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Natural Birth
raeah219
member
Black women go natural too!
raeah219
member
I am an African American woman and many of my friends and family are saying that I am being "white" by trying to have a natural birth and this ignorance really upsets me. Plenty of African American women give birth naturally. To me its as if they are implying that a black woman isn't strong enough to give birth naturally and that is ridiculous. I just wish people wouldn't be so ignorant.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Black women go natural too!
::wildly waves hands "HELLO" to you::
my mom went natural too, and had homebirths! GASP!!
i teach HypnoBirthing, and while most of my students are white, i have had black students, Asian students and so far only one Latina. in both of the classes that i took while pregnant with my kids, i was the only black student. and in my HypnoBirthing practitioners class, i was the only black student.
i'm willing to bet that it's less of a "black women aren't strong enough" thing as much as it is a "natural birth is crunch and black women aren't crunchy" thing. which is equally as ridiculous.
the facts are, however, on their side. there are more white women than black women (even at percentage of population comparisons) who intentionally have unmedicated births and homebirth is most common among educated, financially secure white women. the reason for this has absolutely nothing to do with physical capability and everything to do with access and opportunity.
Ditto! If I hadn't been on the bump I never would have researched natural birth and would have just done whatever my doctor said, no questions asked. And I wouldn't have used the midwives in the practice either.
I know of a couple african american women that have gone natural - they were both college-educated and middle class like myself.
I'm sorry you have to listen to such negativity! Maybe next time you hear that you should say just what you are saying here, "Do you think I'm not strong enough?"
At the school I used to teach at there was a woman who worked there who was African American. It's funny because she was one of my biggest supporters. I never advertised the fact that I was preparing for a med-free birth. But one day she just asked me, "So are you planning to have a natural birth?" I told her I really hoped to, that I was taking a Hypnobirthing class, reading books, etc. She was like, "It's gonna hurt like hell, but you get through it. I did it and so can you!" When I had DD she was the one I called at the school to spread the news, because she was so confident in me.
You are not alone
*Sigh* Stupidity just knows no bounds does it? Sounds like the time my co worker said "I though the news said Black women don't get married because they don't have father figures so they don't want husbands"...well I'm on husband #2 and my parents have been married for 37 years and my grand parents were married for 62 and 66 years before their spouses died so I dont know what to tell you.lol
IMO I wouldn't give heed to such foolishness, I had both my children (10 & 6 1/2) totally natural at what was the only birthing center in the borough at that time. And this one, God willing will be the same. I also delayed giving them their shots until they were older (and I got cruxified for that!) and breastfed them for the first 12 months so I'm used to people calling me a hippie and thinking I'm a whackadoodle. Doesn't bother me one iota! LOL
What I am excited about is, that now its not looked at like such a taboo thing, more people are asking questions, more people are refusing to take what their OB's have to say, as the final word in the world of babydom. And its beautiful to see.
**Raises Hand From the Corner**
Hi, how are ya? I'm going natural, a black woman, and I know how this feels. I fully agree with all of the above PP. What you're...well, WE are all doing is beautiful, and the way birth was intended. The best advice I got from the ladies here was to just not discuss it with anyone other than your SO and go and enjoy your experience. This isn't about anyone else but you, SO, and baby.
One of my midwives at my birth center is African-American (she's amazing, she's been "catching" babies for 30 years)! So, I never thought it was a "white" thing to do. Unfortunately, as I've learned from experience, a lot of people are going to criticize you for going natural no matter your ethnic background. And sadly, even after you have the baby, people constantly have to share their opinions and tell you what you are doing wrong as a mother. Other mothers are actually worse about doing this than men or people who don't have kids! Sometimes it's merely annoying, and other times downright hurtful, but you just have to hold your head up high and know that you are doing the right thing for you and your child!
HUGS!
Yep. My stepmom is pretty crunchy osteopathic doctor. I totally love her, and she defies anyone who says African American women can't be crunchy lol. You do what you feel is right for you and your LO, and GL!
Really!! That's crazy. Here I thought that white women were more likely to be viewed as the "too posh to push" type, particularly the well-off ones.
That's kind of what I thought would be the stereotype too!
I had never heard of going natural being a "white thing" but I agree with everyone above - let your family know that it's actually just a "being a mom" thing; anyone can go natural if that's what they want!
Sometimes, I'm hilarious.
Home in the bush.
That's so odd to me.
I'm black (mixed with dominant African-American traits) and when one of my white co-workers heard I was using a midwife she openly criticized me for it saying that she did that with her first and her second one was like, "bring on the meds! I don't care!" Later, I heard from other co-workers that she said things along the lines of she was glad I'm using a midwife and she hopes giving birth hurts me. I'm guessing she has issues with my birthing choice that have nothing to do with ME.
My mom on the other hand thinks we're lucky to have hospital births now because in HER grandmother's day she just had to squat in the cotton field, then get back to work.
Needless to say, she knows nothing about my choice to go natural. She criticized me when I cut off my relaxed (read: "good") hair and got locs, too.
I am so sorry you have to go thru that. I am African American and I never heard that. I have heard opposition to taking classes but never actual natural birth. My mom, aunts, and grandmothers went natural and so did my sister and me. None of us did any birth classes but we had the support of elders to let us know what to expect and different techniques to labor better. My mom was with me when I labored stark naked in the birthing tub.
I hope you get the birth you want and the support of your family.
I am so sorry you have to go thru that. I am African American and I never heard that. I have heard opposition to taking classes but never actual natural birth. My mom, aunts, and grandmothers went natural and so did my sister and me. None of us did any birth classes but we had the support of elders to let us know what to expect and different techniques to labor better. My mom was with me when I labored stark naked in the birthing tub.
I hope you get the birth you want and the support of your family.
I am middle class and I have a masters but a lot of the women in my family do not. Black women do go natural all the time regardless of economic status and class. They may not be laboring in birth centers using hypno babies but they do it.
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