Baby Bumps and Blessings:

The Making of a Mindful Maternity

To prepare for baby number two I’ve been reading child birth books and I just finished A Midwife’s Story by Penny Armstrong and Sheryl Feldman.  The book shares Armstrong’s journey to becoming a midwife to Amish women.  The women’s stories are amazing to me, though to Amish women they seem to be a natural part of life.  They keep up with their daily activities almost until labor begins and deliver at home.  In some stories everything works out perfectly and in others there is sadness and loss.

For me, the book was inspiring.  I wanted a natural birth in the hospital with my first child and it didn’t go the way I had hoped.  My labor slowed down and I was given pitocin.  After the delivery I had the complication of an inverted uterus,  so my natural birth required various medications.  Reading stories of women laboring at home without drugs was inspiring.  They also readily accepted the challenges that accompany childbirth.

I could envision the women laboring at home in different birthing positions.  One woman talked about how during her first baby she was laying down and it didn’t go so well, so she asked her mother and her mother suggested that next time she hold onto the buffet.  So, the second time she held onto the buffet, and that worked well.

These birth stories inspired me to believe in the strength of women everywhere to listen to their bodies and give birth in a safe, comfortable environment.