The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth: Safety, Simplicity, and Satisfaction Are All Within Our Reach!

All Rights Reserved © 2003 by Laurie Annis Morgan

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

Writers Club Press

an imprint of iUniverse, Inc.

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iUniverse, Inc.

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ISBN: 978-1-469-72779-0 (ebook)

ISBN: 0-595-26546-4

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

1

ANGELICA’S BIRTH

2

MY FIRST BIRTH

3

FIRING THE MIDWIFE

4

BIRTH TRUTHS

5

HOW POPULAR BIRTH PRACTICES HARM

6

ANGELICA’S BIRTH: THE BLANKS FILLED IN

7

IGNORANCE AND MISINFORMATION ABOUT

BIRTH ARE THE NORM IN WESTERN CULTURE

8

WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE ASSISTED BIRTHS?

9

THE DANGERS OF ASSISTED BIRTH

10

HOW CAN UNASSISTED CHILDBIRTH BE SAFE?

11

WHAT CAN AND SHOULD BE DONE TO HELP ALL

WOMEN HAVE SAFE, SATISFYING, JOYOUS

BIRTHS?

12

ADVICE TO WOMEN PREPARING FOR BIRTH

13

THE JOURNAL OF MY THIRD PREGNANCY:

A FRESH APPROACH

END NOTES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

I would like to give special thanks to Lucinda, April, Dawn, Samantha, Rachel, Kimberly, Naomi, and Tammi, and an extra special thanks to Autumn, for all of your efforts and contributions to help get this book in print.

Preface

The birth of a child is undeniably a momentous life event for the entire family, and as such is deserving of critical examination and intense planning. Within these pages, you will find a revolutionary but basic approach to childbirth. The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth is the story of one woman’s journey that led her to the revelation that childbirth can be, and is actually meant to be a pleasurable experience for all parties involved.

Are obstetricians and midwives childbirth experts? How can they be experts on something they never study? Birth attendants are experts on medical treatment, not childbirth, because they never experience birth the way it proceeds without the interference of their prying eyes, eavesdropping ears and meddling hands.

Guided by Laurie’s down to earth exploration of the facts, such dangerous myths are exposed and explained. Parents and their families can find safety and satisfaction in childbirth through simplicity. Rather than claiming to be one more expert to tell you how its done, Laurie’s words will inspire you to look within for the perfect guidance that is already there!

Introduction

As a woman, a daughter, and a mother—a person—I feel very strongly that childbirth is something to be approached with reverence for the impact our choices have on the rest of our lives and those of our children. I was very careful and researched my options extensively before my first daughter’s birth and thought I’d made the best choices possible for myself, my baby, and our family when I birthed with experienced midwives in a free-standing birth center. Even so, I had a vague sense that something was not quite right with that whole approach.

Then during my second pregnancy, I found out about the little-known option of what is sometimes called unassisted childbirth, and my second and third daughters were birthed safely and gently without external interference. This is the story of my journey to reclaiming my own birthright and that of my child—the joy of giving birth unhindered.

The impact birth has on the rest of our children’s life requires that we as parents take full responsibility for our actions. Many people go about choosing a caregiver during pregnancy with the very intention of relinquishing their parental responsibility of ensuring their child a safe birth. Instead, the entire family will benefit when parents take time to find the information needed to make their own decisions.

Have you ever wished that childbirth could be more enjoyable than most women experience it today? Can you imagine that the mental, emotional, and spiritual components of childbearing might have an important influence on the universally-desired end result of a healthy mother and baby? Would you like to experience or help other women to experience a positive paradigm shift in relation to childbirth, for the betterment of all society? Then The Power of Pleasurable Childbirth will move you deeply and revolutionize your entire concept of childbirth.

1

Angelica’s Birth

I started having regular contractions the night before Angelica was born. They were coming five minutes apart for half an hour, so around midnight I called my mom and a friend of mine, to let them know that the big event might be soon. I was thirteen days past due, so I was really ready. When labor stopped immediately after I hung up the phone, I decided to go to bed. I wasn’t having contractions when my husband John got up in the morning, so I let him go to work. Late in the morning, my 22-month-old daughter Christiana and I started the day as usual, getting breakfast and watching a little TV.

Contractions started again, and although they weren’t painful, they were definitely strong, so I called John to wrap things up at work and get home as soon as possible. I looked forward to having his loving attention. While waiting, Christiana and I showered and got dressed. That really helped me to loosen up, because I remembered how yucky I had felt after my first child was born, not having had the chance to wash up beforehand. When John got home around 12:30, we relaxed together on the couch. Johnny breathed with me through contractions and gave encouragement. We prayed together and called family for more prayer and emotional support. I ate lunch, brushed my teeth and generally made myself comfortable. I also began getting supplies ready, like plastic sheeting and linens. I even set up the video camera, which in the excitement we ended up forgetting to use.

When contractions got really strong, I made myself a little nest of pillows to lean on at the end of our spare bed, and told John that it was time to call my friend to come. When she arrived about an hour later, I was in the living room, concentrating on opening up and relaxing my pelvic muscles. I had an overwhelming feeling that if I relaxed enough, the baby would come out too fast. My feeling was confirmed every time I stood up, because gravity would cause the downward pressure to increase unbearably.

While my friend set to preparing homemade chicken soup in the kitchen, I went to my bedroom to spend some time alone. Christiana entertained herself and visited off and on throughout this stage of labor, tenderly lavishing hugs and kisses on me. When transition started, I began to have painful contractions, so I had my friend rub my lower back while John occupied Christiana’s attention. After a few minutes, I became fearful that I wouldn’t be able to handle the intensity of the contractions if this labor continued for as many hours as my first had.

