Trust birth?
Trust birth! This call, this battle cry, this sentiment, to trust birth, arose out of those seeking to counteract our cultural fear of childbirth. “Trust birth” is a call to trust the body to perform a physiological process that most often goes smoothly. “Trust birth” is a cry to reclaim the deep awareness of body, to trust birth as a process that requires no thinking to proceed. I used to cry this out as well. Trust birth has truth behind it. But it’s not the whole story.
Sometimes, the body tells us that there is something outside of normal happening. Rarely, trusting birth means listening to the body telling us the physiological process is somehow not working. Trust that body too, whether it is simply not feeling right in a particular birthing position, or more serious signs such as high blood pressure or excess bleeding.
Yes, we need to be more aware of our bodies and more trusting of our bodies, our babies, and the process of pregnancy and childbirth. And with that awareness we must also be aware that sometimes, our bodies tell us that other factors are now at play. We should trust our bodies to give birth! There would not be seven billion people on the planet if childbirth were fraught with danger at every turn. But we should also trust our bodies to tell us when there’s something abnormal going on.
So my call, my battle cry, my sentiment, is to trust your self. Trust your whole self, your body, your baby who is inextricably linked to your body during pregnancy and breastfeeding, the physiological processes of pregnancy and childbirth, and your intuition. Most of the time, birth handles itself. But for those for whom birth does not handle itself, your birth and body are still trustworthy. Your body will tell you when things are not as they should be. Your birth will show you when things need to change. For some of you, your birth will show you things that you want to change for your future.
So yes, trust birth! But remember, that includes trusting when our bodies and our births tell us they have different plans than we do.
