Читать книгу The Gentle Birth Method: The Month-by-Month Jeyarani Way Programme - Karen MacLeod Swan - Страница 3

It is a great pleasure to write the foreword for Gowri Motha’s book on Gentle Birth. As a fellow obstetrician with a similar passion for natural, active and water births, I believe that Gowri’s philosophy, approach and incredible enthusiasm are an inspiration and great help for women. I can vouch through experience that women who have met and worked with Gowri and her team are far more likely to have a gentle, natural birth.

Gowri is a fully trained obstetrician and gynaecologist. Gowri was born in Sri Lanka and completed her training in India, so the principles and practices of Ayurveda are second nature to her. In her birth preparation work she teams up with a group of like-minded women. Gowri is, above all, a team player, with each pregnant woman and her baby taking centre stage.

Gowri calls her birth preparation ‘Jeyarani’. On a foundation of Ayurveda she combines aspects from a number of disciplines, including nutrition and complementary therapies, such as reflexology, massage, healing, Bowen, Reiki and Cranio-sacral therapy. The accent is on helping women feel profoundly in touch with their bodies and their babies and building their confidence in their natural ability to give birth.

The term ‘midwife’ means, literally, ‘with woman’ and conveys a role of shared wisdom and loving support. Gowri’s team of therapists helps a pregnant mother feel loved, valued, secure and held at a number of levels. Physically, each woman is encouraged to release strain and tension throughout her body, with particular focus on the birthing areas and on the breath. Emotionally, she is welcomed, her feelings are acknowledged and valued, and her confidence is boosted: the Jeyarani technique creates a space that allows each woman to be who she is and access her own very special power to nurture herself and her baby, and prepare for birth. Midwives work from the outside, but the Jeyarani preparation programme encourages the woman’s internal midwife and mothering to blossom.

Visualization plays an important role. Each woman is guided to visualize her power as a woman, the power of her contractions and most importantly the ability of her body to open and give birth. This builds self-confidence and harmonizes body, mind and spirit. The experience of preparation is a source of joy: apprehension and fear diminish and women tend to feel wholly in touch with themselves. Women are also encouraged to eat well, exercise and stretch with Yoga. Gowri also teaches gentle self-massage of the vagina and perineum, which brings women in touch with this important birth area and prepares it for opening and stretching at birth, acting as a type of biofeedback to release tension.

The Jeyarani programme does not focus exclusively on pregnancy and birth: Gowri also encourages women to consider their transition to motherhood and look ahead to bonding with their babies, and adjusting to the birth of a new family.

The stories in this book speak for themselves and are a testament to the Jeyarani Birth Preparation method, but above all to Gowri and her team, who encourage pregnant women to tune into, believe and exercise their power. Working with Gowri does not automatically guarantee a natural birth, as there are many different variables that affect each baby’s unique entry to the world. It does however, make it much more likely. It is a privilege to attend the labours of women who have been assisted by Gowri, and to celebrate the births of their babies who have been welcomed and lovingly nurtured throughout pregnancy.