Sometimes we accept there is a time to intervene in a particular birth. Cesareans are a life saver; but should not be a lifestyle. Major surgery has its own set of risks, including injury and even death. Most cesareans are safe today, but involve anesthesia, incisions, blood loss, and too often, infection. Many births are now managed with cesarean surgery even before labor begins!
Some labors do need to finish with a surgical birth, but most don’t. There are benefits to the birth process in the mind and hormones of mother and child. Please give labor a chance. A baby gets more preparation for breathing and living in air if labor was part of the journey, even when a cesarean was, too.
Together, we can reduce the tide of surgical birth and return birth to the mother’s own abilities.
Wondering if the search for physiologic birth is worth it? Project yourself to a year from now, will you be able to reflect that you did everything you could to be aware, to grow, and to become the mother you hoped to be? Take the time to learn. Fetal Positioning and body balancing are rather new concepts, so don’t expect a doula, nurse, or even your doctor or midwife to tell you “all you need to know.”
The most important thing is love.