Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Birth Blues

I am so excited about the upcoming workshop in Italy. I hope that this will be the beginning of something really special for the women who will be attending.

I have the birth blues today because I have been talking to several women who feel sad about their birth experience, even though they did have a doula with them.

One woman felt that her doula was so against the epidural that she didn't call her until she had already been in labor for almost a day. She was afraid of her doula's anger.

Another woman had a natural birth in a hospital, but she was bullied by the attending nurse the whole time she was actively laboring.

I was at a birth the other day and I felt that my knowledge of the birth process was almost getting in the way. I felt the attending resident was trying to prove how much she knew, and was intimidated by my presence.

The doula needs to be rebirthed. She needs to go back to her original companionable self: the hand-holder, the friendly presence,  the holder, the invisible woman.

5 comments:

  1. It's a pity so many women have to go through such experiences at birth. How did we get here, to this kind of hospital and this kind of birth? Wasn't there any other way to ease that little and much loved being into the world? Why so much unnecessary pain?

    I'm so happy you're going to be there to hold my hand and make me feel safer. I don't think you can ever become invisible, but it doesn't matter: having you and Alex walking the way with me makes me feel excited about what is to come. Thank you :o)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's a pity so many women have to go through such experiences at birth. How did we get here, to this kind of hospital and this kind of birth? Wasn't there any other way to ease that little and much loved being into the world? Why so much unnecessary pain?

    I'm so happy you're going to be there to hold my hand and make me feel safer. I don't think you can ever become invisible, but it doesn't matter: having you and Alex walking the way with me makes me feel excited about what is to come. Thank you :o)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It's a pity so many women have to go through such experiences at birth. How did we get here, to this kind of hospital and this kind of birth? Wasn't there any other way to ease that little and much loved being into the world? Why so much unnecessary pain?

    I'm so happy you're going to be there to hold my hand and make me feel safer. I don't think you can ever become invisible, but it doesn't matter: having you and Alex walking the way with me makes me feel excited about what is to come. Thank you :o)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It's a pity so many women have to go through such experiences at birth. How did we get here, to this kind of hospital and this kind of birth? Wasn't there any other way to ease that little and much loved being into the world? Why so much unnecessary pain?

    I'm so happy you're going to be there to hold my hand and make me feel safer. I don't think you can ever become invisible, but it doesn't matter: having you and Alex walking the way with me makes me feel excited about what is to come. Thank you :o)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's a pity so many women have to go through such experiences at birth. How did we get here, to this kind of hospital and this kind of birth? Wasn't there any other way to ease that little and much loved being into the world? Why so much unnecessary pain?

    I'm so happy you're going to be there to hold my hand and make me feel safer. I don't think you can ever become invisible, but it doesn't matter: having you and Alex walking the way with me makes me feel excited about what is to come. Thank you :o)

    Luna.

    ReplyDelete