Natural Childbirth-Page to Post
Published by admin under In The Begining on October 29, 2009I didn’t want to completely delete this writing off the face of the blog, but I have decided to take down the page. Why? Well a few things are going to change on the site & taking down the Natural Childbirth Page was one of them. Natural Childbirth is still a topic that is near and dear to my heart, and I wanted to share that with you.
Natural Childbirth is an issue that is really important to me and one that is close to my heart. I feel that in the process of Medical Advances in America we have lost something really important;Natural Childbirth. Do not mistake what I am about to say though. Obstetricians are a blessing, BUT they have no place in a normal pregnancy. They are surgeons.
To explain a little bit of how I came to feel this way let me give you a little insight. When my sister and I were born it was pretty routine for an epidural if not a c-section, and breastfeeding was practically frowned upon. My mother didn’t need a c-section for either of us, but she did receive an epidural and decided not to breastfeed us. Growing up we’d play house with our baby dolls, and talk about our babies we would have like the vast majority of little girls do. I thought I didn’t want children because I had been taught that childbirth was extremely painful, and that I would have to have an enormous needle stuck in my back to help me even cope with the pain.I was also lead to believe that breastfeeding was disgusting. “Your baby ate from where ?!” haha is what I believe my response was. This I’m sure was not my mother’s intention, but when women in general would talk about birth there was so much fear surrounding it how could I not help but feel that way. My grandma even told horror stories of her twilight sleep births. I couldn’t figure out why doctor’s where doing these things when they were suppose to be the ones to “make everything better” right? Well growing up I grew out of the playing house phase and therefore having children was out of sight out of mind. Every now and then when a friend or family member would have a child the fear would bubble up again. It wasn’t until I was actually pregnant myself that I had to face that fear head on. I did what all the mother’s I knew had instructed me, call an obstetrician and set up your first pre-natal appointment. When I called the nurse on the phone asked me when I was due so I gave her my estimated date. She proceeded to set up on the calender a date that the baby would be born. I didn’t understand so I asked her to explain. She said oh that’s when the Dr. will do your c-section. I was floored. I didn’t know much then about birth, but I kind of figured that you were suppose to go into labor first before that was even an option. I hung up the phone without another word, and called several more doctor’s offices. They weren’t as extreme as the 1st, but something in their manner just put me off. It was like I was this terminally ill person or something vs. a woman having a child. When Matthew got home I explained what had happened, and he was upset that I hadn’t set up an appointment because my logical husband was thinking well where else are you going to have this baby? That was a good question that posed another one. Why not at home? I didn’t understand where all this fear was coming from. Hadn’t women been giving birth for thousands of years before obstetricians came onto the scene? I had so many questions so I began researching on the Internet, and praying about it. My answer came to me while in prayer. A midwife. It seemed so simple. A midwife would respect what I wanted out of birth. After all my research and understanding of birth my fear was gone. I knew I could do this. My first Google search for a San Antonio Midwife lead me to Holly(whom I used for both of my girls). I set up an interview with her. I asked her a ton of questions haha. The saying knowledge is power couldn’t be further from the truth. Convincing my family and friends of my decision was a lot harder then coming to the decision I had made. I could not believe how ingrained fear was surrounding birth. They were afraid for me, and why? That is why I feel so passionate about it. Fear and oppression is uncalled for, and this was unfounded fear. In all the research I did I came to understand . The most precious thing on earth(the birth of a child) had become about money. I don’t know why this shocked me, but I didn’t think that anyone was as low as that to play on the insecurities of a pregnant woman who just wanted the best for her child. So much knowledge that should have been passed down from mother to daughter or woman to woman had been lost and replaced with the unknown causing fear. Giving birth in Hospitals became a sign of status/feminism. Ever heard the term “To Posh to Push”?? We practically handed over our rights concerning the birth of our children as women to the Doctors who were more than happy to take our money. It’s not fair to them to say that they took away our power when we handed it over. However they didn’t “make everything better” instead they took something completely natural and beautiful and mangled it. They told us that we couldn’t do this ourselves therefore stripping us of our self-control just when we need it the most. Breastfeeding is another thing the formula companies with the help of the medical community tried to disregard. I am not sure why as humans we would be opposed to breastfeeding when it is so logical that we’ve nourished this being with our body for 9 months that we shouldn’t continue doing so after their birth. I could talk about these topics forever. I’ve included on this page some links so that you can learn and understand the history of childbirth from a more knowledgeable person then myself. Also “Creating Your Birth Plan” is one of my favorite books regarding pregnancy. It is written by a doctor who writes about all aspects of childbirth, and the importance of making your wishes clear to your care provider. I also want to share with you Vera and Naomi’s birth stories. I hope that my experience empowers you to make educated decisions whatever those decisions may be. Reading Ricki Lake’s “Your Best Birth: Know All Your Options, Discover the Natural Choices, and Take Back the Birth Experience” and seeing the Business of Being Born is a good place to start if you are interested in finding more out about Natural Childbirth.
Waterbirth
History of childbirth in America
The Business of Being Born
Breastfeeding
