New York Natural Birth

When one discovers that she is pregnant she is immediately presented with an array of birthing options. Many mothers are leaning more towards natural birth options. The question remains, what constitues a natural birth? This list should help you understand what is involved in a natural birth.

1) Avoid the use of pain medications during labor. Instead use other pain management techniques including breathing exercises and massage

2) Eliminate interventions such as inductions and manual water breaking and have a vaginal birth. See our article on how to avoid a c section for more information

3) Choose a birthing facility that allows a natural birth process or have a home birth with appropriate care givers.

As discussed in our article How to Avoid a Cesarean Section C-section rates have risen to very high level in the United States. One crucial way to avoid a C-section is to choose a birthing facility with low C-section rates. A lower C-section rate implies that the hospital is willing to attempt other birthing methods before resorting to a C-section. The following chart illustrates the Cesarean section rates by hospital in New York. As you can see there is a significant difference in Cesarean section rates by hospital.

Unfortunately, with the closing of St. Vincents and the Bellevue Birthing Center, Manhattans maternity care has taken one giant step backward. St. Vincents offered expecting parents an alternative birthing environment focused on individuals and natural birth in a new state of the art facility. Read more about the closing here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/nyregion/10bigcity.html. The Bellevue Birthing Center also offered an alternative to traditional birthing methods and was accessible to low income families. Read more about the closing here: http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/3837/fewer-options-for-moms. Both hospitals closings were met with outrage from the public. Not only does it limit expectant mothers choices, it also has put strain on remaining hospitals to provide care for even more expectant mothers.

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Author and OB/GYN doctor, Christiane Northrup, does an excellent job of explaining how birth transforms a woman and how it creates a powerful, life-changing experience. In her book, Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom: Creating Physical and Emotional Health and Healing, Northrup describes six essential understandings to obtaining this transformation.

1) Every womans experience is different and every labor has a unique schedule. A woman should have a heightened awareness of her body and the baby. Her urges and timing should be respected in order to have a successful natural birth. (Northrup, Pg. 465)

C-section rates in the United States have terrifyingly risen to 32.8% in 2010 (Division, Pg. 5). This rate is alarming since there are many negative risks associated with C-sections.

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Hana Peace Works is a group dedicated to revealing the flaws in our current health care system related to children and childbirth. One of these such flaws is the high infant mortality rate in the USA. Watch the below video to hear about the dangers our current health care system is creating for newborns and how normalizing the birth process and using the midwifery model can help to avoid these dangers. To read more about this group and their research, visit: http://www.reducinginfantmortality.com/ and http://www.whatbabieswant.com/.

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What are stretch marks?

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