Rejuvenation Fall 2014 | Page 15

If your cup is empty, if your life is draining you then it is much harder for you to accept love from other people. Marriages suffer as stress wins out. Children suffer as parents pull away desperate for something to make them feel better. Your work performance suffers leaving you in a bad situation. Midwives leave the profession from burn out. Renewal of yourself, your soul, your person makes you happier and more able to accept the love, time, and effort you give to others.

A special note to my fellow midwives… As a midwife, renewal of one’s well is crucial to longevity in practice. As midwives, we form tight & special bonded relationships to our clients. Most people probably never create this bond with as many people as we do. Our work is full of emotional highs & lows. We celebrate & grieve with our clients on a very personal level. Then it is important to ask; do we care for ourselves? Do we ensure that we are full so that we can give? Do we Restore & Revive our fervor for our work? It is so important that we remember to care for ourselves. That we remember that we can only give from a full cup lest we burn out & leave this work which is so very rewarding & draining at the same time. Form bonds within your community. Trade out so you can spend a day or weekend with your family knowing your clients are in the good hands of your sister midwives. Take an hour, take a moment to restore yourself.

Take care of yourself, your relationship, your children & teach them it is important to renew themselves. Teach them to regain mental & physical vigor so that they and you may more fully embrace LIFE as it was meant to be. Take time often to renew yourself & make sure you allow for the important people around you to do the same.

About The Author

Kristine Tawater LM, CPM is a licensed midwife in a private homebirth practice as MotherMe Midwifery in Dallas, Texas. She has been married to her husband for 16 years & has 5 children, 3 of whom were born with the assistance of midwives. She was an active doula for 6 years before attending midwifery school & answering her true life’s works calling. In addition to her midwifery practice she is on faculty at MotherMe Doulas In Training, a Dallas area doula training organization that strives to prepare exceptional birth & postpartum doulas under the apprenticeship model that midwives follow & a tight birthing community of doulas & midwives. She lives just east of Dallas where her restoration time includes an active outdoor life with her husband & children boating, camping & ATV time.

www.mothermemidwfiery.com, www.mothermedoulas.com