PUSH by Shoshana

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PUSH by Shoshana

As a Doula, I support women and couples through pregnancy and birth. I aim to be a calming voice and presence to create a positive birth experience. Nonsense!

What is a Doula? A Doula is a person that supports women and couples through pregnancy and birth. At a time when midwives are often stretched running between various women giving birth, a Doula is a calming constant presence from beginning to end. She becomes the labouring woman's advocate and voice, and protects her from all surrounding noise and chaos at a time when she needs to focus most in a

place of quiet and calm. A Doula also helps women believe that their bodies were designed for this task and they should therefore embrace birth rather than fear it. The more they relax into it, the more naturally the body will open up. What's critical is to help women/couples achieve the birth they want. Too many women still have the preconceived idea that if they don't have the perfect textbook natural birth, they have already failed as women and mothers. Our role is to support the mum's choice and help her to achieve a positive birthing experience so she looks back with pride and not horror! If it's an epidural she wants, that is her absolute prerogative to do so. A Doula is NOT a medical professional. I work in partnership with midwives and doctors and respect their medical knowledge and professionalism. A Doula is unable to perform examinations or any other clinical task. I help communicate with the medical staff to ensure my clients have all the information they need to make informed decisions throughout their labour.

30/12/2024

Vignoli - “The Birth Photograph” - this image screams out ‘Dilation’ to me - which is a central component during every birth. A woman’s cervix has to dilate to 10cm to allow space for the baby to be born. Waiting for that dilation can be a slow or fast process, depending on so many factors. Is it a primip (first birth) or multip - is the baby in the right position to put pressure on the cervix to dilate…. white

17/12/2024

Adhikary - “Pregnancy” - the simple pull and push of life as a mum with a toddler whilst being pregnant - meeting the physical and emotional demands of your kid whilst trying to nurture yourself and deal with the fatigue and weight of your growing belly! Motherhood is wonderful, exhausting, exhilirating, draining, meaningful and challenging all at the same time 💛

09/12/2024

Sassoon - “Umbilical Cord” - I’ve always had a fascination with these wondrous things! The rubbery grey cord that literally sustains the life of a fetus whilst attached to the equally wondrous placenta. It allows oxygen and nutrients from the mother’s blood to flow through the placenta into the fetus to allow it to nourish itself and grow into a full size baby. After the birth, you can literally see the cord pulsating whilst the oxygen is still flowing through it. Delayed cord clamping is highly practiced today and super beneficial to stabilize the baby’s blood pressure. If the cord is clamped immediately, there is a sudden drop in blood pressure due to the movement of blood into the lungs when the baby takes their first breaths. DCC allows extra blood from the placenta to replace the blood, keeping the blood pressure more stable. Pretty incredible!

04/12/2024

Wong - “Cravings” - this made me smile! How true that we all get weird and wonderful cravings whilst pregnant - and excuse our insatiable appetite for food as we’re ’eating for two’! Not always the healthiest approach but some women find it a great excuse to hide behind. Whether it’s pizza, ice cream, pickles, chips, chocolate or anything else weird and wonderful - enjoy it whilst it lasts! cream

03/12/2024

Asmaa Alanbari Rammal - “The Tree” - I have a genuine passion for trees (hug the occasional one) - and love how the artist has painted this beautiful one with a pregnant belly. Trees represent life - nature - nurture - continuity - generations - roots - oxygen - arms - love and comfort. They can’t be knocked down easily and are seasonally challenged by the elements. But they reinvent themselves, their colours change and the leaves always return. Magnificent!

29/11/2024

Belaubre- “Maternity” - the artist has created many drawings and paintings associated with birth and motherhood. He is deeply interested in the emotions and anxieties, as well as the pleasures, the sense of finiteness - as well as the enjoyment of moments of eternity when the stream of life flows smoothly, constantly renewing into one.

26/11/2024

Pooley - this gorgeous bronze sculpture is another wonderful representation of the British artist’s obsession with the female form - and part of her amazing collection of ‘mother and child’ sculptures of which I’ve always been a huge fan. They all represent both the physical and emotional connection of love, protection, bond, warmth and nurturing of a mother to her child/ren

20/11/2024

Khabelashvili - “Grounding” - this super powerful image represents so much to me - the power of (one) man creating and implementing roots, foundations, inter-generational threads that can be both physical and emotional. The impact that a person can have on the world, on the future and past. The eternal imprint of what he leaves in the world - joy, trauma, love, pain, family, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren - everlasting memories - links in the chain of life

10/11/2024

Gnonlonfoun - I meet some great mums through my work - and I also some great dads too! Amazing guys who are just as genuine, emotional, anxious, loving and supportive as their partners. It’s not always easy for them - watching their partner in pain during the birth - not knowing how to feel/where to be/what to say/what to do….and they need attention, recognition and love too. Kudos to all the great dads out there!

