But why...?

That is a question I often get when I tell people that we're planning on a natural childbirth for Newbie. "Why? when you have the option of NOT being in pain?" Either that or a "good luck" or a "more power to you, but that's crazy." Not EVERYONE is dubious of this choice, mind you, but maybe it begs some explanation.

No, it's not because I'm a no-drug, no-anesthesia loon. And no, it's not because I'm a bra-burning "I am woman hear me roar" type of gal (though after I go through it, I may become one, so watch out). It's a bit more complicated than that. It really comes from not wanting this birth experience to be a "medical" one and wanting it to be a "natural" one. Natural in the sense that this is a normal experience, not something that is a condition for which I need treatment.

But as we've been going through our Bradley Childbirth classes (and here's a link if you want to know about that: http://www.bradleybirth.com), I've also started to desire a level of consciousness of the experience. I believe that a natural birth will allow me to be PRESENT during the process. Yes, it will hurt. But I won't be hooked up to a monitor with an IV in my arm and a catheter both in my spine and in my nether regions. I will be able to move around. I'll be free. Who knows...I may get a bit of the animal instinct and do crazy things like squat or be on all fours.

Crazy? Hardly--it's how women have given birth for centuries until the medical profession decided that it was easier for THEM if a woman delivered a baby on her back. I think those doctors skipped out on their physics classes and have forgotten that gravity is actually a universal law. Being on your back is not likely to bring a baby DOWN. I learned that birthing chairs (they look like broad-bottomed toilets, but without the water bowl beneath) were common practice until the late 19th century. Take a look at this picture of a chair, a feature of a Science Museum in London. Hmm....sitting in a chair is awfully close to squatting--just easier on the legs.

But being PRESENT is something I also associate with yoga. Yoga is not about escaping the body, tuning out sensations, and just getting a workout (though I've been to some yoga classes done to rock music that would certainly make you think so). It's about tuning IN to the body, listening and feeling for sensations that might have another message associated. A good yoga practice should feel like cherishing your body as well as exploring its limits. With a natural birth, I feel there is more respect for the body and what it can do. Rather than conquering the body, numbing it from the waist down, I am willing to try to let my body conquer my mind.

Our choice has also been driven by where we've chosen to have the birth--a Birth Center, where certified nurse midwives manage all of the prenatal care and are the actual people delivering the baby. No "maternity ward" with shift-changes and doctors on and off call. But real women who only deliver babies for a living and who have lots of tricks up their sleeves for letting a birth happen. Here's an interesting fact--the true emergency c-section rate in the world is about 1 percent, whereas the c-section rate at the hospital where I would have given birth is 50-60 percent. I think I've just defined "medical intervention."

Okay...I'm ranting and I haven't even gone through this yet. I'll be the first to call myself a hypocrite if the experience goes south. But I guess I just wanted to clear the air on the whole "why natural" question.