Volume 6

~ News From "Your Birthing Family" ~

Issue 2

   

In This Issue

About Birth
     Induced Labors Twice As Likely To End In C-Section

Our Charis Family
     Ellen Smith

Charis Cuisine
     Pico de Gallo
Charis Around the World
     Tidbits From Ebony
     Childbirth in Kenya

To enjoy past newsletters, visit the archives:
Newsletter Archives  


Mark Your Calendars

Childbirth Education Series

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Presented by:  Birth InSight
Christi Jones (CCE, CD) and Aimee Roberts (CCE, CD)
 
six week class
Wednesday evenings from 7-9pm
March 9th- April 13th
 
Weekend Intensive
Fri. evening from 6:30pm-9:30pm and Sat 9am-3:30pm (lunch included)
 
Spring: April 29th & 30th

Cost $200.00

For more information and to register visit our website:
http://www.birthinsightva.com
or call 757-270-0437


A Rally to Celebrate International Midwives Day
Thursday, May 5 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm

Midwives Walking for the Women of the World!

With under one year to go until the 29th International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) Congress, many hundreds of midwives have already registered for the South Africa ICM Congress in June next year and today the ICM President, Bridget Lynch, invites midwives of the world to start making plans to "Walk the Road to Durban".

This is the first time in our history that the ICM Congress I...s being held in sub-Saharan Africa. This is a particularly significant opportunity for the ICM to bring visibility to midwives. The Congress will be taking place in an area of the world with the highest rates of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. With only 5 years left to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and improve maternal and newborn health globally, now is the time to highlight the central role of midwives in achieving these goals!

International Day of the Midwife 5 May, 2011: 5 Kilometres Walk on The Road to Durban

The Road to Durban starts at each midwife's front door. On the road are the women in our communities and countries as well as the women of Africa. In preparation for our Congress, and in celebration of the role of midwives, the ICM is calling on our 99 Member Associations, in 88 countries, representing more than 250,000 midwives, to organize 5 kilometre walks in cities and towns across all our countries on the International Day of the Midwife, 5 May 2011. These walks will merge as a global event where midwives around the world will be advocating to improve maternal and newborn health in our communities and countries, as well as for women in countries far away. Together we will be walking 1000s of kilometres, circling the globe, as we proclaim our commitment
To improving maternal and newborn care for all women and their newborns, wherever they live.

ICM Congress 18 June, 2011: 5 Kilometres March into Durban

Six weeks later, when the midwives of the world gather in Durban, South Africa, for the ICM Congress, we will complete our walk with a 5 kilometre March into the city in celebration of our commitment to improving maternal and newborn health globally. The walk will take place on June 18, the day before the opening of the ICM Congress. Most importantly, as we walk with our families and supporters into Durban, the midwives of the world will be walking in solidarity with the midwives of Africa, and highlighting the need to strengthen midwifery across the African continent.

Success of this Global Event will come from each Member Association's Commitment

The WHO, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank have declared the world needs more midwives. Now is the time for the midwives of the world to demonstrate our commitment to the women of the world!

Please note: There will be a Road to Durban link on the
ICM Congress Website:

Florida contact: Jennie Joseph
Commonsense Childbirth School of Midwifery
email only please ccsmidwifery@gmail.com


Charis "Teaching Birth" Workshop
Saturday, March 5, 2011
9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
at Birthways Family Birth Center in Sarasota, Florida

For childbirth educators, doulas, midwives, or anyone who would like to improve their ability to communicate with and educate expectant families.

At our workshops, learning is interactive, hands-on, fun, and interesting. All Charis workshops are taught from a Christian perspective, giving God the glory for His marvelous creation and how He so wonderfully created women to bear children.

You will spend the day making new friends and becoming more skilled in preparing effective introductions, asking powerful questions, creating a learner-friendly environment, capturing the attention of learners, helping clients embrace their responsibility of making informed decisions, and so much more.

In addition to the valuable skills acquired at the workshop, you will also take home with you an assortment of visual aids and other valuable teaching tools to enhance your future students’ learning experience.

A delicious lunch will be provided for all the workshop attendees to enjoy as you get to know each other better during a midday break.

The cost is $200 for Charis members and $230 for non-members (includes one-year Charis membership).


Registration for the 2011 Teaching Birth Workshop is now closed.
A great time will be had by all!


