Natural Birth, Bradley Birth Method, and Doula Information
Dagmar’s momsense is a fun, helpful blog. She is dedicated to helping make motherhood a little less scary, and she is committed to community. ~ Mama Spaghetti
I gave birth to my son naturally — without drugs and much interference from medical staff. I attended a 12-week Bradley course, paid for a well-trained Doula, labored for nine hours at home and had L after only 20 minutes in the hospital.
We were discharged seven hours later and took our baby home to get to know and bond with him on our terms.
I would love for other moms to have the same empowering experience I had when giving birth to my son without the help of drugs. If I can do it, you most likely can do it too!
Here are a few resources that will help you on your own journey and help you decide which kind of birth is right for you.
Natural Birth Information and Resources:
Choices in Childbirth — Non-profit organization that strives to improve maternity care by helping women make informed decisions about where, how and with whom to birth. Through education, outreach and advocacy, we provide information to the public about women’s rights and options in birth.
My Best Birth — Ricki Lake’s wonderful website about natural birth information and much more. She produced the eye-opening movie The Business of Being Born
NYC Doula Services — Affordable, experienced, low-fee doulas
Circumcision:
Please get informed before making such a monumental, life-changing decision!
Great resources: Neonatal Circumcision, Take Your Whole Baby Home and Are You Fully Informed? and by Peaceful Parenting
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
You have provided some excellent information. Thank you for sharing how fantastic it is to be fully present at the birth of your child. Women need to be fully informed before making decisions about birth, parenting, breastfeeding and circumcision.I was a doula myself and had two natural births; one hospital and one home birth. I found your blog from another site and absolutely love it!
come feb 12… its going to be my turn, my first baby and im scared to death!
wow! i am amazed! nowadays only very few women want to give birth naturally. i for one would not like to give birth naturally, i heard it is very ver very painful. i have very less pain threshold so i think i should get epidural. i cant bear pain. i envy you for your strength…
It’s interesting to hear about a combination hospital and natural birth since many think it must be one or the other. And I have to agree with your stance on circumcision. We left our son intact for the simple reasons that circumcision seemed like an unnecessary unpleasant welcome to the world and because my husband comes from Europe where it’s not common at all.
Congratulations on making the right birth choice for you! That is truly empowering!
Hypnobirthing classes and Bradley classes really work. We had our first 2 in the hospital but natural births. The nurses had never even seen a woman give birth without drugs and were freaking out which didn’t help me. I had our last at home and it was the most beautiful experience.
When I got to the hospital I was ready to push and they could tell. One nurse’s comment: “You trying to do this naturally?” They were not amused. I didn’t care, I got the birth I wanted — no unnecessary interventions, I had him after 20 minutes, and we were out of there after 7 hours. If I had another one, I’d definitely have the baby at a birth center or at home.
you guys are amazing! seriously.
It still shocks me that so many women are having to have c-sections these days. I loved the Business of Being Born…what a great movie.
I know this sounds crazy…I’ve worked in education for quite some time…and I do wonder if there is a correlation between births that have medical intervention and autism.
I know they found a correlation between Pitocin and ADHD.
Just makes you think, ya know?
Wow, yes, that makes you think…
I think every woman should be able to give birth how they see fit without much intervention. Pregnancy is not an illness. That being said I had an epidural with a difficult delievery.I dont plan on having anymore kids, but if I do, I think I would prefer the drugs for myself. I have a very low tolerance to pain on any level.
Great info! I used Hypnobirthing (Marie Mongan) for all three of my births at two different birth centers. Wonderful experiences. I encourage women to educate themselves about the birthing process and their choices and make whatever decision fits them and their family.
Love your ENTIRE blog and am so excited to follow!
Thank you for this. I wanted to have my daughter naturally, but it was very difficult to find any support in my city for it. I gave up fighting the system because I thought I must be wrong, or else it would be easier. I’ve since learned through blogs and such that you just have to fight for what you want. Thank you for these resources. When I have another child, I want to be able to do it naturally.
I too gave birth to both of my children naturally (however, I stayed in the hospital for 2 days)… it was the most gratifying and empowering experience ever! I try to encourage other women to do the same – I wish more doctors would support it more…
Check out my stories:
http://www.believingboldly.com/2010_06_01_archive.html
http://www.believingboldly.com/2010/06/birth-of-anna-claire-part-2.html
Love your blog! I’m glad to hear that you had a good natural childbirth experience. I plan on delivering my girl naturally this winter but I’m honestly scared and feel completely unprepared! Thanks for sharing about the Bradley Method I’m going to check it out. I have also heard good things about hypno birthing. I get anxious when I think about it so I put of researching methods but I need to get on the ball!