Re: [ozmidwifery] Re: was birthing in dam water now labour pain

[Aviva Sheb'a]

"Rain is only rain; it is not bad weather. So also, pain is only pain, unless we resist it, when it becomes torment." Quoted from the I Ching in Janet and Arthur Balaskas's book, New Life. I use it in my Active Birthing and it's brilliant (see Alice's birth report) I loved my births (you must be fed up with reading about them), pain and all. I'm going to say it again, GREAT ORGASMS but not in the same ways as in sex. Aviva ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrea Robertson To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, December 08, 2002 4:49 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] Re: was birthing in dam water now labour pain Hi Frank, Well, I can't resist weighing in on this one..... I see that you are a hypnobirther and one of the Grantley Dick-Read mob. While GD-R was obviously a very intuitive man who really cared that women had such a hard time giving birth, in some ways he got the wrong end of the stick. The pain is an essential part of the labour, necessary to keep birth normal, but it doesn't have to be overly painful. When pain is excessive, it is usually the result of a hormonal response to fear (and the surge of adrenaline it produces). As GD-R pointeds out, if you get rid of the fear, the pain wil be reduced, but it will not go away completely. The bath/shower/hot water is one just one way of reducing (not eliminating) the pain, amongst many other strategies employed by women. Frank, I fear that if you start trying to tell women (and certainly those experienced women on this list) that only labour without pain is normal, you'll shoot your credentials to bits (and these may be considered a bit shaky already). Lots has been written about the important relationships between the various hormones that are working during labour and how they enhance or reduce pain. I should imagine that you have already read these refererences. How can thousands of years of human and (animal) evolution be so misinterpreted? Labour needs to hurt so we know it is happening and so we can find somewhere safe, away from preditors and meddling others. It is a safety issue, the primary safety issue, if you like..... Andrea At 22:39 7/12/2002, Frank Jockel wrote: >Dear All, > >The most important right that a birthing mother has.... is to give birth >GENTLY, EASILY and without PAIN.   ---   Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.427 / Virus Database: 240 - Release Date: 6/12/02