Women and Birthing

My mother-in-law told me the other day that there was no way she would want to be with her daughter while her daughter labored and gave birth to her grandchild. When asked why, she said it's because she knew how much pain it was and didn't want to see her daughter in pain and not be able to help her. She also said that she knows too much about what could go wrong and would be looking at everything in an altered light. (she is a nurse in a neonatal unit) It saddens me to think of how skewed is our society's view on birth. I can't wait to assist my daughter through such an awesome right of passage. To be a part of that magic, that wonder, that miracle that is birth. To help her reach into her inner strength, to highlight her beauty and her power. It's funny how our views are completely opposite.

Something from Elizabeth Davis' Heart and Hands:

It is ironic that feminism has not more strongly aligned itself with the
midwifery issue, especially since reproductive self-determination is central to
the feminist vision. Truly, what could be more feminist than the practice
of midwifery? The most potent lesson of childbirth is the revelation of
essential feminine force. Giving birth calls on a woman to shed her social
skin and discover her ability to cooperate with and surrender to elemental
forces. Birth can profoundly transform a woman, strengthen her faith, and
deepen her identity. Hence the midwife, guardian and facilitator of this
process, is intrinsically feminist by the very nature of her work. She
knows that women who labor on their won terms and triumph in spontaneous
birthing will mother in a fiercely independent fashion, with strength and inner
certainty spilling into every other aspect of their lives.