What visions and words come to mind when you hear the word "birth"?  What was giving birth like for you?  How were you born? Often our perceptions of birth are founded in our mother’s birth experience. These questions and more were a part of the discussion I shared with several women in Santa Fe, New Mexico, last month as part of the Birth Tour.

My three births were very different from the birth I had visualized and planned.  Living simply in the mountains off the land, I pictured a homebirth with my husband and midwife surrounded by vases of flowers and an alter with my symbolic items.  What I actually experienced was the polar opposite. My oldest daughter was born by emergency cesarean, and though the next two were VBACS (vaginal birth after cesarean), they were both hospital births with emergency complications.

Though I had to give up my idea of the perfect birth, I have come to realize this was also a blessing.  It took me out of my world of alternative living and thrust me into the trust of a mainstream hospital setting.  Here I was able to still use my herbs to expedite my healing and in my third birth herbs prevented a hysterectomy to stop postpartum hemorrhaging.  The doctors were amazed and asked me to share my herbal knowledge with them. (see article "Herbal Allies")

This blending of herbal knowledge and the medical profession is now reflected in Motherlove. From its beginnings in the kitchen of my mountain home, healthcare professional are our biggest advocates and hospitals now support and carry our products.

Thank you!

Kathryn Higgins