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Quote by Heng Ou

“Somehow, a pervasive idea has spread in modern times that the mom who is out and about soonest with her baby is somehow the strongest, like an episode of Survivor. For some type-A parents, it's almost a badge of honor to say you made it to yoga after two weeks, snuck off to the office for a meeting, or flew with your infant across time zones. But that's all upside down—in a healthy postpartum period, it's she who stays still that wins the prize.”

Quote by Heng Ou

Book:The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother
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The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother

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Heng Ou

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“At first there was only light and sound. Bright, dazzling yellow that shone through the formless void of darkness and a cacophony of tuneless, unintelligible noise that frightened and confused her. The warmth of the sun was heavy and strong, and it burned. A sudden, brisk breeze cut through it, and her whole little body shivered. She curled into a ball. The noises were deep and resonant. There was thudding on the ground all around her and long, consistent growls from every direction. She opened her eyes and in the blur of yellow she began to see the great, blue sheet above and the endless, dusty ground below. Shadows loomed around her. Gigantic forms that blocked out the light and the heat. They reached out toward her, touched her. Finally, the sensory overload became too much. The bolts of panic shooting through her quivering flesh took hold. She raised her trunk into the air and screamed out…”

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Book:Mighty Mary
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“The English word anxiety comes from a Latin root which means narrowing down, and in the beginning the word was used for the entry of a soul into a womb. So the first anxiety is felt when a soul enters a womb, because everything is narrowed down; an infinite soul becomes a small body. This is the most painful process possible, as if the whole sky has been forced to enter into a seed. You don't know it because it is so painful that you become totally unconscious. There are two painful processes. You may have heard Buddha's saying, "Birth is pain, death is pain." These are the greatest pains, the greatest anguishes possible. When the infinite becomes finite in the womb, it is painful, it is anxiety; and when the infinite is taken out of the body again there is anguish and pain. So whenever someone dies consciously, he disappears. Then there is no more entry into the body. Then there is no more anxiety, because anxiety is the consequence of desire; then you need not be narrowed down because there is no desire to be fulfilled. You can remain infinite; there is no need to enter a vehicle because now you are going nowhere.”

DeathBirthAnxietyWombMokshaNirvana
Book:Bird on a Wing
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“Hvad kan du som fødselshjælper gøre for at hjælpe under fødslen? Uanset om du er den kommende far eller en ekstra fødselshjælper, er der en ting, det er vigtigt at huske under fødslen: vær lydhør over for kvindens behov og brug din intuition! Der er stor forskel på, hvordan kvinder reagerer under en fødsel. Nogle vil have ro og fred, andre vil have fysisk kontakt, hjælp til vejrtrækningen eller opmuntrende ord. Når veerne først begynder at bide rigtigt, er de fleste kvinder så koncentrerede og har så store smerter, at de ikke kan tale og fortælle om, hvad de ønsker. Her må man være god til at lytte til kvindens udtalte eller uudtalte behov. Sidder hun mon godt? Skal hun have en pude? Trænger hun til at skifte stilling? Har hun brug for lidt væske? Er hendes læber tørre, så hun skal bruge en læbepomade? Eller vil hun helst have fred?”

BirthHjemmefødsel
Book:Bogen om hjemmefødsel
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“For mange kommer det at trække vejret ordentligt helt af sig selv, hvis man lytter til kroppen under fødslen. Men hvis man mister koncentrationen, kan det være godt at have indøvet et vejrtrækningsmønster, som man kan fokusere på til veen er ovre eller koncentrationen vender tilbage. Hvis man er meget nervøs for at føde, kan det også være en ide at øve sig på forskellige vejrtrækningsteknikker, så man føler, at man i det mindste har styr på det.”

BirthHjemmefødsel
Book:Bogen om hjemmefødsel
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“Though it is becoming an increasingly popular area of advocacy, the United States continues to top the list of nations that are disconnected from the basic concept of relieving a mother of overwork and giving her dancing hormones the time and space to regulate through rest and proper nutrition. It's a grin-and-bear-it moment (complete with dark circles and wan complexion). And, these days, with more and more women literally and energetically holding the home together as the primary breadwinner, and very often as the emotional center of the home as well, the postpartum period becomes a pressure cooker. The unconscious message beamed from all angles is, "Get back at it. You can't afford to rest." But it seems we can't afford not to. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that when deliberate physical care and support surround a new mother after birth, as well as rituals that acknowledge the magnitude of the event of birth, postpartum anxiety and its more serious expression, postpartum depression, are much less likely to get a foothold. Consider that the key causes of these disturbingly common, yet still highly underreported, syndromes include isolation, extreme fatigue, overwork, shame or trauma about birth and one's body, difficulties and worries about breastfeeding, and nutritional depletion, all of which suggests that when we let go of the old ways, we inadvertently helped create a perfect storm of factors for postpartum depression.”

HealthBirthDepressionAnxietyMothersThrivingPostpartum
Book:The First Forty Days: The Essential Art of Nourishing the New Mother
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