Thank you so much for this post. I'm long past the age of birthing a child, but I do recognize the significance of attuning to the body's guiding wisdom toward the pleasures of agency and rest. Thank you, Johanna, for your precise and detailed descriptions of how you navigated through your birthings. "It made it visceral to me how important it is to shoulder the full responsibility for your problems and to gather the information you need. This is good to have in your bones in all sorts of situations." So simply stated; after reading the story of your birth process, my body is humming with alert, joyful, anticipation: a swoosh of oxytocin!
thanks for this post, we are expecting our third any day now, and we try to get better at the birthing process. Its painful to think of how much knowledge is lost to institutionalism - the medical institutions looking at birth as a mechanical, rather than a natural/organic process. humans are being trained out of listening to their body.
These birth reflections are infused with not only the physical descriptions but keen mental and emotional underpinnings as well. So important to knit those together in the telling. Not everyone has the ability to experience the midwifery model of care. Some due to high risk, others due to lack of access. But a midwife attended birth is designed to support and help facilitate a deeply transformative and empowering birth experience. (I know not always but the model is based on this.)
I love how you described taking control and being the leader in your own experience. I believe this is the key to an empowered birth (and postpartum) experience. This can be the case for inductions, planned cesareans, long labors or changes in the ideal birth plan.
Hugs and empathy to anyone who has had scary or traumatic birth or postpartum experiences. I am a lactation consultant and know how all of this is intertwined and connected.
I hope reading your account will help others navigate or process their own journeys.
I had a quick 10 minutes between rushing from a work meeting to my gym class. I wanted a few minutes to just breathe. Scrolling through my inbox, I saw a new post by Henrik called "On Child Birth" and I thought thats quite unusual but also am I in the headspace to read about child birth (from a man, I assumed, confused). Decided to open it up. 10 minutes later, I feel replenished, ready for my gym workout, working with my body and not against it, to be my best version. I mean, needless to say, the post itself is very beautifully written. And a couple of push ups and squats are nothing comparable to pain endured during a child birth (not that I know what it is like). It is still a good way to think about experiencing and managing pain, regardless. Thanks Johanna for writing this. Feel like giving you a big, warm hug.
Thank you for this, I will be giving birth for the first time in a few short months and there is much in here I needed to read
Thank you so much for this post. I'm long past the age of birthing a child, but I do recognize the significance of attuning to the body's guiding wisdom toward the pleasures of agency and rest. Thank you, Johanna, for your precise and detailed descriptions of how you navigated through your birthings. "It made it visceral to me how important it is to shoulder the full responsibility for your problems and to gather the information you need. This is good to have in your bones in all sorts of situations." So simply stated; after reading the story of your birth process, my body is humming with alert, joyful, anticipation: a swoosh of oxytocin!
thanks for this post, we are expecting our third any day now, and we try to get better at the birthing process. Its painful to think of how much knowledge is lost to institutionalism - the medical institutions looking at birth as a mechanical, rather than a natural/organic process. humans are being trained out of listening to their body.
These birth reflections are infused with not only the physical descriptions but keen mental and emotional underpinnings as well. So important to knit those together in the telling. Not everyone has the ability to experience the midwifery model of care. Some due to high risk, others due to lack of access. But a midwife attended birth is designed to support and help facilitate a deeply transformative and empowering birth experience. (I know not always but the model is based on this.)
I love how you described taking control and being the leader in your own experience. I believe this is the key to an empowered birth (and postpartum) experience. This can be the case for inductions, planned cesareans, long labors or changes in the ideal birth plan.
Hugs and empathy to anyone who has had scary or traumatic birth or postpartum experiences. I am a lactation consultant and know how all of this is intertwined and connected.
I hope reading your account will help others navigate or process their own journeys.
I had a quick 10 minutes between rushing from a work meeting to my gym class. I wanted a few minutes to just breathe. Scrolling through my inbox, I saw a new post by Henrik called "On Child Birth" and I thought thats quite unusual but also am I in the headspace to read about child birth (from a man, I assumed, confused). Decided to open it up. 10 minutes later, I feel replenished, ready for my gym workout, working with my body and not against it, to be my best version. I mean, needless to say, the post itself is very beautifully written. And a couple of push ups and squats are nothing comparable to pain endured during a child birth (not that I know what it is like). It is still a good way to think about experiencing and managing pain, regardless. Thanks Johanna for writing this. Feel like giving you a big, warm hug.