Here’s what we talked about in Class #1:
- Your vision for your birth
- Pain vs. suffering (yes, there is a difference)
- Pain coping strategy #1 – Breath Awareness
- The anatomy of the pelvis/uterus/cervix/placenta
- Laborland and the Stages of Labor
- AND…..
FEAR
The big one. At least for me. I keep thinking that so much of the tough stuff in labor and delivery and postpartum can be attributed to fear. We thought a lot about why we are afraid. Of what? The fear can’t serve us.
I have realized that my relatively low level of fear has a lot to do with my expectations. I watched the dramatizations of birth on TV like most of us did, but I was fortunate to have someone providing a stronger influence on my beliefs about birth.
My mom was the one who had me convinced there was nothing to fear. She birthed 3 babies. The first was born under heavy epidural anesthesia in a 3rd world country. She describes that she had no feeling, but also no control. She did have a lot of fear and vomiting. She went away from that experience with the intuitive knowledge that what had happened was not the right way to do it for her. She is a hardworking and mild-mannered woman from a large conservative Catholic family. She was one of 7 children, so there was a lot of birthing going on, but not a lot of discussion about it.
Her next 2 babies were born her way in a hospital in the United States. She always made it VERY clear to me that the pain was not the scary part. It was almost irrelevant. What was more difficult was having control taken from her. After having my babies, I would agree. But, I believe that my positive birthing experiences were due at least in part to my mom’s guidance and assurances.
My hope is that more women can share their positive feelings about birth with other women. With enough of this, we can help diminish the halo of fear surrounding childbirth. Our expectations might change. It can be beautiful. Even when it’s not perfect.
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