What I didn’t realize was that the baby was about to be born, and that the painless contractions I had been experiencing earlier were those hours of labor. My friend expressed her confidence in me, however, helping me to remember that I could regain control of the pain once I started the pushing phase. After she suggested a few times that it would take the edge off the contractions, I gratefully crawled into the warm bath she prepared. As she vigorously swished water over my belly, labor immediately became bearable and I refocused on my goal—a gentle and painless birth.

A few contractions later, I told my friend that I wanted a break in the intensity of labor, and miraculously, it came. My prayers were answered with a long, contraction-free moment in which I was able to regroup and rest. Soon my body spoke again, now clearly telling me that it was time to push the baby out. My friend wondered aloud how far along I was, so I checked inside and was able to feel the head. A few seconds later, there was a gush as my water broke. While pushing with an irresistible urge, I instinctively turned onto my hands and knees in the tub. An instant later, my friend could see the baby’s head, so she called John and Christiana to come into the bathroom, and I savored the feel of the emerging new person’s head pressing on my fingers.

John came and cupped the baby’s head in his hands, so I relaxed knowing she was safe. With one more contraction and three pushes, Angelica Marie Morgan was born into her father’s hands! She was a bit purple, having birthed through the cord that had been around her neck, but after I turned over and she was resting on my tummy, she quickly developed a healthy color. We all felt euphoric. After wrapping mom and baby in a towel, John suddenly remembered the video camera and began taping. When we announced that the baby was a girl, Christiana, who had been standing by quietly, now exclaimed, Baby sister! Baby sister!

I was triumphant! Pop a cork, I said, I feel like having a party!, as Christiana reached into the tub to gently touch her sister for the first time. Then my friend went to stir the chicken soup, leaving us to have some family time. We had begun making plans to get us out of the tub when Angelica began to root around for her first meal, so I settled back in to nurse my four-minute-old daughter. When she was done, John and my friend helped us out of the tub and dried us off. Still connected to my daughter by her umbilical cord, I walked over and settled us into our family bed. Once there, Angelica and Christiana nursed together.

A few minutes later, I felt another irresistible urge to push, and out came Angelica’s placenta into the disposable underpad I had been sitting on. My friend wrapped it and gently set it alongside us. Later, I cut the cord when both babies were contented, having finished nursing. John started making phone calls soon after, while I snuggled with my two little girls.

By that time the delicious smell of chicken soup had spread throughout the house, so we all happily devoured our dinners while recalling and celebrating the day’s fantastic events. Christiana and I ended the day by sharing an herbal bath while Angelica acquainted herself with her father. I laughed with my friend over the irony, that she had so carefully prepared the herbs to aid in healing my perineum, and I hadn’t even torn. We chose not to disturb Angelica until she was well settled, so it was not until that night that we found out that she weighed 8lbs. 14oz. and a few days later that she measured 23 inches.

You may note that there are a few things missing from this birth story. No one told me when I was in labor. No one checked or recorded my dilation, effacement or station. No one told me when or where to sit up, lie down, eat, drink, or pee. No one screwed wires into my baby’s scalp. No one ruptured her membranes. Angelica was not touched by anyone outside of her family as she entered the world. No one shoved a bulb syringe into her tiny newborn nose. She began to breathe in her own time, while still receiving oxygen from her placenta. She was not taken from me to be swaddled and isolated in a plastic warmer with a pacifier in her mouth. She was warmed under a towel by her skin touching mine, and comforted by a warm breast and her mother’s milk. Angelica was not exposed to the germ-filled atmosphere of a hospital. In fact, the first other place she rested outside of my arms was on her Father’s chest, instead of in an isolette or carseat.

The absence of intervention in my daughter’s birth was fully intentional. I believe in birth, and I trust life. Healthy babies come out when they are ready. I know that babies are meant to be born without anyone putting their hands inside their mothers. Cervixes dilate (or not) even when no one knows how dilated they are. Monitoring heart-rates, obsessing over dates, poking with needles, etc. do not make babies healthy or happy. Good genes, adequate maternal nutrition, high quality prenatal care, and education do that. In truth, most interventions cause stress, inhibit nature, and dangerously increase the need for more interventions. Even the relatively interference-free care given by most midwives often crosses nature’s boundaries. I was quite blessed to have the help of a friend who was truly trusting and aware of these things despite having been trained in midwifery.

It is shameful when technology meant for life-saving is used when it is completely unnecessary. The subtle, unkind interventions that go unnoticed because they are accepted as necessary are just as inexcusable. The violent suctioning of newborns serves as one good example. It is well documented that mucous is expelled from the lungs during birth, and that the rest will drain gently when the newborn is placed on its mother’s tummy. Even when suctioning is necessary, there is still no excuse for treating the newborn roughly. The impact birth has on the rest of our children’s lives requires that we as parents take full responsibility for our caregivers’ actions. Many people go about choosing their caregiver with the very intention of relinquishing their parental responsibility of ensuring their child a safe birth. Instead, parents should take time to gain the education needed to make their own decisions, and insist that birth attendants honor their wishes. Even if that necessitates questioning caregiver’s actions, refusing to allow certain procedures, or actually firing attendants.

You might also think, as a lot of people have, that I was lucky to have only thirty minutes of painful labor. But I know that it wasn’t luck. I planned to birth this way from the start. Before I was even pregnant, I prepared myself by reading about, praying for, and believing in the kind of birth I wanted. I learned about the fear/pain cycle, and through prayer, allowed myself to be freed of anxiety about labor pain. Without involuntary muscular opposition brought on by fear, my body was able to work as it should—quickly and