My Rebirth as a Birthing Advocate- A Dad's Perspective

I wasn't always a birthing advocate. My father was a doctor, my sister is a doctor, my mother and all of her sisters are nurses. Two of my best friends are labor and delivery nurses. I subscribed to the Epidural as soon as possible philosophy, after all that's what my friends told me was the thing to do.

But, then I met my best friend who later became my wife. She is a very special person whose business focuses on pregnancy. She is a specialist in pregnancy massage, a prenatal yoga instructor, and a doula/labor assistant. I remember very distinctly when I fell in love with her. She was called in the middle of the night to a birth. When she called me late the next day after 15 hours of labor, she was absolutely glowing. The energy she gave off was simply amazing. Even after 15 hours of hard work with the mom, she sounded on top of the world. I then decided to do some research on this whole "natural childbirth thing". I read a lot, and I listened to her and other doulas tell of their experiences.

What I found was that the cesarean section rate in this country is abysmal. Averaging over 30%, and in some hospitals and for some doctors over 80%. Why do we feel the need to cut these young moms so frequently? There are also evident trends in socio-economic status with more low income mothers going to the hospitals where the C-section rate approaches 80% and higher.

The difference in having a natural childbirth and having a medicated, intervention filled childbirth is amazing. And you can hear it from the families who are involved. You only need to listen once to a family who has gone through a natural childbirth to feel the difference. It's a wonderful experience, an experience where everyone has the opportunity to bond. Yes there is pain, but the mothers at the end of it don't feel as if the pain was to be avoided. They are proud that they did as nature intended, and they feel stronger, more alive and more of a woman. And the fathers who are active in the coaching role feel that they are never closer to their wife than in this period in time.