Page 133 - Push Back

more than 50 million times in America in the last 40 years. More babies have been aborted in
America than there are people in Canada, and more than twice the population of Australia.

Many women who do have babies are opting to escape the pain of childbirth by having medical
procedures such as C-sections, or epidurals (spinal blocks). Science is only now coming to
understand the changes that take place in a woman’s body as she undergoes the stress and pains
of childbirth. There are chemicals produced, and an interchange with the baby, that effects its
future growth and well-being. Babies who are born through natural childbirth are on average
healthier, and even have a greater bond to the mother, than those born by C-section or with the
use of pain drugs. As you read through the following, I invite you to be alert to the spiritual
parallels within the church.

Natural childbirth, also known as un-medicated birth, has many hidden benefits that more
women of childbearing age should be aware of. In our society, giving pain medication for labor
is so normal that most doctors assume a laboring woman will want it, and most mothers-to-be
expect it. In fact, depending upon the hospital and region, pain medication rates are as high as
90 percent, with the vast majority of women choosing an epidural.

Generally, if there is a way around it, most women try and avoid the pain. Why be a martyr and
suffer needlessly they ask? And that is exactly how I used to think right up until I got pregnant
with my son. I always assumed I would just get an epidural. Like other women, I was terrified of
the pain and I never even considered delivering naturally until a friend, who had given birth
naturally, began listing its virtues.

Despite being in the natural health field, I had not really heard much discussion regarding the
benefits of avoiding medication during labor. In retrospect, I should have made the connection
since an epidural is a drug, and most drugs have side effects. However, the fear of labor pain
was simply too strong to allow me to entertain any other thoughts. Yet, when I started to do some
research on my own, which included reading books on midwifery and talking to women who had
chosen natural childbirth, I started to realize there was another side to the story.

Due to the medical institutionalization of birth in North America, most women forget birthing is
a natural experience that, in most cases, does not need medical intervention. Women have been
delivering babies naturally for millennia. It is what our bodies were designed to do. Of course
the reality that pain is involved in the process cannot be ignored. For this reason, the vast
majority of women choose pain medication...

Let’s look at the main reasons many women choose to have a natural childbirth.

Labor is Often Shorter

Epidurals and other pain relieving medications often lead to a slower delivery. Pain medications
often interfere with the body’s natural way of laboring and can slow down contractions. This
increases total laboring periods. In addition, women often do not feel their contractions and do
not know when to push. By not pushing at key times, or with adequate strength, they are not able