She-Freakin-Rocks.
www.inamay.com
I finally picked up her "Ina May's Guide to Childbirth" and by the first page, I was hooked. She speaks a simple truth and her statistics back her up completely.
The Farm was founded in 1971. From 1971 to 2000, of 2,028 births....
Births Completed - 95.1%
Non-Emergency Transports - 3.6%
Emergency Transports - 1.3%
Vaginal Birth - 98.6%
Cesarean Sections - 1.4%
(US National Average = 24.4%)
Cases with no Preeclampsia - 99.61%
Cases of Preeclampsia - 0.39%
Cases with no hemorrhage - 98.2%
Cases of Postpartum hemorrhage - 1.8%
What the HECK are these women DOING RIGHT??
Why the HECK aren't more people (ahem..DOCTORS) listening to her?
SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE.
"Standards of prenatal care at the Farm are modeled to the recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Deliveries are conducted without analgesia, however, and great emphasis is placed on meeting the emotional needs of the family. Several family members and friends are commonly in attendance and are encouraged to take an active role in the birth.
In addition, the laboring woman is encouraged to stay off her back and remain physically mobile through labor and delivery. In the absence of signs of fetal distress, women are permitted to labor beyond 24 hours, occasionally for 2 to 3 days. They are also encouraged to eat and drink during labor in the belief that this allays maternal exhaustion and the need for operative delivery."
Stay off her back? Eat and Drink? SHOCKING!
And now, for my first Ina May quote (there will be many more to follow)...
"It's not easy to say wheterh the woman in my village have less fear of birth because we know that our capabilities go beyond medical understanding or that our capabilities are greater without anxiety."
I just want to hug this woman and bring her fourteen ice cream sundaes.
(sigh). :)
