Birth, birth, birth

Lately I’ve been thinking about nothing else but birthing. I’ve done it twice before in very different environments and even though this one is another planned homebirth I can’t say I’m looking forward to labour but I just can’t wait to meet my little one. I believe where you give birth is not as important so much as the care, respect and support you receive in this life-changing event but it has influenced my choice again to homebirth.

Mental preparation I’ve found is so critical when heading into something as physical and powerful as a drug-free natural birth, so in preparation I’ve been absorbing myself in Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth which is such an awesome and inspiring book. For the record it is also based on the best scientific evidence. It’s one of those books you wish you could buy hundreds of copies of and distribute to every pregnant woman you know. It has been an enormous help in preparing me mentally as any residual fear going into birth can often hamper the normal birth process.

I’ve also been learning about the sheela na gigs which are carvings of women with enlarged vulvas found in Ireland and Britain. There is some mystery as to what they were for but pictures of them can be used as visual aids to encourage a woman in labour. An image of a flower opening up can also have the same effect ie on ease of cervical dilatation and low likelihood of tearing. The whole mind/body connection during birth is very powerful.

This time around I’ve decided to enter a homebirth program which has started running in two Victorian hospitals this year. It means the homebirth will be free but unfortunately only available to a select number of women as there are all kinds of conditions and restrictions. As a result many have been critical of the program but I think it’s a positive step in making homebirth a very viable option for low-risk women.

At the same time a new study on homebirth had the media jumping all over it. Interestingly many articles have been written since dissecting the actual study and concluding it as “fundamentally flawed”. One such article has appeared in Crikey.

Here is a fascinating video of a very fast birth - accidentally unassisted!

* Image taken from www.celticsymbols.net/sheela-na-gig.html