance. In the case of the birth I was describing at the beginning of this post/letter – it felt clear that this baby was struggling. Muscle memory from my HBB training kicked in, and with her cord still attached and intact, between her mother’s legs on the floor, we worked together to gently remind her that she needed to breathe. And she did… I invite you to join us We will be gathering weekly for the month of November on these dates: 2, 9, 16, and 23 November 2022 via zoom from 11am – 2pm SAST (GMT+2) COST: 130 Euro / 130 USD / 1250 ZAR All sessions will be recorded and made available to you for one month after the call For more information or to book your place please email me at truemidwife@gmail.com What we will cover over...
Read MoreWhen you sit with a woman in labour, allow yourself to become soft…
Notice yourself. Your own breathing. Allow it to become deep. Allow it to become soft. When you sit with a woman in labour notice yourself. Your body. Your breathing. Sit quietly in a corner. Or lie down. Avert your gaze. Droop your head as though in prayer. Close your eyes as though in meditation or sleep. Or make your eyes soft soft soft and look at nothing on the ground. Allow your breath to become deep and expansive; fill your lungs, your rib cage, your entire being. Allow your breath to become deep and expansive like the waves of the ocean. In and out. In and out. Become so huge that your arms embrace the room, the world, the universe. Hold the woman in labour in an unseen embrace. Become so huge and expansive that you disappear into nothingness. Stay with your breath. Your softness. And the soft sighs and moans of the woman in...
Read MoreThe Fetus Ejection Reflex
One cannot help an involuntary process, the point is not to disturb it… If the labouring mother has had her basic needs met during the first stages of her labour, her body will prepare itself for something called the Fetus Ejection Reflex. What are the basic needs of a woman in labour? To feel safe To leave the thinking brain (the neo-cortex) switched off Silence Darkness or low lights Warmth Not feeling observed No adrenaline It is very important that the labouring mother has utmost privacy during this time, otherwise the fetus ejection reflex will not take place. How does it occur? When a fetus ejection reflex is about to take place, the mother will suddenly become fearful and will say things like: “I want to die!” or “Kill me!” It would be a mistake at this point to try to soothe or placate the mother with reassuring words. Soon after this there will be some very strong contractions. The labouring mother will suddenly be full of energy and she will want to be upright. The baby will be expelled in a few strong contractions. The Fetus Ejection Reflex is different from what we know as the second stage of labour, which is when the mother has to actively push the baby out. When a true fetus ejection reflex takes place, the likelihood of the mother tearing is very low and the placenta should only take a few minutes to separate. A fetus ejection reflex cannot take place if the basic needs of a woman in labour have not been met. Read more on the Fetus Ejection Reflex...
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