Natural Childbirth
– Yes, You Can Do It!

A peaceful, natural childbirth can be yours. This page (and the other related ones on this web site) provide the crucial information you need to make your birth experience a joyous one. So you, too, can enjoy the wonderful benefits of natural childbirth.

Giving birth naturally does not happen by accident (not usually, at least). It comes from careful preparation. Armed with the right information, you, too, can have the birth you want.

Related pages on this subject:

Why I Wrote These Pages

It makes me sad when I hear women speak of births which have left them feeling violated, traumatized, powerless or scared.

After my eldest was born, I desperately wanted to help the women I knew have the births they deserve.

I would speak with pregnant friends and family members, telling them the dangers of epidurals, how the hospitals are doing a disservice to women with their protocols and why they shouldn’t vaccinate their newborn babes.

Once, I even went so far as to photocopy a medical article on episiotomies and mail it to a friend who wasn’t convinced by my rhetoric alone.

I don’t know how effective my proselytizing was. However, I certainly learned a lot from these discussions.

I learned first and foremost that whether a woman’s birth experience is positive or negative depends entirely on how she feels about the birth and isn’t necessarily related to the facts.

I knew one woman whose first birth was 36 hours and ended with a forceps delivery. She left the experience weak and depressed. Her second birth was only 45 minutes and ended with her delivering in a small room behind the reception desk at the hospital. Again traumatic. One was too long; one was too fast. Neither was just right.

I have heard many stories in which intervention led to intervention and ended with the hospital “saving the baby.” Relieved that mother and baby survived the peril – everyone thanks the wonders of modern medical science. The mother, though a bit shaken, is pleased with the way the hospital staff handled the situation. Who am I to argue with her?

Don’t get me wrong. Medical science saves many mothers and babies every day. I can safely give birth at home because I know there are medical facilities a short drive away.

Nevertheless, births are not accidents waiting to happen and if the medical staff would put more power into the hands of mothers, I think everyone would be the happier for it.

I think I am drifting off topic now.

Back to why I wrote these web pages – I firmly believe that if women are provided with accurate, complete information they and their partners will be able to make better informed decisions – whether they choose to birth at home, in a hospital or on a desert island.

Here’s where this site comes in. I want to reach women worldwide to share the wonderful knowledge of natural childbirth that I have learned over the years.

I am not disillusioned into thinking every woman can or should give birth naturally (not to mention at home). Every woman must choose her own birthing path.

I will consider this site a success if more women can enjoy the benefits of natural childbirth and also, just as importantly, if more women can look back at their births with satisfaction and positive feelings.

Why Natural Childbirth?

So why have I chosen natural childbirth again and again and again and again?

Because it is better for me and my babies. Simple as that.Childbirth is natural. Our bodies were meant to give birth. All most women need are the right conditions and support.

When the birthing process is tinkered with – whether by breaking the waters, with pain medication or monitoring or whatever, the process doesn’t work right. And then you just need more interventions. And a horrible cycle begins.

(BTW, in 1985 the WHO wrote a document nicknamed Forteleza Declaration to ensure the appropriate use of technologies in birth. It seems like since then things have only gotten worse.)

Let me demonstrate:

Let’s say you go to get a check-up a couple of days after your due date. Your ob/gyn is a little nervous because you were already supposed to have given birth (as if there is a timer inside that goes off exactly at 40 weeks). He wants to induce you.

And you?

You haven’t slept comfortably in four months. You have hemorrhoids, varicose veins and Braxton-hicks every half hour. You’ve gained 20 lbs, look like a walrus and are sick and tired of having to constantly pull your pants up and your shirts down.

Why not, you think.

You’re hooked up to a monitor, to an IV, maybe they put something in your vagina to ripen your cervix.

Contractions start. At first, you and your hubby are excited. Woohoo, baby is on his way!

Then the contractions start hurting. You can’t move because you’re hooked up to the IV and the monitor. Ouch, they really hurt and this is only the beginning. Soon you’re climbing the walls with pain.

You beg for mercy and an angel in the form of an anesthesiologist comes to save you. Only saving you means sticking a huge needle in your back. But poke he does and soon you feel relief.

Well, you actually aren’t feeling anything from the waist down but that’s OK because it is much better than those horrible contractions. The nurse puts a catheter in since now you can’t walk to the bathroom. You go to sleep, exhausted. Your husband turns on the TV. The hours go by. Different doctors and nurses walk in and out. Checking to make sure the birth is progressing. You and hubby watch the spikes on the monitor, amazed at the strength of the contractions you can’t feel.

More hours go by. The doctors are starting to get a little nervous. Baby’s heartbeat is weak during the contractions.

You now need macramé to repair your vagina. And little Bert is whisked away to the nursery to be monitored – he’s having trouble breathing, exhausted after the long journey.

Mommy and baby are separated during that critical bonding time right after birth. Still slimy with vernix, baby’s brand new immune system is bombarded by the hepatitis B vaccination. He is scrubbed clean and placed in a plastic aquarium next to many other helpless newborns. A rubber pacifier is placed between his toothless gums. Welcome to the world!

Now imagine the other option.

Mommy begins having contractions. When they are steady and begin hurting, she calls her midwife - a woman she knows and trusts. The midwife comes. She massages the mother’s back and tells her what a wonderful job she’s doing.

At home and relaxed, the mother calmly receives the contractions knowing each one brings her closer to meeting her baby. Maybe she gets into a wading pool or takes a shower to relieve the pain. Maybe she sings or dances or walks around the neighborhood.

Soon the contractions are intense. The baby is on her way. A couple of pushes, the ring of fire and the baby’s head is out. Then shoulders slip through followed by the rest of her body.

She is placed on her mother’s soft stomach. Baby looks around in wonderment. Mommy picks her up, smells the sweet newborn smell and places her on her breast. Daddy takes tons of pictures. Then he joins mommy and baby in bed.

Now isn’t this a much better way to start your life?

I’m not naïve. There are plenty of women who can’t give birth naturally – pre-eclampsia, previous medical conditions, etc. But there are lots of women who can and this site is dedicated to them.

(If I have been successful at convincing you about the benefits of natural childbirth, check out Maia's site to help you decide where to give birth .)

Natural Childbirth and Attachment Parenting

A lot.

A birth experience, for the good or bad, colors the mother-child relationship.

When a baby is born calmly and peacefully into this world, the crucial bonding between mother and child can take place. The mother’s hormones flow and turning on her natural instincts about how to take care of her young. She nurses her baby. Wants her baby to be with her constantly, even at night. She responds to her babies cries. Baby feels loved and secure. Mother feels confident in her abilities to give her baby all he needs. They are attached to each other.

If the mother and baby suffer from a traumatic birth; if the mother is exhausted, in pain or depressed; if the mother and baby are separated for long periods of time – the natural bonding process is much more difficult. The mother and baby need to work harder at knowing and trusting each other. Then attachment parenting , especially babywearing , co-sleeping and breastfeeding, are critical to healing a rocky relationship.

But since an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, natural childbirth is the best way to ensure a happy, healthy mommy and baby. And, from experience, the benefits of natural childbirth are well worth the effort.

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