Birth and Heat in Bali

Hey birthy peeps,
​
Friends. I was SO blown away by your responses to my last "What in the World?" newsletter. I am so touched that it is resonating with you! 

It's already time for that next update! So, you may ask, "What in the World" has Augustine been listening to/ reading/ dreaming about? Look no further...

1) I'm listening to the latest Worldwide Midwifery Podcast that has just been released!!
​ "We are Experts"...

"We are experts on low risk pregnancy and birth, which makes it really safe for women and babies. Its safer to look upon it as a normal process than to medicalize it." Sweedish Midwives Erika Grönberg, RNM & Åsa Holstein, RNM share why the midwifery model of care is thriving in Sweden, plus Neonatologist Ola Andersson, MD, PhD reports on his delayed cord clamping research with yours truly as host. Check it out on the website or whereever you listen to podcasts. ( Be sure to listen to the previous podcasts if you haven't and subscribe!) ​

2.) I'm watching Will Smith bungee-jump out of a helicopter! ​

I’ve been watching the incredible Will Smith and his accepted challenge with the Yes Theory Men to Heli Bungee over the Grand Canyon for his 50th birthday.

First of all, how can Will Smith be 50?!?

And second, this video is epic for its raw vulnerability, a rare quality in celebrities. His message is so right on. As Will is standing on the edge of the helicopter, about to let go, he's feeling fear wash over him.

At this moment, the stunt master said to him, “You can basically only get hurt if you try to hold on." This is exactly it. This is why labor hurts, some part of you (or maybe many parts) is holding on to the status quo, to the way it was, to the familiar. And it hurts like hell to hold on - that death grip on life rings the joy and pleasure right out of the now. Indeed this is why anything in life hurts.

This is all past thinking. To be present right now, you must have zero attachment to outcome - You must let go. I have often said labor is a opening and birth is a letting go. THIS is just the microcosm of life. It’s beautiful sacred practice for living. Opening and letting go is the true human experience - it’s what we’re here to do. It is also the pathway to joy and freedom and ,ironically, balance - cause it's at this place were it's possible to co-create with the universe.

This man (and his whole family) are living out loud with such clarity and grace, we should all be watching!

3.) I'm researching the effects of heat and global warming on mothers and babies. ​

Climate change is affecting the most vulnerable. Read what I'm reading:
"Environmental extreme temperature and daily preterm birth in Sabzevar, Iran: a time-series analysis"
"The impact of high ambient temperatures on delivery timing and gestational lengths"

4.) WHERE in the World?! I'm in Bali in this travel VLOG!

Explore the Bumi Sehat Birth Center along with Robin Lim, CPM and myself! And I've thrown in some shots of some of the ADORABLE animals I've encountered. Please subscribe and hit the little bell icon on our YouTube channel, so you can follow along when I post!