Готовый перевод Мы строим деревню / we are building ecovillage: роды

Top of irresponsibility, or "childbirth on the field"

In order to have

new healthy generation of people, we should give them a chance

to be born of their own free will.

I. Martynova

While I’m written this, our daughter is sleeping near me. She is now a little bit older than one month and was born naturally without any medical assistance here in the same banya, where we overwinter.

When I and Natalja took a decision to give birth to our child without medical assistance, in nature, we caused alarm among our relatives. We were told about “irresponsibly”, stupidity and unjustified risk to which we subjected themselves. That time we didn’t` t talk about this too much, avoided entering into disputes, turned everything into a joke but particularly we were sure of our decision and preparing active to the up-coming event.

At first about “irresponsibly”. I can` t understand how it is possible to be “irresponsible”, when you take all responsibility for your life and health, and moreover for the life and health of your child? It was already written above. Well, I don’t want to quarrel about it. I’d better quote a saying of Henry Thoreau from “Walden”, and than tell how did our preparations look like:

“Sometimes we are inclined to class those who are once-and-a-half witted with the half-witted, because we appreciate only a third part of their wit”.

Thus, firstly we started looking for people, which had already given birth at home without official medical assistance. Examples were not far to seek, the majority of our friends, which have a baby, are so called “home parents”. We inquired them about their obtained experience. It turned out that everything is very individual, one bore easily, another bore a little bit more difficult, but in general all were satisfied with the giving birth at home. And nobody wanted to bear their following babies, if there would be such necessity, in maternity hospital. We also asked those, who had both experience of giving birth at home and in maternity hospital. Childbearing at home was recommended as more natural and smooth variant.

Secondly, we took part in special preparation course for “Natural Childbearing”. We listened to the lectures, we were told about childbearing, children, breast-feeding, maternity hospitals and midwives, about complications and postnatal period. They were narrated, showed films and gave various educational materials. We attended swimming pool lessons, bought the literature of all kinds, which we were recommended. We listened, wrote down, asked questions and spoke with lectors after their appearances. In short were learning rather involved. After the main course we attended additional lectures “for the closest”, which were devoted exactly to home birth. They turned out to be quite interesting too.

Thirdly, we found people, professionals, who agreed to support us remotely, gave telephone consultations in case we would require their need. We found neonatologist, pediatrician and some midwives, who specialized in particular in home birth.

Fourthly, we gathered enormous first-aid kit where was nearly everything for any cases which could happen with us in giving birth process and after it. This almost full big bag still stands with different ampoules, phials, pills, dropping-bottles, bandages and syringes.

Fifthly, I actively started to study the obstetrics. I recollected the information that was given us in Medical College, read different manuals classical ones as well as unofficial, for those who wants to bear on one's own. Frankly speaking, when ten years ago I got “good mark” at the obstetrics examination, I knew this subject much worse. Then I couldn’t imagine that this discipline would be useful for me in future.

Sixthly, I and Natasha had read all books and watched all films about home birth which we were able to find. Both Russian and foreign.

Seventhly, our friends and fellow villagers, who apart from the fact that they are parents of three children had the experience of self-dependent home birth, were ready to come on a visit.

Eighthly, we had already relaxed and just experienced our ordinary life expecting for the birth of baby.

Our preparation for child’s delivery was serious because in spite of apparent formal carelessness and lack of tensity we are very rational people.

Why had we decided to bear at home, without medical assistance?

There are some answers to this question.

The most important thing was that we thought child’s delivery to be natural and normal process which is very ordinal and extremely dramatized in modern society. Millions of years women give birth to children through ordinal, peculiar to our biological species way. Why today we consider child’s delivery process to be supernatural, unusual and think that it must be accompanied with medical help? This is illogical at the least. This conflicts with Nature, which, as we know, is much more rational than the most rational human. This is the main persuasion that supported our decision.

In the second place we wanted to leave this event with us, entirely go through it without delivering the responsibility to anybody.

