MSI Press Blog

Excerpt from Lessons of Labor: One Woman's Self-Discovery through Birth   (Aziz) - COMPETENCE AND EASE   I started mentally repeating a request to my unborn daughter: “Just hold on until the midwife gets here, and then you can come right out.” The pain of pushing, that now familiar ring of fire, barely registered in my brain. I was only focused on holding my baby in until professional help arrived. I didn’t fight or try to control the pushing, but I didn’t help it along. I just took shallow, panting breaths, let my body do its work, and asked my baby to come slowly.   Just a few minutes later, at 11:30 p.m., my midwife walked in the open door. She came straight over to me, crouched down, and caught my baby as she slipped easily out of my body.   Committing to the moment, I can discover competence and ease.   Do you know the feeling of being in the zone, when everything seems to fall into place with little or no effort? The freedom of living life in a state of flow i

   Julia Aziz, author of  Lessons of Labor.  was featured on Fourth Trimester Podcast, Listen to it HERE . Read posts about Julia and her book  HERE . Link to reviews of Julia's book  HERE . Read more posts about motherhood  HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newslette                          Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  For those who have been following interviews of MSI Press author, Julia Aziz ( Lessons of Labor ), here are some you may have missed: Julia discusses miscarriage on EmpowHer. Check it out HERE . Julia discusses how childbirth can be one of life's greatest teachers on Talk Zone HERE . Julia talks about honoring birth on Extraordinary Moms podcast HERE . Julia talks about lessons of labor on Synchronicity Talk Radio from Vancouver HERE . Julia discusses "Where are all the babies?" on Smart Mom Solutions HEFRE . Julia discusses "How birth translates into life lessons" on Postpartum Podcast HERE . Read posts about Julia and her book HERE . Link to reviews of Julia's book HERE . Read more posts about motherhood HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newslette                          Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  Another oldie but goodie, that we somehow missed posting/sharing when it happens. Never too late to listen, though. Here is Julia Aziz, author of Lessons of Labor , talking about reclaiming the self in motherhood, a topic that never dies, on Mom Talk Radio. Link to the video HERE . Read posts about Julia and her book HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter                           Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  For your listening pleasure -- and erudition, here is a roundup of podcasts produced by Julia Aziz, author of Lessons of Labor.   Julia Aziz - Top podcast episodes (listennotes.com) Read posts about Julia and her book  HERE . Link to reviews of Julia's book  HERE . Read more posts about motherhood  HERE .                                  Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newslette                          Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .

  I suppose it is hokey associating Labor Day (the day to honor workers) with the labor of childbirth, but, heck, it ain't called "labor" for nothing. Any woman who has gone through it can tell you that it is a lot of work. Ironically, my daughter's birthday is today, Labor Day. Giving birth during the Labor Day weekend meant that her doctor was out of town, but we both survived. Though I tried hard to make it into the regular work week, she was having none of that, and after 12 hours of negotiation on the date, she won. So, happy birthday to my Labor Day (now working) girl. It seems appropriate, then, to share an excerpt today from Lessons of Labor by Julia Aziz, a social worker and three times a mother. She knows something about both kinds of labor.  REMEMBERING THE BEGINNER’S MIND   About a week before my second baby’s due date, I woke up in the middle of the night to the same menstrual-like cramping that began my first labor. Excited at 3 a.m. in the morning, I wo

This excerpt from Julia Aziz's Lessons of Labor seems quite appropriate for the stresses we deal with during today's pandemic. Fear in any situation has a relative in fear in any other situation. in Facing Fear  Once I was ready to get out of the shower, the doula recommended that we leave for the hospital. She checked my cervix, reassuring me that I was far enough along in the process to warrant a move to the final birthing destination. Before gathering all my belongings, I had a crisis of faith. How would I ever manage the pain of labor while sitting in the car for 30 minutes? At home, I could walk outside and bend over with every contraction, impossible activities for the front seat of a car. I even started to debate just staying home (my doula was a homebirth midwife, after all). Then, reason, or rather my husband’s calm rationality, took over, and we decided to go with the plan already in place. Internally, I said to myself, “I can do this because I have to

The Priority of the Present Finally, I recognized that my will could no longer compete with my body. I put the half-cooked meal in the freezer and the mostly packed bags by the door. I needed to direct my full attention to labor. I moved slowly around the house, resting over the arms of couches and chairs, breathing deeply, and moaning quietly. Without the pressure of tasks to accomplish, I was able to notice that my contractions had progressed from the menstrual-like cramping sensation of before. They were now much stronger and more substantial. Something was really happening here. When necessity pulls me into the present, I know exactly what matters. One of the blessings of labor for me was the inability to attend to everyday minutiae. The sensations of my body became so powerful that my usual multi-tasking mindset started to fade into the distance. Though the mental chatter continued, it wasn’t in command anymore. I was able to access a deeper focus, the same mental focu

Labor Begins When Other Labors Cease  The day of my first son’s birth was one of those early spring days that make me happy to live in Austin, Texas. The sun was shining, the flowers were in bloom, and I was feeling some mild but noticeable cramps. I felt eager, open, and fully welcoming of my baby as I walked through the neighborhood, telling my belly, “What a beautiful day to be born!” As with most new experiences, I started off with high hopes and great determination. After a few hours, I began my preparations: making sure my bags were packed, adding essential items like a toothbrush and contact lens solution, preparing a light meal that would be easy to digest, and otherwise doing a lot of stuff that would later prove mostly unnecessary. After a while, I began to feel agitated. I wanted to get everything done, but my detail-oriented mind was slowly being overtaken by my body’s strong messages. I was losing concentration, unable to focus on the thoughts in my head. I woul

Yesterday, Julia Aziz, author of Lessons of Labor, was interviewed by a doula on the Hanouts on Air in a podcast, titled "As a Birth Professional: Birth as Life Teacher. The podcast can be heard here .