My Desire For a Natural Birth

*Disclaimer:  The opinions and ideas presented in this post are strictly my own.  I have no desire to convince anyone otherwise but merely record them for records sake.

I have mentioned many times in my weekly updates my desire for a natural childbirth.  I know in today's age of advanced medical care I may not be the norm.  I'm not saying in any way that the advances in the birthing realm aren't for the better.  Now a days we have ways to control pain, turn breech babies in the womb, and deliver healthy babies (and moms!) via cesarean section when things go awry.

My desire for a natural childbirth comes from a lot of personal research.  I feel that by avoiding drugs during my labor I am giving my child the best start she can have.  I believe that she will better be able to bond and breastfeed shortly after being born which is one of my greatest desires.  

Choosing to avoid drugs also comes with a bit of a fear of having a needle stuck into my spinal chord.  Yes I know that they don't leave the needle in but it still makes me nervous.  Despite my health background, my flight or fight response is a bit heightened and I'm afraid that I may react more than the average individual.  Although I haven't experienced pain worse than the average bruise or knick, I am confident that my will to endure labor will overcome the pain.  As my doula puts it, "I will be putting my big girl panties on."

Having a natural labor, to me, also means avoiding any type of "intervention" whether this is pitocin to speed things along or forceps help deliver the baby.  To me this seems to be a slippery slope.  If you are induced it usually leads to painful and fast contracts, this can lead to little time to relax between them and a mother begging for pain relief, pain relief can then slow things down, and eventually you could end up in the OR.  Yes I understand this doesn't happen to everyone but I'd rather not see how I react in this chain of events.  Its not a road I want to travel down.

Lastly and most importantly (to me at least), I feel God created my body to do this.  To bring children into this world. And Lord willing, I will do that very soon!

Having said all that, am I thankful that we have these medical interventions available if something goes wrong on delivery day.  YES!  I want the best care for my child and myself and if that means an emergency c-section then that's where I'll be.  BUT Lord willing we won't be there and will be able to have the birth we desire.