UNASSISTED BIRTH Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be completely in sync with your body? To go along one's merry way and not worry about "what ifs?" Did you know you can do most of your own prenatal care? Has anyone ever mentioned it?

Have you ever watched a cat or dog give birth quietly, efficiently, and in peace?
There is a growing movement among dissatisfied consumers who have been manipulated, lied to, and coerced into the medical model of Obstetrics, to take back childbirth as it was meant to be. They are the couples who do the research and decide to birth unassisted. They choose to have their children without medical assistance and, since childbirth is not a medical event, are having great success. They are finding joy and peace during the growing of their families, and some medical and social authorities are having a difficult time accepting it.The hospital hierarchy also doesn't like the loss in income from medically managed birth.

Childbirth historically has never been a man's world, until the early 1800's when forceps were introduced. When man figured out how to get into the birthing room,it spelled disaster for the traditional midwife, who had helped women for centuries. Once one intervention was invented, there came others, in the name of helping women through what was then an unknown and treacherous land. Since the turn of the century, however, when male doctors decided there was money to be made in the medicalizing of childbirth,Women have been stripped, first of their identity and their clothes, then their confidence in the female body to fulfil a natural function for which it was created.Well meaning people(and in some cases, mercenary) decided to do the pregnant woman's thinking for her, and told her to leave it all to them-The hospital staff would see to it that she would not "suffer". I wonder how many nurses working with these women had decided that childbirth was so awful that they never wanted children and would do anything to get rid of one if they did get pregnant?The sad part of the whole obstetrical parade is that 80% of it is totally unnecessary. If a woman wants to, she can educate herself and have her baby at home,unassisted,or helped only by her husband. It is her choice, and for a well prepared couple,it can be a most enriching experience.
Here is a lady in labor, giving birth to her own baby.

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The work of labor is just that, work: but can also be pleasurable.(Read "The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth" by Laurie Annis Morgan.)

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As the baby is born,the mother relaxes her bottom to let the baby out,avoiding a tear or an episiotomy.

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Then the mom gets acquainted with her newborn. No one needs to tell her what sex the baby is, and then she puts the baby to her breast, and waits to expel the placenta.

As of this time( March 2002) it is not illegal to have your baby outside a hospital.Although some people think there is, there is no way to enforce such an edict-without mandatory hospitalization for every woman, and then some would get missed. Besides, it's too expensive.And the only real benefits, are to the hospital and doctors, in most births, because most women don't need a surgeon for a normal physiological function. The ladies just need to be allowed to do what they feel they need to do to birth the baby unhindered.Yes, I know there are stories, and some of them are true, that medical help saved a mom or baby...But that does not justify the 95% epidural rate, the 85% induction rate, and the 25-50% cesarean operation rate in this country!!!

The Dutch have the best model for using midwives for normal birth, and having the birth take place at home, and if the mother needs it, she sees an OB.But she still does not get the medical torment that goes on in this country in the name of "Safety"...(It's really lawsuit prevention!) Europeans typically don't have the lawsuit rate we do, because birth still belongs to women and thier midwives.

Wanna know how many babies have died from complications from a cesarean operation?

Read "Silent Knife" and "Open Season" by Nancy Wainer (Cohen), and "Immaculate Deception" by Suzanne Arms.

From inductions, especially Cytotec? Read "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" by Ina May Gaskin("Spiritual Midwifery" is not to be missed either...it is what got me started on this path).Another "must-read" for the moms and grandmas is "A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth" and "Obstetrical Myths and Research Realities" by Henci Goer. No one should have a baby without them!

Preparation is the key here, as in any endeavor. Read everything you can get your hands on, educate yourself to normality, and have a written birth plan and a back up plan. My Unassisted birth story

My First Homebirth story

Links to Unassisted Birth Sites

Here is an additional reading list that may help you.

On the Unassisted Birth Site there are many more links you might want to explore. (Here is a small sampling of my Library)…

  • Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
  • Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
  • Special Delivery ……..Rahima Baldwin
  • Having Twins…………..Elizabeth Noble
  • The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding……..La Leche League
  • Obstetric Myths Vs Research Realities…..Henci Goer
  • Active Birth…………………Janet Balaskas
  • Birthing from Within ……………England and Horowitz
  • Immaculate Deception(both older and new editions) Suzanne Arms
  • A Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth Henci Goer.

And on and on….I have about 75 or more…many are out of print Some videos out there...

A Clear road to Birth

Giving Birth, Challenges and Choices

Vertex Twin Births at Home -this one is by The Farm, and I have several videos from them, they are GREAT!

So, you see, there is a great deal of information out there, that is readily accessible. Educate yourself and any who want to know more. Fear robs us of our greatest joys, don't let this be one of them!

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