![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Beautiful & Courageous
Gloria Lemay, fabulous childbirth activist and healthy living extraordinaire, has a delightfully irreverent blog I enjoy reading: http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/
I noticed today that according to Gloria, VBAC (generally "Vaginal Birth After Cesarean") stands for "Very Beautiful And Courageous." How awesome is that? I have several good friends (and know of *so* many others) who have not been able to have vaginal births. In some situations, the cesareans were necessary (or became necessary based on mismanagement of care), but for too many mothers and babies, normal birth was denied based on convenience, impatience, or the power disparity between patient and provider. And no one bothers to educate women regarding the vast physiological and emotional importance of birth as God designed it. There is no consciousness among women today that tells them that cesarean section is as much like giving birth as artificial insemination is like making a baby. Sometimes it is necessary, yes, of course, it saves lives and will continue to do so. But when used inappropriately, it kills and it maims too, if not the body, than the spirit. God meant for childbirth to be Very Beautiful And Courageous. It is a tragedy that it is so often not for so many women. But how wonderful that there is restoration to be found. That even if a woman's first or second birth is not Very Beautiful And Courageous, she can have a VBAC. We must fight to make sure she will always be able to.
You know what else is Very Beautiful And Courageous? My friend Steff talking about midwives at the Iowa White House Forum on Health Reform! http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/in
I noticed today that according to Gloria, VBAC (generally "Vaginal Birth After Cesarean") stands for "Very Beautiful And Courageous." How awesome is that? I have several good friends (and know of *so* many others) who have not been able to have vaginal births. In some situations, the cesareans were necessary (or became necessary based on mismanagement of care), but for too many mothers and babies, normal birth was denied based on convenience, impatience, or the power disparity between patient and provider. And no one bothers to educate women regarding the vast physiological and emotional importance of birth as God designed it. There is no consciousness among women today that tells them that cesarean section is as much like giving birth as artificial insemination is like making a baby. Sometimes it is necessary, yes, of course, it saves lives and will continue to do so. But when used inappropriately, it kills and it maims too, if not the body, than the spirit. God meant for childbirth to be Very Beautiful And Courageous. It is a tragedy that it is so often not for so many women. But how wonderful that there is restoration to be found. That even if a woman's first or second birth is not Very Beautiful And Courageous, she can have a VBAC. We must fight to make sure she will always be able to.
You know what else is Very Beautiful And Courageous? My friend Steff talking about midwives at the Iowa White House Forum on Health Reform! http://www.thebigpushformidwives.org/in