About Us
A group of women, based in Orgiva in the Alpujarra region of Andalucia dedicated to nurturing the pregnant woman to ease her path into motherhood.
Vanessa has lived in the Alpujarras for 8 years. She has birthed her three sons here and has helped numerous women in their birthing journey, delivering many babies. She has been the inspiration and central pillar of Da-a-Luz. See her story below.
We feel that a pregnant woman should have a space and a time to tune into her baby. Our fast-paced lifestyles are not conducive to slowing down and exploring all the possibilities open to us for the journey of giving birth.
Da a Luz combines spiritual midwives with complementary therapists to make your journey into motherhood as inspiring and special as possible.
We hope to prepare you for the birth that you choose.
I Was Blessed - Vanessa’s Story
I was blessed. I realized 9 years down the line the birth of my first child was a journey that would change my life forever. Amidst the stunning beauty of the Andalucian mountains surrounded by people who believe in what birth really is - a natural part of life – my son emerged to be greeted by a roaring fire and the dawn breaking. I had totally enjoyed my experience, an inspiring birth in my own space, with a beautiful calm midwife.Shortly after my birth, I was asked to be there for a friend in her own home for the birth of her second child, I felt so honoured to be there when new life came in it was such a magical feeling I was hooked I must have glowed and talked of nothing else for weeks. My enthusiasm was obvious, in the next year I was asked to attend 3 more births. I felt comfortable and competent around births – my path was clear I was to become a midwife.
People within my community were trusting me to help me guide them through this sacred journey, I am often aware that describing birth in this way or as an initiation into mother/fatherhood can induce an instant reaction, the words hippie, new age claptrap are aired, alienation instantly occurs. Well let’s get this straight, call me a hippie if you will but few events illicit such powerful spiritual feelings as the miracle of birth. Lovemaking and birth are often associated with heightened states of consciousness, ecstasy, religious experience and sometimes a sense of being one with nature or united with all mothers who have ever given birth. I was so naive, my births and the births I had attended in that first year were so beautiful, we were a tight-nit community, each birth was attended by men and women the mother felt loved and comfortable with, birth was part of the ebb and flow of life, babies were born in our teepees, they were wondrous events, these experiences ingrained within me a belief in birth which I now realize was a gift.
It is said that a single moment can flood a whole life with meaning – well my moment had come. I was called to the labour of a friend; she was progressing well but hours later our feeling was to transport. Due to my speaking Spanish, I agreed to accompany Emmé to the hospital. On arrival we were ushered to an examination room and a swift and rather rough exam was done, I asked several questions for Emmé, but we were treated rather unimportant in the whole scenario. Before we knew it I was masked up and in the delivery room, Emmé’s arms were retained and her feet put up in stirrups. The midwife told me to ask the mother to not make so much noise, my face must have been a picture, I told Emmé, we tried to laugh about it and at that moment Emmé let out a scream, the waters were broken – here comes the babe. A standard episiotomy was performed, I was asked not to look over or beyond the green cloth which obscured her bottom half like something dirty or secret was happening behind it. The baby was given to her mum at our insistence while the episiotomy was stitched causing more outbursts of noise which were not appreciated. The placenta was expelled, but where was it? - It was incinerated! Wheeled out of the delivery room, we were told that the babe would spend the night in the nursery so mum could rest. Not this babe we answered, she will sleep with her mum. They grudgingly agreed despite feeling it wasn’t beneficial to the mother and child – but hey we are hippies after all.
The startling sunshine hit me as I left the hospital, I was crying so hard my mind was desperately trying to shut out what I had just been involved in. Over the next few days I couldn’t sleep, I hardly spoke; I had been shaken to the core. Overwhelming feelings of anger, helplessness and sadness were hard to shake off. Was this really a typical birth experience of women in today’s society? On further investigation I discovered that in actual fact the birth I had experienced was relatively low stress and considered normal and acceptable. Across the board women are not having beautiful empowering births, apathy has taken place, women have surrendered their basic human rights to birth how and where they wish.
In Spanish, a woman is said to give the light – DA-A-LUZ. This poetic, though in reality all encompassing way to describe birth is the name given to my project which has grown from my experiences in the Alpujarras in Andalucia. From my years of attending births my understanding of who and what I need to be as a midwife have deepened, I have learnt my trade empirically – that is by experience without the constriction and protocol of the medical profession. I am constantly learning what women really need. I have the opportunity to nurture the women I am to attend from conception to empowering birth. It is a privilege to work this way, a privilege I feel I have earnt along my path to the time now when I feel I can stand tall and say yes I am a midwife without the usual paperwork even though it has often seemed a battle to breakthrough the constraints of our western mindset, it is to easy it seems when entering the medical system to surrender ones rights to listen and take responsibility for our bodies.
At DA-A-LUZ we hope to pave the way to birth in a supportive and humane way. It may seem a little strong to suggest that women are treated in an inhumane way within the medical system but check the context we are working with in a Spanish hospital (is it so different in England?) Antenatal visits that require 4 hour waits on plastic seats, presuming that there’s an empty one of course! The inevitable calls that I receive after an antenatal appointment from scared woman who have been told their babe is too big or to small or her pelvis is too big or too small - all number of paranoid niggles that 99% of the time come to nothing. Once you’ve survived the build up of terrifying stories from well meaning "friends" on how you’re bound to need an epidural, a hideous sex ruining episiotomy or the major surgery of a cesarean birth it is a pretty daunting prospect for even the most committed natural birther and her midwife. I have already told of how birth is generally experienced here in a Spanish hospital, it is often not even questioned.
At DA-A-LUZ we create a space to be pregnant. We run a weekly clinic where women can completely immerse themselves in their process to discover what they need. We are all so different, our births are personal to us, they cannot be standardized. The space we use is large and airy, the swimming pool is ready for a bit of aqua aerobics, yoga mats on the roof terrace are ready for mum of 6 Tallulah to warm us up, a great cross section of books from Lebouyer to Spock cushions and sofas abound, no plastic chairs here! We all bring food to share so chatting and feasting can be done, we have our lovely kinesiology’s Romany, Ziggy a reflexologist, many of us are Reiki masters and last but by no means least our wild and wonderful herbalist Laura, whose placenta recipe has gone down a treat at many a birth. We offer complete continuity of care, care being used as a term of nurture not an overpowering or an undermining of every woman’s own process. Each woman will have chosen her birth team months ahead of delivery forming a close relationship with them. This is an essential part of natural birthing -would anyone want to shit or make love in a room full of people they do not know! I don’t think so.
Birth is an intimate time to share and there are no time constraints for the mother to conform to. I have been away from my home and family for 4 days while coaching a woman through a tough labour of a 10 pound boy with no tears. She is one of many women who I believe would have been a cesarean statistic in a modern hospital. Guided and empowered by love and trust of their natural ability to birth, women are often to exclaim that they feel they could rule the world shortly after this kind of birth which is a good way to start the path of motherhood.
Birthing with DA-A-LUZ is a chance to step out of the system and take responsibility for ones own life. As midwives, we know in our hearts what birth intrinsically is. Let’s follow our hearts and recreate birthing for the next generation.
Da-a-Luz is applying for funding, download a copy of the funding application here (pdf 140k) .
For more information about what we do, give us a call or email us Spain ~ vanessadaaluz@yahoo.co.uk +34 680566113 UK ~ justine@da-a-luz.co.uk