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Unexpected "Legacy" of Natural Birth in My Fam?

zaramarie81zaramarie81 member
in Natural Birth

I've posted before that my mom and sisters all have variations of traumatic birth experiences. So I went into pregnancy with a lot of fears and assumptions about it all. It was our doula who helped me start to see that l&d is really a normal, healthy process and is helping me relax a lot and even be open to declining interventions if I can progress naturally.

I've been really open with my mom about some of my thoughts. I am the first of many women in my fam to go the doula route. Anyway, my mother surprised me recently with a gift. It's my grandmother's copy of "Childbirth without Fear" by Read! My grandmother had four kids, and apparently was knocked out for the first two deliveries. Mom said she "got wise" after that, read this book, and delivered her next two babies at home. I seriously would never have pegged Grandma doing this, but yep, apparently she bucked the system! :) Grandma gave my mom this book when she was pregnant with me and my twin although my mom never read it. She's just had it all these years. I started reading it tonight and feel really encouraged that this very book helped my grandmother have two, intervention-free childbirths almost 60 years ago.

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Re: Unexpected "Legacy" of Natural Birth in My Fam?

  • jillc2010jillc2010
    That is really cool!! Way to go gma!
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  • BabyShippBabyShipp member

    Great story to hear!

     I hate that most women only share the horror stories.  You rarely hear the good happy ones.  

    Best of luck and I hope you carry on the legacy :D 

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  • RockyMtnMamaRockyMtnMama member
    Yes
    Two boys already - ages 5 and 3...

    ...baby #3 is here...

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  • JcrabJcrab
    Awesome! That is so cool.
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  • zaramarie81zaramarie81 member
    imageBabyShipp:

    Great story to hear!

     I hate that most women only share the horror stories.  You rarely hear the good happy ones.  

    Best of luck and I hope you carry on the legacy :D 

    I know, I've received *so many* horror stories! (Not just of l&d but of parenthood too). I think I am still in shock at how positively labor and delivery is viewed by so many women in so many cultures/eras.

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  • robyn2201robyn2201 member
    That is so awesome that your mom kept your grandma's book!
    Ivy: July 2010  |  Stella: Dec 2012  |  BFP#3: MMC at 11Wk's, July 2017 | Wyatt: April 2019 | BFP#5: Twin Girls due Sept 2020

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  • poison489poison489
    My mother had 3 of her 4 children at home after a bad hospital birth with her first.  She also used "Childbirth Without Fear" and passed her book on to me when I got pregnant the first time.  I didn't get around to reading it for my first, because I was taking Bradley Method classes I didn't think I needed it.  Really wish I would have read it earlier though.  I read it for this pregnancy since things didn't go quite as I hoped with my first.  I am feeling more motivated and positive about labor this time around as a result of reading the book.  Reading the book and how hospitals can create the fear tension response totally explained what happened in my last labor.  This time around I am working on getting a midwife that will help me get the labor I desire. 
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  • zaramarie81zaramarie81 member

    imagepoison489:
    My mother had 3 of her 4 children at home after a bad hospital birth with her first.  She also used "Childbirth Without Fear" and passed her book on to me when I got pregnant the first time.  I didn't get around to reading it for my first, because I was taking Bradley Method classes I didn't think I needed it.  Really wish I would have read it earlier though.  I read it for this pregnancy since things didn't go quite as I hoped with my first.  I am feeling more motivated and positive about labor this time around as a result of reading the book.  Reading the book and how hospitals can create the fear tension response totally explained what happened in my last labor.  This time around I am working on getting a midwife that will help me get the labor I desire. 

    While I am definitely a fan of Bradley, my sister had a similar experience. She learned Bradley "inside and out" it seemed, and yet her hospital birth went terribly wrong when she simply could not progress and ended up with a c-section after 41 hours. The more I read about the fear-tension response, the more I know this is what happened to her. Her muscles were so locked, so tight, that she was experiencing excruciating pain before she even reached 3cm! She now always gets the epi b/c it's literally the only way she knows how to unlock her muscles (the epi allows her to do VBACs). We are hoping our doula combined with chiro work and a slightly different approach will help me avoid this situation or at least avoid a c-section!

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