embrace your birth.

Now comes the time to truly embrace your birth. You now have the knowledge that most interventions during childbirth are not necessary and may even be harmful. So how do you arrive at a place where you can achieve the birth of your innermost desires?

Trust

You can confidently expect your pregnancy and birth to go well and that, after a natural labor, a beautiful baby will be born to fulfill your expectations. You must return to your most basic instinct and believe in your ability to trust yourself and your baby to safely make the birth journey, even though popular attitudes often suggest otherwise.

One of my favorite quotes concerning childbirth comes from Immaculate Deception:

“If you tied 95 percent of women in labor to a tree in Golden Gate Park, the baby would fall out… But I would never do a home delivery because it wouldn’t be safe.”
— Fred Ostermann, M.D., quoted in Newsweek

If this is so, then why is the cesarean rate in this country closer to 25 percent than to 5 percent? Why are the vast majority of women interfered with during labor rather than being left alone to allow their bodies to birth their babies? Why does so much fear surround childbirth?

Why have women come to believe that their babies must be in constant danger during the birth process—so much so that one quarter of them are born by cesarean section? What can society do to give the process of childbirth back to mothers?

Childbirth is not inherently dangerous. Women were designed to give birth, and babies were designed to be born.

How are babies born in taxi cabs, on airplanes, and even in homes when no doctors or nurses are present? Babies know their way out. They create their own journey, just as they create their own “birthdays,” regardless of what the calendar says.

When you think about the stories you hear surrounding childbirth—from friends, family, and colleagues—are they positive? Or do the majority of them leave you feeling frightened and doubting your ability to give birth naturally?

Do you hear stories about epidurals? Stories of inductions for “late” babies? Stories of scheduled cesareans?

Could all of these things truly be good for babies?

No.

Would these babies have been born without these interferences?

Yes.

Fear and Its Influence

Fear is a powerful emotion. It conjures images of danger and pain. When women fear the pain of labor or the birth process itself, it brings on anxiety.

Fear and trust cannot coexist. Women must choose between one and the other.

When fear becomes the deciding factor, women accept epidurals to deal with the pain or inductions to deal with the perceived threat of danger to their babies. Fear often dictates the choice of a cesarean delivery.

Sometimes a mother is fearful for herself or her baby. Other times, the doctor is fearful of malpractice. Either way, fear dictates the action that is taken.

This is wrong.

Faith

Like trust, faith is not based on proof. Faith comes from the inner self. It is the belief in something you cannot touch or see.

Faith will bring your baby without medical intervention. Faith is knowing that your labor will begin when your baby is ready to be born. It is the assurance that your contractions will be tolerable. Faith is the certainty that your baby will be safe during the birth process.

Faith is the confidence you must have—first in yourself, then in your baby—that you can give birth to your baby your way.

The First Moments After Birth

Your pure birth—hopefully at home—will instill in you a euphoria, a feeling of happiness like never before. In the first moments after birth, when you are holding your wet, birth-scented newborn baby in your arms, you will experience a profound joy.

This joy is deeply diminished by epidurals and by hospitals.

Your baby will be aware and awe-inspiring, taking in your face and your voice while you marvel at his perfection.

In his book Babies Remember Birth, David Chamberlain writes:

“Your infant will be in a state of heightened alertness and responsiveness in the hours surrounding birth. If delivery is done without drugs, expect your baby to be wide-eyed and alert for an hour or more. This is a time for gazing at each other and engaging in deeply personal communication. At this time your baby’s memory and learning ability seem to be enhanced.”

Most babies are born so effortlessly that you wonder why there needs to be any “attendant” at all. Babies want to be born, and once labor begins they are consistently making their way into the world.

The intricate transformation of birth is one shared between the laboring woman and her baby. Together, they work with every contraction to bring about the baby’s safe passage.

The tenderness and intimacy shared between partners as they work together to bring forth their baby is profound. The energy of joy and the promise of new life bring a sacredness to birth.

Reclaiming the Power of Birth

When you are ready to embrace your birth, you will realize that you do not need drugs, machines, or even hospitals to bring forth your baby.

You will accept the labor your baby dictates as the one that is uniquely yours. You will not place limits or time restraints on your labor.

Your water will break when it is time. Your pushing will not be controlled by anything except your baby’s desire to be born. When your body says “push,” you will.

Your baby will be born gently and will emerge fully aware. You will be filled with a sense of relief and accomplishment unlike anything you have ever known.

The “womanness” of birth is something we need to reclaim.

We are slowly making strides through the use of doulas and certified nurse midwives within hospital settings. But for birth to be truly appreciated, it must be brought back home again.

Home to women and families.

Home because there is no unnecessary intervention.

Home because it can be safer.

Home because women can give birth without medication when they are loved, supported, and nurtured in their own space and in their own time.