Welcome to

Session 2
The Birth Empowerment Course
of

with Krystal Trammell, of www.BirthinginConsciousChoice.com

Session Two
Empowerment thru knowledge:

Questions to ask yourself...

Where has the majority of your knowledge about childbirth come from, thus far? health care provider? family? The internet? Books? Your Friends and

Can we trust each

source to fully and correctly cover the things we need to know, and to be unbiased in presenting that information?

How does the body of knowledge you currently hold about childbirth

make you feel?

Whether you've given birth before or not, there's a good chance that you could benefit from learning more about birth. Many childbirth education programs, especially those offered by hospitals, tend to focus a little too much on what interventions you can expect to have...

...and not enough on how your body will be likely to behave during a normal pregnancy, labor, and delivery. (More on this in a video!)

Is there a nagging curiosity that you might not have been told the whole story? Curiosity is an excellent starting point. In order to allow an idea or concept such as pain-free, joyful childbirth to take root - to trust it, to let it run away with us - we must first be aware that its even a possibility. Many simple, gentle practices that have the potential to be very beneficial to the pregnant and laboring mother are never utilized, simply because she and her care providers aren't aware of them - or perhaps had heard of them but dismissed them as not worth the trouble for whatever reason.

Holistic treatments and approaches are usually either regarded with benign curiosity or frowned upon as an interference - by health care practitioners.

I have seen hospital nurses be very intrigued by and supportive of the use of Reiki energy healing (which involves focused intention and often the laying on of hands) in the midst of active labor but I've also seen health care practitioners be annoyed by or dismissive of the mere mention of having a doula present. It's wise to chat with your health care provider about these sort of things. You can bring up certain topics in a general way first, to gauge his or her responsiveness to alternative therapies or, you might wish to explain right from the start exactly how you envision this birth going. Your care provider's opinion of what you bring up for discussion is somewhat less important than his or her willingness to listen to your opinion. If you can't have an open conversation on equal footing with your care provider now, during pregnancy, then how much worse will he or she treat you during labor - ? - when you may be cranky, exhausted, and not up for being assertive about your needs and feelings.

Most holistic therapies, to include homeopathy, vibrational medicine, massage, & acupressure, are not at odds with conventional care, even (or especially!) when there are preexisting health conditions or complications within mother and/or baby. Holistic approaches to pregnancy and birth are easy to integrate into mainstream medical care. They can be helpful in many ways, not the least of which is allowing for the birthing woman to take a more active role in her babys birth. In other words, the addition of many holistic therapies to an existing model of care poses no potential for harm, and tremendous possibility for healing.

"If

a doula were a drug, it would be unethical not to use it," ---Dr. John H. Kennell

Mechanized, Standardized Childbirth:

In order to understand and fully appreciate why we need to reclaim the process of normal, healthy pregnancy and birth from the medical establishment's standardized norms of today--we first need to be more aware of how and why these so-called norms came about. The story is long, convoluted, and not terribly pleasant. In ancient times, all the way until very recent ones, women gave birth among women.

Somewhere along the line, things changed...

Birth:

It's a party, and you're playing hostess!

Through time immemorial, mothers-to-be sought out advice and help from trusted sources: elder women in their community, their own mother or grandmother, midwives

and healers, etc.

As they approached their

birthing time, they would be surrounded and supported by females within their community. They may have labored alone or with the help of other women but it was almost universally common for women to experience thorough and unwavering community support and care, both before and after delivery. Our modern culture values independence to the point that many women don't feel willing or able to ask for help when they need it, and this puts incredible pressure on the pregnant mama to do it all. Between keeping up with meal prep, older children, household responsibilities, and anticipating the influx of visitors who may or may not be truly helpful to have around when baby's here, it can feel like the last weeks of pregnancy are akin to planning a party: it's all on mama to sort out every detail and accommodation when really, it's mama who should be relaxing, being doted on by loving,

supportive friends and family members. Please, use the N-word (NO) liberally and ask for help often to avoid finding yourSelf in this sort of situation! Women and families are more isolated in modern culture, and too often, we are subconsciously indoctrinated to equate asking for help as a sign of weakness. In our zealous praise of self-sufficiency, we've lost our connection to and respect for community. Wishing for genuine, heartfelt support without guilt, manipulation, or strings attached - during a time of major upheaval and change in your life does not mean that you're weak. It means that you're craving a level of human companionship and rapport that used to be common in our ancestor's times. Modern culture is full of illusions one of which is that we're all independent, without need for each other. The truth is, we're still human, and no woman is an island.

Whatever happened to it takes a village to raise a child? Community support, whether from friends, neighbors, family, or church, can make a tremendous impact on how well a couple adjusts to new parenthood whether it's their first baby or their seventh.

Birth is like orgasm usually easier to achieve in private.

