Embracing Birth
Rediscover the birthing instinct with childbirth educator Ellie Lee.

Women giving birth in the United States today have to navigate within a politically charged and changing climate for childbirth. The safety of midwives versus obstetricians, and the safety of hospital birth versus home birth are just two arenas in which emotions weigh in along with verifiable statistics and documentation. Add to that the recent increase in cesarean sections, the almost epidemic use of epidural anesthesia, and the climate of fear about childbirth which is propagated by the media in popular television shows, and you have a recipe for confusion about what constitutes safety and intelligent protocols in modern childbirth in America.

Childbirth is a powerful rite of passage. It has the potential to transform women in very deep ways when experienced fully, without the deadening effects of anesthesia, lack of privacy, and misuse of medical technology. Childbirth is sacred. It is the gateway for a new soul to enter life on earth. It is the gateway for women to begin the tumultuous journey of motherhood. The way the events of birth unfold profoundly affect how a woman perceives herself as a mother, and her sense of confidence and empowerment as she cares for her baby. Pam England, in her book "Birthing From Within," is astute in identifying the fact that modern women need two kinds of knowing. The first and most important is what she calls "primordial knowing," the innate capability of women to birth their babies, which modern women have, but "must rediscover and trust." The second she calls modern knowing--"being savvy about the medical and hospital culture and how to give birth within it." This discernment is equally important for women planning to give birth at home, since the possibility exists for hospital transport during labor.

Most women in the Unites States do not have the benefit of a circle of "wise women" and experienced mothers to advise them, encircle them, and inspire them during pregnancy and labor. For this reason, doulas and childbirth educators play an important role during the season of childbirth. They can be pivotal in helping a woman explore her beliefs or fears about birth, helping her to visualize and prepare for birth, and being a wellspring of knowledge and comfort during birth itself. They can help women connect to that primal birthing instinct inside her, and help her to make confident choices regarding birth technology, drugs, choice of birth place, and choice of care provider.

Birth is not just a natural biological process of the female body. It is also a fundamentally sacred and loving act. When women can fully embrace their fears, their confidence, their pain, and their intensely feminine power, they will give birth not only to a miraculous baby, but also to a newfound sense of strength that will be their ally in all the years to come of caring for their child. Ultimately, the way women and men bring their children into the world contributes to the healing of this planet in a very simple but powerful way: through love.

Ellie Lee is an Asheville childbirth educator. For information about her Embracing Childbirth class series, she can be contacted by phone at 828-254-5707, or by email at ellie-lee@mindspring.com.

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