News Taffy

When I was pregnant with Corbin, I never even considered a natural child birth. I was scared to death to be pregnant in the first place. The idea that my body was about to be taken over by a tsunami of hormones and my trim physique was about to become a thing of the past was enough for me to get my head wrapped around. But the idea of actually giving birth without being in a hospital with an epidural nearby was not even a remote consideration of mine.

I have to admit that I had always looked at women who wanted a natural birthing experience as being a little crazy. Yes, I was being terribly judgmental, I will admit that. After all, why in the world would you not want to be in a hospital with doctors and nurses at this crucial time in your life? And let’s not forget about all of the pain involved in giving birth! I’m not sure about you, but I like to avoid physical pain at all costs. Speaking from my own experience, I’ve never been as much pain as I was during labor.

So, when I recently saw the film The Business of Being Born, I began to shift my thinking on the whole birthing process. I’ll stop to tell you this…I am not pregnant and have zero plans to become pregnant! However, as I sat in the screening room and listened to mothers like Cindy Crawford, Alanis Morissette and Kimberly Williams-Paisley talk about their different birthing experiences my judgmental thoughts began to fade away. They all had very distinct ideas about how they wanted to give birth. Some of them went the natural way 100 percent. Others started out going the natural route and ended up having a cesarean section. With hindsight being what it is, I also learned that I had no clue about the power I possessed in the process of giving birth to Corbin. I went into the pregnancy thinking that I would do what my doctor told me to do. And that is what I did. I let my own fear and lack of information of child birth keep me from even remotely considering what my options were during this special time in my life.

At that time in 2005, I honestly couldn’t tell you if there was even a working midwife or doula in Craighead County. I also had no idea if the hospitals would work in conjunction with a midwife. Here in New York City, there are hospitals with birthing centers for the women who want to go the natural route and those who want to go a more traditional route with an obstetrician and epidural. So in the event your natural birth doesn’t go as planned, you are still able to effectively deliver your baby in the same hospital. Knowledge and resources are priceless when you are pregnant.

If you are pregnant or thinking about becoming pregnant, I would encourage you to watch the films The Business of Being Born which was produced by Ricky Lake and directed by Abby Epstein. Of course, you should talk to your doctor about ALL of your options as well. I don’t recall even asking my doctor about my options other than when I could have a c-section! Corbin was a week past due, it was one of the hottest Julys on record and I was miserable. The film is a great source of information and insight as to what your options are regarding child birth. I wished I would have watched them when I could have used the information and support. Instead, now six years later, I’m left wondering if I missed out on something!

Keep up with D.J.’s adventure in the Big Apple on her blog at djduckworthyoga.com/blog. Follow her on Twitter @mrsdjduckworth and on Facebook. D.J.’s is also a contributor at themoms.com.

Until next time,
D.J. Duckworth