Review: AMANI Birth Curriculum – Birth in an Islamic Context

by Jessi Vining “AMANI Birth is a philosophy of natural birth and a program to educate people about assisting expectant mothers who wish to birth naturally. When we refer to AMANI in Arabic we say, ‘AMANI lil Welada Tabiaya, which means ‘wishes for natural birth.’ When we speak of natural birth, we mean a birth in which the mother is prepared, educated, supported and encouraged to birth without the interference of medicines, medical procedures, or any other unnatural influences. AMANI birth honors the birth experience itself as a natural, sacred act of worship and a display of trust in our Creator, Allah (SWT).” Aisha Al Hajjar, AMANI Birth I first learned about the AMANI Birth (Assisting Mothers for Active, Natural, Instinctive Birth) as I was preparing to attend an international natural childbirth conference in Alexandria, Egypt. Aisha Al Hajjar, the founder of AMANI Birth, was one of the featured speakers and encouraged me to attend their doula and childbirth educator training while I was in town, and I am so glad that I did! AMANI Birth truly has a unique and persuasive birth philosophy, and I walked out of the workshop feeling refreshed in my passion and commitment to helping families navigate their birth experiences from a physiologic perspective. In addition, because I am a birth worker who is not a Muslim, I found the curriculum to be an essential component in building cultural humility and Islamic faith literacy so that I could better understand and support clients who identify as Muslim. Both Aisha’s book and curriculum are organized according to the pneumonic AMANI, with sections addressing 1. Assisting, 2. Mothers, 3. Active, 4. Natural, and 5. Instinctive. Breaking down childbirth information in this way allows for birth workers and parents alike to look at birth from many different perspectives while building a cohesive understanding of the process of supporting physiologic labor, birth and infant feeding. Assisting This portion of the materials focuses on the support people (including partners, friends, family, doulas, and medical professionals) and best practices for supporting people in a natural birth experience. It reviews our collective global history moving away from the normal birth process and toward high intervention approaches to birth. One goal of AMANI Birth is to use evidence-based information to help the community around pregnant people understand how to provide support that doesn’t undermine natural processes, and that helps people find confidence and reassurance in the innate design of their bodies. Mothers Specifically designed to put mothers front and…

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These Are My Hours: A Documentary About Birth

by Carrie Felter These are my hours, let them be hard. This is the sentiment of an immersive documentary about birth that gives the power of the process back to the birth giver. It is an emboldening display of one person’s birth journey and how it fits into the larger conversation about this universal experience.  Birth workers Carey Glenn (CPM, LM) and Emily Graham of Rooted Birth Midwifery created a film which documents the birth of Graham’s fourth child. Fulfilling the roles of both birth giver and birth worker, the two highlight the sacredness of the act and set the focus of the film on the person giving birth rather than the provider. For most of the film Graham is the only one who appears on screen while only glimpses of her support system are seen, putting her at the center of the experience.  The pair acknowledges that not everyone can choose or predict where they give birth which is why Graham recognizes “the intent of the film isn’t a how to, it’s not a statement to anybody else about what they should do or how they should birth…it’s a very personal experience”. The emphasis of the film is an examination of the autonomy and community of the occasion rather than definitive advocacy for home births.  This film places the ownership of the birth on the family. The role of the birth worker is to have the privilege to “get to know a family so well that you’re able to provide the care that they want” says Graham. This is what existed within the film which is why Graham was able to have the birth she wanted. Not all relationships between parents and birth workers are perfect matches. For birth workers, Graham advises “be true to yourself. If it’s not comfortable then you can remove yourself as the provider. You don’t have to do something you’re not comfortable with but it’s also not appropriate to force someone to accept care that’s inappropriate for them”. Throughout the film Glenn uses her role as midwife to be present in the background but does not take control of the birth. She is there if she is needed but does not interject herself into the process when she is not wanted.  Birth work is exhaustive, especially when the caregiver is forming personal and in-depth relationships with each of their clients.  Having a high trust…

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