Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Birth Matters

Birth Matters. The first time I really came across this concept was as a blinkie in some siggies on the OS website. I didn't even get what it meant at first. Then I figured it out and rolled my eyes. Whatever. It's just a bunch of natural birth freaks. Yep, that was my mindset going into my childbearing years.

Growing up, the thing that stuck out in my mind was the terrible experience my Mom had during my oldest Brother's birth. It was a military hospital, flat on her back, no pain relief and I'm guessing no support. The next morning at 6am, the nurse woke her up to do exercises. She also had to change her own sheets. It's amazing the impact a story can make. I mourn for the positive birth experience she never had yet fully deserved.

I look back and am amazed at how much has happened and how much I have changed. I've been pregnant 4 times and given birth 3 times. I've gone from one extreme to the other. I've gone from wanting to choose a c/s to dreaming of a homebirth. I've gone from trusting doctors to possessing a very deep steated aversion and mistrust of them. I've always heard that having children will change you forever but I never fully grasped the full depth of the comment 'till I had children. I never knew that the pregnancies and birth would play such a large role in that change.

So many people say that a healthy child is all that matters. I disagree. A healthy baby is certainly the most important thing; however, it's not all that matters.

Birth matters too.