From the Director
Stephanie Brill, Midwife
Letting
go. We all try to do it. We know we should. But sometimes
it is just not that easy. We have these ideas of what is best,
what is right, what is wrong. But sometimes life throws us a
curve ball and we find ourselves re-evaluating it all again.
Trying to get pregnant can be that
way — you think it will work just the way you hope it
will and then your donor backs out, or you discover you have
endometriosis, or you have a miscarriage.
Pregnancy can be that way —
you think it will be this blissful time of your life and then
you throw up every day for 4 months, or your feet swell and
you can barely walk, or you cry for no reason, especially while
giving presentations at work.
Birth can be that way — you
have an emergency cesarean, or you want pain medicine, but there’s
no time, or you plan a home birth but then you need to transport,
or your partner is stuck in traffic and misses the birth.
Is there
a theme here? Is there a reason that things don’t
seem to go as we plan them when bringing children into the world?
Perhaps this is all leading up to
the realization that one of the greatest gifts and challenges
of parenting is precisely that – letting go. We never
know what parenting will bring us. It will bring the greatest
joys and the deepest fears we will ever know. It is a wild ride.
Mindfulness
can bring prospective parents and current parents alike to a
place of inner peace. Self-reflection – rather
than self-obsession- is the key to a restful journey through
these childbearing years.
I have been preparing to conceive,
pregnant, or parenting for 18 years now and I can tell you,
I have no idea how I would be here – four kids later-
if I did not take time every day to breathe, self-reflect, and
meditate. These three practices are the cornerstones of my well-being.
I encourage each of you to isolate the cornerstones of your
well-being. Cultivate them, honor them, practice them.
Then, when you are asked, yet again,
to let go of how you thought your life was going to unfold –
you will have the skills to meet the situation with greater
ease. That is all we can ask for, really.
Enjoy your summer, eat healthy foods,
soak up the nutrients of the sun and nature, and love your body
in all of its glories.
Stephanie
Classes & Support Groups
Facilitated by Kristin Kali, LM CPM
We are delighted to offer a range
of support groups this fall, including Queer Prospective Parents;
Single Prospective Moms; Butch Moms, Lesbian Dads; Non-bio Parents;
and Queer Parent/Baby Group.
Below are are current support group
and worlshop offerings. Click on a title for more info...
• So You Want
to Make a Baby…
Getting Pregnant 101
• Childbirth Classes
for LGBTQI Families
• Queer
Prospective Parents Group
• Single
Prospective Moms
• Butch
Moms, Lesbian Dads
• Non-Bio
Parents
• Queer
Parent/Baby Group
• Parents
of Gender Variant Children
Scholarships are available for all
MAIA Support Groups. Please call 925-253-0685 or visit www.maiamidwifery.com
to register.
New Workshops
Kristin Kali,
LM CPM has recently become a Professional Member of RESOLVE
of Northern California. She will be presenting workshops at
the following upcoming RESOLVE events:
Focus Workshops:
Building Optimal Fertility Through Nutrition
Thursday, September 20
http://www.resolvenc.org
Fertility and Adoption Symposium
Saturday, September 29
http://www.resolvenc.org
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Got Kryptonite?
Remember the old Superman movies with
the cave full of kryptonite? The gleaming green crystals
were the source of Superman’s superhuman abilities.
Such an idea is not necessarily just for the movies.
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The earth is rich with energetic healing properties
in the form of crystallized minerals, also known as gems. Gems
in common usage are diamonds, sapphires, rubies and emeralds.
Lesser known gems such as black tourmaline, kunzite, and covellite
are also coming into common usage in the form of “gem
essences.” Gem essences won’t actually make you
Superman, but the energy shifts that are brought about by this
powerful medicine will aid you in the magic and mystery that
is conceiving, gestating and birthing a child.
When calling a child into your life, there
is often a need for a subtle yet powerful shift in the energetic
experience of everyday life. Do you let the worries of others
have too much power in your own life, or does your stress tend
to manifest in your body? Do you struggle with being present
in your own body or witnessing your fertile changes? Are you
looking for ways to cleanse and purify yourself in preparation
for pregnancy? Are you newly pregnant and doing everything you
can to support this tender little being as it nestles itself
inside of you?
These products are now available on our
Products page.
Alaskan Essences
are combination remedies that are made from gems, flowers and
environmental essences. We have recently begun carrying this
product at Maia, after longtime use in our midwifery, in own
homes and with our own families.
We have chosen the following formulations
for use by our preconception clients, during pregnancy, and
for use in babies and young children…and actually at any
stage of life.
