with woman - home birth

evaluations of the farm trip

the comments below are a sample of those received by women who have been on this trip. Some of these women have also offered to share their experience with other midwives or students who are thinking of coming. If you would like to chat to someone who has been on this trip, either to find out more about the reality of the experience, or see if the trip is for you, we can put you in touch with one of these women - please email and tell us a little about yourself and we will link you up with someone.
"I came to make real a dream... Spiritual Midwifery was a very significant book to me, and it's been great to know that The Farm, the philosophy and the love is still here." Midwife		"I feel I've got enough armour to change the way I practice. I've met some lovely people and we've had a great laugh!" Midwife
"It's made me realise how much I've missed midwifery." Midwife - now planning to return to practice. "It's been very healing." Student Midwife "I wanted to be inspired - and I have been." Student Midwife		"I feel I've learned alot about myself - my faith in normal midwifery has been restored - now I feel stronger than ever, and it's restored my faith in my own body as a woman." Student Midwife "I haven't laughed so much for years!" Midwife
2006 Evaluations
Which sessions or part(s) of the workshop did you enjoy the most, and what made it good for you? Sitting listening to Ina May and doing crafts at the same time. Loved the casting. Beautiful, team work and chatting! Amish trip. Loved listening and doing craft. Dinner - great Farm family time. Sitting in sunshine sewing and listening to Ina May, Pamela, everyone, visiting Anna (an Amish midwife), well in fact all of it. Listening to Ina May speak - she is an inspiration with a wicked sense of humour! Visits to the hospital, Birth Centre, Amish. Loved belly casting. Belly casting was great something I will try soon I think. It was all fantastic!		What attracted you to this workshop? Always wanted to come to the Farm and capture the magic. Name one practical thing you will take away from the workshop? Awareness of enabling the mother to 'open up' to birth the baby. Importance of trust, laughter to aid birth and opening. Making women laugh more to stretch the perineum. Putting more emphasis on avoiding tears. Reinforced my belief in watching and trusting a woman to birth her baby. More humour during birth! Breech manoeuvre. Understanding where people are coming from. Thinking out of the box. Being a brave bold woman! How to believe in women being able to birth their babies "naturally", how to add humour to most situations. How to belly cast, make lavender bags/lotus babies and share life with other great women!

Comments on different accommodation options (Note: we now offer three different kinds of accommodation; a communal cabin which is free for the first 8 people who want it, a shared 4-person cabin with its own loo and shower, and individual homestay accommodation. Both of the latter two carry a small additional cost but, as you will see from the comments, they work well for people who want a bit more comfort or space!) Loved the communal cabin, even though the jet lag meant we had more trips out to the loo at night! Having the smaller separate cabin worked very well for us - we have been comfortable, slept well, enjoyed having the bathroom between the 4 of us - to ease use of the clinic shower and toilet. We improvised a door with a sheet between the bed room and the bathroom which might make a problem if a group didn't know each other. For me the homestay worked. I think that some others may have used this option, cost aside, if they'd fully appreciated the intensity of being with the group day and night.		Would you recommend this workshop to others? Of course - it should be mandatory! Definitely. I think all midwives should come here. Definitely. Will be encouraging other students and midwives to attend. Oh yes. I have so much stuff in my head now. It has really been worthwhile for me - others need to experience it. It was an amazing trip!!!

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