THE BOOK!

In the process of Jason and I taking control of the reigns in the birth of our next child, YOU guys are going to be an educated bunch by the end of our pregnancy. (Lucky You!)

This blog is going to be about the Bradley book that Jason and I are reading called "Husband Coached Child Birth". The basis of the book is about how humans are Mammals, physiologically stemming from the Animal Kingdom. BUT, what this Doctor Bradley has insightfully pointed out, is the way humans give birth and the way all other mammals give birth are completely different. Doctor Bradley decided to ask, why are we so different if we are so similar physically?

GREAT question. Not many people my age have grown up on a farm these days but Dr. Bradley talks about how his experience growing up on the farm was that the animals giving birth on the farm did NOT have complications, they did NOT need medication to give birth, they do NOT have a doctor or ANYone attending their birth, giving birth was peaceful, quiet and unhindered. Our "Human" idea of giving birth is ... hospital, medication, doctors, screaming, painful, recovery, complications, C-SECTIONS!!!

Dr. Bradley goes on to explain that the difference between Animals and Humans is that Animals have a huge instinct as to how to live and give birth. Humans are not instinctual but God differentiated humans from the mammal world by giving them their ability to learn. A perfect example of this, besides child birth, is swimming. When you put an animal in water, it instinctually knows what to do in order to swim. If you put a human in water that has never learned how to swim, they WILL drown. But, the good news and key point to this blog and book is that hunmans can be taught how to swim and give birth.

I like this theory. It makes a lot of sense. With my first birth, I had no idea what to expect, we saw maybe 3 birthing videos but besides that, we never were taught how to have a baby. We were even taught how to raise the baby and care for it AFTER you give birth but we learned nothing about birthing the baby. With this birth, I am going into it more informed and educated than I ever was with the first. If this theory is correct, I KNOW I can do this better the second time around.

With that, I'll leave you with a little intresting fact I learned.

A 9 month pregnant uterus (without including the baby's weight) weighs 15 lbs!!! No wonder women get low back pain with pregnancy. :)

~Mama Beal