“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.” — Melinda Gates
I like this quote because it sums up the challenges that a pregnant woman faces in Australia today. I have devoted my career to showing women how to find their voice in the birthing world, and dedicated 2 books and a CD to this effort. Many people would think being pregnant as the ultimate feminine statement which comes with unlimited innate power. It should be but it is not!
HOSPITAL SYSTEM: most birth’s happen in a hospital. We have a a culture that has developed around fear and anxiety, which hospitals and many doctor’s have promoted. A doctor/hospital gets sued, they change their practises and invent another policy to cover themselves, in the event of this happening again in the future. This then promotes fear in the community, doctors/jhospitals focus on risk, and it becomes a vicious cycle. Our hospital system is very broken, with regards to birthing women. The ‘system’ is so huge, so confusing, with so many rules and regulations that everyone has lost sight of the fact – BIRTH IS A NORMAL EVENT! It is not a medical event and it is a very curious thing that the majority of women believe that a doctor (definition: a person who is qualified to treat people who are ill) is the appropriate person to support, guide, and give information/education to them during pregnancy, and that birthing in a hospital (definition: an institution providing medical and surgical treatment and nursing care for sick and injured people), is the most appropriate place to give birth.
THIS IS NOT THE FAULT OF WOMEN! It is the year 2014 and I have never observed so much fear around pregnancy and birthing, as there is today. Yes, ‘times’ have changed. Women have career’s to think about, they are older, they don’t necessarily have the same family support around that perhaps their grandmother had, but having a baby has not changed. It is still the same process, growing, birthing and mothering, as it has always been.
INSPIRING CHANGE! I want pregnant women to know and understand their rights and responsibilites. Pregnancy comes with responsibilities:-
- parenting begins at conception
every choice you make during pregnancy affects your unborn baby - the choices you make are important: where to birth, choosing a caregiver, a doula and a prenatal class will definitely affect how your baby grows and enters the world. It will affect his emotional, physical and spiritual well being.
- TRUST that birth is normal. TRUST that you have an innate birthing power. BELIEVE that you are designed to give birth beautifully and with joy.
On this Internation Women’s Day 2014 I hope that every pregnant woman embraces her birthing power and takes back control of her own birthing body and her baby.
Highly recommended: book an early consult with me to walk through your options and choices, and learn how to shop around so that you make the right choices for you and your baby.
