The Business of Being Born Message Board

Five years ago, when I was pregnant with my first son, I did what 99 percent of American women do: I made a hasty exit for the hospital at the first sign of labor. Birth is always a reflection of the time and place where it happens. I did not know that then. But what I realize now is that we live in a culture of fear, a culture where technology rules the day (this blog is proof!) and convenience is king. Thus, one out of every three women giving birth in a hospital today has a cesarean — and rarely by choice; the convenience and fear are more often the doctor’s. I ended up being one of those c-sections. And I was not at all happy about it or convinced the surgery was truly necessary.

In the years since, I wrote a book called Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born, a cultural history that I needed to write in order to understand and have context for how we give birth today. I had no agenda when I started that book. I was in no way a birth activist. In fact, I think I used to make fun of birth activists. But here I am, so much wiser.

When I became pregnant last year, my decision about where to give birth was obvious: At home. How I went from seeing an OB and delivering in the hospital to being a fervent supporter of midwifery and home birth says a lot about the state of medical care today. And a lot about what I have learned, from statistics, to stories, to my own mind-blowing euphoric experience of giving birth at home.

I, like Abby and Ricki, just want women to know what is possible, to know their options, and to know that not everything about a hospital is so fantastic. It’s great if you need to be there, but most of us don’t.

I met Abby and Ricki during the filming of the Business of Being Born. They interviewed me for one very long day and I was delighted to hear that I was not the only person who felt that hospitals were complicating births. I am even more delighted now to see the effect the film is having across the nation.

Culturally, alot has changed in the last five years since my first son was born. Again, birth is a reflection of the culture where it happens. Today, more so than five years ago, we are recognizing that organic is better, from our cleaning products and food to our clothes. We are respecting nature more. We are understanding its power (hello wind turbines). And I believe we are appreciating now more than we have in a generation just how nature intended birth to be.