Plethora of Choices

Ashley requested a post on how and why I went about choosing a natural birth for my daughter. I think that is a great idea and would love to share my thoughts and experience on this!!

To begin, and if you really know me, I have never been one to relish in the au natural side of life. At the very twinge of a headache, I am popping the pain relievers. I was raised in what I think was a very normal environment that didn't place too much importance on either side of the spectrum. This is why even I was surprised at how I approached the birth of my baby. My pre-natal care was the normal kind; check-ups every month at my OB-GYN. Every visit was identical. Check the weight, pee in a cup, check the blood pressure, "The Doctor will be in to see you very shortly." Once she came in, we would go over the basic things that were going on corresponding with how far along I was. This all usually took 30 minutes from start to finish. Now since this is such a rush rush society we live in today, it never crossed my mind that it could be different. That my prenatal care could be much more extensive and much more personal.

In researching where exactly my OB delivers, we found out that she only delivered at the lowest rated hospital in Austin. This is initially what began my search and research into where I could have my baby. In my online research, I was constantly being drawn to the only birthing center in Austin, Austin Area Birthing Center. I learned that here, they deliver babies naturally, with no drugs and minimal medical intervention. Their view on birth was that is a natural process and since the female body was made to have babies, the majority of women are completely capable of having babies on there own and without the medical intervention that is so widely spread these days. Medical intervention, I learned, was basically the ideas and processes to conform all births to one way- pitocin to speed it up, epidural to numb, and possibly even C-section for a variety of reasons. The idea of natural birth made so much sense to me. Mind you, the "stipulation" for this idea is that you are a healthy woman who has had a low-risk pregnancy. This is what they mean by normal; and by low-risk, they mean, no complications in your pregnancy. This was me.

So, I noticed that at the birthing center, there were no doctors, only Nurse Midwives. This began a whole new and different research. Midwives believe in natural birth and are present to assist in the naturally birthing woman. In addition to this, I came across several midwifery websites endorsing the documentary produced by Ricki Lake called, "The Business of Being Born." I rented it and it was like a light bulb went off! Everything made sense. The main jist of the movie is that of the midwifery model of care. This model teaches low-risk women are completely capable of birthing on their own and without the interventions the hospitals like to use, i.e. pitocin, epidurals and C-sections. It now makes sense why there are so many C-sections, and most of which are probably unnecessary. Doctors are extremely busy, have a million patients, and have families of their own too. Birth is a slow process (as you can tell by my birth story!) and is just too slow for today's society! That is sad to me, but I ultimately gave the control over my labor and birth process back to me, who is who it should belong to anyway. But anyway, TBOBB endorses home birth with a midwife as the primary healthcare provider for both pre-natal, perinatal and post-natal care. I liked this idea. But this meant I would have to do it with no pain relief! Yikes- that scared me. But why was I scared? I was scared because of what you hear from everyone and their dog- giving birth hurts. I even recall hearing from one of my friends, who got her epidural at 2 cm, that I was crazy. I found this weird since she was numb at 2 cm, but figured she was saying I was crazy because that's what everyone else says if you want to try it natural. I learned that I could have control over it and yes, it would be painful, but yes, I could do it. After all, not until a few years ago (in the grand scheme of things) did they start making pain relief available.

Another general theme I learned from my research was the viscous cycle that many times makes birthing even harder for women, and that is this. Labor isn't progressing as fast as the doctor is hoping, so they use the drug, pitocin to speed it up. This drug increases the contractions, making them stronger, longer and ultimately more painful, making labor more unbearable, thus needing pain relief. The epidural is administered into the spinal cord numbing the bottom half of the body. Many times, this increases problems with the baby, like the heart rate dropping. This makes the doctors nervous and they recommend a C-section to get the baby out. But ultimately, if the labor was left alone without the pitocin and the woman was given strength and encouragement without being rushed or hushed, things would progress on their own, and in many cases, just as rapid as they would without all the intervention.

So basically, without going on too many more tangents, I came to the conclusion through alot of research, contemplation and prayer, that I wanted to see what my body (and mind) could do. I knew God created me to give birth. I knew he blessed me with a pregnancy that could not have gone better. I knew there are so many skeptical people out there who base their decision purely on fear, while to each is own, I didn't want to have fear guide choices that may possibly do more harm than good. Again to each is own and I certainly would never condemn anyone who chooses drugs or other intervention. I just knew wanting to TRY it naturally didn't make me crazy. (Let me just say here that I was never SET that I was going to do it naturally, I was set on trying. And that was the hardest part, the not knowing. But I definitely believe I needed to be flexible with what was happening at those moments. Once I got to the hospital and I was as far along as I was, I HAD DONE IT). I knew I wanted to be challenged and I wanted the experience rather than to be numb through the experience.

So my advice to anyone who is thinking they may want to give birth naturally would be this: First of all, know that God gives you strength and you are NOT crazy (don't let people brainwash you to think you are). As Pam England says in her book Birthing From Within,"Labor is hard work. It hurts. And you can do it." Secondly, and what really worked for me... don't be set one way or the other- keep an open mind. Go with the flow and keep in your mind that you are going to TRY. If you are serious about trying though, really try and don't give in to the temptation of giving up. I would labor in your home as long as possible (if your water hasn't broken). The doctors and nurses can't sway your decision if you aren't there and pain relief isn't an "option"- this saved me because I wanted it. But by the time I could have it, I was for the most part, done and so, I didn't want it. I also highly recommend a doula (a labor/birth coach) who can cheer you on along with your husband and help you with whatever you need. If you can't afford one, check into those who are getting certified- they have to do a certain amount of them free for experience towards their certification (this is what we did). Ultimately know that you can choose from the plethora of choices we have these days. You are the one with the power- both figuratively and physically! How awesome is that?!