Beware of Hospitals If You Want a Natural Birth and Success at Breastfeeding

I was lucky that I ended up taking a Bradley method birthing class with my husband that was taught by a wonderful doula who had given birth to her three children without drugs at home. She gave me a lot of valuable information about what to avoid if I chose to have my baby in the hospital. Since L was my first child, I did want
to have him in the hospital because I felt that I wanted to have doctors available immediately if something were to go wrong. But I knew to stay away from the hospital as long as possible to avoid unnecessary interventions like repeated vaginal exams that only invite the possibility of infection.

I was lucky that I had an easy, natural birth experience. The first few hours of contractions were tolerable, and I just kept moving around and doing my day-to-day things at home. Once my water broke, things kicked into high gear, and when my doula arrived not much later, she could tell I was almost ready to push. After a short but very uncomfortable car ride to the hospital, I gave birth 20 minutes later in the hospital. After a few hours, we were out of there again, bonding and starting our journey of breastfeeding in the comfort of our home, sans the possible intrusions of hospital staff.

Yes, I am lucky that I can tell a birth story of a relatively fast (9 hours), drug-free birth, but I also did the research and work that I believe was required of me and necessary to make this possible. I ate food that readied my body for the marathon of birth and did daily exercises that gave me the stamina to be in positions that are helpful during the delivery. I made the decision to invest in the service of a doula instead of fancy baby equipment. There wasn’t any luck involved in that — I didn’t always want to exercise or study about the intricacies of birth. But I was dedicated to want to be in control of my son's birth of as much as possible.

I write my blog to encourage women to empower themselves — to learn about what they can do to increase their chances to have a natural birth, to know their rights in the hospital, and to line up breastfeeding support well before the birth. Ideally, that involves learning what exactly happens to your body during birth so you
know what the signs are of being in transition, for example. It involves writing an extensive birth plan, letting your partner and midwife or doctor know about your preferences and wishes during birth, educating your family on
the many health benefits of breastfeeding for the baby and the mother, attending a La Leche League meeting while pregnant, and having the phone number of a LLL leader or lactation consultant for when you need help in the middle of the night.

I can laugh now about one of the doctors hissing, “Are you trying to do this naturally?” when I arrived at the hospital so close to giving birth. But that comment also outrages me and exemplifies what is wrong with today’s health care system and approach to birth. Yes -- why wouldn’t I try to have my baby without drugs and interventions? I didn’t want him to enter the world all spaced out on drugs. If I had listened to my doctor, I probably would have been induced and ended up with a C-section. Instead, I moved a scheduled test to buy myself — and my baby — some extra time to arrive naturally. I followed my instinct and, armed with a lot of information and determination, kind of created the birth story I wanted.

Dagmar Bleasdale writes about motherhood, natural birth, breastfeeding, attachment parenting, green and frugal living, and her addiction to social media and Twitter at Dagmar’s momsense and New York City Moms Blog.