Birth Shouldn't Hurt.

**Let me preface this by saying I am NOT against c-sections. They can be life saving to Mother and baby and there are definitely situations where they are NECESSARY. Now. Onto the blog!

In our society we are taught that birth is painful, scary even. Look at movies, television, and even stories from women around us. It all portrays birth as a terrifying experience, with screaming, yelling, sweat dripping from your brow, even tears. This was not how I found my birth to be..

I studied hypnobirthing with my 3rd child. And immediately the philosophy made sense to me. The very basic theory in hypnobirthing is that it's our own fear that causes the pain in birth. I cannot put it as eloquently as the book, so if your interested, I suggested "Hypnobirthing: the Monegan Method , A natural approach to childbirth"

While I was reading that book it made a lot of sense to me. If you could not fear birth, but rather, embrace it, maybe it didn't have to hurt quite so much. And I related the information to the two births I had already experience. And I thought. You know... There may be something to this!!!

I think the fear that is instilled in us from various outlets leads a lot of women to want interventions... Pain medication, Epidurals, and even elective c-sections..

Birth is truly such a beautiful experience. And I look back on the 3 births I've experienced with fondness. Especially my waterbirth. I don't know if it was the water birth itself, the hypnobirthing, or the combination of the two. But it was absolutely serene. I won't say I felt no pain at all, but they were closer to sensations than HOLY CRAP OUCH!

It's an amazing thing to feel a child being born, to be able to reach down and feel their head crowning, and feel so accomplished by that. It's amazing. It can give you a high like no drug on earth can. (Okay, I haven't really tried any drugs... But I bet I'm right!)

Women need to take back their power. They need to KNOW they can do it. I get a lot of women who say "Wow! Your amazing for being able to do that!!" No! I'm NOT amazing! The only thing amazing about me is how very very ordinary I am. Trust me. If I can do it- Any woman can. We are women. Even if doctors, literature, and anything else tell us we do not know how to birth. We do. More importantly, our bodies do.

I feel every woman should be able to experience natural childbirth... And even more so- I feel every woman should want to..