Bradley Method Part 1

Disclaimer: If you are not at all interested in childbirth, you might want to ignore this post...:)

Childbirth is a pretty passionate subject for me. I can talk about it for hours and read about it for hours, even though I've only had one baby and didn't actually push our little one out. Go figure. I love birth stories. Learning from mothers worldwide fascinates me.

Our own birth story of Abraham is pretty emotional for me. When I first met with my OB this pregnancy and tried to share some of it with him, he gently asked me if I was usually a moody person:). An appropriate question considering I was battling tears the whole time talking to him about it. I have a lot of frustrations and regrets from our first birth experience.

We labored in a hospital where the C-section rate at the time was reported to be 50%. We never dreamed we would have a C-section. Talk about naive. This time, not so! :) We may end up with a C-section, but naive we will not be!

Jonathan and I took a crash course in the Bradley Method of childbirth over the last couple months. Normally it is a 12-week course. We were blessed to have an instructor come to our home and do the course in 3 4-hour sessions for us. She was wonderful, traveling 1.5-2 hours one way to come teach us. We do live in the sticks you have to remember. She is the closest instructor we could find, even though there are some fairly large hospitals within 60 miles of us.

What an interesting course it proved to be! The method is based on the practice of Dr. Robert Bradley. He was a physician who challenged the system way back starting in the 1960s and then for the rest of his practice. Some of his "radical" ideas included:

-having the husband present during childbirth
-encouraging mothers not to take medication
-breastfeeding immediately after birth
-walking out of the delivery room after birth
-going home soon after birth
-not knocking mothers out during labor or strapping them down
-encouraging mothers to trust their bodies using natural breathing, relaxation, nutrition, exercise, and education.

As a nurse I know there is a place for medical intervention. But it astounding to me how much that can be overdone. Birthing really is a beautiful, natural process. And I dearly wish our overall medical culture would treat it so. Something is broken in the system when one practice has a 50% C-section rate and a physician such as Dr. Bradley (now deceased) historically had a 96% unmedicated birth rate.

Dr. Bradley first proposed his theory of natural childbirth based on his experience as a farmboy. He grew up watching animals deliver over and over again calmly. What a beautiful process. Animals are designed by our Creator to know when to start making their den, when to go off in the woods alone, and what to do after birth. Truly amazing! I've been so blessed to see a little bit of this having the dry cows at our home.

Most of the cattle give birth on their own. From what I've witnessed usually the Mama cows go into the back corner of the shed when they're close to delivering. A spot as secluded as they can be. Occasionally I'll hear a loud mooo from the shed. Most often I don't hear anything and will suddenly see a wobbly little calf walking around the pasture or yard. I now know that usually the calf has just been pushed out and all is fine, but sometimes the mother is in distress. Occasionally Jonathan or one of the brothers has to go out and pull a calf when the mother needs help.

I'll try to wrap up next time...too late for tonight!:) Thanks for reading!