Friday, September 30, 2011

Swimming in the Bliss of Natural Childbirth


Swimming in the Bliss of Natural Birth
Choosing home birth as a 
first-time 42-year old mother
I’d always imagined a natural birth.  In  our 20’s my cousin, Christina, and I would joke and laugh about squatting in the shade of a tree to have our babies--and we were just joking...but not completely.
Through my 30’s I watched not one or two, but almost all my friends enthusiastically enter the hospital in labor, having claimed for nine months that they would have a natural birth, and saw them come out 2-10 days later having been induced, forced to labor on their back, drugged, cut, observed by countless strangers, having had their babies taken from them immediately after birth, having nursing problems, and having been given food I would call toxic.
If you’d asked them ahead of time if that would have been their story,  Read Full Article Published in Holistic Networker





ALLIE CHEE has studied Asian martial and healing arts since 1989, earning a 2nd degree black belt and certification in TCM nutrition; she is a 42-year old home birth mom; and author of NEW MOTHER: Using a Doula, Midwife, Postpartum Doula, Maid, Cook, or Nanny to Support Healing, Bonding and Growth; and FREE LOVE: Everyday Ideas for Joyful Living.

Her articles have appeared in The Well Being Journal, The Holistic Networker, The Birthing Site, and MidwiferyToday.  

Website: www.alliechee.com  Facebook: www.facebook.com/AllieChee 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Beautiful Allie, a great inspiration to others! I am sure there are a lot more questions between the cracks expectant mothers would like to ask you. Does a dialogue follow this article? Lots of love, Susan

Anonymous said...

Wow I feel like I was in that quiet room, though not in the tub. Keep writing. -Miguel

Christina said...

Love, love, love the article; not just because you were so kind to mention my name, but because it is so true! Below I pasted one of my favorite sentences. I LOL'd on this one. Thank you for being an inspiration for those who really want to have natural/home birth and need supportive literature and guidance. Well done and more power to you.

[One hour later my baby was born, and I was lying on my yoga mat, pushing out the placenta while my baby crawled her way from my abdomen to my breast and started nursing.]

Yes, it is difficult to have a natural birth when the physicians scare the crap out of you and then the pain - forget it if you are faint of heart. It is truly sad that we are having so many post birth traumas and difficulties due to medical intervention. If in doubt be a wild thing - nature knows best. Women have been doing this for 1,000's of years successfully, what made us different/special to change the course? : )

Cilipadi said...

Brilliant idea! Look forward to your blog posts while I go through my pregnancy :) I hope/plan to deliver naturally too (though at the hospital)

Jeff said...

Congrats for finding the birth that was right for you! I enjoyed the article. Three doulas? Wow :) We had only one. That's all we could afford at the time but we got lucky and had a midwife and the birth center midwife was there too, so two midwives and a doula... And me laying next to my wife in awe of the whole experience, thinking how glad I was for listening to my wife and going the natural route! Mother Nature knows what she's doing. :)

Allie Chee said...

Hi Jeff,

Your wife and I are lucky to have supportive husbands who trusted us and Mother Nature!

I got lucky, too. When my midwife asked me to choose which of her doulas at the center I wanted in attendance, I told her I couldn't choose because I loved all three of them for different reasons. She said, "In that case, unless we have another birth at the same time, we'll all be there with you!" That was more confirmation that I had found the right midwife for my sacred experience.

Congrats to you, your wife, and baby : )