The Birth Woman

19/05/2022

New course starting again next week. If you're interested contact me for details. There will be a zoom course and a face to face one.
Empower yourself by staying informed!

24/07/2020

THURSDAY, 23 JULY 2020: vulnerable moms and babies feel the love during Mandela Month

There is so much power in collaboration! Never has this been more evident than in this Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown. There’ve been more and more instances where so many different levels of government, organisations, businesses, NGO’s, support agencies, care groups, churches, the public and the media have stepped up in the most remarkable way to offer aid to those in need.

My fellow councillor, Christine May and I were blessed by one such occasion today when we took delivery of a sizeable donation of mom/new born baby starter care packs for our respective areas of service, i.e. Hermanus and Hangklip-Kleinmond. This substantial gift was generously sponsored by The Pear Tree Project which is supported by St Oswald’s Anglican Church in Milnerton.

There to do the handover on behalf of the aforesaid was well-known and much respected Hermanus birthing coach, Debby Engelbrecht from The Birth Woman. For years Debby has also been involved with various mom/baby care initiatives in the Overstrand that has involved assisting in the birthing process, promoting and implementing breast feeding programs, info sharing sessions for expectant moms and other similar educational drives; to name but a few.

Also in attendance was Hermanus Times Editor, Daleen Fouché, who played a pivotal role in initiating the contact between those concerned. All of which will ultimately ensure much-needed assistance for the most vulnerable moms/new born babies in our poorer communities.

Yours in servitude

Charmaine Resandt (PR Cllr)
Secretary/Communications Officer:
Overstrand Constituency
Cell: 0798855022
Email: cressndt@gmail.com

Pictured (L-R): Overstrand Cllrs Charmaine Resandt and Christine May taking delivery from Hermanus midwife Debby Engelbrecht of a substantial donation of new born baby starter packs. This generous sponsorship was afforded by The Pear Tree Project and supported by St Oswald’s Anglican Church, Milnerton and The Birth Woman.

03/12/2019

And so we did it again!

This afternoon we handed 19 baby bags for prem babies and 50 baby bags for term babies to the Hermanus Provincial Hospital to hand out to mothers in need.
What an honor!
But the biggest thank you is to each person who made a contribution, whether it was a bag, or a vest or a packet of wipes you gave, or a financial contribution, thank you so much.
This I could not have done on my own.

My doulas and friends, Tara McComas and Vania Truter helped me SO much, thank you.

I received contributions from as far as Pretoria, Worcester and Montague, and all over Cape Town.

A real big, heartfelt thank you to each women who was kind enough to support me in this venture.
It will be a continuous project, so if you know of moms with young babies, we need newborn and birth size clothing.

17/11/2019

Ten expectant mothers attended Lesson 1 - 'Anatomy and Physiology' of our Antenatal Course in Kayamandi. Here each one shows off the pelvis, baby and placenta we created during the lesson. Special thanks to Lelethu for arranging everything so nicely.

07/10/2019

Dear Cape Townians

Private midwifery practices are on the brink of losing the much-needed support of ObGyns in the private sector, removing the possibility of a private-hospital midwife-led birth, as well as private-hospital back-up for homebirths.

Midwife-led care is internationally recognised as the safest way to birth for low-risk pregnancies, yet it's about to become unavailable to women in private care. Read that again: The safest model of maternity care may no longer be an option for women in the private health care system in Cape Town.

Following Vincent Pallotti’s withdrawal of obstetric support in 2018 and Dr Woldu’s recent move to Constantiaberg, the situation is now dire. While Dr Woldu is committed to supporting midwives, the management of Constantiaberg Mediclinic requires a back-up ObGyn for Dr Woldu. All avenues have been exhausted and no one has been forthcoming — no one is prepared to be the back-up, for the back-up! 🙄 Dr Hendricks is currently the only ObGyn at Tokai Melomed.

It might be valuable to know that other provinces are not facing this crisis.
Many people have asked how they can help and so we are calling on the women and men of Cape Town to lend their ideas, time, skills, expertise, contacts, stories and passion. We are taking on The System and putting an end to this epidemic — our women, babies and their families deserve better!

We will be gathering to hear from Midwife Glynnis Garrod and to brainstorm a plan of action. Please join us if you would like to be involved in ANY capacity and please help spread the word - media welcome!

Friday · 11 October · 9am
The Backyard Cafe · 4 Sol Cohen Rd · Bergvliet

If you can’t attend and would like to be involved or have anything to share, please email: righttobirthSA@gmail.com

TAKE A STAND TO HELP PROTECT OUR DIMINISHING RIGHT TO CHOOSE HOW AND WITH WHOM WE BIRTH!

01/08/2019

Don't be sad that you don't get the birth you want if you haven't informed yourself about what's truth and what's not. It's up to you - don't fall into the trap and get bullied into an unnecesarean. Know the truth and fight for what you want!
Share this info with your pregnant friends. Sign up to our classes and have the birth you planned!

01/08/2019

01/08/2019

If you think you're going to have a successful vaginal birth and you have not informed yourself, think again! The wool will be pulled over your eyes and you won't even know it! Know the truth and empower yourself!

30/07/2019

Please feel free to share with all your pregnant friends. Don't get bullied into a birth you don't want...know the truth and have the birth you planned.

25/07/2019

Meet the newest inhabitant of Kayamandi. What a special birth it was.

11/07/2018

Don't enter into one of the most important experiences in your life without being properly equipped. We begin a new course on Wednesday 18th July 2018.