The Circle of Life

Have you ever examined certain aspects of life and wondered how everything comes together to form the circle of life? Many individuals are very mindful of the entire process of laboring a child. Many of these individuals spend years becoming educated in this particular field. They will spend hours and hours gaining clinical experience to gain experience in how labor works. These individuals are “medical professionals.” They may hold a lot of knowledge about how a woman’s body works during pregnancy, but they cannot account for those women who have different experiences than the rest. There are normal aspects of pregnancy that all women may face, but unknown symptoms should not be ignored.

Diving into the subject of labor, the question that comes to mind is “Who is in charge” of the laboring body? This question brings so many opinions and thoughts from every individual. It should be a shared responsibility of assistance from the medical team to provide their knowledge to best help the woman who is giving birth. However, there should be autonomy over her preferences of how she wants to give birth. There should be an equal balance of where the mother and medical professional agree to provide support for the mother’s needs.

In early times, the process of how women were taken care of for their pregnancy has completely changed even up to the way a child is delivered. In the reading “African-American Midwifery: a History and a Lament,” the Lamaze technique was mentioned which is “childbirth without pain.” This discussion spoke about the increased rates of “chemical stimulation of labor, episiotomies, cesarean sections.” Why should childbirth be done in a specific way? Why does it matter if a woman wants to have a pain-free birth? These ideas and concepts are still topics that are debated upon. Overall, women should be the only ones who get to decide what she wants. Medical professionals should only guide her if it will negatively impact her.