Calling All Angels
Helps you contact the love, guidance
and protection of the angelic realm. It brings a very soft,
loving and serene energy into your heart, physical body and
environment. Use it to make a stronger connection with the Divine
Feminine, create a sacred space for sleeping and dreaming (especially
for children), and come into a stronger awareness of your own
angelic nature.
Purification
Designed to cleanse and purify your home
and work environments and your personal energy field. Use it
to break up and clear stagnant energy patterns on any level:
where there has been addiction, depression or abuse; releasing
old ingrained habits that are no longer contributing to your
well-being; or purging toxic energy from the mind, emotions
and body. Purification will revitalize, balance and stimulate
the renewal of energy on all levels of your energy system.
Guardian
Guardian invokes positive, harmonious
energies that help you claim your energetic space, maintain
your grounding, and feel the protection of strong, healthy boundaries.
Use Guardian when you are over-reactive to influences in your
environment, are ambivalent about being present in your own
body, work around computers and other electromagnetic equipment
or in a toxic environment, or if you do healing work that requires
you to be in the working, living or personal energy space of
your clients.
Pregnancy Support
Designed to strengthen, stabilize and
balance during the entire pregnancy. The primary action is to
help meet the physical, emotional and mental challenges that
can arise during this life changing event. Pregnancy Support
can be used to help create and nurture a sacred space in your
life and body to support the development of the baby, to assist
both the pregnant parent and the indwelling soul in clearing
any ambivalence they have about being on Earth, to help those
who have suffered a traumatic birth or pregnancy to heal this
trauma so they can offer a stronger body/soul connection to
the baby, and to strengthen the energetic triad between two
parents and a baby.
These formulas are prepared in a tincture
form that can be used by placing a few drops in water and drinking
over the course of the day. Or, you can put some drops into
a massage oil or lotion to be used at any time. Because they
function on a vibrational level, a few drops go a long way.
These formulas are so specific to clearing
energy and protecting space, they are also offered in a spray
form, combined with aromatherapy essential oils.
Guardian, Purification and Calling All Angels
are used frequently in the Maia office, and testers are available
if you’d like to try them out for yourself! These products
are available on our Products
page.
The Power of Raw Foods
Who hasn’t heard the advice to eat at
least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day, preferably
in a rainbow array of colors? What tastier way to achieve this
then by incorporating more raw foods into your diet? Raw foods
—also known as living foods—are whole and unprocessed,
containing more nutrients and fibers than their cooked cousins.
They are also complete with the enzymes needed to turn them
into energy that the body can use.
What are enzymes? Enzymes are responsible
for every metabolic action in the body, including digestion.
All fresh raw and living foods, including fresh, cold-pressed
oils, have the enzymes necessary to aid their digestion. It
is widely accepted that heating food above 115 degrees Fahrenheit
begins to destroy its enzymes. When foods that are lacking in
enzymes are eaten, the pancreas must compensate by producing
additional digestive enzymes to help with digestion. A diet
composed exclusively of cooked food puts stress on the pancreas
and requires a lot of energy to be expended for digestion. That
food coma after Thanksgiving is not just tryptophan from the
turkey; it is your body struggling to digest your dinner.
All nutrients—vitamins, minerals, and
enzymes—are sensitive and destroyed by heat. Cooking affects
food on a sliding scale; for example, steaming food is the least
damaging, grilling more so, and microwaving and deep-frying
are very harmful.
The fresher the food, the more nutrients and life force available.
Eating fruits and vegetables locally and in season is your best
bet for the freshest food available.
Assimilation is the most important aspect
of eating. A certain food may contain many beneficial nutrients,
but if the body cannot assimilate those nutrients, i.e., identify,
digest, and build and regenerate cells, tissues, blood and bones—those
nutrients are useless.
Healthy digestion is essential for promoting
health and optimal assimilation. Chewing well, proper food combinations,
maintaining a healthy balance of intestinal flora, and choosing
foods suited to your individual needs are all important factors
of assimilation.
What to eat? Fresh fruits and vegetables,
fresh juices, nuts and seeds, fermented and cultured foods,
sprouted beans and grains, and low-temperature dehydrated foods
are all examples of raw and living foods. There are many wonderful
recipe books available, from simple to gourmet. I’ve included
a few basics below.
Almond Milk
Many nuts and seeds have a natural enzyme
inhibitor found under the skin. Soaking nuts and seeds activates
protease, a compound that neutralizes the enzyme inhibitors,
making them more digestible.
• 1 cup raw almonds, soaked 8 hours
in filtered water, drained and rinsed
• 4 cups filtered water
• Pinch sea salt (optional)
In a blender at medium, then high speed, blend
ingredients until smooth. Pour thru a strainer lined with cheesecloth
to separate the remaining pulp. The leftover pulp can be recycled
for a second batch of lighter milk, or dried and ground into
flour for cookies.
