The Most Scientific Birth Is Often the Least Technological Birth

When I ask my medical students to describe their image of a woman who elects to birth with a midwife rather than with an obstetrician, they generally describe a woman who wears long cotton skirts, braids her hair, eats only organic vegan food, does yoga, and maybe drives a VW microbus. What they don't envision is the omnivorous, pants-wearing science geek standing before them.

Indeed, they become downright confused when I go on to explain that there was really only one reason why my mate -- an academic internist -- and I decided to ditch our obstetrician and move to a midwife: Our midwife could be trusted to be scientific, whereas our obstetrician could not.

Many medical students, like most American patients, confuse science and technology. They think that what it means to be a scientific doctor is to bring to bear the maximum amount of technology on any given patient. And this makes them dangerous. In fact, if you look at scientific studies of birth, you find over and over again that many technological interventions increase risk to the mother and child rather than decreasing it.

But most birthing women don't seem to know this, even if their obstetricians do. Paradoxically, these women seem to want the same thing I wanted: a safe outcome for mother and child. But no one seems to tell them what the data indicate is the best way to get there. The friend who dares to offer half a glass of wine is seen as guilty of reckless endangerment, whereas the obstetrician offering unnecessary and risky procedures is considered heroic.

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Natural Childbirth: Crazy or Conscientious?

Unaware of alternatives, the majority of women use drugs to cope with the pain of labor and delivery.

Most of my friends and family members think I’m crazy. By choice, I bore my first child without an epidural and I’m hoping to do it again the second time around.

“There’s a reason they offer women drugs,” one of my sisters reasons. “Childbirth hurts!”

Most of the women — and men — I’ve spoken to echo her sentiments. Some women even have planned Cesarean sections as a way to avoid as much of the birth process as possible. I’m not at all surprised, and I certainly don’t blame them.

We are a culture that has a drug for just about everything. We opt to avoid discomfort at all costs. Besides, birth is often presented — by women who have given birth, by men who have witnessed a live birth and by the media as an unbearable experience that no one should ever have to undergo. People love to exaggerate, and it’s difficult not to get caught up in the drama.

I, for one, bought into the hype. For as long as I can remember, my perception of labor and delivery featured three elements: hours of screaming followed by lots of blood followed by hours of crying. In my teens, I swore I’d never have children. In my twenties, I planned to adopt children in part to forego the pain of childbirth.

Until I became pregnant with my son in 2009, I never had a reason to question the negativity associated with birth. In fact, my first care provider was an obstetrician whose Western approach to medicine supported the notion that pregnancy, labor and delivery should be addressed as crises. Had I stayed under his care, I would have ended up drugged, depressed and delusional during one of the most beautiful moments of my life.

Instead, I began to educate myself about pregnancy and childbirth thanks to my friend and favorite fellow mom, who gave me a copy of Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth. Written by a midwife, the book presents childbirth as a natural process that should be embraced and celebrated rather than avoided and feared.

After reading the book, which includes the birth stories of dozens of women who have given birth vaginally and without medication, I began to see pregnancy and childbirth in a new light. It turns out, women have options and drugs during childbirth is not among the best of them. I soon switched to a group of midwives.

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Waterbirth Videos – ALL Your Questions Answered: Like: “How Does My Baby Breathe Under Water?”

Here’s a new waterbirth videos series answering all your questions about water birth.

You see, when I even entertained the idea of having a water birth, I was shot down by so many well meaning friends and family that I almost didn’t investigate it further. “Ooh, it’s not safe” one said … or more condescending comments like, “Sweetheart, that’s just for hippies, just do what the doctors tell you to do!”

Boy, am I glad I didn’t listen! … My experience of birthing my baby girl in the water was the MOST WONDERFUL & BLISSFUL time in my ENTIRE LIFE!

I guess the reason I didn’t listen to all the negativity was because when I asked all of my “Advisers” who among them had actually had a waterbirth – NONE of them had.

I began going to childbirth classes (NOT the hospital ones – I personally did Hypnobirthing, but there are lots of others to check out) and when I saw numerous waterbirth videos of women laboring so comfortably in pools, baths and spas I KNEW that was what I wanted.
Over the next few weeks I became a bit obsessive and started searching YouTube for all the waterbirth videos I could find! – Lucky for you, I have found all the best ones and put them on this website :)

However, this particular page is dedicated to waterbirth videos – QUESTIONS: See below for the most commonly asked questions about water birth and if you have any more then leave a comment below. Enjoy!

Waterbirth Video QUESTION 1 – Benefits Of Water Birth For Mother



To watch more videos that will answer more questions about water birth click here.

Letting Your Best Friend Have A Bad Birth

"Sometimes being a friend means mastering the art of timing.
There is a time for silence. A time to let go and allow
people to hurl themselves into their own destiny. And a
time to prepare to pick up the pieces when it's all over."
~Gloria Naylor~
Have you had a natural birth? Do you have actual (and strong) opinions about things like vaccines and circumcision? Do you find yourself cornering newly pregnant women whom you have never met at social functions and dumping information on them when they mention that they want an episiotomy because "it just heals up so much better when it is a straight cut than a jagged tear"?
If so, then this article is for you!
Now- what do you do when somebody-- maybe even somebody you love, appears to be heading down the birth trauma highway?
Ahh, the humanity! Knowing that your friend/sister/neighbor/in-law is being set up for a horrid birth experience! How hard is this for the natural birth mama who simply loved her life changing birth experience? Do you keep your mouth shut? Do you offer information? Do you share your experience? Can you "let" her go down a path you don't think she should?
~/~
Questions like this are asked all the time:

"My friend is being set for an induction at 39 weeks because she is uncomfortable. What research can I give her?"

Or, as a natural birth teacher I get phone calls from the mom or mother in law or buddy trying to enroll their loved one in a Bradley natural birth class.

"I LOVED my Bradley birth! She really needs this class. When does the next one start?!"

So what DO you do?

As a woman who has actually uttered the words "You didn't need that c-section" (yes I am that tactless), I can honestly say that this is a very difficult one.

A few things that I try to remind my tactless self:

1) What you consider a good experience might not be what somebody else considers a good birth experience.

I remember telling the birth story of my first child to a woman who had a c-section for failure to progress. I had three nights of labor and had pushed for 4 hours- two hours longer than she had before they declared her unable to birth vaginally. Maybe I was thinking she would hear my story and say

"Ahh- you wonderful woman! Thank you for your wisdom! I now see that maybe, just maybe, I too am capable of vaginal birth. You have given me hope!"

This is NOT what she said. Instead she looked at me with a little bit of horror and said something about how she couldn't believe I would want to go through that. What was an empowering experience for ME just sounded exhausting and brutal to HER. She has scheduled her c-sections for her other babies, and I believe been quite happy with her births. I can only imagine that my most recent unassisted birth in my bed would have sounded equally awful to her.

So- to each his own. We don't all want the same thing from life or from birth.

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