Modern medicine has really only been around and available to those in ‘developed’ countries since the 20th Century and available (to some degree) in ‘developing’ countries since the 1980s and WHO’s emphasis on Global Health. Get your head wrapped around this. Modern medicine is very new in the history of our Humanity.
This means, we have to ask: ‘How did women living without modern medicine give birth?” or ‘What happened at birth without modern medicine?”
In reality, there are still millions of women giving birth every year without access to modern medical care.
Here’s the reality about childbirth:
1. The BIGGEST issue in childbirth has always been ‘suffering’. That is not about ‘risks’ or ‘’problem’ or ‘tragedies’. Suffering in childbirth is directly related to the simple lack of birthing skills. We, Women, have not been taught how to cope, manage, work through, deal with, handle, stay on top of and feel in control when experiencing the natural and normal pain of labor contractions.
Modern medicine has always offered and given ‘pain relief’ and women flock to using it because there is no societal message that it’s normal and natural to self-learn birth and coaching skills in pregnancy then use those skills to work through labor pains.
Our Trust has for 40 years advocated that simple Concept … self-learn skills when pregnant and use skills to work through the activity of giving birth. You might not like it. It may hurt big time AND you’ll cope and manage better. And, you still might use modern pain relief alongside your skills.
2. The SMALLER issue in childbirth is about ‘risks’. Many, many pregnant women bring health issues into their pregnancy, other issues may develop in the mother or baby during pregnancy or birth. The focus of modern medicine is to reduce and prevent ‘risks’ from becoming ‘problems’ and becoming ‘tragedies’. They use assessments, monitoring and procedures which are called ‘interventions’ by natural birth advocates.
We give each other confusing and mixed messages about birth. Pregnancy and childbirth are certainly normal and natural parts of Life. What is ‘normal’ and ‘natural’ can include (and does) ‘suffering’ (lack of simple skills) and ‘risks, problems and tragedies’.
Add all of this to the fact, we have thousands of diverse cultures and beliefs. Modern medicine exists independent of those. Yet, all women, in every culture, are faced with the potential ‘suffering’ and perhaps ‘risks, problems and tragedies’.
So, how did women in diverse cultures, around the world and throughout Times birth? They accepted ‘suffering’ but didn’t like it. They accepted ‘risks, problems and tragedies’ but they didn’t like those either. But, like the vast majority of modern women, they lack simple skills.
Our New Zealand registered charitable Trust www.commonknowledgetrust.org has been committed for 50 years to pass on birth and coaching skills developed by hundreds of fathers and mothers in the early 1970s for absolutely all births. They also developed this simple Concept: When pregnant, it’s normal and natural to self-learn birth and coaching skills then use those skills to work through the activity of birthing your baby no matter where birth occurs, who is pregnant, your circumstances/beliefs; choices, lack of choices or whatever happens to or around you.
Just think forward to a world when all expectant parents learn and use birth skills. We might not be able to prevent all ‘tragedies’ or even stop ‘problems or risks’ but we can HUGELY reduce ‘suffering’.