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Internet
Lingo If you are new to the internet and can't seem to figure out one of the myriad abbreviations
out there, check out this link. I was going to write this ALL out but I found this great page that does it for
me. While you are there, check out the rest of her site; it is about birth, too!
Pure Birth: My definition of pure birthing is birth that is unhindered. By that I mean that no outside
influence effects the woman while she is going through the process of giving birth. Yes, this means no medical,
or otherwise, "attendants". But it does not mean she has to be alone;
spouses, children, close family and friends can be there to share the joy of a new life entering the world. The
key is that the woman is the expert on what is going on with her own body and that she looks not outside of herself,
but within, for guidance. I believe it is possible to achieve a pure birth to some degree even while in the
hospital, but it takes an extremely
strong woman, one who cares not one whit what others around her are telling her to do while she gives birth. One
must remember, however, that in the hospital you are often not treated with respect and may be physically forced
to comply with their wishes no matter how contrary they are to your
wishes. So, in my mind, the best way to achieve a pure birth is to stay home, leave the attendants out of it, and
bring your child into this world according to their birthright: unhindered, gentle, loving birth.
My ideas about birth are wrapped up with all that I know about medicine, healing, physics, biology, psychology,
spirituality and quantum physics, too! But mostly, I just have a deep respect for the perfection of Nature and
do not question the process of birth as it was designed/evolved. There is no better way, no matter how much Man
tries to improve on nature. This is not to say that we have not improved our lot in life in other areas, like energy
and food production, but understanding the process of birth enough to improve it has not occurred. Medical science
thinks they have offered a better way, but they do not know how wrong they are. When a woman is left alone to birth
the way nature intended, the process is elegantly efficient. All the right hormones are produced at just the right
times to allow for a quick and easy releasing of the baby from the mother's body. Each and every intervention,
especially the original one of disallowing a woman to follow her instincts and birth alone, has a negative effect
on the timing and level of hormone released, leading to problems in the labor and birth. But no scientific research
has been done, to my knowledge, to show this, so the intervention continues because we have no real idea of what
we do. No study has ever compared pure birth to birth with interventions, so we have no idea of what our true baseline
is and how much we have strayed from it. I fear that we have strayed very far, indeed.
Spiritual
This is not so much a definition of the word, as a place
for me to expound on my ideas about spirituality, especially as it pertains to birthing. I will use the word God
to describe the creative intelligence of the universe that provides the backdrop of our existence. Some people
see God in a more personal, anthropomorphic way; use whatever works for you. I see it as a matter of semantics.
Anyway, I believe that the universe is set up to operate in such a way that we play a co-creative role, along with
God. And the method by which we do this is through our thoughts, words and deeds. We have the God-given power to
create our lives as we wish them to be. If you fear birth and worry that it will be painful, then that is what
your reality will be. You and your baby might even have to be "saved" by your doctor because you believe
you can't give birth without help from a trained medical care provider. Notice I did not say that you need a doctor
to give birth, so he can save you. It is the belief that comes first, the circumstances follow to allow that belief
to play out. A bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy, or God answering prayers you don't know you are making. Everything
you think about and focus on is a request sent out to the universe, whether you are conscious of it or not. The
effects/answers come rippling back to you, whether you notice their cause or not. The trick is to become aware
of this process, so you can use it in the way God meant for you. If you believe you will give birth painlessly
and easily, you will (unless some other belief you hold is sabotaging that one, leading you to an experience that
is necessary for you to learn a life lesson). The key is to have faith in God, in your body, in birth. Faith is
the opposite of fear, the abscence of doubt. Without doubt and fear, you focus only on what you want, and leave
the details to God.
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