Like the warm-blooded mammals we are, despite our modern technology and sophistication - our bodies are still primal vessels, physiologically wired to give birth in the instinctual way that humans have done so for thousands of years. Most people who are familiar with the birthing process - whether certified health professionals, or simply regular folks who have experienced their pet cat having kittens - understand that In lieu of any major health concerns, the process unfolds best if left alone.

We are still mammals, after all. Even a vague awareness of a woman's anatomy will make it clear that giving birth on one's back is working against gravity and lying on one's back is universally a posture of exposure and vulnerability. No one would consider flipping a cat or horse upside-down to give birth, in the midst of bright lights shining, with people anxiously chattering all around it, coming in and out of the room. It seems that most people know better than to interfere too much with birth in the animal kingdom and yet, it's still regarded as a mystery as to why so many birthing women are diagnosed with failure to progress when their labors are interfered with. It's seldom considered that the interference is whats causing labor to fail to progress in the first place.

Childbirth as Product Creation:

The industrial model of efficiency and congruency does help a great many things but in applying that model to an organic, dynamic process such as birth, the essence of individuality + an element of humanism is lost. There is a VERY wide range of what constitutes normal in labor and birth but many health care providers have been trained to view birth as needing to fit within a more and more narrow spectrum of normal in order to be considered safe. Take, for example, the concept of a 40week pregnancy. How was it even determined that a human pregnancy is supposed to be exactly 40 weeks long? Through looking at averages of positive and negative outcomes over time. The ACOG (American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology) itself defines a normal

pregnancy to go between 37 and 42 weeks. Pregnancies can and do end earlier and later than that, of course, but the majority of positive outcomes happen between 37 and 42 weeks. Before that, there's a danger that baby's lungs aren't yet developed enough to breathe independently, and after that, there's a chance that the placenta will start to deteriorate, and baby won't get adequate oxygen/nourishment from it in utero if pregnancy continues. So, if 42 weeks is within the norm, why do so many women get pressured to induce when they hit 40 weeks? Care providers want to minimize their liability, and an induction is more convenient than waiting around on call for another week or two. They know that most women at 40 weeks are already supremely uncomfortable and eager to meet their babies, and sometimes they use these facts as leverage to encourage induction. Is induction in the best interest of both mother and baby? Not always.

Unless you are absolutely sure about your date of conception, your due date can be off by as much as two weeks or more, especially using ultrasound dating past 10 weeks of gestation. So you might only be 38 weeks when you're being induced for being overdue at 40 and five days... Our bodies are not assembly lines, and our babies are not products. birth. There is no need for extreme, cookie-cutter uniformity in Minimizing risk is important, but we are deluding ourSelves if we believe that exerting the maximum amount of control over our body's natural processes is going to categorically make birth safer. It's just not so. Even worse, its not only the mothers experience which has been mechanized. Since before recorded time, seclusion, hushed voices, warmth and safety have been key elements to the birthing process recognized as beneficial for both mother and child.

Through our well-intentioned modernization of childbirth, the infant once welcomed with reverence, in solitude, is now commonly emerging amidst loud voices and beeping machines; cold air and gloved hands; lain onto hard surfaces, pricked, poked, and prodded; with bright artificial lights and a flurry of disconnected noise and activity around him as he cries. Upon closer scrutiny, many of the common newborn procedures are useless at best, and detrimental in a lasting way at worst. They interfere with bonding and breastfeeding in the crucial first hour of life, and many are more beneficial to the completeness of your care providers charts than to the wellness of your infant. We'll discuss much more about birth from the newborn's perspective in Session 7... but for now, simply consider skin-to-skin contact, delayed cord clamping, and generous opportunity to breastfeed as extremely important to both mother and baby, both physically and psychologically.

From midwives to men

Did you ever stop to wonder why the lithotomy position (flat on ones back, legs cocked up) is the favored position for giving birth in hospitals? It has nothing to do with the health, ease, or comfort of the woman in labor - and everything to do with the convenience of the health care provider. Yes, let that sink in for a moment. The comfort of the laboring woman is placed second, beneath the convenience of her doctor. This is, unfortunately, just the tip of the misogynistic iceberg in a modern, medical birth scenario. The relatively recent idea of women reclining on their backs to give birth - against the force of gravity - was conceived of by a man: French King Louis XIV, in the 17th He apparently enjoyed watching century.

women give birth, but was frustrated by the

lack of a decent view because of the positions in which women naturally gravitated to while in labor. He actively promoted the use of male childbirth attendants instead of females, and was instrumental in advancing the patriarchal affront against midwives.

Voyeurism and abuse of power by men thus had a profound impact on the history of childbirth, and still influences the obstetrical profession today. Starting with the decrees of King Louis XIV, there began a systematic and deliberate usurping of womens autonomy with regard to birth, which was arguably the only sovereign rite of passage they still retained at the time. Of course, womens rights have been advanced strongly in other arenas since then; yet birth - perhaps the single most defining event of womanhood - still, paradoxically, remains largely under the control of men.

