Comments on: Deliver This!

By: Mom Tu-Tu

Mom Tu-Tu — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 19:19:29 +0000

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!

By: wisconsin mommy

wisconsin mommy — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 12:49:13 +0000

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.

By: valiens

valiens — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 04:40:35 +0000

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.

By: Dana

Dana — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 00:30:10 +0000

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!

By: Leslie

Leslie — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:28:57 +0000

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.

By: Dana

Dana — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:58:05 +0000

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.

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:26:40 +0000

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.