Niamh Garland- The Barefoot Birthkeeper

How do you envision the beautiful separation between baby and their placenta? And what are your options?

1. Immediate cord clamping and cutting.
This is the medical model as done in most hospitals and birth centres. The primary advantage is that it is ‘easy’, in that the parents need not say or advocate at all. Usually, a plastic cord clamp is used, and this hard piece of plastic is 3 to 4cm in length. The clamp can cause the baby discomfort if twisted or jammed into the baby’s belly.

2. Delayed clamping and cutting of the umbilical cord.
There is an abundance of research that shows there are many advantages to delayed clamping. This 3-minute delay in Umbilical cord clamping can mean the cord is cut before the birth of the placenta. A cord clamp is usually used.

3. Prolonged delay of umbilical cord severance.
This method is practiced by most midwives who receive babies at home as well as some birthing centres. These practitioners will usually wait for about 15 minutes before clamping and cutting the cord.

4. Burning the umbilical cord.
This method can be done after the placenta has been born and the baby has been well fed. It cauterizes the umbilical cord, preventing infection and there is no need to use an uncomfortable cord clamp. According to traditional Asian medicinal knowledge, the burning of the umbilical moves the QI (life force) remaining in the placenta into the baby. One slight disadvantage is that it takes time to do, whereas cutting takes but a moment. If you want some instructions on how to safely burn the umbilical cord please feel free to DM me.

5. Waiting, taking it one day at a time.
Many families are unsure they wish to sever the cord immediately and have not decided the method they are most comfortable with and there is no reason to feel rushed to make one.

6. Full lotus birth
This is the most patient, and spiritual practice of separating the baby from the placenta. This is allowing the baby, with no rush, to release the cord from the placenta. Families must be more mindful and slow when holding and moving the baby. Although the baby who has had a few hours with their placenta has already received 99% or more of the benefits of delayed cord severance, Robin Lim and many of practitioners believe that this is the best possible start for our babies.

Credit to the ‘Placenta, the forgotten chakra’ by Robin Lim for bestowing this magical and fascinating knowledge of placentas in such a beautiful and well-written book.

I am currently completing my training in placentology, aka placenta encapsulation, so if anyone feels called to honour their placenta in this please feel free to contact me. As someone who consumed their own placenta- I loved the effect it had on me, mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

Big love,
Niamh

Be f*cking loud.

I’ve heard way too many times, birthing people being told to quiet down, shush, to consider others, and to ‘keep it together'. Then if we become too loud we are often offered pain relief.

This just is NOT ok.

There have been so many beautiful birthing videos of birthing people breathing their babies out, quiet and calm, or music being played over the primal sounds that are being made.

Both are perfect. But we shouldn’t be rating our birth experience by the amount of noise we do or do not make.

Why do others feel the need to control birthing people? When we are already made to question our bodies, wants, and needs? Maybe it’s convenient for us to remain quiet and calm? To remain the ‘good girl’.

How do you express yourself every day? Vocally, emotionally, physically, so why would labour and birth be any different?

We know that vocalizing/ toning helps RELEASE emotional and physical pain, it gives you energy, gets you in the zone, relaxes you, and makes you more intuitive. Why hold it in, when birth is about surrendering, surrendering to all parts of who we are, to everything that arises, and also to what others may think about us.

Those on their journey of birth I invite you to get curious about how you express yourself and invite that into your birth space. So that you birth in your own perfectly imperfect way.

The deep within

The journey of birth is one of reverence.

We are offered 9 months to go within, to ask ourselves what we need- to nurture our being and to flow with the natural changes our body is going through.

This period evokes great emotion, big questions, new understandings, and vulnerability.

We are often offered many opinions, thoughts, and sometimes fears from those around us.

It’s easy to get lost in these teachings from others, but it is just that- a teaching, and we can take away what we feel will support us on our own journey.

In this moment on Earth, there is a great change happening, a feeling of the unknown- this is all happening from the external whilst we give rise to the within, these external distractions can be all-consuming, but it’s in these moments we learn the most, about ourselves and each other. A place you learn more about your needs, wants, and how to nourish you.

