Birth matters

I love that statement. Birth matters. Birth is a HUGE event in a woman’s life. It brought you into this world. Ask a woman about her birth giving experience and see if she doesn’t give you an earful! Birth can be life changing – for better or worse.

I’m amazed at the lack of education when it comes to birth. I am an RN that worked in Labor and Delivery and yet there was SO MUCH that I didn’t know before my twins were born. My eyes were opened when I first watched The Business of Being Born (and then later my eyes were opened even WIDER after watching More Business of Being Born). It made me sad that I hadn’t explored my birth options. I guess, having worked as a Labor and Delivery nurse, I thought I knew what it was all about. The sad thing is that I was trained to physically monitor mom and baby, administer medications, and take orders – not how to help a woman get her baby out! Sure I was there for a bit of palliative care and to be my patient’s advocate. That didn’t help much when I didn’t know all of my patient’s options!

I’m frustrated at the fact that hospital births with so many interventions have become the norm in the US. How long have women been having babies again? Yes, I know there used to be a much higher mortality rate but still. Shouldn’t there be some kind of common ground between the science of western medicine and the experience and tradition of the midwife?

I’m not here to tell you what to believe or to tell you what kind of birth you should have. I’m here to give you some places to go to educate yourself about your options. Because you need to know that it is important to question the necessity of induction and c-section. I didn’t NEED to have a c-section. Unfortunately, I was too uneducated and scared of one twin causing birth injury to the other to push for a vaginal delivery. If only I could turn back the clock!

This Labor Day I participated in a national rally for change, driven by ImprovingBirth.org. It was wonderful! Our location included other Labor & Delivery nurses, birth educators, moms, dads and children. (We had at least 3 twin moms there!) Please take a moment to read up on the many important birth related topics at ImprovingBirth.org and like their Facebook page HERE.

Here are some photos from our local rally in Ventura, CA. (Of course I had to sport my Cloth Rocks shirt to advocate for two causes at one time! If you have any problems viewing the slideshow below, refresh your screen.