“If we can give babies the chance to live their optimal loving lives, they are going to become the stewards of our earth, our air, our fire and our water – and they are going to be the stewards of all species.” ~ Ibu Robin Lim
E83 – IBU ROBIN LIM ON BIRTH, PARENTING AND TRAUMA
PROTECTING THE FUTURE OF EARTH’S SMALLEST CITIZENS
Listen to the conversation:
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About this interview:
How can our experience of being born into this world change how we take care of it?
In this episode, Amisha meets Ibu Robin Lim. Ibu Robin is the founder of Bumi Sehat, a non-profit organisation that operates community health, education and childbirth centres in Indonesia and the Philippines as well as disaster relief birthing support for mothers and babies in earthquake and tsunami crises and refugee camps.
Ibu Robin shares with us the profound and beautiful way in which the teams of midwives, doulas and support staff work to provide all women who come to their door with an empowering, loving and respectful experience of birth. The work of Bumi Sehat is founded on a deep belief, backed up by science, that the way in which we enter the world has a soul-deep and lasting impact on our capacity to love and trust.
Ibu Robin explains some of the challenges faced by the women that she works with when it comes to making choices about their experience of pregnancy and birth, and how the Bumi Sehat centres strive to counter and work around these challenges. She speaks about the role of family in a good birth experience, the impact of global warming on premature birth rates, honouring the placenta and the magnificent healing that birth can bring.
Together Ibu Robin and Amisha speak about striking a balance between natural, holistic birth support and the possibilities on offer through medical and technological progress. They discuss how women are reclaiming the arena of birth from the medical industry and reviving indigenous wisdom around pregnancy and birth.
“Each of us, in our own way, if we do something small its really profound. Each of us makes the whole of us bigger. Every drop makes the sea bigger.” ~ Ibu Robin Lim
Ibu Robin Lim CPM is a Filipino–American midwife, mother and grandmother, and founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a non-profit organization in Indonesia. Lim also serves on the board of Bumi–Wadah Philippines, where she is known as “Lola Robin.” Her Passion is Human Rights in Childbirth. She believes that each individual is an essential “Piece of Peace” therefore by protecting the mothers in childbirth and the newborns (our smallest citizens of Earth) we may build peace, one Baby, one Mother, one Family at a time.
Along with devoted team members, Ibu (Mother) Robin has been an early responder to many disasters; Aceh (post 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami), following earthquakes in Yogyakarta (2006) Haiti (2010) Nepal (2015) and in the aftermath of super-typhoon Haiyan in Dulag, Philippines.
Bumi Sehat’s powerful work has been growing over the past 25 years. In 2018, 146000 people received health, education and human services including disaster response. On average two babies are born in bumi sehat clinics each day – and all of this is done without costing the families anything.
Ibu Robin’s published books include: Ecology of Gentle Birth, After the Baby’s Birth, Wellness for Mothers, Eating for Two (Recipes for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women), Placenta the Forgotten Chakra, The Geometry of Splitting Souls (Poetry), and Eat Pray Doula.
To find out more about Ibu Robin visit iburobin.com
To connect or work with Amisha, visit amisha.co.uk
Resources and links from this episode:
- Bumi Sehat
- HOPE Foundation Bangladesh
- The BirthStrike Movement
- Hannah Muse Yoga
- St Ethelburga’s
- Justine Huxley
- Event: What if Climate Crisis Was Our Greatest Teacher?
- Father Birthkeepers: Te Kaha
Connect more with us:
- Beautiful Leadership mentoring
- Amisha’s One-to-One sessions
- Amisha’s book – INTUITION
- all that we are membership
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