Even things as simple as the required vaginal exam at each prenatal appointment can be construed as a faint reminder of who holds the power, who is in charge when a woman steps foot into her OBs office. There's a video discussing more about vaginal exams in this session's materials but the least you need to know is that no one, for any reason, has the right to require you to submit to a vaginal exam. They're not as necessary as many providers make them out to be and your body is your own.

The shifting definition of normal birth As recently as the mid-1800s, obstetrical texts were written for the physician or family doctor, who had scant training in childbirth yet attended home births, before hospital birth became the norm. These books made frequent and common mentions of a womans body doing unexpected things such as stopping labor for hours or even days, directly after the arrival of a person she did not feel comfortable with entering the room

(often the physician himself!). These physicians' texts often referred to the knowledge of midwives, who may have had decades of experience serving laboring women, but were no longer encouraged to attend births due to anti-midwifery policies and the shifting of cultural norms. At this time, very little in the way of modern obstetrical interventions were even available. Without the use of ultrasound technology to determine fetal positioning, babies were birthed in all sorts of positions, and unexpected twin births were not unheard of. The rates of complications in those times were of course higher than they are today; obstetrical technology and skill is a wonderful boon that saves many lives...

However, its worth noting that the physicians of yesteryear were trained in managing and accepting a wider range of factors in childbirth than they are today.

Their definition of a normal delivery necessarily included things like breech birth, delivery in water, all sorts of birthing positions, and labor stopping and starting repeatedly over a period of days or even weeks. Modern obstetricians consider these Ironically, sort of things to be risk factors that necessitate a surgical delivery. modern physicians now lack the experience and training that their colleagues of yesteryear were skilled in, so our culture's concept of normal childbirth continues to narrow as time goes on.

What constitutes natural childbirth?

Natural childbirth has been defined in a variety of ways: as birth without pain medication, without any drugs, without an episiotomy, or having had a vaginal delivery. Clearly the definition of natural childbirth has changed over time, and the term is used to mean a variety of different things among both women and their care providers. Thus, a natural birth is no guarantee of a positive

or even a healthy experience for either you or your baby. It's certainly not some sort of competitive sport! Birth empowerment does not necessarily go along with a birth that could be called natural, and the emotional and mental peace and autonomy that we seek as human beings is going to be better served with a conscious, empowered birth, even if that means having a few (or a lot of) medical interventions. badge of honor to strive for, or a

Creating a list of things to avoid is going to be less instrumental in securing a peaceful, positive birth experience than your state of mind, your emotional outlook, and your level of participation in the decision-making process of labor and birth.

Birth is more an emotional than a physical experience I deeply believe this to be so, even as physically demanding as birth can be!

We are conditioned by society to think that science trumps nature, and that if we just measure and track everything accurately enough, that we can take ownership of and control all processes of the human body, including childbirth. This line of thinking does have some truth to it - but it fails to account for the human element. Call it spirit, quantum physics, the placebo effect, conscious co-creation, or anything else you like - but as we reach a point in our collective knowledge where science and spirituality are starting to merge, its getting harder and harder to ignore the effect that our thoughts, emotions, and beliefs have on the substance of the world around us, even including the inner workings of our own bodies.

People who believe they are in excellent health generally are likely to have better health than those who believe they are in very poor

health.

While its obviously not a direct

correlation, we are finding more and more evidence to support the view of subjective, rather than objective reality. Our beliefs and thoughts do influence our reality.

Techniques like affirmation, visualization, prayer, or repeating of mantras help - if for no other reason, it's because we believe they will help. One simple practice you can try is this: Every time you catch yourself thinking something thats negative, self-defeating, or rooted in fear, you can consciously replace that thought with a positive one. It takes only seconds to do, and even if it feels like nonsense at first, just consciously holding the

intent to improve your thought patterns will

Protecting and preserving a positive, serene, trusting emotional state is of the utmost importance during pregnancy. It is just as important as feeding your body nourishing foods, and getting enough rest and exercise - if not even more. Going into childbirth feeling powerless and full of apprehension is simply not in the best interest of you or your baby but it's absolutely within your power to shift those feelings. Get clear on what you want, decide what you believe is possible (be positive but realistic), and dont hesitate to ask for what you need. Health is a function of holistic self-care and is inextricably linked to the emotions; its not just a hopeful end-result of correct external inputs.

What do you expect of your body? Where have you gotten these expectations? Look into which interventions are most likely to cascade into things youd

prefer to avoid, whether that be a Csection, epidural, mother-baby-separation post-birth, etc. Discuss the use of routine interventions with your care provider make sure you're aware of his/her expectations as well as your own Dont discount your feelings here, either. Sometimes answers dont come in as many words - and mothers intuition does begin in pregnancy!

EXPAND your conscious awareness of what is possible.

~ * ~

That's all for this eBook!

concepts in this session, make sure you try the rest of the session 2 resources before you move on to session 3. out the printable worksheets, and complete

To further explore the techniques and

Wishing you a peaceful, powerful birth!

~ Krystal