Kathy and friends,
I find it so frustrating that women do not see the value in a normal, drug
free birth. I was on a letter writing compaign for about 2 years, requesting
Oprah do a program on normal birth. I will include the letter I wrote
below. I handed these letters out at professional conferences, even got
Lamaze International to post their own letter on their website.
Unfortunately, she never did respond.
I believe in the power of birth. It is such an incredible experience. The
difference in the newborns is amazing. They are so alert. I would do it
again in a heartbeat. It is a day in our lives, yes it hurts, but the joy is
so worth the pain. In my mind, raising children is far more difficult and
painful at times. It is just so difficult to compete with the doctors,
anesthesiologists and even the nurses.
Anyway, that is my rant for the day. Here is my letter, comments are
welcome.
Warmly,
Roni M. Chastain, RN, LCCE, FACCE
Long Island, New York
Dear Oprah,
You are such a powerful voice to our nation, I am requesting that you
present
a show on Birth is Normal. By the power of agreement women were made to
believe that birth is painful and drugs are necessary. Human beings are the
only species that believe in that theory, every other mammal in our
universe,
just goes into labor and delivers their baby. They weren't told that birth
is painful. Women make noise in labor and may even scream, this was
interpreted as pain. I'm suggesting this was an inaccurate interpretation,
that women scream, and birth is pain, power and intense hard work, hence
the
word labor.
To empower women to labor and birth their babies, unmedicated, empowers them
to have a huge bond with those babies. Think of it in terms of a marathon
runner, they prepare for the race, run 26 miles, experience the fatigue,
pain
in their legs and feet from running, but reach the finish line with an
overwhelming sense of accomplishment. If someone on the starting line said,
"Listen, I can give you drugs to put you to sleep and you can wake up on the
finish line." Do you think that person would have the same sense of
accomplishment about finishing the race?
If we empowered women to labor and birth their babies, their attachment to
those babies might be so much greater. Animal mothers are so protective of
their babies, they would die to protect those young. Human beings don't
always have that same sense of attachment to their young.
I think it's time to empower women to believe in their bodies, to fully
support them in this process with encouragement and provide the skills to
birth their babies and to nourish their young. Every other species of mammal
has that right, let's give it back to women.
Thanks for your time.
> I think it would be wonderful if someone would develop a form of epidural
or
> IV pain-reliever that didn't slow down labor, didn't result in a sleepy
> baby, etc. I'm not opposed to pain relief when it is needed. But no one
> will ever put any effort into developing alternative pain relief drugs
> until
> the anesthesiologists and labor/delivery doctors and nurses and parents
(1)
> acknowledge that current medications have adverse effects on breastfeeding
> and (2) decide that breastfeeding matters.
>
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