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Unassisted Childbirth: My Ultimate FulfillmentJun 22 '01 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Remember, our bodies were made to give birth. It knows what it is doing. Some things are best if left alone to do what comes naturally. =) Unassisted homebirth can be for most women (even if they think it can't be, and even if their "doctor" says it isn't an option, really!) but it's not for everyone unless you have read up on it, and can be emotionally, mentally and physically ready. That is the part that counts. I am not writing this opinion to bash hospital birthing. I have done it myself. Nor am I bashing midwife assisted homebirth. My goal is to let women know what the other options are and that there is a natural way that God/Goddess/nature intended for us to bring babies into the world. When I was pregnant with my first daughter, I use to sit around and watch "A Baby Story" religiously, thinking this would prepare me for the scary and painful childbirth I was about to come upon. I watched as 98% of all the women on that show went to the hospital "like everyone else" to have their babies. This was "normal" to me and this was "OK" and this is how babies are "supposed to be born". But little did I know how wrong I was. The other 2% of the women were attempting home birth. Either regular homebirth with a midwife or water birth, several even in a birthing center. Supposedly a better alternative to the hospital. I never understood what these women could be thinking, having their babies any other way than the norm. I mean, how could they endanger their babies like that? Or themselves? Are they crazy? What if something happened? They're so selfish! I thought these thoughts all the way through the rest of my pregnancy. Then I had my daughter. I had the full epidural birth that all my online friends raved about. They all told me that natural birth was too painful and scary and that I "wanted" that epidural. It wouldn't hurt the baby at all, because their babies turned out perfectly fine. Well, my mind changed after I had my first daughter. I didn't notice it until months after having her how messed up and unnatural all of that was. Plus, adding to the fact that the hospital helped in ruining my daughters breast feeding with bottles that I stated she will not have. I began to brew great anger at hospitals. But then I decided I wasn't having anymore kids after all of that. It was awful and I hated it. When I found out I was pregnant with my second child, I was determined to find a midwife. I had became friends with some women who had gone through what I had, or worse and they helped me with some information on homebirth. I went and bought "The Birth Book" by Martha and William Sears, and when I read up on the history on how Obstetricians really came about and how they helped wipe out midwives and how they only did it for money and not for safety. I read how the only reason childbirth was so dangerous back then was because of the lack of cleanliness (due to improper living conditions back then and sanitation, etc). How fetal monitors are screwed into the head (I wasn't aware of that, but they did that to my daughter as well, she just had so much hair, I never noticed the scab), which can cause baby to become scared, making it's heart beat drop, causing an unnecessary C-section. I read a lot, and the more I read about the truth, the more angrier I became. The truth about it all was right in front of my face. How could have never thought like this before? It all made complete sense. If we needed all the IV's and fetal monitors for birthing, we would have been born with that type of equipment. I began a search for what is called a lay midwife (or direct entry midwife), which is a midwife who will only do home birth. But I was told by many that homebirth was "illegal" in my home state. I did a search online one day and found 2 CNM's (certified nurse midwives) who will only do hospital births. My dream was smashed to bits. I found out that one of my CNM's had home birthed all of her kids and she knew of a bunch of lay midwives that practice in our state, they do it and it's risky if anything did happen, but the still do it. At the same time, I also came in contact with some other people who knew of some lay midwives. Around this time I had been told by someone to go visit Laura Shanley's site "Born Free!", because she had all of her babies at home, unassisted, even a breech baby! I also had found an unassisted homebirth email loop and discovered wonderful things about how if you let nature do it's job, most of the time the babies will be born just fine. I met women who had been told that their babies could only be born via C-section who ended up having unassisted homebirth, I met women who had breech babies at home and delivered them standing upright, I met women who had been told their babies heads were too big or even their babies were too big for vaginal delivery and still did it a home, I met women who had gestational; diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., who all had unassisted homebirth. I even met women who had multiples via unassisted homebirth! I then thought, if they can do it, so can I! And besides, I had Faith in God, this is how he made my body, it was built to do this, why betray my Faith in him again for some doctors who had no faith in nature in any way? I then kept tossing the ideas back and fourth. Could I really pull off an unassisted homebirth? Was it really as natural and safe as everyone claimed? Me, being the biggest chicken ever, do a birth with no doctors? I began to listen to unassisted childbirthers, also known as UCer's, the would tell stories how the midwife thought the baby would be harmed if it wasn't born in a certain amount of time or how a midwife kept interfering with her concentration by checking her, which stressed her, which caused the baby to stress and take longer, all this stuff lead to me believing that birth, like most natural things, if left alone, will be just fine. I still kept interviewing midwives, just incase, and they all basically told me they allow women to birth the way they want "Unless......". Unless the midwife thinks that the position the woman is in will slow the birth, unless the midwife thinks the baby is in stress, unless, unless, unless and whatever the midwives opinion. I wanted it done my. After all, it my my baby, my body, and my life. My choices. I made my decision almost last minute for unassisted homebirth. And guess what? I was never a bit scared. Unlike how I was with my first daughter and the hospital birth. I wasn't afraid, I never thought of "What if". I just did it. And reminded myself that if anything went wrong my body will tell me and that my body would tell me when to push and everything would be OK. And guess what? It was! It was the best thing I had ever done and the most awesome! It is the only way I, personally, will ever give birth in the future. I did it myself, with only my family present, I did it my way, safely, naturally, and the way a woman was made to give birth. The way that Western culture has tried it's best to keep women from doing. My goal here is not to make anyone else feel less, it is simply to tell my own personal story of how I chose what I chose and why I chose it. All women should choose what they feel is best and safest when it comes to birthing. Hospital, homebirth assisted or homebirth unassisted, a womans choice. Not all doctors will give you options that are safest and some will even tell you how you will birth just to make more money. If anyone is interested in unassisted childbirth the best place to start is www.unassistedchildbirth.com  |
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