Views on Childbirth - part 4

I want to start out this blog by clarifying some statements that I made yesterday in part 3. I have nothing against OB/GYNs and the care that they give to women. I only mentioned that I have never seen one during my pregnancies because I wanted everyone reading these blog entries to know where I am coming from and what experience I have had with them. I have never had a doctor attend to me in pregnancy or childbirth so some of what I say concerning them is just what I have heard & read, not what I have personally experienced. I have been very fortunate to have had so far 4 low-risk pregnancies & births and am nearing the birth of my 5th child which has so far been an uneventful pregnancy. I know that there are some excellent OB/GYNs out there and I have seen several for non-maternity related care.

Regarding childbirth in general I think that all women need to do their own reading & research and make the decisions that they are most comfortable with for them and their situation. I do not think that homebirth is for everyone and I also don't think that unmedicated childbirth is for everyone. I will say though that I think that the more satisfied a woman is with her birth experience, the less likely she is to suffer from postpartum depression and the quicker her recovery will be after the birth. Childbirth can be an incredibly powerful experience for a woman and the more control she has over that experience, the more power she will feel from it. We also need to remember though that complications can & do arise with no warning and we need to be able to cope with that change in situation as well and be able to come to terms with it if a complication does arise.