Thursday, October 9, 2008

The Business of Being Born

About a week ago my good friend, Paige, recommended a documentary for Jeramie and I to watch called The Business of Being Born. It's all about utilizing natural birthing methods and being monitored by a midwife/doula vs. an OB. There were many parts of this film that I really connected with, and others that I didn't feel so strongly about. I would suggest that any woman who's pregnant, has been pregnant, or plans to become pregnant, watch this film and form your own opinions about it all. There's definitely a lot to take in!

Many of you have probably heard me talk about my desire to have as natural of a birth as possible. Now, this doesn't mean that I plan to leave the care of my OB and set-up shop in my bathroom, but I am very interested in going the non-medicated route. Long story short, I took a class in college that really challenged the way that I thought about giving birth. What I learned then has really stuck with me and is very present in my thoughts now that I am getting ready to go through this.

I've gotten many different reactions to my "birth plan" and it seems as though most people view my desires as a way of trying to be "more of a woman". Very few seem to understand my true intentions and thoughts. It's not about being better than anyone, prideful, or even ignorant. I just believe that, as women, our bodies were built to handle this. If, for some reason, we can't then we're very blessed with modern medicine to help us along.

I definitely have a lot to think about over the next few months. I feel as though this film has awakened all these thoughts at once, and now I'm working to process it all.

In other baby news, I felt our little one move for the first time tonight! I'll be 18 weeks tomorrow, and we go on Monday for our big ultrasound. I'll be sure to post an update after our appointment!

2 comments:

Kim Smith said...

Due to circumstances beyond my control (i.e., Palmer deciding that he was ready to enter the world rather abruptly), I had a natural birth with him and I plan to do the same thing this time around.

It really wasn't as bad as everyone says but, then again, I was only in labor for 3-1/2 hours. But I'm a fan of the "au natural" way of doing things, having gone through it myself.

Mandy said...

Joye I would like to hear more about that movie or watch it myself. Maybe I will ask Bernie to request it again :). Glad it gave you a lot to think about! Labor is very different for everyone and everyone you talk to has a different view!

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