Upon falling pregnant and prior even, I'd done a lot of web searching on birthing and different ways to birth. I read a lot about how birth has been really medicalised and interventions of all sorts were now the norm with caesar rates above 30% in some hospitals and fear instilled in women about their ability, or inability, to birth healthy babies naturally. Everything I read made me want a birth that was natural, with as little interference from the medical world as possible. So I began to seek out the information and people that would help my husband and I make our wishes of a natural birth a reality. A really good movie providing an overview on the state of the obstetric system in the USA is called "The Business of Being Born" produced by Ricky Lake (Yes, the Ricky Lake). Click here The Business of Being Born to view the website. A preview of the movie is available here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8h0SkPcs2U.
We chose not to have a 12 week scan as we trusted our intuition that the little being that was growing in my belly was healthy and well. I, in particular, didn't want to expose my little one in her formative stages to ultrasound equipment. Yes, I know, everywhere says that ultrasounds are completely safe, but I had also read that all the studies proclaiming that, were done yonks ago- back in the 80's using the old, less developed equipment. The scanning equipment they use these days are stronger and more intense. You probably think I was being over careful, but we were both comfortable with not having one until our baby was 20 weeks and had more of a chance to develop.
I would have loved a home birth, but being married to someone in the health profession, we had to reach a compromise :) We chanced our luck and went in the ballot for a place in the birth centre at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, with a back up plan of a female obstetrician who would respect our choices and just be there as back up, in the event anything went wrong.
We did a 6 week course called 'Birth Talk" (http://www.birthtalk.org/) when I was only 6 weeks pregnant! It was one of the best things we could have done and really helped us later on in my pregnancy when things started to go wrong. Birth Talk helped us understand how to support my hormones during labour, bonding and breast feeding, provided support people with suggestions of how to support the birthing woman and a session that provided information to help us negotiate the health care system (this one REALLY came in handy!!). One of the great parts of the course is that there were other Mother's that came along to share parts of their birth story and to 'unplug' the mystery of it all for us. I'm not sure about other people, but as soon as people see that you're pregnant, people (including complete strangers) have a tendency to think it's open slather to share the most horrid birth experiences either they, or a friend, or a family member, or their second cousins dog had. Of course this perpetuates the fear around birthing and the lack of trust women have in their own bodies to do something women have done throughout history. So it was actually really lovely to hear stories from other women who had trusted their bodies, supported their hormones and had a beautiful birth.
We were lucky enough to get a place in the birth centre and had a beautiful team of 3 midwives who we bagan to see. At this point we planned for a water birth, no drugs, a physiological 3rd stage (for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about- generally once you have birthed the baby you are jabbed in the thigh with a needle full of syntocinon, a drug utilised to assist the uterus to contract and expel the placenta and constrict uterine vessels. This method has reduced the risk of hemorrhage after a baby was born and saved the lives of Mothers. We chose not to have the jab, unless, of course, I was losing too much blood, and let my body do things itself. Breast feeding stimulates Oxytocin- your bodies endogenous form of syntocinon. So essentially, if I breast fed our baby straight after birth, this would have the same effect as the synthetic form of my hormone, preventing hemorrhage and assisting my uterus to contract and releasing the placenta naturally), and finally, delayed cord clamping- to enable our baby to get the extra rush of blood from the umbilical cord to improve her oxygen capacity and ease the transition into our breathing world.
Now you all probably think I'm a la la fairy, but I guess birth can be an extremely traumatic experience for families and we wanted the best chance possible at having a positive birth. I'd read so much information on how a natural birth can increase the likelihood of a healthier post natal period without pain from a caesar wound, bruising from instruments (like forceps or vacuum's), or pain from episiotomy's etc. I'd also read that a natural birth can reduce the likelihood of post natal depression, post natal anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder (which is on the rise following traumatic births!) and can assist in developing a successful breastfeeding relationship for longer. We also thought that if it felt right at the time, we'd like to have our baby in the water, easing his or her transition into the world (there's a tonne of literature on this which I'm not going to sprout here).
But there can be bumps in even the best laid plans................
Disclaimer: I am all for natural birth in low risk pregnancies, but want to acknowledge that there is a time and place for medical intervention in birth and that it can indeed save the lives of Mother's and babies. I just wish that more people were informed about the choices in their birth, so that Mother's and their partners could make the safest decisions for themselves and their babies- whatever that may be!
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