Jenny Hatch

Um Jazz....Sort of used to the dogpiling effect. Just read Dr. Crippens Comments from his infamous and oft quoted blog post on freebirthing. I was pretty much alone while trying to defend my lifestyle to those who were filled with righteous indignation. My comments start here. It wasn't just a dogpile, I was told in no uncertain terms that my lack of credentials and lack of understanding about birth statistics made it completely impossible for me to even be able to debate. That Dr. Amy was really a case.

I asked you for links and quotes proving that violent childbirth was not linked to later violence in life. You did not share any. You simply reacted to my quotes from Dr. Odent. You were the one who said that not one shred of evidence exists proving violent birth causes later violence. When I shared that evidence you reacted with a knee jerk emotional reaction, as did others. All I asked for what some links and quotes.

Anyone??

Here is a link to an article by David Chamberlain - Go Here Scroll down to his references at the end of the article. He is not just pulling his facts out of a hat.


I found this thread at TFP by googling freebirth. For some reason we have had a ton of interest in our movement the past month, stories coming out the yin yang, and it has created something of a buzz in the blogosphere.

I've just been going around to those blogs that allow me to post and trying to defend my lifestyle.

As for the points that I posted which were a direct quote from Dr. Michael Odent (And I am honored to think that you people would believe I came up with them), he has devoted his career to the normalization of childbirth, written extensively on the subject and as the formost authority on waterbirth in France, has a most popular and beloved birth center where he has been helping women for years. I menioned him because in his books while not completely dismissing or endorsing our movement, he has said that it would be wise for doctors to listen to our stories.

One of the things that I've noticed with those who post on the internet is they look at their own situation (I was circumsized, I was born by section, I was bottle fed, and I'm fine, so your theory sucks), but I would guess that most people who have the time, money, and desire to post on a blog are in the upper echelons of society. With enough cash to have internet connectivity, enough leisure time to spend blogging, and enough literacy to be a part of the conversation.

In looking at demographics, sure someone like you may be tortured during a preemie experience and/or circumsized, or bottle fed and because of other factors, still be a healthy, contributing member of society.

But what if you throw poverty into the mix? A history of illiteracy in a family? Drug and Alcohol problems? Domestic Abuse? And all of the issues that come up with living hand to mouth?

I would suggest that traumatic birth and not bonding with momma for whatever reason could be the tipping point for a person into violence and crime. Conversely, someone who comes from all of that darkness in family life, who is born at home and perhaps even nursed and well bonded may still become a criminal because of the family situation.

I really would encourage you all to go to the pre and peri natal psychologists web site. They make a compelling argument on a variety of fronts.

http://www.birthpsychology.com/apppah/

But I am really not here to debate you into my way of thinking. Dr. Crippen was the one who suggested that we should be litigated against. He is the one who started the debate by throwing around words like manslaughter and suites for parental choices. And he is the one being quoted in so many of the articles in the media as if he was Moses coming down from Mount Sinai with a new set of birthing commandments.

I am simply here to make the case that IF mothers who give birth unassisted are going to be prosecuted for a dead baby, or Fathers who support wives who give birth unassisted are going to be prosecuted for "practicing medicine without a license" (As if anything my husband did during my last birth remotely smacked of medicine - the main thing he did during my birth was sing to me), or if that same father is prosecuted for manslaughter if his wife and baby should die during a home birth, then it only seems fair to me that babies who die during a planned c-section, done for whatever reason (excluding medical necessity) should likewise be prosecuted for that deadly choice.

No one ever asks WHY I decided to get into UC Birth. For those who are interested, I started down this path simply wanting to wean my family from societal infrastructures.

Why?

Because I was not so sure they would be available to help me with birth, feeding my child, or healing my child should we have some end times event. I'm a christian, looking very much forward to the return of Jesus Christ, and I know that the scriptures have prophesied that our day would be a time of chaos. Wether from terrorism, natural disaster, disease, or the oil situation making it impossible to get gas for our car, I began learning mothering self sufficiency 18 years ago and have gradually weaned myself from the powers that be.

This does not mean we are living out in a shack somewhere waiting for "da bomb". But it does mean that we have systematically learned the skills necessary for survival, which is why so much of the writing on my sites are dedicated to practical skills of which birth, breastfeeding, herbal healing, and cooking with whole foods play a big part.


Jenny Hatch