There is this beautiful shift occurring in which we are beginning to reclaim our ancestral beliefs ― viewing menstrual cycles, s*x, and pregnancy through the lens of beauty and power, without the stigma or negative associations imposed in post-colonial times.

This journey is yours to reclaim, it is an indescribable, beautiful time and the beginning of an even greater understanding of who we are and our power.

And it's time to reclaim it.

“We are the ONLY species of mammal that doubts our ability to give birth. Think about that.”
Ina May Gaskin

"Stop shaming.

Stop s*xualising."
chaperon

Birth Trauma Awareness Week...

This is nothing to be celebrated but it’s important we acknowledge this prominent theme reoccurring in our birth space, so we can pave the way for change.

Here are the facts;

1 in 3 women experience birth trauma

1 in 10 of those experience post-traumatic stress disorder from their birth trauma

Two-thirds of the 1 in 3 describe their trauma, as iatrogenic, meaning it was caused by the people delivering the care.

A third of women are unhappy with their births- feeling pressured to do things they didn’t want to do.

Covid has created a vortex of separation and loneliness so these numbers are only on the rise.

This is not okay, but what we can do is acknowledge who we are.

That every emotion and experience is valid.

And create a loving community around you.

We all deserve to be loved, supported, and held during this rite of passage.

This powerful imagery captured by the talented .chaperon is just us women in our power- shouting a little louder for those in the back.

Sending you all so much love,

Niamh.

Shout out to for spilling the tea with these facts.

WOW!

Wow!

The placenta is the veil between mother and baby and is how we all survive our time in the womb.

The holy placenta

Your baby’s lifeline and protector.

80% of the stem cells from the little ball of cells called the morula become the placenta and only 20% become the human. The placenta has the same DNA as the baby, as it os their organ and not the mother’s.

In the hospital, the placenta is often tossed directly in a trash can when it is birthed. (The first time I saw this I audibly gasped)

In our practice of homebirths, we encourage women to catch their own placentas, never cut the cord before the baby is born (and always wait for the parents to ask to cut it), carefully inspect each placenta, take photos of it, make an art print, and do a reading for the family.

The placenta deserves all this attention - it is the veil between mother and baby and is how we all survive our time in the womb.

Was your baby’s placenta honored?

📷:

🌻 Did you know that because crystal singing bowls are made from 99.99% quartz crystal they have a greater effect on the human body than any other instrument?!! 🌻

This is because our body has a natural affinity to quartz as it is composed of many crystalline substances- the bones, blood, DNA, and the liquid colloidal structure of the brain. Even our cells contain silica balancing our electromagnetic energies and have the same formula as natural quartz crystals.

There are many ways you can incorporate a birth bowl into your journey. Let's chat if this something you feel drawn to.

I want to acknowledge Nicole from for sharing this knowledge with me. To my doula sisters who want to incorporate soundbirth into their offerings definitely connect with Nicole.

If you're like me and as much as you love a good book, you also kinda don’t. Suddenly your 10 pages in, totally invested then "mummmmy", or ‘bing’ goes your phone, or your driving, or you're at work, or one of your 1 million other "good" reasons not to read that book pops up.

So, I have dedicated some time to exposing the best or my favourite birth podcasts.

I have over 40 (yes 40!) different birth podcasts to listen to and if you're anything like me, then you would much rather a small list to choose from, rather than a hundred different podcasts (or 40 😉), so you're welcome.

Let me know what your favourite podcast is? And if it isn’t already on my list I shall take a listen and add it in.

Want to check it out?https://www.thebarefootbirthkeeper.com.au/post/your-birth-podcast-list

Your Birth Podcast List If you're like me and as much as you love a good book, you also don’t. So, I have dedicated my time to exposing the best birth podcasts.

✨ Caesarean Section Rates Perth ✨

These rates are from 2014 and 2017.