31/10/2024

Eyzaguirre - “Tear” - the Chilean artist mainly makes compositions that she creates by cutting, tearing or removing layers of paper. This image provokes another image of “tear” - a woman’s perineum in childbirth - a sacred, raw and highly sensitive part of a woman’s anatomy that is so feared for with an overwhelming need of protection. Every woman I meet stresses the utmost importance of ‘protecting her perineum’ and the absolute risk and dread of it tearing. This can be caused by a multitude of factors - and often even with the best effort and intentions, it cannot be spared

13/08/2024

Kapnissi - “Birth Story” - The minute I saw this painting - it reminded me of the now iconic photo of a desperate and anguished mother being abducted with her 2 red haired babies in her arms - the horrific story of (Shiri) KFIR + ARIEL BIBAS - 2 baby boys captured as hostages 10 months ago. Helpless, limp and lame, their lives hanging by a thread. Hostages?? How can it be that babies and toddlers are taken as hostages? A baby who has been a hostage longer than he has been alive? A toddler who should be running freely in open grass fields and playgrounds?

11/08/2024

Forcisi- “Motherhood” My regular focus is the other end of motherhood - those precious moments whilst pregnant or during birth when those sparks fly - and those immense emotions of love, awe, protection, nurture and nature take over with mind blowing proportions. When I saw this image - I was so moved and actually blown away by the tenderness and emotion in this photograph - the REVERSE - the child caressing the mother’s face - the visceral emotion of clinging on to an elderly parent - being so aware of the vulnerability and delicacy of those precious moments - the responsibility, worry, and deep commitment of care

08/08/2024

Tsupka - “X-Ray” I love this take on a pregnant woman - literal - raw - honest - comical - refreshing!

30/07/2024

Evdokimova - “Alter Ego” (Pregnant) - “In the flesh she is a million miles from her photographic alter ego” Is a baby a mother’s clone or a different version of herself? An intimate trusted friend? A hypothetical twin? What is the life forming behind the cracks - the reality behind the facade - nature vs nurture?

24/07/2024

Eru - A Brazilian digital collage artist who has become very successful telling life stories of his black community and population through his art. Some with anger and resentment - some with delicacy and joy. “My art bleeds through the brutal reality of the black” One of my best friends is from South Africa and still talks today as an adult about her ‘Maids’ who lived in her home for years and were an integral part of her family. Their relationships were instrumental in her and her siblings’ upbringing and brought great joy and comfort to their lives. It’s always been a strange cultural concept for me - one I grappled with - but interesting and intriguing nonetheless

19/07/2024

Gero - “Mother with Twins” - As a Doula, I’ve had the great privilege of birthing with 5 sets of twins - and each experience was incredible!! I got chatting today with a mum with identical twins - and it reminded me again how miraculous they are! If one baby wasn’t special enough….but two! Pretty hard work though - you need lots of extra pairs of hands - and a cool temperament to handle the double load. Kudos to the mums who are able to breastfeed their twins - and for navigating those double buggies through supermarket aisles and shop doors. My mum I met today was juggling her buggy, a shopping basket, a dog on a lead, and a phone in her ear - supreme mum jugglers par excellence!

04/07/2024

@ Marija Colic - “Sarah in Labour - My legs are already Dead” - I love this painting - it signifies so simply but effectively what happens to women during their labour when they have an epidural. Their legs literally go numb and they can’t move them. They become dead weight and heavy and are covered half way in compression socks to help avoid the risk of blood clots. Don’t get me wrong - epidurals are a master miracle drug and anyone who needs or wants one should have one. The relief it gives is actually breathtaking. When it works. It gives respite and sleep - and can even enhance someone’s birth experience which is so important! But what it doesn’t do is give women a chance to stand on their own two feet and use their legs to bounce on a ball, walk around, walk in and out of a shower or birthing pool - and use the natural flow and force of gravity which is so incredibly important during birth. We all have different pain thresholds and capabilities and as a Birth Doula, my most important job is to respect those choices and create as positive a birth experience for each client as possible 🤍

28/06/2024

***n Nowbahari - “Unborn” - and pulled in so many directions. So many facets of pregnancy and impending motherhood - so many body parts that change/grow/stretch/loosen/tighten/swell/tear……so many emotions that surface from different places - past, present and future. The Me Before and The Me After - the physical and mental load - and of course the physical load….

Address

London

Website

http://www.ukdoula.com/

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