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Post your  Charis  workshops and gatherings, enjoy and reflect your own views in our various columns,   announce  births, share your thoughts  and  comments   in   our  "Letters  To  The  Editor" section and submit  questions you  would  like  answers to.  Editorials are areas where many points of view are invited for reflection! 

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Our Director's Heart

"There is power that comes to women when they give birth.  They don't ask for it, it simply invades them.  Accumulates like clouds on the horizon and passes through, carrying the child with it."  Sheryl Feldman

Dear Charis Family,

During every labor and birth I attend, I either learn something new or I get a powerful reminder of something I already know to be true.  A birth I attended recently reminded me of a quote by Laura Stavoe Harm that I love:  “We have a secret in our culture, and it's not that birth is painful.  It's that women are strong.”

After over 30 hours of very hard labor, the mom I helped last week successfully gave birth vaginally to a persistent posterior, asynclitic baby.  It was hard.  VERY hard.  Sixteen hours before she delivered, she was in transition and felt like she couldn’t do it anymore.  We encouraged her. We believed in her.  She kept on going even though she felt she had no strength left.  And she found strength—just enough to get her through the next contraction.  And then she found more strength. In the end, that normal, average woman discovered that she is much stronger than she ever imagined.

Thankfully, labor is not THAT hard for most women; but it sure is nice to know that labor is never stronger than we are and that God gives women exactly what they need to accomplish what He calls them to do.

Blessings,
Kristin Schuchmann
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth, Inc.

 


Contact Us

Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290
www.charischildbirth.org


 Kristin Schuchmann ~ Executive  Director
Cell (941)441-6410

http://happyhealthyliving.wordpress.com/

Susan Oshel ~ Director of Midwifery Studies

 


Update

Charis Membership

We at Charis are extremely grateful for our wonderful members. This past year, your dues have made it financially possible for us to creatively correspond with people in areas of the world where internet is spotty at best. Having all forms of communication available for us is essential if we are going to successfully train birth professionals in the far reaches of the earth. As our community of members grows, there will be more funds available for even more world-impacting outreach. Thank you!

Several people have contacted us recently asking about when their membership dues should be paid. Membership is due every December 31 for the coming calendar year. So, if you became a member on or before December 31, 2009, your dues should be mailed by the middle of December, 2010, to be sure it is received in time. If you became a member sometime in 2010, then your membership is not due until December 31, 2011.

You can send your membership form and $30 dues to:
Charis Childbirth
P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290

Our address

Charis Childbirth, Inc.

P.O. Box 6900
North Port, FL 34290

It's been over a year since Charis headquarters moved to Florida.  If you use our old Virginia Beach address, your mail will not reach us as the post office is no longer forwarding mail.  Be sure to mail your yearly membership fees to the Florida address!

Look us up


Attention Aspiring Midwives!

You will love the flexible, thorough, distance academics course offered through Charis Childbirth! Check it out!

Want to serve childbearing families as a Certified Doula or Childbirth Educator?

Become trained and certified through Charis Childbirth!
Take a look at our unique certification process!

If you seek a school that offers the convenience of self-paced distance learning, personal mentors for each student, a commitment to the highest excellence in education, a family-like network of students and birth professionals, and education from a Christian perspective, Charis may be just the right fit for you!

For more information
Visit the
Charis Web site
for course description and outline.


  • Grants and other funding for the expansion of the Charis ministry
     
  • For the Charis Childbirth Educator, Doula, and Midwifery students: sharp minds to learn, opportunities for lots of hands-on learning
     
  • For the Charis CE’s, doulas, and midwives: rest, peace, protection, wisdom, discernment
     
  • For the Charis missionaries and humanitarian workers: protection, peace, divine guidance, financial provision
     
  • For  our  directors  and  administration:   Wisdom, guidance, energy, and provision from God as Charis enters this season of growth



 

The information in this newsletter is for educational purposes only and is not intended to take the place of medical care and advice from your health care provider.

 'Behold, I will bring them from the north country, And gather them from the ends of the earth,
 Among  them the blind and the lame, The woman with child and The one who labors with child,  together,
 A great throng shall return there...And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD.'
 Jeremiah 31:8, 14
~~~
©2011 Charis Childbirth Services, All Rights Reserved
Feel free to forward this newsletter to friends in its entirety, leaving all attribution intact.
February 2011