"This movement isn't about natural birth vs. medicated birth. It's not about hospital birth vs. home birth. It's about women being capable of making safer, more informed decisions about their care and that of their babies, when they are given full and accurate information about their care options, including the potential harms, benefits, and alternatives. Then, within that choice, they are treated with dignity and respect."
Dawn Thomspon, Founder of ImprovingBirth.org
How awesome is that?!
I've always been a little on the fence about being an anti drug, c-section, hospital, etc type person. I don't want to be pitted against other moms because of their personal choices. Making educated choices is of the utmost importance, but I believe there's no reason to say that Choice A makes you a better person than Choice B. It's a lack of knowledge.
I had a natural birth in a birthing center with midwives and no medication in sight. I remember getting more than a few shocked responses when we told friends and family of our plans. "I'm glad I won't be there to hear you scream." "Why would you do that when you can make it easier on yourself with some medicine?" "Midwives? Wouldn't you feel better/safer with a doctor?" "What if you never dilate? "What if you can't do it?" "Are you stupid?"
It was rare to receive much encouragement or support, but we trudged through everyone else's doubt and fear, and I'm SO glad we did. We learned a lot about childbirth, medical "norms," my own body, and also how totally uneducated we were beforehand.
We didn't start off with midwives and birthing centers and all this natural stuff. Someone suggested we check it out, and my first thought was "um..no?.. Why would I want to see some voodoo-crazy-baby-whisperer when I have the option of a skilled, highly trained, medical professional?" And then we went to the first few OB/GYN appointments. The first thing that knocked me on my rear was the bill. The monthly payments were outrageous. Even with insurance, it was going to send us into debt. But I figured it must just be normal and we would manage somehow. The second thing to knock me on my rear was the brevity of the appointments. They lasted literally less than five minutes. No joke. Less than five minutes. They measured my tummy, asked a few questions, maybe gave me a book title, and that was that. Not to mention, there was ZERO information about what was going on with my body/baby from the doctors. All I knew was that I "measured good" and to "come back next month." In short, we felt totally ripped off.
We tentatively looked into the previously suggested birth center. We almost didn't do it. After calling to make an appointment, we learned that all potential patients were required to attend a mini-seminar, intro, tour-y thing before attending any appointments... Friggin hippies. But we figured we would go anyways! And let me tell you... I learned more about birth in those two hours than I previously had in my whole life. We knew this was where we were supposed to be. And midwives aren't voodoo ladies! They just know A LOT, and their abounding skills and abilities can be eerie to us ill-informed folks. We ended up having a fabulous pregnancy and an awesome, simple, no-scream-necessary birth.
Since our absolutely wonderful birth experience, I've become acutely aware of the fact that most women I know are just as uneducated about the subject as I once was. My friends received inductions that weren't needed. They were given medications that they knew nothing about. Their artificially induced, drug laden labors "failed to progress," and the resulting C-Sections left them in pain for weeks. My heart hurts for them and their babies. I'm saddened that despite all the pain, trauma, and medical intervention, everyone still seemed totally content with the situation and even deemed it as normal.
The really sad thing is that it actually is becoming normal.
According to the CDC website, over 30% of all births in the U. S. for 2011 were by Cesarean. I absolutely refuse to believe that one out of every three mothers is unable to give birth vaginally. Especially considering that 50 years ago, the Cesarean rate was below 5%. What happened? How is it that the medical community has advanced so much, yet emergency surgery is needed more and more often for something that has occurred naturally for thousands of years?
I won't say that birthing practices from the mid 1900s were optimal, though. "Twilight sleep" may sound nice, but it was still unnecessary and potentially harmful for mom and baby. Not only that, but I believe this period of it'll all be over when you wake up has done a lot of harm to the concept and understanding of birth and the female body in general.
Many of our mothers and/or grandmothers were totally incapacitated and heavily medicated during birth. An older lady once told me that her arms and legs were strapped down to a table while she gave birth because the effects of the anesthesia were so strong and unpredictable that moms-to-be would occasionally start thrashing violently during delivery. That's scary! Most anyone could tell you about a relative or friend that had a complication or emergency during birth and how traumatic and scary it was. No wonder so many women are horrified at the idea of a natural birth. If it's that scary with the doctors and medications and tip-top technology, just imagine what it must be like without it!
We've been conditioned to believe that birth is, in fact, a problem. Whether everyone is willing to admit it or not, I believe that to be true. Recall a birth scene from a movie or television show. There's a screaming, sweaty, red-faced mother being coached by a team of nurses and an all knowing doctor, right? She might scream "Get me that epidural!" or "God is a sadist!" She's giving birth, and it requires lots of staff, lots of intervention, lots of technology, and lots of pain, turmoil and stress on her part. We've been conditioned to believe that's just how it is. And that's sad.
When we become pregnant, our immediate reaction is to seek out a doctor to deliver our baby. When did that become normal? When did we begin to doubt our ability to procreate naturally like every other species in the universe? When did we forget that our bodies are quite literally MADE for giving birth? Answerless questions...
Thinking back on all the negative responses I got from the unbelievers, I'm deeply saddened. Every one of those nay sayers believes that natural birth is the wrong choice. That it's dangerous, unnecessary, and dumb... And they only believe that because that's what we've been conditioned to believe. Giving birth is something that a woman has to endure. Something she has to try to survive. It's been made out to be a dirty, horrible thing, and it's so so far from that.
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