April 5, 2007
Deliver This!
In January, I received a copy of the book Deliver This!: Make the Childbirth Choice That’s Right For You…No Matter What Everyone Else Thinks. The book was written by Marisa Cohen and it discusses the many different childbirth experiences a woman could choose from.
Her book gives a detailed overview of these birthing options: home birth, birthing centers, vaginal birth in a hospital and cesarean sections. She also address vaginal births with or without anesthesia as well as elective and medically necessary C-sections.
Marisa Cohen delivered both her daughters in a hospital and I found myself nodding in agreement with her choice to have an epidural. Cohen shares the birth stories of mothers across the nation.
While reading this book I discovered that many women are afraid to share their birthing plan because of fear of judgment and ridicule. Women today are well-informed of their many options, yet they are confronted with unwanted opinions by women who choose a different delivery method.
Mothers who adopt to have a natural birth (without the use of anesthetics) are looked down upon by the mothers who take advantage of all that a hospital has to offer, including epidurals and pain medications. Mothers who desire a home birth (or use a birthing center), with a midwife or doula, are considered to be endangering their babies by mothers who elect a hospital birth with high-tech medical equipment and well-educated doctors.
Through all the birth stories that were shared, Marisa Cohen offered expert advice: a woman’s childbirth experience is central to her politics, identity, and personality. There is no superior decision when it comes to delivering your baby. We each do what is best for ourselves.
As women, we should support each other’s choices. I highly recommend this book. It was well-researched and wonderful to read. You can also visit Marisa Cohen’s website Deliver This!
Posted by Dana @ 8:44 am • Uncategorized
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April 5th, 2007 at 10:26 am, Cheryl Says:
Childbirth is such an intimate experience. Between my friends here at work, not one of us shares the same experience. One was overdue and delivered a ten pound baby naturally. One had 27 hours of labor that ended in a c-section. I was five weeks early and couldn’t relax through the pain and ended up with an epidural. I’ve also known a lot of ladies who have done home births. It’s different for everybody. Some people asked me what my birth plan was, and I honestly told them I didn’t really have a plan. I hadn’t experienced childbirth before, so I’d just go into the experience and see what happened and listen to my body.
April 5th, 2007 at 10:58 am, Dana Says:
Cheryl, you are right. It’s different for every body; for every woman. But after reading this book, I’ve witnessed the ridicule. One of my friends attacked another woman because she had a scheduled cesarean because it was her second baby and her first was early and delivered via C-section. My friend thought she was deliberately endangering her baby by not waiting for natural labor to start. While the woman just wanted to ensure a healthy delivery with no complications.
I think we as women need to understand and support each other’s decisions without the judgement.
Which is what I love about the blogosphere because we seem to do that here.
April 5th, 2007 at 4:28 pm, Leslie Says:
What timing! I just wrote about Julia’s birth story on my blog today.
I’m with you, Dana - I’ve witnessed the ridicule that can come from people with different views on childbirth. After going through it and having just about everything go differently than I had planned, I don’t think I could ever judge someone else for their decision. Childbirth is a monumental event, but it’s the result that matters most.
April 5th, 2007 at 7:30 pm, Dana Says:
Leslie, I couldn’t agree with you more. The end result is the most important. I’m heading over to read about Julia’s birth story!
April 5th, 2007 at 11:40 pm, valiens Says:
The biggest problem I’ve witnessed is the guilt over a less than ideal birth, and yet there’s the point, the result, the baby, right in front of Mama, playing, singing, running. What a tiny portion of the process birth is! Yes, monumental, but also not really the ultimate concern.
Perhaps that’s easy for me to say, having had three good homebirths, but I know other women who’ve chosen differently, or had other births thrust upon them and they’re happy.
The guilty ones haunt me. Good mothers who aren’t feeling it need to be reminded how tenuous any control is during such an intense experience. A plan is just an ideal, and really may have no bearing whatsoever on the actual birth. In fact, I’ve heard midwives say the “plan” is almost always scrapped, no matter what it says, because birth is too unpredictable. That’s just the nature of birth. Maybe so.
April 6th, 2007 at 7:49 am, wisconsin mommy Says:
I’m such the opposite to the judgemental momma’s. I elected to have an epidural as soon as it was offered to me (which wasn’t soon enough as far as I was concerned!) I have nothing but respect (and awe) for those who choose to go the natural route - I couldn’t hack it! I have a friend that has done the hypnosis method with both her children. I say more power to her. I made the choice that worked for me at the time and I can’t imagine having gotten through it any other way.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:19 pm, Mom Tu-Tu Says:
I’m all for women having a choice about childbirth, but I meet so many women that aren’t educated about birth. So many from my area of the country think they have to do exactly what they are told. I’m all for women researching and being knowledgeable! Take charge of your birth!