So...I finally watched the movie that my brother and mom had been asking me to watch for like 6 months. It's called "The Business of Being Born" and it's about having your baby at home with a midwife instead of in the hospital. I have to say to my mom and brother, go ahead and get your "I told you so" s out of your system now :) It was amazing; I'll admit it.
I've heard a lot of stories and information over the years about women's experiences in the hospital while giving birth. Some have been horror stories about complications they've had and how the doctor saved their lives. Some have been, well, plain stories about going to the hospital, getting induced and getting the epidural as planned and going home with the baby two days later. Some have been positive--the woman went to the hospital and 2 hours of labor later the baby slipped out with no help at all. Some stories have been a little more negative about the doctor's response to doing things the natural way. I've always wondered why it's so rare to hear about completely natural births. I would hear about women who were in labor for "too long" and got drugs to quicken the process--which in turn made them need to get more drugs for the increased pain, or which led to needing to get a c-section. I've heard about tearing that can occur and about the controversy over cutting before hand... I've heard about nurses and doctors who pressure women in to having drugs given to them even though they don't want them. I've heard about women planning c-sections on specific days so that they're vacations don't get messed up.
I've never considered that having a baby at home could be a safe alternative to all the confusion and pressure that can happen at the hospital. Especially with my own "woman" problems and my family history. Actually, I've never really even considered that having a home birth could be safe for ANYONE really. I've always felt a little weirded out by all the drugs, scheduling, surgery, and separation of the mother and child that cam sometimes happen at the hospital, but never thought that there was any other way. I never really even let myself think question whether there was another way--I just felt weird and scared about having a baby and mostly about the question about using drugs. Whenever I've thought about actually having a baby, the question that always arises is whether or not I'll have drugs and get an epidural. Why is that the first question? And why do people always assume that I'll end up having them anyways, even if I plan on not? I've always felt like I'd leave that decision for when I'm actually pregnant, seeing as I have no idea what it will be like or how I'll feel at the time...but you know, I think I DO know. After watching that movie, I think it might be okay for me to think about all my options even though I'm not pregnant--even if people think I'm stupid and know nothing about being pregnant. Every time I've talked about not using drugs during labor with women who DID get an epidural by choice, they always seem to look down on me or treat me like I don't know what I'm talking about since I've never been there. ... I guess that's true... But I still don't feel like it's completely right for me to PLAN on doing things I'm not comfortable with.
Do women not have the ability to birth babies anymore? How come my great grandma was strong enough to have her baby without being numb from the waist down, but I'm not?
So after watching this movie, I really gained a lot of respect for women who seek out and learn all of their options before just doing what the doctor says and having a c-section with their first baby, or getting an epidural before they feel any pain. Even if a woman ends up deciding a hospital is the place for her, I would hope that she would at least consider her option to feel the birth. I've gained a lot of respect for Sarah, my sister-in-law, and my brother for making the decision they thought was right for them and having their baby at home.
I can feel myself wanting to learn more about all this natural birth stuff. It's funny thinking about just those words together--natural birth. Before yesterday I still considered natural birth to be in a hospital with my legs in stirrups with the doctor and his salad tongs at the ready...Now those words have a much broader meaning to me. I'm glad I have the chance to learn about all my options long before we have a baby. Who knows when we'll have one, but I intend to get a lot of answers on all this in the meantime.
You should watch the movie. Or go to their wesbite. Or look them up on Facebook. You'll most likely learn something new.
http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com
This is my favorite subject in the entire universe! :D
ReplyDeleteI work in the hospital in Maternity at IMC, and when I was pregnant I worked at Dixie Regional in Maternity as well. My whole pregnancy I said that I wanted to go natural, that I at least wanted to try. I bought 4 books on different methods of natural birth as well. And I really wanted to give it a shot. But I also said that I wasn't opposed to an epidural because I had no idea what labor felt like. The two biggest problems I had was 1) there were no classes in St. George on natural birthing and 2) going natural was so uncommon that the nurses aren't trained as well on methods to help me through it. I did end up with one and I'm ok with it now because I learned what it really meant to enjoy the birth.
There are several things to consider. Sure you may enjoy the labor more if you get one, but you will enjoy the right after you give birth more if you don't. I've seen it. The moms that come up after having a natural birth I have noticed are a lot happier. They seem more excited where as the epidural patients are more, I would say, content. Also, if you plan on a natural birth and you don't follow through it is important that you don't feel like you've failed yourself. I worked myself up for it for so long that I felt like I cheated and the moment he was born I felt like I had a harder time bonding with him because I just felt like I didn't try hard enough for him. Which was stupid because I worked hard for 9 months to carry him!
One last thing. If you do decide to have a baby at home make sure that you trust your midwife's knowlege! Make sure that you know that in an emergency he/she would be smart enough to know when to send you to the hospital! I have seen emergencies first hand and they can be VERY scary! Just the other night a mom coughed and blood clots went ALL over the bed! She was white as a ghost! A nurse that I worked with said she had a patient who's blood pressure started to drop and she started talking about a light and the nurse said "DON'T GO TO THE LIGHT!" haha! She survived thank goodness. The most important thing to consider is that giving birth is one of the closest times you will ever come to death. But it is TOTALLY possible to do it at home! Just make sure there is a phone near by if you need to call 911! :D