Lies About Childbirth We’ve All Been Told

What do you know about childbirth? Well, if you’ve been through it, you’ll have a pretty good idea, but if you ask any woman who has yet to have a baby what she knows about childbirth you are probably going to hear things like; “…it happens in a hospital “it hurts…” “…you need drugs, injections, doctors, nurses…” “… it can go on for days…” “… it’s dangerous…” “… you can DIE!!” Where do we get this from? When you stop and think about it… we never really get properly educated about childbirth. And yet, it has the potential to affect half of the global population. Instead of there being a conscious effort to educate women about childbirth, we are left to our own devices to absorb whatever happens to be passing in the wind. And this usually means that our main sources of information are places like:

TV shows & movies They want DRAMA!!!!! A hospital scene with loads of doctors and nurses in white coats and masks fiddling with beeping machines is just that – DRAMA! Filming a mum quietly giving birth at home by candle light with her husband holding her hand, and a midwife knitting in the corner is not exactly dramatic material. And yet, that was pretty much what one of my births was like. The other one wasn’t that dissimilar except the midwife wasn’t knitting. School We’ve all been there girls! Sat at school being made to watch THE VIDEO. You know, that hugely dramatic childbirth one… the one with the screaming woman, blood everywhere, hospital scene the one that was etched into your brain that put you off kids for life.. yeah.. that one! Now I can ‘t help wondering whether the objective for schools “educating” teenage girls about childbirth, is probably going to have prevent teenage pregnancies higher on the list than educate/demonstrate how childbirth CAN BE. Well, it worked for me anyhow… the idea of kids pushed firmly to the back on my to-do list. In fact, I’m speaking to a lot of mums right now who have had positive birth stories and one thing keeps coming up; they don’t often get to share their story. It seems that when it transpires that they had a great birth, that other women are not interested in hearing their story. Or if they do get a chance to start sharing, they aren’t well received so they keep it brief and then decide not to share next time, or they play it down. Some have even been cut-down while sharing their stories, while others are accused of gloating. Like, seriously! And all this FROM OTHER WOMEN! And so all we’re left with are tales of pain, trauma, drama and “NEVER AGAIN!”… how tragic. Where does all this lead us to believe (WRONGLY!) about childbirth?  Of course, it’s not an intentional thing, it’s just where we find ourselves. Through the various sources of information that we are typically exposed to that help inform us on childbirth, it can be fairly safe to say that the overall picture is not a pretty one. There are some consistent lies about childbirth that we’re being fed and they are coming right up…. The 3 lies about childbirth that won’t go away Lie #1: Labour and childbirth WILL be painful This seems to be a given, and non-negotiable fact. WRONG! There are many women who give birth and don’t find it painful. Just search this blog for positive birth stories to find other women’s accounts of their positive pain-free births if you like (I’ll be adding more to this as time goes on). There are many cultures where pain isn’t automatically assumed to accompany childbirth, it’s mainly a western thing. And let’s not forget, animals aren’t in pain when they give birth either and that’s because they’re

Lie #2: Childbirth is a medical situation This is why most babies are only born in hospitals, right? WRONG! Pregnant women are not ill. They are not suffering from a medical condition that requires medical attention. Unless they are suffering from a medical condition that would still require medical supervision were they not pregnant. Lie #3: Childbirth requires medical assistance Childbirth needs an army of nurses and doctors to be present as well as some scary-looking medical machines and instruments. And the woman giving birth is going to need a whole host of medical aids – drugs, artificial oxytocin, epidural injections, forceps etc because she just can’t do it on her own. AGAIN – WRONG! Women are perfectly capable of giving birth unassisted by these artificial and medical interventions. If there’s any help and support the woman needs, it’s emotional support to help her feel safe, secure and loved… it’s this that keeps labour progressing naturally at a pace that she and baby can handle. The minute we mess with that, we disrupt nature’s ability to just get on with it and do what it knows so well. What is so sad about all of this is that as women we are conditioned since our school days that childbirth is not something we can do on our own, but that we need help with it. Medical help.