for this moment. The weight of her baby on her belly helps her uterus contract and expel the placenta. Baby stays warm in his mother's arms. Baby knows just what to do to survive in the world he has entered. He is awake and looks around. Within seconds or minutes, he has his hands in his mouth and is smacking his lips. Unpressured, he slowly but methodically crawls to his mother's breast and self-attaches. As he nurses, his mother's uterus contracts, insuring that bleeding will not be excessive. The two greet each other unhurried, confident, and unpressured. Together, over the next hours and days, they will get to know each other and fall in love.
Nature's Plan
For all of its simplicity, nature's plan for birth actually requires a fair amount of flexibility. Each mother and each baby are different. While the anatomy and physiology are standard, how each labor and birth proceeds is fine-tuned through the active involvement of the laboring woman. All through labor, her body tells her what is happening and helps her discover what she needs to do to help. The active involvement of the laboring woman is a critical piece of nature's plan for birth, and it is the least understood. The hard work of labor is not meant to be accomplished alone. Changing position, avoiding exhaustion, and staying adequately nourished require assistance. So across the world, women giving birth are supported, encouraged, and comforted by family, friends, and professional birth attendants. Giving birth as nature intended is not “biting the bullet and letting it happen.”
The “Everyday Miracle” section of the Lamaze video, Celebrate Birth! (2000), is an excellent resource to use in your classes. It shares several women's experience giving birth naturally. The commentary highlights the simple story of natural birth. Women are confident, working very hard, supported, and encouraged. “I can do that!” is the exclamation I hear every time I show Celebrate Birth!
In your classes, it is important for you to emphasize that natural childbirth is not about suffering. It is about having the freedom to find comfort in many different ways. Choosing to give birth naturally does not mean that interventions will not be needed or that complications will not occur. Nature's plan for birth includes pleas for help when help is needed. Choosing natural childbirth means that women prepare for the birth of their babies confident in their own ability to give birth, being willing to feel contractions, and finding comfort in response to what they are feeling. It means that they will be surrounded by family, friends, and professionals who will encourage them to trust their inner wisdom. It means that wherever they give birth—hospital, birthing center, or home—they will have the freedom they need to respond to their contractions.