Community Support and Prenatal Care

Nurturing the Nurturer

        While the marvels of modern medicine are much appreciated in times of crisis, there are marvels of the past that are being revived such as Midwifery and their supporting doulas.  Hospitals implementing such services in addition to covering patients for this special treatment are in high demand.  Here on the Big Island, the Waimea Woman's Center now only services the North Hawaii District, leaving the rest of the island to support their own demand.

         Many families are asking their hospitals for Collaborative Care with Midwives and for the doctors to seriously consider Evidence Based Maternity Care, and you can too by looking for the petition titled Birthing Rights for Hawaii's Families located in the Resources below.  EBMC is a concept countering todays modern approach to birthing.  It's focus is on evidence rather then modern tradition, so things like Pitocin, a drug commonly administered to pregnant woman to help them birth faster, are seriously questioned.  And rightly so, as the data suggest it may actually cause the need for C-Sections.

        We know that back in the day Hawaiians had Collaborative Evidenced Based Maternity Care.  They all helped each other and they did what they knew worked.  As soon as a Hawaiian couple became hapai, a Kahuna pale keiki, or midwife would tend to the mothers needs (Neiss).  The Kahuna pale keiki was armed with training and often prescribed certain foods and avoided others to prevent birth defects (Hawaiian).  But the Kahua pale kaiki was far from the only person in the community with a duty to perform.  The help of a La’au lapa’au or herbalist was enlisted to help the Kahuna pale keiki gather medicines and treatments for the mother.  The elders had the job of teaching the father obstetrics (Hawaiian).  Friends and relatives were there for kind words and moral support as a doula would help with today.  After the mother gave birth, the specialists and community members alike would continue to support the family as they transitioned and healed into  parenthood.

References

Hawaiian.  Hawaiian Birthing Practices,Ka Hua o ka Pu’ao,The Fruit in the Womb. 10/14/2012.  10/27/2006.  http://www.hawcc.hawaii.edu/nursing/RNHawaiian_06.htm



Niess, Sonya. Traditional Hawaiian Childbirth Practices. 09/19/1212. 06/29/2011. http://thebirthlounge.org/community/?p=98