Birth Plans Begin

The book on my nightstand is "Your Best Birth" by Ricki Lake and Abbey Epstein. I meant to pick it up prior to my 3rd trimester, but until two-ish weeks ago, I naturally figured that I would do what the majority of mothers-to-be choose, which is to be in a hospital. However, I hadn't thought of the dreams that I chalked up to insecurities and irrational fears prior to creating a birth plan. The dream, you ask? I would go into labor and rush to the hospital. In my dream, there would be a lengthy period of where all was black. I would "wake up", not always in the hospital anymore, and someone would be holding my baby. I couldn't recall what had happened and I didn't remember giving birth. It was as if it never happened, except for the simple fact that I was no longer pregnant and my son was breathing outside of the womb. Even in the dream, I was devastated beyond words that I had missed the birth of my child.

When I was halfway into "Your Best Birth", I've out two and two together. It's not necessarily the fear of the pain of the birth process that gives me the anxiety--- it is the fear of the hospital, and hospital protocols when my labor isn't progressing "fast enough" for them. Despite being such a developed country, American hospital have the worlds second high infant mortality rate in the modern world. In addition, a third of all births are delivered by Caesarean, leaving many women feeling as if it was an unnecessary procedure. {This is generally speaking, of course. Not all women have bad experiences in hospitals, or feel that their C-Section was unnecessary. Because, let's face it, sometimes your plan doesn't work out and a C-section is the healthiest way to go for mother and baby. No one can argue that.} Instantly, when you tell someone who is unfamiliar with birthing centers or home births, they are turned off to the idea, automatically claiming that "They're so dangerous!" If you are high risk due to a number of different factors, then yes, it may be too risky for a midwife to take your birth on. However, if you are a seemingly healthy, non-high risk patient, there are endless possibilities on how to make the birth of your child your own.

Interesting. Women in the Netherlands, for example, do not necessarily fear the pain of birth. For them, it is a natural process. Rather than fear the pain, they prepare themselves on how to manage it with the help and support of their birth team. Stress causes labor to be stalled, so these women focus on staying calm. With the right amount of research, considering and planning, I'm finding that a home birth or a birthing center is what is best for me, assuming that nothing comes up that would cause alarm in the next 3 months.

That being said, I am going to look to find birthing centers in Columbus, and hope to find one. Per the book and other sources, freestanding birthing centers that also have authority in a hospital {if something were to go wrong, or I found I couldn't handle the pain like I had thought} are scarce. Perhaps after my research begins, I may find that I don't have much of a choice. I'm praying, though!