I have had many people over the years ask me why I've chosen to birth both of my children without intervention and without pain medication. Both of my labors were completely natural, born at a wonderful hospital with a great group of midwives that are very supportive of your wishes. My first labor was about 11 hours and my second one was about 6 hours once I was in active labor. You can read both of my birth stories here and here So why did I choose natural birth? I have always felt that a woman's body is very strong and that we are meant to birth our babies, our bodies were simply designed to do it. I began to question and research all of the many things you hear about, like inductions, epidurals, IVs, etc. and the more I learned, the more I didn't want any of those. Any intervention during birth has side effects and can cause a need for other undesired interventions. In Birth Boot Camp we call this the cascade of interventions. I just didn't feel that any of that was necessary. My husband and I attended a great childbirth class and we prepared to have a natural birth and hired a doula. After delivering my son naturally, I felt amazing! My recovery was quick, I was very proud of myself and felt like I could do anything. I knew my body could do it! As I've thought more about my natural births I wanted to hear from more women about why they chose to give birth naturally. I asked and received many great responses, and thought I'd share them here with you. " I chose a natural birth because I knew deep down inside myself that I could do it and that my baby deserved the most gentle birth possible. I also hated the idea of an epidural. I had heard so many horror stories about it." "My body was built to give birth. Plain and simple. If an emergency arises that's why we have paramedics and ambulances, but 99% of the time a woman can do it as long as she believes she can!" "Before I had children I wanted to have a natural birth because it was safer. After I had a baby I wanted future births to be natural because the experience was amazing." "I had never thought about having a natural birth until my husband suggested it when we were expecting our first. I was really nervous but decided to give it a shot. I was surprised how amazing my experience was. I love sharing my experience and encouraging other women to learn more about their bodies and the amazing things they can do." "I chose a homebirth because I wanted as low intervention as possible. My decisions weren't being taken seriously or respected by my doctor so I decided to birth at home instead. Now I chose it again because it was beautiful and peaceful. There was nothing like feeling so comfortable and at home during and after birth." " I chose a natural birth because it has less risks to me and my baby and my baby's health comes first. And I was able to do this because I knew that my body was creating my labor and I am as strong as my body so I could do it. Also I loved that I was in control of my body and could listen to what it needed me to do." "Because a day or so of pain is worth the benefits to my and my baby's health." " I am choosing a natural birth because there's nothing in the world that compares to the joy you feel when you have baby in your arms and realize what you've just done. That birth "high" is the best feeling ever. I give birth naturally to find myself, discover how amazing my body can be, and love myself, my baby, and my husband more than I thought possible. Also, having done an epidural, I choose natural because the recovery is SO much easier." "My mom had all 4 of her children naturally at a birth center with midwives. I grew up learning that this was normal for birth. I began researching and knew my body was capable of birthing my baby naturally without intervention. I had an amazing hospital birth with a midwife, no interventions and an easy recovery. Medication and intervention sounded a lot scarier to me than the "pain" of labor. Although I am grateful for modern medicine when it is TRULY necessary! I'm so glad I trusted my instincts and body and birthed my baby perfectly and peacefully." "I feel like women have so many amazing talents, and our bodies were designed to carry and birth beautiful new babies. To me the a natural birth is the most natural of things, like the definition of natural!" "I chose a natural birth because I believed that my body knew what to do and the risks of interventions in a natural process were unnecessary. While I know that sometimes birth doesn't work right, I wanted to give my body a chance first. In the end, it was one of the most empowering experiences of my life. I never realized just how POWERFUL women are. I'm so glad for that knowledge. So, I chose a natural birth because I believed in my body and wanted to give it a chance to work." "The first time was because I was scared of the side effects of everything they try to give you at the hospital. The second time because I knew my body could do it without any interventions. The third time I wanted to feel empowered, and I was!" "When I was going up my mom talked about her natural births like they were normal, wonderful experiences. When it was my turn I never had any doubt that I could do it or fear of the pain. I knew it was going to be hard work but I never considered it anything but part of the natural process." "The first time was because I was scared of the side effects of everything they try to give you at the hospital. The second time because I knew my body could do it without any interventions. The third time I wanted to feel empowered, and I was!" "It's the way God designed it, and if He has enough confidence that I can do it that way then I need to believe I can, too." "I chose a home birth to prevent any interventions and give myself and my baby the birth we deserve and we're capable of. I wanted to experience my birth. I wanted it to be the way it should be and was meant to be. I never wanted anything less for my baby, as well as myself. I honestly never saw another option. Never wanted it any other way." "I wanted to see what my body could do. In short, I believe my body was created to work right. I'm the mom of a c-sec baby, 2 hospital VBAC babies, and a carBAC baby (born on the way to the birth center)." "Because my mom and both grandmothers did, so I always heard stories about that is how birth is." Most everyone has heard of the Baby Wise books, right? I’ve recently had many people ask for my opinion about these books so I thought I’d share my thoughts here. I had multiple friends recommend the book to me when I was pregnant with my first child. They all raved about it. Their babies were on schedules and eating and sleeping when they wanted them too, so I bought the book and made sure I had read it before my son was born. At just a few days old we began to implement what we had learned from Baby Wise. I began to schedule his feedings every 2 ½ - 3 hours and began to lay him down to fall asleep on his own. This very quickly began to cause problems! I know that some won’t have problems until their babies are older, but we started having problems right away. My son did not gain weight and my very young milk supply never got to where it should be. To make a very long story short I was unable to exclusively breastfeed him despite the many, many, MANY things I tried to increase my supply. I totally sabotaged myself those first few days and I had no idea. He was supplemented with formula for 9 months, then after that I just couldn’t do both anymore. Not only was breastfeeding a struggle, but nap times and bed times were stressful. After his birth and my desire to become a doula, I learned more about Baby Wise and the problems it caused and realized that it was probably the main culprit for us. I know that there were some other things that played a role in our struggles, but I think that this was definitely a key part of it. It wasn’t until he was about 18 months old when I learned that the American Academy of Pediatrics actually warns against the ideas presented in Baby Wise? Many pediatricians as well as lactation consultants and other health professionals have spoken out about it as well. It was been linked to cases of Failure to Thrive, dehydration, low milk supply, low weight gain, and early weaning. Fast forward about 2 years…I was expecting my second child and I was reading and researching and studying. I was determined to exclusively breastfeed my daughter and practice more of an attachment style of parenting. I learned more about normal newborn breastfeeding behavior and infant sleep and what I was reading was more in line with my feelings as a mother and how I wanted to parent my children. It took some work, but I was able to exclusively breastfeed my daughter! She is now 19 months and still nursing. She’s starting to wean a little bit, but my goal is to make to 2 years. I think the keep points that led to our success was on-demand feeding, babywearing, and having her sleep in our room with us. She was in a bassinet right next to me until she was 6 months old. So, what do I recommend? Read books like The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, The Baby Book, and The Attachment Parenting Book and just follow your mommy intuition. |
HollieWife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. A passionate birth doula and childbirth educator. Archives
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