From: jlwallis@phebos.aps.anl.gov (Jackie Wallis)
Subject: Pagan Childbirth
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 1994 15:18:51 GMT

I would like to counter the thread that has been running here that
childbirth is a horrible/painful/gory/terrible experience.  I am a
pagan, a midwife and a mother, therefore I freely admit I am
prejudiced, I am a very pro-childbirth person {see disclaimer below
before any flames}.

I want to propose to you my personal theory that our society has
_made_ childbirth a painful/horrible/impersonal experience:

1) The Christian church has long taught that "God" made childbirth
painful to teach Eve a lesson for eating the fruit of the tree of
knowledge. IMHO, the church has lied to us and we (as a society) have
believed and lived this lie for a couple thousand years.

2) Most of us have been taught to view all/most sensation that we feel
as pain, and to be afraid of that pain.  Of course, there is such a
thing as pain, but I want to make the differentiation between physical
sensation and the physical pain you encounter when you burn yourself.

3) We have been taught that childbirth is painful, we are afraid of
pain, and as a result we are afraid of childbirth.  When undergoing
the experience of childbirth, the first sensation is interpreted, in
light of this fear, as pain and birth _becomes_ a painful event.

4) To counter this fear/pain cycle, childbirth (along with death but
that's another topic) have been dehumanized/technoligzed (I can make
up words if I want to :->).  Doctors/nurses/hospitals are there to
take the pain/sensation away with their painkillers, epidurals and
c-sections but in the process they take the humanity away, too.

My proposal is that childbirth would be a much better experience if
viewed differently:

   Childbirth is a sexually intensive, highly joyous, religious, personal 
   experience that brings a wonderfully loved and wanted new life into 
   our world.

When the experience of childbirth is viewed in this light, it takes on
a whole new form:

1) Yes, childbirth is a sexual experience, in fact the most intensly
sexual experience a woman can have.  I know one woman who experienced
her first orgasm while having her first baby and said its equal was
only known when she had her second baby.

2) Just as lack of sensation (meditation) can be a religious
expereince, heightened sensation (childbirth) can also be a religious
experience.  I know several women that were "converted" to Goddess
religions after having their first child because the power they
expereienced during childbirth could not be reconciled with the
anti-powerful-women attitude found in most mainstream religions.

3) When every child that is born is a known, loved, spiritual being
then it is a joy to do the physical work required to bring that person
forth into the world and into her/his family.

4) When the birth takes place in the privacy of your own home (or
place of your choosing) then there is control of the environment and
expereince which makes the birthing mother more relaxed and able to
open herself to the experience to her fullest.  The use of music,
candles, lighting, setting, water, and rituals all join the mother and
her support people into ONE for this joyous event.

5) When childbirth is viewed from a sexual/religious ecstacy
viewpoint, it's no surprise that women make noise while giving birth,
be careful about interpreting this noise as responses to pain, it may
not be.

I am not naive enough to believe that I can change a belief that is
set this firmly in the world, but please think about it, and to those
of you that have daughters don't burden them with the lie that
childbirth MUST be a painful/horrible experience.

Blessed Be and
Joyous Birthings to all that desire it!

jackie

***********
Disclaimer: I also STRONGLY believe that those that don't want babies
shouldn't be made to have them and it's just one more example of the
sad state of our society when the will of the mother isn't taken into
account.