Inidividual Entry Archive
One of our staff members in Sydney has nine friends who are currently pregnant. They live in a variety of places, mostly overseas, but some are in Perth, Western Australia. Katy was telling me how scared they all were of giving birth, with several of them already convinced they will need epidurals, with not a contraction in sight!
It made me think about the broad issues that those of us who campaign for normal birth are facing. The word “scared” seems to be dominating many discussions, to the point where it is becoming synonymous with the words labour and birth. As I explained to Katy, the unknown can be tacked in two ways: either as a fearful, scary event or as a great adventure to be savoured and appreciated for the opportunities it presents. Giving birth has to be the peak experience in a woman’s life, the crowning achievement of her potential, her best chance to discover what life is all about. How could such a universal experience be seen solely as a “scary” thing to do? How could so many women be so worried about facing the prospect of giving birth that they will willingly, in advance, decide they want to be completely numb and helpless, thus missing the joy of success and the most magical moment of their lives?
I am constantly amazed that rational, thinking women have been so duped into believing that labour pain is so terrible that they are very prepared to accept and epidural and give up their freedom and become totally dependent and helpless. To miss the sensations of the baby’s arrival, the euphoria created by the release of natural endorphins, the rush of emotional as the baby is gathered in to the breast of the first cuddle - why would any woman choose an epidural, unless there was overwhelming medical needs for such intervention?
For the baby, surely it is better to begin life in good health and not full of drugs and perhaps bruised and battered from heavy handling (forceps or vacuum extraction)? The moment of birth is when the first impressions of the world are imprinted, and a mother’s warm arms, soft words, and ecstatic pleasure would make this entry memorable for the baby as well.
I tried to explain some of this to Katy in the hope that she can pass it on to her friends. As she herself explained, working at Birth International has given her a whole new outlook on birth and done much to quell her own doubts about labour. It is one of the benefits of working here that is hard to include in any job advertisement!
Posted by andrea at September 01, 2004 06:01 PM
I think the reason so many women are scared is because we are taught that so many things can go wrong in pregnancy and childbirth. It gets to the stage when you wonder how any woman manages to give birth naturally!
My own experience (as a patient of the Family Birth Centre, Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne) has been one of dreading the next prenatal test, feeling all but certain that the result will be abnormal. Then I am amazed when the results come back fine. Abnormality is made to seem normal, and normal is made to feel like the exception rather than the rule.
This has got so bad, that I have now decided to have a home birth and say 'sayonara' to the birth centre. Due to the support of a number of incredible women, both online and off, I have come to realise that homebirth is the way for me and that I can have a normal, intervention-free birth, but that my best chance for this lies outside the medical system.
I think women are made to feel abnormal and powerless on purpose - it keeps the system in control and powerful over us. A sad indictment on the medical system, but there you have it.
Posted by: daharja on September 2, 2004 01:43 PM