SJOG Murdoch taking the lead at an almost 60% section rate 🤯

Remember the highest risk patients can be found at the tertiary hospitals - this is where you’d expect a fair number of sections to occur due to complex pregnancies.

Reporting of medical intervention is slow and rates are hard to find. Often buried in technical reports and are confusing.

Vaginal Births after C sections (VBAC) are one of the most common requests that Private Midwives get usually because women have a huge realisation after their first experience that maternity care within the current system doesn’t always serve all women.

To prevent adverse events to mothers and babies the World Health Organisation recommends a worldwide section rate of 10-15%."

Thank you to the for sharing this information.

Repost

~ Questions that birth works and care providers need to be asking themselves? ~

I have been reading the incredible ‘Reclaiming Childbirth As A Rite Of Passage’ by Rachel Reed.

One of the key messages I have taken away and believe is so important to be discussed is our ability to be ‘with woman’. Being ‘with woman’ is the fundamental role in our work and this role can facilitate or disrupt the woman’s ability to exercise her power and connect to her intuition.

But we cannot possibly be ‘with woman’ if we are consciously or unconsciously working through our own issues. It is our responsibility to explore the wounds and gifts we have received during own rites of passage.

Simple strategies that can be implemented is to simply consider these questions:
- Am I saying/ doing this for the woman or me?
- What is the underlying message my words/ actions will transmit?
- Does that message align with reinforcing this woman’s power and expertise?

Also recognising our role doesn’t have be ‘doing’ and that ‘being’ can be just be as supportive and caring. We don’t want the woman to feel she ‘couldn’t do that without us’ because she can.

But remember you are amazing and thank you for being you. Thank you for wanting to support women and yourself in this way.

Love Niamh – The Barefoot Birthkeeper

¤ Going into the birth vortex ¤

One of the most beautiful aspects of my role as a doula is watching these women light up knowing she is supported, loved, and embraced. Knowing she isn’t alone. Knowing that she is worshipped.

Creating a space for mothers to feel their circle holding them in such a vulnerable and transformative period of their life, it doesn’t just make this a career but a blessing.

Going into this, as a doula, every day I learn more about how incredible we are as people, how amazing our bodies are, how much we are worthy of love from ourselves and others.

Being a support person for a soon-to-be mother and her partner has allowed me to learn more about myself and my ability to give and share love with others.

Watching my beautiful friend Rachelli being celebrated by her closest group of women was not only an honour but such a heart-opening celebration. Like a portal was being opened, a portal filled with so much love and tenderness, that will follow her through her pregnancy, birth, and postpartum period.

We all deserve this kind of support, this ceremony of love, celebrating this rite of passage should be a normal part of life.

If this is something you would like to incorporate in your life or if you would like me to help facilitate a mother's blessing for you, my inbox is always open..

Huge thanks and love for my doula sister .magic.doula for helping to co-facilitate this space with me. Thank you for being such a pure-hearted, loving, and special woman. I am grateful to have you by my side.

All the love,
Niamh- The Barefoot Birthkeeper

🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

🌟They told you about the contractions, but did they tell you about the expansion? Did they tell you how your body would open to make way for the whole universe to pass through? Did they tell you how your heart would explode with a love bigger than anything you’ve ever known as you pulled your baby to your chest?

🌟They told you about the ring of fire but did they tell you about the crown of stars? Did they mention that there’s a moment when your baby enters the world and you leave your body and touch the heavens and become the light of a million galaxies? Did they tell you how the pain of stretching to receive your child would be more exquisite than any sensation you've felt?

🌟They told you would scream but did they tell you about how would you roar? Did they tell you about the power that would rise up from your belly as you called your baby forth with your mighty voice? Did they tell you how you would embody the wild woman within you as breathe fire with your song?

🌟They told you would bleed, but did they tell you how that sacred blood wouldn't scare you? How you would feel grateful for that magical liquid of life as it trickled down your leg - how you would honour its flow and how it would help you heal a lifetime of hating your body's bleeding cycle.

