Category Archives: Mothers

For many women, a V-section can be as traumatic as a C-section

by Kathryn Lane Berkowitz

Did you know that for many women, a vaginal birth with an episiotomy can be just as traumatic and painful as birth with a cesarean ? It’s true. The birth of my oldest child, who weighed on 5lbs and 5 oz was delivered via a mediolateral episiotomy and forceps. It was extremely painful. I refer to that birth as my “V-section” because that’s how it felt to me. I felt sliced and diced. And I was!

I had many, many stitches that itched and burned and nothing made it go away. This continued for several weeks. I was breastfeeding and it was all I could do to turn over in the bed without pain so intense that it made me nauseated and faint feeling. I had to have someone “spot” me every time I got up to use the bathroom because I was afraid I would faint. I was completely incapacitated.

In case you are unfamiliar with the term “episiotomy”, here is some information, and illustrations: Continue reading For many women, a V-section can be as traumatic as a C-section

Pain-free birth

I know three women who had babies at the harvest moon in September 2010. They all successfully home birthed without assistance. One of the women, a beautiful mother of a perfect one-day old baby girl wrote this to me today:

“I find it shocking that a lot of women fear birth. Birth is natural and there are hundreds of women that birthed without the drug advancements lately. I just experienced my second birth – painfree!

“I’m even more amazed at how many people don’t believe that they can have a painfree birth… I don’t think something as beautiful as birthing a precious baby should be painful and I think a lot of that is media hype. Movies and magazines always exaggerate labor & delivery to be this utterly horrible, noisey, tramatic experience.

“I don’t know about other women but I am fairly quite when I birth. I have a few moans here and there when I am pushing naturally but I just meditate through the waves and let my body do its thing. I just channel all my concentration into my body and my baby.”

Please be sure to order a copy of the Birth As We Know It video for your favorite mother-to-be.

This video will ease her fears and prepare her for a very happy, healthy, empowering experience of birth as mothers through the ages have known. In actuality, any cutting at any time of any body carries risks of bleeding and infection. Modern medical intervention rushes the process and forces procedures that women do not want. Interfering with nature’s kind and loving plan can be more dangerous than helpful.

Yet it requires some effort to birth naturally. Years of fears and myths and our own resulting stressful medical birth trauma need to be reversed. Sign up for the *HealingPlace*, above. We heal the body, mind and spirit and help prepare women so that birth can be a wonderful experience for both mother and child.