When it comes to birthing, I AM a hippie, not just a naturalist–I’m too emotional about it. I believe that every woman is entitled to the birth of her choice AND that she’s powerful enough to do it the old-fashioned way (if she so chooses). You rarely find an OB that agrees in the heat of the moment. Don’t take my word for it, see the statistics below.
Someone posted this link in a forum & I cried a bit & became enraged because it’s a whole other facet I haven’t yet come to terms with.
I can just imagine how difficult it is for a man to come to terms with the notion that he cannot protect a woman from the pains of childbirth, then add the powers he does have–of supporting her, defending her wishes, caring for the infant–are stripped from him, tragic. How does he recover from that?
Before all that there’s the years of entrenched fears to deal with. Mis-education is nearly impossible to penetrate when it’s foundation is fear. Across the board. Here is what that mis-education & fear is achieving locally:
| Category | Number | Percentage of Total Births |
| Total Births | 130,886 |
|
| Cesarean Births | ||
| Primary Cesareans | 24,221 | 18.5% |
| Repeat Cesareans | 16,579 | 12.7% |
| Overall Cesarean Rate | 40,800 | 31.2% |
| Vaginal Births | ||
| Vaginal Births | 88,794 | 67.8% |
| VBAC Births | 1,253 | 1.0% |
| Other Births | 39 | 0.0% |
| Interventions | ||
| Labor Inductions | 26,346 | 20.1% |
| Labor Augmentations | 21,480 | 16.4% |
| Non-Induced or Augmented Births | 83,060 | 63.5% |
this information is from the current NC Friends of Midwives newsletter. To read more, or join, go here.
I just had to post this. It is very important to me & I don’t want families to not make educated decisions. I don’t know a mother who doesn’t remember the day her child was born–no matter how old. It’s one of those things worth the research since no one wants to be upfront about it.
2 Comments
Hi, I really enjoyed this! I too am a “hippie” when it comes to child birth. I have four kids, my first was your usual (mainly because I was uneducated and young) at a hospital, tied to a bed, and the usually dreadful Epidural! My labor was fantastic and progressing quickly until I got the Epidural! It slowed everything down!!! I didn’t feel the sensation to push and hated it! My baby was sleepy and had a hard time nursing.
Seven years later, I had my second and vowed not to take the Epidural. Guess who was my worse enemy? The nurses!!! Until finally the assigned nurse gave up the goose and they gave me another nurse (she had had 6 kids of her own without the meds). She was FANTASTIC! The baby came so fast and I LOVED IT…needless to say, the last two have come naturally too! I had to fight off nurses as well though. The last doctor I had was 100% with me so she told the nurses to back off. This helped me and the fact that I had a nurse from Canada who even let me walk and move around the room. What a difference! Mind you, I was suppose to be a c-section because the baby was “stuck”. She flipped me like a pancake and he came so fast the doctor panicked! I pushed one time and she thought we would do it in three. It was great. I don’t understand why other people don’t even try, I guess since the medical professionals and society sees a non-medicated birth as something absurd. I think that the opposite is what is absurd, I mean I know girls who have NEVER given birth and doctors tell them their baby is too big and a requests a mandatory c-section and instills fear in the first time parents! I don’t get it. Out of convenience to the doctors more women are opting for the easy way out when the natural way is so BEAUTIFUL!
I meant, “gave up the ghost”…LOL! English is my second language! Sorry!
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