The first time I witnessed a birth, was when I was a child and one of our cats choose to give birth on my bed. I was amazed by what I saw . It really stuck with me, how the mama cat moved as she birthed her kittens. Her body moving insync with each wave of contractions and then resting in between.
One of the amazing cats that have come into my life, this beauty I rescued whilst I was living in Australia
Animals have no problem surrendering to the birthing process and letting their bodies take over. Us humans have a thing or two to learn from our animal friends when it comes to trusting our bodies and understanding their potential.
When I think of miracles, birth always is one of the first things that spring to my mind. Birth and our ability as humans to reproduce. Yes it is a natural part of life, but it is also one of the most wondrous parts of life. My fascination with birth, led onto a fascination with our bodies ability to heal Themselves. Our responsibility is to provide the right environment so that they can self heal.
This week, the EcoTrain community asked - "Have you ever witnessed a miracle". I believe miracles are a part of everyday life, we have just forgotten how to see them! Today I would like to share one very special miracle and it is one that involves cats.
I always seem to have cats in my life, no matter where I go, they seem to find me. A few years ago, one of my feline friends whom is still in my life, was giving birth and she had chosen to do so in our truck, which meant that I could keep an eye on her. I knew where she was, but wanted to give her space so that she could birth in peace. After a few hours. I Went to check on her and discovered that she had birthed 6 kittens in total.
On closer inspection, I realized that one of them was not moving or making any sound. I moved closer to see if their chest was moving, but there really was no sign of life. The mama cat was busy cleaning some of the other kittens, they were all still attached to their placenta’s . Then she went over to the one who I suspected was stillborn and she began to lick her and then the placenta. I assumed she was going to eat it, as that is natural. But she kept licking it.
And then, then the kitten began to meow and move. I was shocked, that kitten appeared to be very much dead to me, but here it was now squirming and calling out to its mama. I was in tears at this miraculous event. And how ingenious the mama cat was, knowing exactly what to do, to bring her baby back to life!.
A couple of years later, I trained to become a doula and bought a wonderful book called Placenta the forgotten Chakra, by a wonderful birth keeper called Robin Lim. This was the first instruction into her work and I spend some time listening to interviews with her. In one of them, she talks about traditional birth keepers in India are known to be able to revive stillborn babies, by keeping the baby attached to the placenta once they are born, then placing the placenta in a bowl of warm water and massaging it, whilst resuscitating the baby.
I have included the following video, where she talks about the importance of delaying cord cutting and these amazing birth keepers. The placenta provides blood which is what is oxygenating the body, enabling the baby to breathe when they are inside the mother and also when they are first born, their lungs are not activated as they have not taken their first breath.
I was mind blown once again by the amazing abilities of our bodies, to heal us and even to help bring us back from the dead!
