We live in a time where the physical nature of birth is fairly well understood; doctors are trained to look for warning signs and to prevent any serious threats. Machines calculate heart rhythms, asphyxia, amniotic fluid content, and countless other things. Labor can be sped up or stalled, the pain can be minimalized and even taken away. Surguries are quick and many medications can help with the healing process afterwards.
Many, many lives have been saved.
As a doula I have already witnessed the benefits of having these technological safe-nets, and have seen them used exactly as they should be to improve the health and well-being of all involved. They were not routine, they were not to save time, and they worked side by side with the laboring mother's body -- which, in my opinion, always seems to know more than of the machines.
We are blessed to have these options available to us. I will continue to provide more information about more natural childbirth, as that is the kind of birth in which my abilities will be most utilized. I have also chosen to provide this kind of information because in my own life, I knew quite a bit about all the technology available to aide birth, but I understood and trusted very little in the potential of my own body. So most in most of my posts I'll be passing along the things I am learning.
But for heaven sake, if you are in labor and miserable, don't feel guilty. Get the help you need to make your experience a positive one. Your baby and your husband need you to be there, physically and emotionally.
Sometimes our mindsets about pain and performance get in the way of the body's natural process of birth. Sometimes our body's natural process is to be in labor for many days. Sometimes our own health or the health of our babies are not up to the processes.
We are blessed to have the option of life-saving medical advancements.
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