The Today show had a segment called 'The Perils of Midwifery' last month which caused lots of controversy and plain anger among people who are advocates of midwifery, home births, etc.
After watching the segment, I thought about my own story. I was in labor for 9 hours, my water was broken for 18 hours and the baby was just not coming down. I spent 9 months praying for a natural birth, confessing what I wanted and secretly rebuking any woman who told me to keep my options open. When birth day came, I needed an emergency c-section and this video was a reminder of the other side of the story.
I still think that natural births are awesome. I think that nature should run its course and intervention should be avoided if it all possible. I also know that technology and advancements in medicine have helped me to have a beautiful baby son. I can't imagine the pain the couple in the news story is experiencing. They were due around the same time as my son was born, so that really hit home for me. I can't imagine getting ready for a baby you already named, bonded and was eagerly waiting to welcome just to realize the baby passed away. My heart goes out to that couple. The most powerful part of the story to me was when she said she'd have hundreds of c-sections other than going through the pain she's experiencing now.
It will be interesting to see what kind of birth experiences I will have when we have more children. At the end of the day, I think that each person makes the decisions that are best for them. I made my choice and I am happy with it. I also think that if someone strongly believes in natural births, they should follow their hearts. I have friends who are scared of them so they opted for c-sections from the get go and everything turned out just fine.
I thank God for the beauty that birth brings, no matter if it's natural, induced, c-section, etc. The joy of holding God's gift and caring for a child is worth everything you go through during pregnancy. Motherhood is a gift.
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