17: How gentle birth can change the world one baby and mother at a time with Ibu Robin Lim

For this episode I invited Ubud legend and inspiration, Robin Lim. Affectionately known as “Ibu Robin” she is a midwife and the founder of Yayasan Bumi Sehat, a non-profit here in Bali that offers free prenatal care, birthing services and medical treatment to anyone in need that focuses on at-risk mothers. We speak about the philosophy of gentle birth, her life story with Bumi Sehat and its mission and the never ending support mothers in developing countries need to birth and nurture babies in favour of a better world.

In this episode we speak about

• How Robin came to Bali over 25 years ago and started her journey as a midwife when she was pregnant and realizing that the maternal mortality rate at the time was very high.
• How the “green revolution” and the elimination of heritage rice began to cause fatal hemorrhaging for women giving birth and how she’s adopted the gentle birth philosophy from world-leading gynecology and women’s health experts.
• The creation of Bumi Sehat and its mission to enable gentle birth to support women in Bali give birth safely and gently in alignment with our bodies’ natural rhythms.
• The community support that came together to help win the CNN Hero of the Year award for Bumi Sehat.
• Supporting women to feel empowered and empower each other’s beauty at every age, weight and stage of our lives.
• Destigmatizing our menstruation, sexuality and relationship with our bodies.
• What the labor process is like for many women including first-time mothers.
• How acupuncture can help support women’s fertility and both people in a couple with fertility as only 15% of people diagnosed with infertility are actually infertile.
• The benefits of IVF and better living through science in partnership with traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.
• What support systems Robin has in place to keep and maintain her balance as a mother, grandmother and founder of Bumi Sehat.
• How Bumi Sehat is working to reduce period poverty for Indonesian women and girls with some incredible products and donations of period panties.

Robin has also established clinics and helped at-risk mothers in remote locations across Indonesia and Asia. Thanks to her life work “Ibu Robin” has won CNN Hero of the Year in 2011.

"Every baby's first breath on Earth could be one of peace and love. Every mother should be healthy and strong. Every birth could be safe and loving. But our world is not there yet," - Ibu Robin