Active Birth is a term coined by Janet Balaskas, author and founder of the modern Active Birth movement. The idea of Active Birth was introduced in the late 1970’s, but it is not a new idea. In fact, Active Birth is the way women gave birth throughout most of modern history. According to Balaskas, around three hundred years ago, doctors changed the way women birthed from the active role the mother played in her own birth to the more passive role of patient that continues for most women today. The Active Birth movement and center founded by Balaskas in London … Continue reading →

In yesterday’s blog post, I talked about the impact your choice of hospital has on your birth experience. The other part of the picture when you want a natural birth, free of interventions is the health care provider you choose to attend your birth. Your health care provider has a big impact on your birth experience. In many hospitals, you can have a doctor or midwife attend your birth. Choose a provider that is supportive of natural birth and won’t use interventions unless medically necessary. Doctors are very different in their approaches to labor and birth. Some are quicker to … Continue reading →

Many mothers and most proponents of home birth would argue that the current medical model of maternity care in the United States makes it difficult to have a natural birth in the hospital. Interventions are so routinely used in some hospitals that it is almost impossible to make it through the birth without any. However, with some planning it is possible to have the birth you want. The two most important factors in having a natural birth in a hospital setting are the health care provider and hospital in which you will deliver. In the first part of this blog, … Continue reading →

There are many benefits to natural birth. One of the benefits of drug free birth is freedom of movement. When drugs are given, many hospitals restrict the mother to the traditional hospital position of lying on your back, or the newer semi sitting position for pushing, throughout labor and birth. However, this is often not the best position for birth. This position is the most convenient for the doctor attending the birth and nurses doing exams, but is not the best for mom. When women are free to get into the most comfortable position during labor, they rarely lie down … Continue reading →

Proponents of natural child birth have long maintained that giving birth naturally results in better bonding with baby compared to c section births. In fact, women choosing VBAC often cite this as one of the many reasons for making this choice. Mothers who have had a c section may disagree with these statements, but recent research is adding credibility to this long held belief. Researchers at Yale School of Medicine looked at bonding in mothers and babies with the method of birth. Women were divided into two groups for the study, one group having had vaginal deliveries and the other … Continue reading →

In the United States, c section is often performed as a matter of choice for women. When a woman has had one c section, doctors sometimes offer a choice between VBAC and a repeat c section. In many cases, doctors pressure women into the repeat c section. This is often done because doctors worry about uterine rupture, which is a rare event. What few doctors do is inform their patients that having repeat c sections may limit the number of children they can have. Repeatedly cutting and stitching the uterus greatly increases the risk of uterine rupture in subsequent pregnancies. … Continue reading →