Adultered Birth– Avoid the Risks
Birth is a beautiful thing! I know I’m going to step on many toes with this article. Let me preface the following with the fact that I am FOR medical doctors! I believe if I break a bone, have a disease, etc., they are the FIRST people I turn to. You can’t set a bone by wishful thinking or eating a good diet. You can’t stop a heart attack by adjusting it away, (though I think a good nerve supply to the area helps the area function more efficiently). I DO however believe that if we take responsibility for our OWN health, we will not need to rely on them so much and will stop making messes for them to clean up! My term: “adultered birth” simply refers to altering the natural birth process when unnecessary. I am not implying that medical interventions are not sometimes necessary. Often, they are.
Case in point:
When we choose a hospital birth, there are many things that can go wrong. (To be fair, we’ll talk about what can go wrong in a home birth as well, as this is definitely NOT suitable for everyone!). First of all, did you ever try to “catch” a cat or dog or horse or cow having a baby? It’s difficult to do. I remember sleeping in the barn on the hay all night hoping to catch a mare foaling (who had shown definite signs of it being time), only to find that it had the foal while we went up to get breakfast. This happens repeatedly. Animals have an instinct to birth when and where they are safe and comfortable, and, though this can’t be postponed inevitably, it can be hours or days later when the “danger” is over that they will give birth.Back to the rush to the hospital. When we realize it’s time, we rush to the hospital. Hopefully our bags are packed! Hopefully we didn’t forget anything. Hopefully there’s gas in the car. Hopefully it’s REALLY time… We get to the hospital, get checked in, go to a strange room with strangers all around, even if we’ve met them before. We may be hooked up to machines and monitors and orders may be barked all around us. We’re nervous and anxious anyway, but we’re also out of our “element”.
Maybe I’m different than most, but if you could have a safe birth without leaving your home, wouldn’t that be theoretically better?
Progress Halts:
So we get to the hospital but our progress stops. Why? Could it be that we also have the same instinct as animals? So, we’re given pitocin, which causes the uterus to contract to push out the baby, only it often causes contractions much worse than natural, causing much more pain and possible hemorrhage. Because of the pain, most women opt for an epidural, which can cause a halt in the sensation to push or even an inability to push. This obviously is a problem. If the baby cannot come out “naturally”, a C-section must be performed. Obviously a C-section is major surgery and is much less safe than a natural vaginal delivery. Most hemorrhages come from this cycle.