I was talking to two people in our church that I don't know very well, N and C. N gave birth in a hospital with a midwife, and was raving about the experience. She was saying that she really liked knowing that if anything went wrong, there is backup there as needed. It gave her peace of mind. And she said the two days in the postpartum room were wonderful - she was able to sleep without worrying about anything. She said that it was really the best way for her to go. This made me feel good because this is what we are doing - hospital birth with a midwife.
C gave birth with our midwives at the birthing center that is now closed. C overheard me telling N that I am really looking forward to the two days in postpartum and that the thought of having those two days before bringing the baby home makes me feel really peaceful and less nervous about the whole thing. C interrupted the conversation to say that my ideas about hospital births were wrong - in the two days following birth the nurses will come in and poke and prod me and not let me sleep. It will be a horrible experience. And then she said "I guess I shouldn't be telling you this - the birthing center is closed. You really have no choice."
I thought this was incredibly rude. This woman has never given birth in a hospital, so she really doesn't know what she is talking about. N, speaking from experience, said it was fabulous. And really, it doesn't matter. You should be supportive of whatever options a woman chooses. It's her body.
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I've always been aghast at how women all over the country take the opportunity to tell pregnant women horror stories about pregnancy and birthing.
As if they weren't nervous enough. I think people just don't take a second to figure out the effect of their well-intentioned advice.
I like to tell the stories of my friends who had fantastic, easy, no-problem births of children with non-giant heads.
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