To The Pregnant Woman Of Today::

I wanted to share a wonderful guest post. It is from a lovely mama from the Mama Birth facebook page. I have loved seeing her insights and her positive attitude over the last few months. Enjoy her bits of wisdom, her trust in her Creator and femininity and her experience. ~

Written by Rachael Rayy

To the pregnant woman of today (or if you are thinking of becoming pregnant):

As you embark on this new journey in your life think on these things.

I am not here to persuade you in one way or another, I am here to let you know you have a choice. Being pregnant is the absolute best blessing given to women.

We are given the responsibility to see new life comes into this world. We are given the tools needed to do so.

God is perfect. Everything he does is done in a perfect way, HIS way. He is amazing and so is His Design on the woman. This design he made to bring life into this world is perfect… Will you choose to trust Him completely?

Now let’s get to it:

Being pregnant is an amazing feeling. Giving birth has an equally amazing feel to it. This is the best and most important thing you can do as a woman.

You have choices. You NEED to make choices, and you need to make decisions regarding your pregnancy and labor. -- BEFORE that day comes.

Being informed is not only smart, but it’s important. Looking back on my first pregnancy and birth, I feel so awful I didn’t research and understand the things that would take place on the big D-day. So, I just went with the flow and did whatever my Dr told me. It was a very “textbook” birth. It was NOT a bad birth by any means. It could have been worse, but it also could have been better. With what I know now, it could have been a LOT better.

You live and you learn-- as cliché as that sounds, it’s true. I grew from that first birthing experience. It took me two more before I got it “right” and even then there are things I wish I would have done research on before my last labor, but I didn’t. I will definitely know for next time though ;)

You say you don’t know where to start? Let me help you with a few “routine” hospital procedures:

Inductionà why it’s not good for baby.

Pitocinà how it affects baby

Epiduralà again, how does it affect the baby?

Cutting the cord immediately after birthà what are the risks to baby?

Do you see a trend here? All of these things affect the baby? This is NOT about you. This pregnancy and birth isn’t about how YOU feel… it’s about how the baby feels and what the baby needs.

There are PLENTY of good resources out there.

Am I here to persuade you to choose one way of birthing over another?

NO!!! That is not why I am sending you this.

I am sending you this because I have seen too many women NOT know their choices and end up not having the birthing experience they could have.

I want to let you know you don’t have to settle for “normal” -- you can settle for things the way God intended things to be-- natural and without interventions.

Its hard work, I won’t lie. Labor is hard. Is it painful? The pain can be managed by focusing. I prayed through every.single.contraction while in labor with my last baby. I prayed and I told myself to focus. And the pain that WAS there went away. It was only when I didn’t focus that the pain took over and I felt like I lost control of the situation. But it didn’t have to be that way, as long as I focused.

You can do this. You are about to partake of the most joyous event you will EVER experience. Make it the best experience.

Educate yourself, educate your husband. Help him get on board with what is right for you and your family.

There is no right or wrong as long as you are informed. YOU make this the birth YOU want. Not the birth your Dr wants or the hospital says you have to have. This is all about YOU!

If you need any help or have any questions, I am willing to help you out in any way I can. I want you to embrace the blessing of babies as much as I have I think every woman deserves this chance. Some won’t take it and some won’t know about it.