🌟They told these stories and taught you to fear birth, to fear your power, to fear yourself. But you are stronger and wiser than that mama. You know that birth is your divine dance, your soul's song, your moment with God, and you walk fearlessly into her open arms.

Beautiful words and art by: Catie from Spirit Y Sol

VAGINAL STEAMING? WHUUT is THIS...

well read more here... https://www.thebarefootbirthkeeper.com.au/post/vaginal-steaming-whuut-is-this

The importance of a birth map.

On Friday I had the privilege of getting to hear from the wisdom keeper, Catherine Bell, from Bella Birth. Her workshop was pure magic- she lightened the space with her myriad of knowledge, humour, creativity, positivity, and birth activism. She is a total powerhouse of a woman. This workshop left me feeling so excited about my journey ahead and what I am capable of offering for my birth clients.

So, what did I learn?
- There is NO ONE WAY,
- A birth plan is about balancing the power,
- Creating our expectations to align with our reality,
- Consent is a DECISION point,
- A Birth Map benefits the mother, the partner, and the care provider,
- Only 2% of women have a completely physiological birth,
- So much more magical information that I can further support women through their journey into motherhood.

All the love,
Niamh – The Barefoot Birthkeeper.

A doula SUPPORTS birth
A midwife can SUPPORT and ASSIST birth
An Obstetrician ASSISTS birth

It is so important to choose a birth team that will match your birth needs.

All credit for this information comes from the beautiful Catherine Bell. An absolute must for Doulas, soon to be mothers, anyone birthing at home, the hospital or anywhere in-between, Midwifes and anyone interested in Birth, is her book The Birth Map.

Woop, woop! New website up and running 🥰 https://www.thebarefootbirthkeeper.com.au

Doula | The Barefoot Birthkeeper | Perth I am a Perth-based Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum Doula. Revolutionizing This Sacred Space Of Birth So Your Experience Can Be Limitless. I am Niamh Garland- The Barefoot Birthkeeper.

Birth should be a celebration of you.

This rite of passage should be a period of deep contemplation, inner work, and self love.

This in its own right is the Holy Trinity - Mother/ Partner/ Baby.

My role is to love, advocate, and support you on your journey.

If you want to chat further and discuss how I can further support you on your transition from maiden to mother or rebirth as mother, I am always available.

The ART of holding space

We care. We see. We hear. We honour. We celebrate.

I was honoured to support a beautiful woman through her rebirth as a mother. We held space to allow her to feel the support, the love and the admiration of her community, and of the women in her life.

She was the dream client. Someone so receptive and open to being held, to being given the opportunity to feel the sacred journey of birth. Opening herself to feel nourished and truly honoured throughout.

Her journey wasn’t just about receiving but she wanted to give back to her community. She wanted them to feel admired and loved, like she admired and loved them. She wanted the space to be a connection for them all, for them all to journey deeper within and realise we are never truly alone.

Coming together in circle for a mothers blessing is when we can witness change being birthed, relationships being strengthened and the visibility of LOVE.

I feel so privileged to hold space for women to journey further into themselves, their birth stories and feel the cosmic shift of our rite of passage.

I had the equally loving and supportive journey of working with the doula Anna from Anna C***s Someone whom I adore and love.

This journey has led me to realise the importance of celebrating the birthing goddess.

I cannot wait to venture further into this realm and support women in creating that deeper connection to the heavenly cycle.

¤ Heal birth, We heal the Earth ¤

I am so excited to say that I have completed all of my Doula training, although this is just the beginning and the learning never ends.

The fact I have found not only a career to honour and celebrate birth but something I get excited by daily (ahhhh internally screaming in excitement).

Forever finding new and more beautiful aspects of this journey is something I will never take for granted.

In this generation we are forgetting to celebrate and honour the birthing goddesses around us. Forgetting that through the mother all life is sustained and that by caring for her, the baby’s and children’s health is cared for simultaneous.

My journey as a a Birthkeeper, a Doula, a support person, an advocate, and a space holder is to bring back that honouring and wisdom we have lost.

I AM SO EXCITED! I JUST CAN'T HIDE IT!