How I Learned to Embrace My Labor Pains
Forget everything you've ever seen on TV or in movies about women in labor. PLEASE do this for youself!
I've had all five of my children at home naturally. Compared to my awesome midwife, who is about to have her tenth and has assisted in hundreds of other women's births, I know nothing.
But what I do know is this: Labor pain is different from any other pain life gives you. Labor pain will not harm your body. In fact, if you allow it to do what it is supposed to, it will reward you. You can learn to train yourself to interpret this pain as pleasure.
Last One First
a boy born at home without assistance
I had been blessed with four somewhat uneventful births, and progressively easier as well. My husband was extremely supportive and believed in me all the way. I consulted with my midwife, who is also one of my best friends, and read all of Ina May Gaskin's books on midwifery.
What I loved most about birthing at home with no one in attendance but my husband, was the freedom to let absolutely everything hang out. Birth can be a uniquely sexual experience if we let it - and this goes a long way toward reducing the sensation of pain.
Essential Books
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth
Amazon Price: $11.56 (as of 10/06/2008)
Spiritual Midwifery
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 10/06/2008)
Husband-Coached Childbirth : The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth
Amazon Price: $10.88 (as of 10/06/2008)
Unassisted Homebirth: An Act of Love
Amazon Price: $19.95 (as of 10/06/2008)
Unassisted Childbirth
Amazon Price: $25.15 (as of 10/06/2008)
Recommended links
- NaturalECO
- Organic products for you and your baby
- Bornfree!
- Laurs Shanley's THE Unassisted Childbirth Page
- Little Honey's Herbs
- Herbal and homeopathic remedies for mind and body
Blog Posts from Google
Read what others are saying
- Is Unassisted Childbirth Safe? You bet it is!
- Whilst googling around today for the uses of colloidal silver after reading an extraordinarily infla...
- Is Unassisted Childbirth Safe? You bet it is!
- When someone from the Pentagon chooses unassisted childbirth, it makes you wonder, ?just what has...
- Book Review: "Unassisted Childbirth" by Laura Shanley
- Unassisted Childbirth (UC) refers to homebirth at which there is no doctor or midwife present. The U...
- Washington Post Examines Practice Of Unassisted Childbirth In US
- Helain Landy, a high-risk pregnancy specialist who chairs the ob-gyn department at Georgetown Univer...
My Third and Fourth Births
two girls born before the midwife arrived
I cannot speak highly enough of Dr. Bradley's amazing book, Husband-Coached Childbirth. While I've never taken a Bradley class and couldn't speak to the "method" as a whole, this book is what started me on the road to understanding how natural the birth process is. Which is the first step to rising above the fear. And pain.
More Essential Reading
On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant The Gift of Nighttime Sleep
Amazon Price: $17.81 (as of 10/06/2008)
How to Raise a Healthy Child in Spite of Your Doctor
Amazon Price: $7.99 (as of 10/06/2008)