Almond milk will last 2-4 days in the refrigerator.
Vanilla Almond Milk
• 4 cups almond milk
• 1-tablespoon non-alcohol vanilla extract
• ½ vanilla bean (optional)
• 3 tablespoons raw honey or agave nectar or maple syrup
or 3 soft dates, pitted
Put ingredients into blender and blend until
smooth.
Kale and Cabbage Salad
• 1 bunch kale
• 1 small head red cabbage
• Pinch sea salt
Dressing: equal parts olive or flax oil, apple
cider vinegar, and agave nectar
Slice kale and cabbage as thinly as possible,
and put in a mixing bowl.
Add a pinch of sea salt. Use clean hands to massage the salt
into the veggies.
They will start to “wilt” and shrink down. Add dressing
and continue to massage.
Allow to marinate for an hour or so. You can massage the salad
a few more times—the more you rub and longer the salad
marinates, the more tender the salad will be.
Taste for a balance of flavors, and adjust
as necessary.
The Intern’s Perspective
MAIA has a long and rich history
of hosting interns in a variety of capacities. As midwives,
we believe that knowledge is meant to be passed along so that
it continues to live and to serve. Interns come to MAIA for
a variety of reasons, sometimes to deepen their clinical knowledge,
or to gain experience in queer midwifery, or simply to offer
volunteer support to a service they believe in.
Following is an account by our
most recent intern, Mia Wallach, of her experience during her
time at MAIA.
When I was five, I became enamored with my
mother's pregnant bulge. I would press my ear to her protruding
belly button and grin with delight when I was kicked by my unborn
sibling. My fascination continued to develop following the birth
of my sister and then my brother and I could explain cervices,
contractions and condoms and had memorized the entire "A
Child is Born," by the time I was ten. Not long after that,
I figured out that I was gay.
For a long time, I thought that being queer
— masculine and female— eliminated my chances of
working with pregnant and parenting individuals and families.
Because of my gender and orientation, I am often perceived as
a (lesbian) intruder/predator in public spaces such as bathrooms
or locker rooms, and I imagined that I would certainly be unwelcome
in Labor and Delivery wards, clinics, or midwifery practices.
At 24, while I worked in the human services
field, I also decided to confront my fears, and become a Doula
(a non-medical, physical and emotional support person for families
during pregnancy, labor and post-partum.)
I began volunteer Doula shifts at a public
hospital and fortunately, I found and continue to learn, that
my gender presentation and sexual orientation tend to be much
less relevant than my compassion, warmth or skills as a provider.
Then I began interning with MAIA Midwifery and Preconception
Services and I finally felt at home.
While I spent much of my internship doing
clerical work, I felt enlivened simply to be a part of an organization
that supports LGBTQ fertility, pregnancy and families. As I
tabulated our orders for speculums, tea and other fertility
items, I felt a thrill knowing that people in Nashville, Buffalo
and Palo Alto were consciously learning about their bodies and
hoping to build a family out of choice and dedication.
I felt privileged to shadow Kristin during
preconception consultations, where her patience, client-centeredness,
and heart, combined with a wealth of knowledge on topics ranging
from anatomy, to nutrition, and sexuality. While updating our
referral database, I called a variety of medical providers and
asked whether they serve many lesbians. Though several receptionists
acted as though I had asked them if they were wearing red undies,
a good number, happily told me that they worked with "tons
of lesbians!" After a call like that, I felt especially
grateful to be living in the Bay Area.
On a hot Sunday afternoon, I handed out pillows
as the MAIA classroom ran out of chairs for participants in
the "So you Want to Make a Baby: Getting Pregnant 101"
workshop. I was impressed by the diversity of ages, ethnicities,
cultures, professions and cities represented by the couples
and individuals who eagerly listened as Kristin described the
biology, logistics and psychology of queer or single fertility
and conception.
It was also such a pleasure to witness the
community-building that occurred among these women; including
a lesbian conception BBQ, insemination trouble-shooting and
email exchanges.
What has struck me the most about my time
at MAIA, is
the feeling first, that I am not alone and second, a profound
feeling of pride in the diverse and vibrant community of queer
and straight individuals and couples who are so thoughtfully
creating their families.
August and September Chart Review Dates
All MAIA consultations include 3 months of
follow up chart review. As you track your fertility for optimal
insemination timing, this service proves to be highly valuable.
You can mail or fax a copy of your fertility chart to our office,
and the midwife will review it and make timing recommendations
for the coming month. You may also email any questions or concerns,
or simply check in for ongoing support.
August chart review dates are the 6th, 15th,
24th and 29th.
We will return to our regularly scheduled Wednesdays in September.
Please make sure we receive your charts by noon the day before
chart review is scheduled.
