Today’s birth story comes from Christina Pierce.
“I am a mother of almost six children. Childbirth has been a large part of my life for the last twelve years, and in that time my views have changed greatly. My husband and I started our family when I was only 19 years old. We were newly married and wanted children right away. It didn’t take long before we were expecting our first baby. I read the usual books and went to my OB. Around half way through my pregnancy I started to realize just how big the baby was getting. Fear set in as I imagined what the delivery would entail. Fear and horror stories from well meaning friends and family didn’t help me much. I decided I needed to take a childbirth class to help me calm my nerves. I looked to the bulletin board in my OB’s office and took down a phone number from a business card. Little did I know that I had signed myself up for Bradley Method classes.
My husband and I trotted off to our classes every week. We completed the assignments we were given. I thought our instructor was crazy, but little by little the things she was teaching started to make sense. Before long I was a converted woman with a strong desire for a natural birth.
Unfortunately, the best laid birth plans often go awry in the modern medical establishment. My first child’s birth was natural until the very end when the doctor decided to help things out with some forceps. I laid there holding my bruised newborn while I was stitched back together. Something deep in my mind told me that this was not what Heavenly Father had in mind for his daughters.
The second time around I found a natural minded family practice doctor to attend my baby’s birth. We spent 37 weeks getting to know each other pretty well. Then he did the greatest thing he ever could have done. He had to leave town for a conference and would be gone for a couple of weeks. The decision was made right there and then in my mind that we would be having a homebirth. I went home and called up that Bradley Instructor and got some phone numbers for some midwives.
In just a few short days I had met with a midwife who was ready and willing to take me on as a client at such short notice. We had several meetings. The birth supplies were ordered. The day before my due date I was awoken in the middle of the night by a contraction. I labored comfortably in my own home supported by my husband. Before I knew it I was in transition. A bit of panic set in when I realized the midwife was still fifteen minutes away. My sweet husband calmed my fears. The midwife arrived just in time. In just a few pushes I was holding a warm squirming healthy little boy. My joy was full. Within minutes I was able to shower and relax in my own bed. The difference between this birth and my first were night and day.
Over the coming days my mind started to contemplate the enormity of what I had experienced. I had changed. I was different. I was powerful. I could do anything. It was then that I realized that this is what Heavenly Father meant for us to experience. He wants us to know that we are capable of amazing things. What a better way to create a mother than to give her the opportunity to experience and overcome the difficulties of childbirth. He never said it was easy….He only said it was worth it. I know I am a better mother because I have had the amazing gift of working through the birth of my children myself. I was not delivered by a doctor. I delivered my baby! Satan wants us to think that we are weak….that we can’t accomplish this miracle. I strongly believe that one of his first attacks on a family is convincing women that they do not have the strength to deliver their own babies.”
“Satan wants us to think that we are weak….that we can’t accomplish this miracle. I strongly believe that one of his first attacks on a family is convincing women that they do not have the strength to deliver their own babies.”
AMEN! I loved hearing the strength of your birth experiences.
Wow this really hit home to me! My first was similar to this woman’s experience. I gave birth as naturally as possible in a hospital setting but my heart has always yearned that I too am capable of amazing things, that Heavenly Father wants to bless His daughters with the blessings that accompany the pain of childbirth. Isn’t it wonderful! We are capable of so much beauty when we trust our bodies as creations of the Almighty. We can give birth with power and intense joy! Thank you for sharing!