I have to admit, I'm kind of surprised that my daughter would turn out to be a big proponent of natural birth. I was a part of the hippie generation, and going natural was rather a fad and both of my ob/gyns were reisigned to this and hospitals made an effort to accomodate women's wishes. But going natural today flies in the face of conventional wisdom. Most women have the notion that labor and delivery should be entirely devoid of pain and see no problem with asking for drugs. Doctors and hospital are thrilled about this and more than eager to comply and everywhere you turn, you hear the fear. Not fear of being cut open, or taking drugs to dull the senses and what it might do to the baby, as was my fear, but fear of the natural process of giving birth. I figured that God made me, my body, and gave me the ability to carry a child and deliver the child and then nourish it throughout it's infancy. Call me naive, but it worked out splendidly.
Kelsey, my daughter, had her firstborn in a hospital. Her wishes were to have a natural childbirth, but the professionals got in the way. As soon as we walked in the door, the staff was in control. Kelsey was made to lie down, endure a catheter, told not to eat or drink, was hooked up to every kind of monitoring machine and then when things didn't move along (surprise surprise) fast enough for them, they gave her drugs to speed them up. That caused more pain so they gave her drugs for the pain. Brent and I stood on the sidelines, not really necessary except to give Kelsey our love. It was an agonizingly long labor and so hard on my sweet girl.
In her second pregnancy, Kelsey researched natural births and gained a lot of helpful information, including hiring a doula to assist through labor and to be an advocate at the hospital. What a difference this made! Kelsey labored at home with the doula and Brent and me, arriving at the hospital with only enough time for the doctor on call to catch the baby. It was comical to see the staff running around with their forms, but with not much to do. It was over before they go started! This experiece gave Kelsey the confidence to go for a home birth with baby three.
When Kelsey went into labor for her third child at one o'clock a.m., she counted contractions by herself and tried to sleep in between until 6:00, not wanting to wake anyone unnecessarily. The midwife and her doula arrived about 9. They were wise enough to let Kelsey make the calls. Clearly, Kelsey was in charge, not a doctor, or staff. If she wanted to walk, she walked. If she was hungry or thirsty, she ate and drank. Sometimes she sat with all of us, sometimes she just wanted to be alone or with her husband. When things got tough, we were there for her to lean on and cry on and to pray for her. We all felt like an important support team for Kelsey. At 1:44 p.m., our little Iris made her appearance, surprising us all. We knew the time was close but not that close! The long dance was over at last. Kelsey cried tears of relief and joy.
Now for the real work, raising the children, and that is also painful at times. But children are a blessing from the Lord!
