Home birthing? Doulas? Midwives? Hypnobirthing? Prenatal massage? Today, we’re talking about alternative birthing.
Fifty years ago, it was pretty simple: you went to the hospital, they knocked you out, and you had your baby — while dad smoked a cigar in the waiting room. Or if no hospital was nearby, you gave birth at home and hoped a savvy neighborhood lady could to help out. In later years, the question became home birth versus hospital birth.
Today, dozens of professionals want to assist in your birthing process. They’ll massage you, hypnotize you, acupuncture you, coach you, prop you up, put you under, even bring a backyard pool into your house so the baby can drop into a nice warm tub — thus postponing for another few minutes the harsh reality of world outside the womb.
Today, I’ll be joined by a doctor, a massage therapist, a midwife, and more, as we talk about varieties of birth experience.
You can join the conversation. E-mail colin@wnpr.org or tweet us @wnprcolin.
