The reality I come back around to when I think I'm out of my league is that what I know about birth, as little as it seems in comparison to other professionals out there blogging, is still more than the average Gen X'er. The basic sex ed we got in 7th grade barely scraped the surface of what I eventually learned in my childbirth education classes and my DONA birth doula training.
I started this blog because I spend my free moments thinking about things birth-related - even more to the point, a lot of the time, I worry. I worry about those moms and new families out there who have no idea that they have options. They need good sources of information. One of our local childbirth educators recently told me about how one of my 'classmates' (one of the moms in the Lamaze class I audited) approached her after the class ended to thank her. She was profoundly moved by the simple statement that educator offered her: You can give birth. No one up to that point had ever said or done anything to instill confidence in her and her body - every care provider, friend, loved one and perfect stranger had only told her that they were happy she was choosing to surround herself with medical staff and interventions. Don't get me wrong - medical interventions can be good, in some cases - but research studies show that there are interventions and treatments being used which have drawbacks that don't justify the benefits of their use. (For more information about treatments and interventions, just check out the appendices of A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. I actually own a physical copy of this book and jumped up and down when I found out there's an online version!)
It seems like those who end up with credible, honest and truly compassionate care providers, ones who actually listen and help women find the best birth experience possible, are usually more lucky than resourceful. (Not that luck is bad - thank goodness for luck!!) Then there are those moms who just pick whatever care provider their sister-in-law recommends, wander mostly obliviously through 9+ months of pregnancy, maybe read What to Expect When You're Expecting (NOT a book on my recommended reading list, by the way)... They show up at the birth place when they're told, go through all manner of indignities and eventually go home with a baby. Doesn't sound anything like a 'magical' birth experience to me.
Mostly, I write to offer positive encouragement to those who are setting their sights on a birth that they are in charge of, one where options are known and choices are made. People who hire doulas usually do so because they either know what they want or are trying to figure it out and want help, and because they want to ensure that there's a labor support professional at their births who's only role is to help them. (Sidenote: at a hospital birth, nurses can be wonderful. But most of the time, they have 6 - 8 other laboring moms to provide medical care for, plus paperwork, not to mention many other important duties. Nurses are normally not available to provide consistent labor support, although there are nurses who relish the opportunity to do so.)
On the other end of the spectrum, the dark end, are the moms and families who suffer because they had no advocates and didn't know their choices. They are the ones who emerge from a birth experience and call it rape. I haven't experienced first-hand a birth that falls into that category, but I have dear friends who have, and my heart goes out to them. Their stories put the "iron in my soul," to quote British midwife Mary Cronk.
Sundance aired a documentary about the musical theater show Hair on last Thursday night. One of the cast members of the show expressed, in an awed tone, that he believed the propelling energy behind the show was the hope for a new tomorrow, one held in the hands of the peace- and love-makers. He said something to the effect of, We were expressing a utopian ideal, and we changed people's perspectives through beauty.
Being a doula is important to me because I, as a doula, am important to families. (The research says so!) In my ideal world, we would all learn doula skills, and it would be at least as commonplace for someone to be a trained doula as to be CPR certified. We'd all be respectful and compassionate toward mothers and families. Everyone would witness a birth at least once in their lives. Women would become mothers by laboring confidently, surrounded by the loving touch and supportive voices of other women who have labored or will labor to birth a child.
Who said that every wish
would be heard and answered
when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
and what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
- from The Rainbow Connection, by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher
Mostly, I write to offer positive encouragement to those who are setting their sights on a birth that they are in charge of, one where options are known and choices are made. People who hire doulas usually do so because they either know what they want or are trying to figure it out and want help, and because they want to ensure that there's a labor support professional at their births who's only role is to help them. (Sidenote: at a hospital birth, nurses can be wonderful. But most of the time, they have 6 - 8 other laboring moms to provide medical care for, plus paperwork, not to mention many other important duties. Nurses are normally not available to provide consistent labor support, although there are nurses who relish the opportunity to do so.)
On the other end of the spectrum, the dark end, are the moms and families who suffer because they had no advocates and didn't know their choices. They are the ones who emerge from a birth experience and call it rape. I haven't experienced first-hand a birth that falls into that category, but I have dear friends who have, and my heart goes out to them. Their stories put the "iron in my soul," to quote British midwife Mary Cronk.
Sundance aired a documentary about the musical theater show Hair on last Thursday night. One of the cast members of the show expressed, in an awed tone, that he believed the propelling energy behind the show was the hope for a new tomorrow, one held in the hands of the peace- and love-makers. He said something to the effect of, We were expressing a utopian ideal, and we changed people's perspectives through beauty.
Being a doula is important to me because I, as a doula, am important to families. (The research says so!) In my ideal world, we would all learn doula skills, and it would be at least as commonplace for someone to be a trained doula as to be CPR certified. We'd all be respectful and compassionate toward mothers and families. Everyone would witness a birth at least once in their lives. Women would become mothers by laboring confidently, surrounded by the loving touch and supportive voices of other women who have labored or will labor to birth a child.
Who said that every wish
would be heard and answered
when wished on the morning star?
Somebody thought of that
and someone believed it
Look what it's done so far
What's so amazing that keeps us star gazing
and what do we think we might see?
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection
The lovers, the dreamers and me
- from The Rainbow Connection, by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher
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