As society learns to shift back into a healthier and more natural way of living, doing all things au naturel is starting to gain some steady ground.
Gluten-free. Organic. Non-GMO.
Even when it comes to giving birth, more and more mothers want to experience it the natural way.
Just recently, a mother who chose to give birth in the middle of the forest and captured it in film made headlines across the globe.
For mom Helen Vnuk, however, she doesn’t understand some mothers’ obsession with natural birth.
In fact, in her Mama Mia story, she recalls the birth of her son, an experience she considers the most beautiful experience in her life thanks to her epidural.
Initially, Helen didn’t plan to have an epidural.
Despite having contractions for almost 24 hours, she had been faring fine with breathing deeply and imagining the moment she finally gets to see her son. All things considered, she thought she was handling the pain well.
But because her labor wasn’t progressing (she was already 40-years-old attempting VBAC), the doctors decided to break her water.
“The pain of contractions, which I’d put at about an eight out of 10, suddenly went up to 11 out of 10,” she said. “Or maybe 93 out of 10. It felt like I was being knifed in the stomach.”
When her husband suggested a shower, she grabbed him, looked him in the eye, and said, “I know you’re trying to be supportive. But if you really want to support me, GET ME AN EPIDURAL NOW.”
The relief she felt when the epidural took effect was indescribable.
“Having the epidural meant I could focus on the birth, rather than being overwhelmed by agony. I was still able to push. It was a peaceful, beautiful experience.”
According to Helen, she’s sharing her story because she had read an article on the New York Times.
In it, author Jessi Klein recalls an encounter with a woman on the supermarket while she was seven months pregnant.
"Are you having a natural birth?" the stranger asked.
When Jessi had said that she had been planning to get an epidural, the stranger felt shocked, which then annoyed her.
"No one ever asks a man if he’s having a 'natural root canal'," Jessi writes. "No one ever asks if a man is having a 'natural vasectomy'."
She then says that a lot of pressure are put onto women’s shoulders when it comes to birth and labor.
"It’s so easy to believe the notion that having a baby demands complete and total self-abnegation, and anything short of that is not enough," she adds. "But here’s the thing: If you’re worried that skipping the pain of childbirth means you’re somehow cheating your baby, or yourself, you’re not."
Weeks after Helen gave birth, she felt guilty getting an epidural.
Her sisters and friends gave birth without pain relief; Helen felt week for not being able to do it naturally.
Yet she didn’t regret it.
It was the right choice for her and she knew it, turning an otherwise excruciating process into a beautiful one.
“And you know what? I shouldn't have felt guilty or weak. No one else was in my situation,” Helen says. “No one else was feeling what I was feeling.
“Every birth experience is different. No one should judge me, and I shouldn't judge myself. I should just feel happy I was able to get an epidural when I needed it.
READ: Epidural Risks during Pregnancy
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