Pregnant in America.

I'm a huge fan of the Business of Being Born. I waited months for it to finally come out on Netflix and finally had the chance to watch it when I was 5 months pregnant with Noah. It really moved me. I truly believe the best and safest place to give birth in a normal low-risk pregnancy is with a Midwife, either at home or in a free-standing birth center.

I wanted desperately to have a Home birth but the only Midwife in our area didn't accept our insurance and paying out of pocket just wasn't possible. Then, at 30 weeks I almost switched over to the nearest birth center in Knoxville, but being over two hours away and being my third baby. I was worried things would move too fast and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in rush hour traffic in labor. Or worse delivering on the side of the road! Guess it was a good call, labor was only a little over two hours long from the first contraction until he was born. We were only at the hospital 22 minutes before I had Noah. My Doulas who were coming from Asheville got there about 10 minutes after he was born.

The C-section rate is ridiculously high. I personally know far too many women how have them because their Doctor tells them this is what is best, that their baby is too big, that their pelvis is too small. That they have failed to progress. That it will just be easier that way. Most babies genetically are the perfect size to fit through the mother's pelvis. Rupturing the membranes, administering Pitocin and constant fetal monitoring are all standard in today's hospitals people don't even react to it anymore. Women are taught that labor are birth are something to be feared. Even in standard hospital birthing classes, at least the ones in my area. Very little time, was spent on relaxation techniques, such as Lamaze, the Bradly Method or Hypnobirthing. It's all about the hospital procedure, and what would qualify you to get a C-section. They passed around an epidural catheter and scalp electrode so everyone could see what they looked like.

I have had three very different births all in a hospital, two were natural, one a standard hospital delivery, with an Epi, Pitocin, Stadol, rupture of membranes, fetal electrode monitoring... the works!
When I asked in my last labor to walk around when we got to the hospital the nurse looked at my husband like we were insane. Luckily the labor was lighting fast and I didn't even need to. But I never realized the first time going into a hospital most times you will have to fight for a natural delivery. I would love to see a birth center in our area one day. Better yet a Doula available to any laboring or postpartum Mom who needs/wants one free of charge if you can't afford it. I know there are many amazing Doulas out there who work on a sliding scale and even provide services for free. Unfortunately not where I'm from.

I used to dream of working as a labor and delivery nurse. The more I learned about OB practices and hospital practices, the more I realized it would be the worst place to be if I wanted to see natural birth. Hospitals just aren't a good place for low-intervention natural birth. I would love to one day be able to participate in the birthing process, as a Doula, or maybe as a Midwife's assistant through a birth center or home birth. I have yet to see this movie yet but it looks amazing. I can't wait to watch it.

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