2011 - Talk Birth

or tenderness,
and wonder.”
–via [1]Unitarian Universalist Association
“One of the most important things I have learned about birthing babies is that the process is more of an
unfolding marvel than a routine progression of events.” –Tori Kropp
‎”We are part of generations of women, one to the next. Teaching, mentoring, supporting, assisting, befriending,
and so much more. Let us not lose those connections in our lives, in our births...” –[2]Preparing For
Birth
‎”There is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it. So should
we” Ina May Gaskin
(this quote got the most ”likes” of almost all the quotes I’ve ever posted on the CfM FB page!)
“A woman’s confidence and ability to give birth and to care for her baby are enhanced or diminished by
every person who gives her care, and by the environment in which she gives birth...Every women should
have the opportunity to give birth as she wishes in an environment in which she feels nurtured and secure,
and her emotional well-being, privacy, and personal preferences are respected.” –[3]Coalition for Improving
Maternity Services (CIMS)
”Birth wisdom...comes most completely not from the outside but from deep within the woman’s physiology.”
–Robbie Davis-Floyd (in intro to Gentle Birth Choices)
”Hospital-based childbirth classes usually do not teach women about the wonder and mystery and sweaty,
intense power of birth, but rather prepare them for each and every hospital procedure by educating their
intellects instead of honoring their bodies.” –Robbie Davis-Floyd (in intro to Gentle Birth Choices book)
(Let it be known before anyone gets their feelings hurt that I do understand that there are very good,
complete, helpful, awesome hospital birth classes and hospital birth educators out there! This quote is a
generality, but one that seems quite true in a number of cases [but not all, of course]).
”...I have noticed that the subgroup of women who tend to choose [homebirth] often exhibit certain characteristics,
such as comfort within their own bodies, a desire to have a birth experience that is more poetic than
clinical, as well as a desire to return what we all feel is some seriously missing humanity to the experience of
having a baby...” –Cara Muhlhahn
”We can no longer sit back and debate whether maternity care is evidence-based. We have seen that over
and over again, in most cases, it is not...” –Connie Livingstone
1. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=6937463748
2. http://www.facebook.com/PreparingForBirth
3. http://www.facebook.com/CoalitionforImprovingMaternityServices
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