Birthing Better

I am writing about my experience with the pink kit. No other book or class taught me any of the skills I learned in the pink kit package. It's like apples and oranges. It's not that other books aren't good. Many are great and informative. The class I went to was applicable and helped me decide what I wanted. Only in the pink kit package did I gain the skills. As a single, profoundly deaf mum I needed to know how to birth my son. The skills focused on knowing my body, my pelvic shape and birthing muscles. I learned how to position myself effectively for my son's journey through me, how to effectively to use my breathing to open my pelvis and then relax inside ... all to allow easier birthing. This was absolutely invaluable. Curiously when I mapped my pelvis I thought I had an unusual shape with a narrow pubic arch, sit bones very close together and a broad sacrum. I asked my birth professional about that and they poo-poohed me. They said I had lots of space inside. I labored for hours and hours with a failure to progress and ended up with a cesarean delivery. The obstetrician who examined me told me my sit bones were very close together, my pubic arch was narrow and my sacrum was preventing my son from coming through my pelvis! Although I was disappointed with having a surgical birth I felt totally vindicated. I actually knew I would have trouble particularly with a very, very big baby. Throughout the labor I used my skills and never felt I lost it. Labour just didn't progress and eventually I realized my knowledge was accurate. Do I blame my birth provider? No. I just know I knew my body better than they did. I continued to use the skills while being prepped and during surgery and afterward during recovery and early breastfeeding. I absolutely know these skills gave me a way to stay calm and connected throughout my son's birth. This has also helped hugely in parenting. Do I recommend the pink kit? I think it should be required!

We were introduced to the pink kit when we were around 6 months pregnant with our first child. During the next months, the books were read, the video watched the tapes listened to. Directed breathing was practiced and the internal work begun. It opened a vast new world for me, on of getting to know my own body in a whole different level. We did the internal work both morning and evening of most days and the positive results were evident within about a week; my entire vaginal area was much softer and stretchier. It felt exciting for us to be actively doing something together towards preparing my body for easy childbirth. The books were easy to read and understand and had been clearly put together, obviously with a lot of thought, consideration and knowledge. Likewise the video was informative and at the same time having a friendly relaxed atmosphere to it. For me, active labour was a mere hour and a half of regular contractions (up until this time I'd been experience labour pains on and off for the past few hours but was unsure if it was the real thing yet or not. Were they just Braxton Hicks contractions? It was three weeks before the due date!). During this time I found it an incredible benefit to know how to direct my breathing to my belly. And how to use it to calm myself when it got intense (contraction upon contraction with hardly a break and an incredible urge to PUSH!) and keep the energy focused. I feel the Breath was my main tool during birthing ... and to utter low noises on every out breath, as on the audiotape. This felt like it was keeping me grounded. During the entire decent and crowning of our son being born, I experienced absolutely no tear and very little pain and the whole time felt very open and 'wide' in my birth canal and perineum area. For this we are very thankful for the skills of the internal work in particular and having done it for the past months. Now almost four months later our beautiful boy is a very joyful little fellow who's nearly got the hang of crawling around and showing signs of getting teeth. Much love from the three of us.