Wishful Thinking
"There's no place like home."
- Dorothy, Wizard of Oz
Dorothy's iconic phrase comes to mind when I think of blind faith and wishful thinking delivering up immediate results.
Exactly, only in the movies.
Dorothy's method of wishing on her special heels will not deliver you to the birth you desire.
We're used to being masters of our lives in so many arenas (smash all the goals), but often halt that initiative at the challenge of managing our own health. we're told at a young age that doctors are the authority on health protocol and that we should (had better) trust their expertise completely. Society makes a face when you break from tradition and question western medical treatment plans. In the eyes of many you're being ungrateful to refuse the care of the esteemed problem solver who has glanced your way.
The friction begins when you no longer see your body's health needs or challenges as problems and engage in its care with attentive tenderness.
So the usual scenario has a pregnant mum placing the "medical details" of her pregnancy and birth in her doctor or midwife's hands. Decisions made can violate her adult understanding and boundaries in a myriad of ways. If they do, medical teams and extended family can discount the violation and tell a mother to gratefully receive her care (and to stop being insolent to her savior).
I submit that the stance women take while pregnant and birthing needs to shift.
Instead of placing full trust in medical systems to deliver us safely to motherhood (wishful thinking), let's stay abreast and opinionated and decisive during the entire process.
Take up space! No more bashful questioning of procedure fearing reproach. A mother speaking from hearty self education may be inconve
nient for a doctor, but it is far better than the loss that occurs after a man-handled and hurtful birth experience.
Let's collectively shoot for a day when we have clear, educated opinions about the direction of our care and the medical field bashfully submits refusals knowing we will take our pregnancy to another practice without a second thought if need be.
Taking control of our experience is anything but reckless because it allows our own educated opinion fueled by maternal intuition to lead. Our intuition, society has forgotten, is the safest thing in the world.