Thank you Ricki Lake and Abby Epstien

Published by admin under In The Begining on July 15, 2009

I really did not like Ricki Lake’s talk show, but now I couldn’t sing her praises more! She has been a public voice for the natural childbirth community when there wasn’t one before. She’s brought the devastating US mortality rates and hospital practices to the media’s attention. Her book Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience has touched people who would otherwise have scoffed at homebirths and natural childbirth. I was reading dooce’s blog today, and she had this great post about her daughter’s 2nd birth. She mentioned how Ricki Lake’s book, and documentary The Business of Being Born really changed her outlook on birth. She was one of those gals who was like “just give me the epidural”. This really makes me happy because that to me means that women are making more informed choices about their births. Someone who was dead set in their opinions could decide to change her birth plan at 30 weeks because she decided that a natural childbirth would be a better option for her and her baby. People get offensive when I talk about how wonderful my birth experiences were, and I do not think they realize I’m not trying to push something onto them. I just want them to know they can have the same wonderful experience. How else would they know that they have other options unless those other options are presented to them and shared?I’m tired of hearing other women’s horror stories from their hospital experiences. Even in a hospital you still have choices. It’s your child that you are bringing into the world….not the doctor’s. Women need to stand up. It’s scary to think that with this new health care reform that midwives might be left in the dust or worse made illegal to use their services. Show your support for midwives by visiting  The Big Push, and making your voice heard.