Carnevale!

I only ended up in Italy by accident, falling in love with a man who had spent the happiest time of his life in Rome. So we moved there and made a life in the Italian countryside, raising children, making wine, and living on a shoestring.
I enjoyed life there - it was a fun place to raise kids, and life was always interesting. There were two things, though, that we could never get right. One was the time change - the annual Daylight Saving. Because we lived such a rural and isolated life, without a TV, computer, or much of a connection with the modern world, we never knew when the time was supposed to change, so we would consistently miss the first few appointments after the time change, or get there too early.
The other thing we could never get right was Carnevale. In our area, the children would dress in costumes and eat sweets, bringing back memories of the trick-or-treating of my Canadian childhood. It was a fun time; there would be a parade, and either a few days before or a few days after, the school-aged kids would dress up to go to school.
This celebration was called "Cicicoco," and our timing for this little holiday was consistently wrong. We would either bring the kids to school dressed up on the wrong day, or everyone else would be dressed up and they wouldn't be, or we would dress them as the wrong thing.

So, you may be wondering, what does all this have to do with birth?
I went to two births last week, and both experiences were poignant in different ways. Both the births taught me, again, that birth is never predictable, and we can never know enough to be able to say "I knew that would happen", because we never do.
No details, because both my mothers are having their "babymoons" and I don't want to tell their stories. But it seems to me that we need the humility to laugh at ourselves, if we are going to enjoy the show. We need to be able to wear a mask, and to dress up as someone else. We should be sweet, and we need to be gentle. And we have to realize that timing is everything, and nothing. Babies don't come when they're asked, sometimes not even when they're pushed. Women don't go into labor on set days, and usually if you work on call as a birth attendant, the baby you are waiting on will arrive the day you've scheduled something else.
When we are born we get dressed up in our bodies, and we eat sweets for the rest of our lives. Let's celebrate! Blessings to all you new mothers and fathers!

Il Glicine e La Lanterna

Let me tell you about where we will be hosting our New Doula Workshop this July. You will be staying at a small, family-run agriturismo called Il Glicine e La Lanterna - the Wisteria and the Lantern, set in the most amazing countryside in a northern corner of Tuscany. The area is called Lunigiana, and the name comes from its origins. The Luni were a mysterious people who created enigmatic statues that still intrigue historians and tourists alike.
It is believed that the Luni worshiped the moon, and that is easy to understand when you are witnessing the rising of a red half moon, as it emerges from behind the Appenini. The countryside is so stunning because of its variety. The area where we will be is bound by the Alpi Apuane on one side and the Appenini on another. The valley of the Magra river snakes down to the sea, which is only about 45 minutes away. Beyond the hills lie the Cinque Terre, an area of beauty and magnificence where vineyards climb the cliffs rising from the sea.
The hills above the agriturismo, where I am fortunate enough to have a small house where we  spend as much time as we can, are full of chestnut forests that harbor mushrooms of all kinds, wild boar, and many species of medicinal herbs.
I believe that it is important to learn about birth in a beautiful place; to learn about herbs where they are growing; to reach your full potential in a place where you can breathe, rest, and heal as you are learning and studying.

Doula Training in Tuscany

The New Doula is holding a five day doula training program in Tuscany July 3 to 8, 2011.

Classes are held on the lawn

We will be staying in a beautiful agriturismo in the north of Tuscany. Families of participants are welcome. There are hiking trails, day trips, and a swimming pool on site.

We provide all meals, made from fresh local ingredients to satisfy every palate.

Please leave a comment if you are interested in more details.

The New Doula

Let's shake things up a little! It's time to unlearn and re-create the doula so that we can all start to see birth in a different light.

Birth starts with pleasure, so let's keep that pleasure going ... 

We are offering a five day New Doula workshop in Tuscany, Italy, in the summer of 2011. We will be staying in an "agriturismo" in the northern region of Tuscany, close to the beach, mountains, and beautiful hillside villages.

I will definitely keep you posted about this exciting New Doula event.