Also through the decision of home birth we displayed the concern for the daughter:

1. There is a lot of information about different psychological processes the natural course of which is broken in the maternity hospital. As the result, human mentality starts to develop in not the healthiest way. I will not enter into details but give the references for the reader to numerous works by Stanislav Grof about the basic perinatal matrices and Timothy Leary about the imprinting. This theme (and not only this) is well and understandable described by Jean Liedloff in her book “The continuum concept: In Search of Lost Happiness”.

Besides psychological problems there are more chances to get physical problems in maternity hospital. There we can mention the consequences of labor induction which many women are undergone in delivery, complications after inoculation which taken place right away after birth and the possibility of the hospital acquired disease, which seems for doctors more terrible than “home” infection.

Through the decision of home birth we displayed the concern for Natasha:

1. There is no hurry and jitters which often accompanies the woman in her duration of stay in maternity house.

2. Instead of “assembly-line” approach we get individual, personal and because of it often more qualitative child’s delivery approach.

3. The whole child’s delivery process takes place in the presence and support of beloved person (people), but not among some unfamiliar guys who are to a large extent not interested in woman in childbirth.

4. Again: the absence of unneeded risk of getting a hospital acquired disease...

5. Instead of uncomfortable on-back position (which was invented for making better view for the doctor only) you can bear at your convenience, for example in squatting or upright position…

6. As the result of everything mentioned above and some other reasons we get lesser traumatism, lesser pain without usage of healthcare products and lesser quantity of postpartum complications.

Of course there exist real problems which are the absolute evidences for the delivery in maternity hospital, for example placental presentation. In this condition you can’t bear without assistance and it is stupid to refuse a medical help. But in general, normally, during normal pregnancy bearing at home is normal occurrence. It was always the case. All our tsars and members of intelligentsia were born in that way. And originally and historically maternity hospitals were organized for poor, sick and stray people…

Certainly home obstetricians, midwives actively took part in child’s delivery earlier. They delivered medical care if it was necessary for the woman in childbirth. It is really interesting written in the book by Irina Martynova “To be born of self own free will. The chronicles of cannie moments” (In Russian: “Roditsya po sobstvennomu jelaniu. Letopis` povivalnogo dela”).

Nowadays under the counter the institution of traditional home obstetricians is actively restored and many people have already fallen back upon it’s help.

When we had questions we also consulted, because it emerged that no matter how many books have you read, everything happens other way, and you need real human experience, even if it is remote one. Something like that.

About home birth you can read in such books as “Childbirth without fear. The original approach to natural childbirth” by Grantly Dick-Read, “Birth Reborn” by Michel Odent, “The Father's Home Birth Handbook” by Leah Hazard.

We don’t agitate for home birth in no circumstances, no, we just tell you about our thoughts when we took this important decision.

It is very simple: if the woman wants to bear in the maternity hospital she should have such an opportunity. If she wants to bear at home, similarly, she could know that it is also possible. Only she gets to choose. Someone is ready, someone is not. Like in everything.

The delivery started on the day when Natasha caught herself thinking that it is already difficult for her to be pregnant - precisely before one month from definite date we got in maternity welfare center. It was quite expected, because in our family this practice is very popular: to be born before its due time and with small weight.

The water broke in the evening. We started to prepare the banya and ourselves. We had no specially unrest, everything occurred calmly. Several times we thought that “it is beautiful that we need not to go somewhere”. There were no fuss, urgent preparations, excess bustle. More or less regular contractions started by the midnight. And in the morning we already met our daughter.

Everything happened very well. Calm and naturally. Now, when the delivery is already in the past I can’t stop amaze at all beauty and wisdom which this process contains. Yes, we risked but deliberately. We regret about nothing, vice versa we are very glad that chose this way. But it turns out that the child is not only the delivery. It is something slightly greater.

Переведено на Нотабеноиде
http://notabenoid.org/book/45942/183476

Переводчики: Yanne, ivanovishe