Dear Folks:
     This is a powerful book. And when the author was interviewed on National
Public Radio, she got negative feedback from both ends of the birthing
spectrum: from the pro-medical model and from the midwifery model. Amazing to
me.
     What might have bothered some people is that her journey to enlightment
about birth did not bring a happy, ending. I found it odd that she had a
second cesarean section, felt better about the second c/s because of her
involvement in the process and her choice of provider, but then went on to
say that perhaps neither cesarean was necessary. This is a very human book,
full of a woman's honest thoughts, conflict, and process.
     I would recommend it to anyone as it will stir up questions and
emotions, which are so important to finding one's path. I am so distressed by
how powerful the medical/profit model has become in this country which is
distorting birth, hurting mothers and babies, and making our work as
breastfeeding helpers far more difficult. It is difficult to bring up the
confidence of a woman shattered by technology, whose baby is retreated into
its shell like a turtle. We can manipulate women into lying down; we can not
do the same for babies. Dr. Nils Bergman from South Africa has created a
wonderful framework for looking at birth and babies. He talks about babies
either being in survival mode or grow mode after birth. The two are
incompatible. An injured baby, or one separated from its mother will release
hormones that will enable it to endure the trauma for a while. During that
time, it will not breastfeed well or act normally. We need our babies to be
in grow mode, with their mothers so they will breastfeed well.
     Why are women putting up with this horror? Why are they lying down? Why
do they plan their vacations more than their births?
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI
craniosacral therapy practitioner; childbirth educator
Elkins Park (a suburb of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; northeastern USA)
supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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