Statistics on induced labour
Here’s an interesting snippet for you from my latest “Babycenter” email (it tells me how many weeks pregnant I am - like I really need a reminder 
)
Medical intervention to induce labor is on the rise. Over 20 percent of U.S. births are induced - more than double the level in 1989.
So what is happening here - why are more women holding back (almost as if trying to avoid the birth)?
Perhaps the orthodox medical system perpetuates this fear in women by insisting that pregnancy is a “medical condition” rather than a natural, life-promoting process. Or the excessive focus on pharmaceutical pain relief - giving women the impression that the pain of the birth process is beyond their capabilities.
Rhea Dempsey, a highly sought after birth attendant and educator says that statistically, women in labour who are supported by an experienced birth attendant have shorter labours, use less pain-relief medication and have fewer forceps, vacuum or caesarean deliveries.
On the home page of her website, Rhea has the following passage:
Pregnancy and birth involve profound changes. Your body alters. Relationships develop in unexpected ways. Your attitude to the world around you undergoes a deep shift. Confusing and ambivalent feelings can surface, filling you with joyous expectations but also confronting you with fears about life and death, and your ability to face the challenges of birthing and mothering.
In many cultures and across time the challenging journey of pregnancy and birth was celebrated and honoured as a transformational process, a ‘rite of passage’. Women were supported in this journey and enabled to find the inner resources they would need to become powerful mothers. Often in our current ‘labour-bypass’ era, a woman’s need to consciously experience this transformational process is not fully recognised or adequately supported. Birthing Wisdom offers support to women who wish to honour this inner process.
By exploring the emotional and psychological aspects of the birthing journey as well as developing physical resources, Birthing Wisdom allows space to create a meaningful birth experience for you, and a safe and loving welcome for your baby.
So again, as with all health issues, it pays to be informed and to have support in your informed decisions.
And be brave enough to step outside the boundaries of current orthodox or mainstream thinking.
Helena
