A Day with Ina May -- Part One

Yesterday was Heart and Hands Doula Service's 9th annual Family Centered Maternity Care Conference and as I *may* have mentioned, the only speaker was none other than Ina May Gaskin. What an AMAZING and tiring day!
At left, Jan Mallak introduces Ina May.


The beginning of the day focused on using manual skills instead of relying on medical interventions and tests (for instance, it has been proposed that ob residents no longer need to be able to palpate the abdomen to determine fetal position); Sphincter Law (my favorite part was the idea that the vagina was erectile tissue much like the penis, and that instead of "stretching" it just plain gets bigger); and the Forgotten Powers of the Vagina. The second two topics blended together flawlessly.

Lunch was pretty bad but it was nice not to have to wonder if the food was actually vegetarian -- it was!!! Of course no one came for the food but rather for the legendary speaker and the company of fellow birth professionals.

The conference room at PPG Chemical Center

The Heart and Hands Display

Heather Mallak, baby Zeev, and Ina May

And I'm going to stop here, publish, and then write part 2 later -- it's taken me about 9 hours to write this much due to catching up at home!