I also PRAY that people researching Freebirth will find this thread and thoughtfully consider the various comments that have been made. I also hope that those who are planning a hospital birth will consider what has been said.
As noted ad nauseum, sharing studies on birth that were conducted during the early 90's do not take into account the very real use of Cytotec for labor induction right now TODAY, the HMO depersonalization of continuity of care, nor the fact that more drugs than ever before are being eaten by pregnant women-both prescribed and over the counter meds. They also do not factor in lifestyle and quality of life issues, economics, or the very real issues surrounding the black hole of obstetrics, post partum care. All of the money, statistics, focus is on the birth event itself...and very little follow up research is being conducted on the long term effects of drugs and surgery American Birth on American Families, including drug addictions, postpartum depression, inability to breastfeed, and bonding disorders.
When Obstetricians ban the use of Cytotec and get the induction rates down to a reasonable level, use the
brewer pregnancy diet as the foundation for healthy pregnancy, get the section rates down to a reasonable 10% and ease up the laws against lay midwifery, then I will believe that it has found its soul. Until then? I'm claiming my rights of self determination over my own body and staying home!
During my last freebirth, after doing my own prenatals, two colorado laws kicked in, that should I have chosen to have a midwife attended homebirth, would have precluded me having the peak experience of a successful home birth.
First Law: No midwife is allowed to attend a woman who has gone past 42 weeks at home. Ben was born 42 weeks and 3 days.
Second Law: Midwives must transfer care to an OB if the mothers membranes have been ruptured for more than 24 hours. My water broke three days before Ben was born.
It was almost as if Ben was laughing at those Colorado laws, saying....you can't get me with your stupid rules.
He was born on the very day he was ready to be born, in the quiet and sanctity of our bedroom, surrounded by love and his family.
I predict that as we get more socialized in America birth is going to continue to be a dangerous and deadly event for women and babies. Watch the stats over the next ten years.
I shared the information on ecstatic and sexual birth simply because you are a group that claims an interest in evolution of sexuality and philosopy.
It will be a cold day in hell when a woman experiences total sexual fullfillment during a C-section.
How baby is born has a profound effect on how that child is mothered. And if during the early weeks after the birth mother is recovering from her knife in the belly rather than riding the ecstatic wave of sexual birth, which some women have described as renewing them not only sexually, but also emotionally, spiritually, and physically (and I have felt this renewal), this will also have a NEGATIVE impact on how that mother relates to her child.
You don't have to be a scientist to know that a mother who experiences hormonal ecstasy during birth juxtiposed with a mother who is numbed with belly pain will have amazingly different reactions and connections in her memories of the event.
How many people reading this thread know women who have claimed to their dying day that giving birth was bar none the worst experience of their lives?
My paternal grandmother was one of these women. She had typical thirties hospital birth - knocked out, lots of drugs, huge episiotomy, and forceps to pull out her nine pound sons.
How do you think that impacter her marriage? Her children? Her views of herself as a woman? Her overall sense of feeling at peace with the universe?
I have met many woman who have described birth in those terms.
Yet I get together with a bunch of freebirthers, and the happiness and joy is coming off of them AND THEIR CHILDREN, in waves. Bright eyes, loving and tender nurture at the breast, and an overall feeling of peace in the room.
These are the intangibles of Freebirth. They are not going to show up in a study. They are not going to turn up in some dissertation or professional paper on the so called FACTS of birth. They are not even considered in the equation. But I can testify, THEY ARE IMPORTANT.
And it is in educating women about these intangibles and the very simple and basic facts of natural birth that I find profound satisfaction and joy as a child birth teacher.
What keeps me motivated is the birth stories, the pictures, the videos, the joy, and the absolute KNOWING I have that families are being strengthened and renewed by freebirth.
Does this mean that all mothers will give birth perfectly with perfect outcomes every time? Nope. Some will need professional help, and some will even die. It is going to take several generations before we get to fulfilling that prophecy I mentioned by the prophet Isaiah where he said we would get to the place in our society where "no more would there be an infant of days and man would live to the age of a tree".
To say that reality is all tied up in Medical Birth and Chemical living as practiced right now today in America is just a farce and a delusion of what is real and what is possible.
I want to thank all of you for a stimulating and invigorating discussion. I think it's time for me to go.
All of my work on the internet, including chats like this, are dedicated to the babies who will be born in the future. May they all enjoy a peaceful and gentle entry into the world.
Jenny Hatch