“Natural” Hypocrisy

While walking down the hall of labor & delivery in a local hospital recently, I noticed a bulletin board with a calendar grid.  In each block was a number, indicating how many babies were born that day.  There was a disproportionately large number of babies born on weekdays as compared with weekends and holidays.  Why do you suppose that is?  Of course, I came to the same conclusion that you likely have envisioned just now: labor induction.  I became sad for the babies who didn’t get to choose their birthdays.  My heart broke for the moms who now believe there is something wrong with their bodies since they didn’t go into labor on their own.

I am like the other midwives, doulas, childbirth educators, and consumers of their services who are critical of modern obstetrics.  The natural birth community spends a lot of time shining a light on the ways modern obstetrics is failing women and families.  Let’s face it, there is much need for improvement!  Unnecessary interventions are a huge problem. In the case of induction, however, the natural birth community is not much better than the obstetric world.  We criticize the rampant hospital inductions out of one side of our mouth and prescribe “natural” induction remedies out of the other side.  Are we suffering from a mild case of hypocrisy, maybe?  (By the way, there is nothing “natural” about induction.)

I wish I had a dollar for every time I have seen a question posted to a facebook group or in an online forum asking about “natural” labor induction.  These women are tired.  Their backs ache.  They want to hold their babies.  They have passed the 37 weeks mark, so what is the harm in giving nature a little nudge?  So, the advice flows liberally. Everything from herbs, homeopathics, essential oils, certain foods, and castor oil to acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic, energy work, and having a midwife sweep the cervix are offered as ways to end the endless pregnancy and help a momma’s dreams come true.  But, isn’t that the same thing these OBs are doing?  Our bag of tricks may contain different remedies, but aren’t we doing something similar to what we get so irritated at the docs for doing?

Twenty years ago, women who chose midwives and home birth did so because they trusted their bodies and their babies and didn’t want the natural progression of their pregnancy and birth to be interfered with. We just didn’t see so many healthy pregnant women desiring to end their pregnancies early.  It was an unusual situation for a woman to need to “give nature a nudge” back then.  That has changed gradually over the years and I believe it is because of the big emphasis on 37 weeks being considered “full term” causing women to feel that there is something wrong when a pregnancy lasts more than 40 weeks.  My friend Cathy, a seasoned midwife, remembers the day when many women would go beyond 41 or 42 weeks and not be a bit concerned about it.

Now, I do understand that, in some situations, labor induction is necessary and the safest, smartest thing to do under the circumstances; but we are not talking about those situations.  We are talking about the normal, healthy, low risk moms and babies.

What message are we sending when we encourage labor induction of any sort?  Are we telling women that their bodies are broken?  Are we undermining their trust in Creator God?  Are we suggesting that God blinked and missed the opportunity to send them into labor at just the right time?  Are we reinforcing their need to trust people over God?

I would like to encourage any expectant moms who are reading this to let all the tension surrounding going “post due” to melt away, to trust God, and enjoy these last days of your pregnancy.  You will hold your baby soon.

And, I beg and plead with everyone else to stop the hypocrisy and resist the temptation to give labor induction advice or help unless it is one of those rare situations where it is truly needed for the health and safety of a mom or baby.

Let’s not be so quick to take matters into our own hands.  Let’s help women regain their trust in God and His design.  By not participating in unnecessary inductions, we will shout to the world that women’s bodies are designed to perfectly carry and birth their babies without intervention.  Women need to know they are fearfully and wonderfully made by a loving God who has their best interest at heart in EVERY area of their lives, even in determining their babies’ birthdays.

Blessings,
Kristin Schuchmann, CPM, LM
Executive Director, Charis Childbirth, Inc.
 

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Contact Us Charis Childbirth P.O. Box 6900 North Port, FL 34290 www.charischildbirth.org  Kristin Schuchmann ~ Executive  Director Cell (941)441-6410 http://happyhealthyliving.wordpress.com/ Susan Oshel ~ Director of Midwifery Studies Look us up