Oh, natural birth!

Well here's the deal...

If you don't have kids you probably don't have an opinion.  If you are in your first pregnancy you may not know what your opinion is quite yet... but you will.  But of course that also depends on the drama you do or don't have throughout your pregnancy.  Drama tends to take the focus off a perfected labor and birth experience and shifts it to a healthy baby and mom.  Which, of course, is what everyone hopes for in the end.

Us natural folks do tend to get a little excited about our birthing rights.  We don't want anyone telling us we have to adhere to this way or that way.  We want to have our experience.  We don't like drugs in general and we trust our bodies.  Yes, we trust the God manufactured baby maker.  Do we know that things can go wrong?  Yes, we know.  Things rarely go wrong, but some times they do.  We keep this truth always in our minds and I think most of us have educated ourselves well enough, or surrounded ourselves with educated people (i.e. midwives and doulas and OBs) so that we can have a heads up in case of risks during pregnancy.  We aren't all granola tree huggers that sit in a wade pool alone and wait for nature to take its coarse.  Although that is also pretty cool.  Back to the granola in a minute.

The thing is we are all different.  Its totally fine with me if you want an epidural.  I personally hate the  things.  I've had 2... not intended, one gleefully accepted and the other pushed on me until I accepted. But that doesn't matter.  I love my girls not an ounce less because of my birth experience... but I didn't love my birth experience.  I felt unsupported, out of control, anxious, scared, disappointed and numb during my first 2 births.  If I did them both over again I may still have had an epidural with my first, definitely wouldn't have had one with my second and I can tell you it really is about choices and those choices being supported by your health care provider.  Doctors like to say you can do as you please, but when they tell a first time momma that she can have a natural birth but they know full well that they have zero training and the nurses have zero training in natural birth... that is misleading.  Praise the Lord for those nurses and midwives who have gone the extra mile to learn how to support women during childbirth... a caring soul who walks with you and speaks gently in your ear and helps you change positions and cheers you on.  Every woman needs this kind of support.

My third and fourth births were totally natural.  You can go back to Feb. 2011 and read all about the Peter saga... the short story is that he was born at home because he came really quick.  My husband caught him and it was an amazing moment.  With Noah, born just 8 days ago, I had a hospital birth in Thailand.  It was all natural as well.  But there was drama with the pregnancy and it took some of the heat out of my natural birth fire.  I still did my thing and it was hard.  I hated being in the hospital to tell the truth.  I didn't like it a bit.  I wish it had been at home on my bed with my husband being the first to touch our son, speaking to him when only his head was out, and handing him to me a few seconds later to nurse.  But every birth is different and Noah has his own birth story.  And I am thankful it was  uneventful.  Really, I am.  He is healthy and I am healthy and I am thankful.  And I look at him and I am so in love.  And if I had had an epidural or a c-section I would still be just as in love... but I would not have enjoyed the experience.  And here is a confession... I did not enjoy pushing Noah out.   It hurt like hell and I wondered to myself during it all why I would choose to do this without drugs.  Yes, I had that moment... but it was fleeting and Noah came out and all is well.  The doula in me knows that the doctor urging me to push was not the best thing... I should have taken it slower... the contractions would have helped him down... but I made a conscience decision to get him out or endure maybe 10 more minutes of those grueling contractions.   Anyway, maybe I am granola... it was hard to enjoy labor in the sterile hospital environment.  We couldn't get our music going.   I didn't have a doula, but that was ok.  I used all my visualization techniques which do work wonderfully and I praised the Lord through it all.  And you know what, I would never trade my natural birth for a birth with drugs or interventions.

I have a friend who loves her epidurals.  I totally get it.  Believe me I do!  But that's not me.  I don't judge her.  I love her.  I love her kiddos.  She is a great mom.  I have friends and family members who have had elective c-sections.  Crazy... yes.  I guess I might judge them a little because I think it is so crazy, but that is their choice.  What bugs me is when people are coaxed into decisions without information.  They don't understand the risks.  They don't have a clue the alternatives because the alternatives aren't made available to them.

Labor is hard.  Birth is not easy.  But it is rewarding.  You carry this little person in your belly for 9 months and then the climax is a painful symphony of contractions ending with a burning, splitting pain in the down under and finally a cry.  A beautiful baby.  A gift from above.  So how you birth does matter.  It matters to the momma.  If she needs an epidural to enjoy that experience then she should have one, but for those of us who just want to experience birth in the raw, working through the pain and feeling stronger for it... then that is what we should do.  This is not a war.  This is a beautiful individual experience.  I can't tell you how you are supposed to feel and its not right for someone else to tell me how I am supposed to feel.  Because we are different.  God made us that way.

Now, back to granola.  If you are in the natural birthing circles you know the name Ina May very well.  She is the guru of midwifery.  She and her husband came out of the 60's hippy movement.  They started a commune known as the farm in NC and she ended heading an amazing home birth environment for decades.  She is well respected in the medical community and has published books that have made natural birth possible for so many.  Now, this woman knows her stuff.  She is a voice for the woman and the baby.  The statistics of healthy birth, natural birth, at the farm far outnumber any hospital.  My point is only that their is scientific evidence that leans toward natural birth being a more healthy way.  Many woman do choose natural birth because they feel it is best for their own bodies as well as their babies.  There are 2 camps: the medical model and the midwifery model.  All I am saying is that folks should be informed and know their options.  You should know yourself and make the best choice for you.  There is no need to bash natural childbirth and honestly I see no reason to bash the medical alternative.  I just hope that every woman can experience a beautiful birth.  The memory truly does last a lifetime.