MaternityShare

Tonight we had our friend Phoebe over for dinner and a movie. Billy made a yummy lentil dish with rice and tofu. When trying to decide what movie to watch the question came up of whether or not we had seen the movie The Business of Being Born. We had, but Phoebe had not. Since she seemed very interested in seeing it we decided to see if it was available via the Roku box on the Netflix instant stream. It was, so we watch it for the second time with her. It was still very interesting the second time around. Now, weeks later, it has a different meaning for me and my circumstances are different. I have read up a bit on midwifery and, chances (the fFN, actually) say that I am more likely to deliver pre-term. I guess what I took away from it this time around is the power and strength mothers have. I get to choose how I go into my delivery experience. Even as it gets intense I believe I will think of that. Also, it reaffirmed that I have choices on what interventions I do or do not receive. If I deliver in a hospital, I need to be strong in advocating for myself and my wishes. And, when I go into labor, I don’t want to go into the hospital too early so that I will be in my own environment for as long as possible and also there will be less of a time pressure on me to deliver on their time clock which could more likely lead to them falsely inducing or augmenting labor which will likely bring on complications.

Just thinking about all the hospital possibilities (especially with a preemie involved) strengthens my resolve to keep this baby in for about another month and a half so that he is full term and I can have a midwife deliver me.

The power of the mind is a fascinating thing… one that I wish I understood and could harness fully.

My friend Jenny read Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin as a teenager and knew then that she would have a home birth. And she did. A few years ago she gave birth to a beautiful little girl in her home. Jenny’s description of her home birth experience left me in awe. Hearing her story strengthened my own desire to have a home birth.

Even after I had prepared myself to accept a hospital birth as my only option due to my pregnancy being considered high-risk (well, there was a financial consideration too) I decided to order the book Spiritual Midwifery. I felt that it would help educate me to make informed decisions and to understand the alternatives that I could try to request. I also knew that it would give me tips and tricks on how to trust and work with my body’s innate ability to give birth.

I just started reading it just as I am finishing up her other book, Guide to Childbirth. I find both books enlightening and alarming. Enlightening because there is a lot of joy an wisdom related to the reader. Alarming because there are things that can “go wrong” in any child birth situation (at home or in hospital) as well as choices that hospitals and their staff make to help facilitate labor like unnecessary drugs and procedures. I appreciate that Ina May is helping distribute this information to mothers-to-be. I find that it is empowering and I see how it empowers other mothers who have already given birth.