~Birth is safe, best kept secret in American Obstertics~

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I teach the Bradley Method® of natural childbirth. They are natural childbirth classes that were developed by Dr Robert Bradley, an OB in the 1950s. He was the first OB to bring fathers into the delivery room to "finish what they started." Dr Bradley grew up on a farm and he could not understand why humans had lost two instincts that all other mammals still have 1) the ability to swim and 2) the ability to birth. He wondered, if a human can be taught to swim, can a woman be taught to give birth? When he taught his first classes, he had a 96% success rate! The current success rate for mothers who complete the classes to have a spontaneous, natural birth is 89%. Classes are 2 hours long, once a week, for 12 weeks. The Bradley Method® concentrates on good nutrition, education, and exercise to have a healthy mother and baby.

The Bradley Method teaches and endorses the following ideas:

Natural childbirth

Active participation by the husband as coach

Excellent nutrition

Avoidance of drugs during pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding unless  absolutely necessary

Relaxation and natural breathing

"Focusing in" and working with your body

Immediate and continuous contact with your baby

Breastfeeding, beginning at birth

Parents taking responsibilty for the safety of the birth place, procedures, attendants, and emergency back-up

Parents prepared for unexpected situations such as emergency childbirth, and cesarean section

 

There was a time when OBs only cared for "high risk" women. Low risk women were seen by a midwife or family doctor. I think it is important to remember that an OB is a surgeon, trained in the abnormality of labor and birth. When there is a true emergency I am so thankful that they have been trained in the worst things that can happen to a mother and her baby, and can help them. In saying that you have to realize that most have never seen a true natural birth, with no interventions. Most women when left alone without interventions do not have problems. 

   Keep in mind that inductions make labor harder than natural labor. I hear women say all the time that if it hurt that much with the drugs I can't imagine how hard it would have been with out them. They do not realize that being induced made the contractions harder. It also can lead to other problems. Labor has a purpose, it gets hormones flowing and doing jobs...molding the baby's head, getting colostrum ready. What do you think could happen to a baby if the mother was induced and the baby's head had not molded yet? Molding helps the baby to come through the pelvis.
   
How accurate are due dates? Did you know that the OB that developed the "40-week" gestation period died in the 1850s?  Harvard conducted a study in 1990 that showed normal gestation in first time mothers is 41 and 1/7 weeks. That is 8 days over your "due date."

Women do not know what questions they need to be asking their care providers. They do not know what rights they have, or that they have them at all. If you don't know your rights, you don't have any!