I Love Birth!!

I am passionate about all women having the most amazing, empowering birth experiences. Birth has the biggest impact on our lives as women and mothers, so it makes sense that it should be a positive, incredible experience, and not one filled with fear and pain. There is nothing better than facing a huge challenge and coming out victorious, that's where all those strong mama's come from. They birthed, they birthed well, and having done that, they can do anything!!
I know this because I'm one of those Mama's! I had a negative 1st birth, but I learnt from it and I was determined that I would never experience that fear again. So 2nd time around I made sure I was prepared, and I had an amazing birth!! So good that I went back 2 more times, and it was better and better!! You've gotta love birth!

"Brains 'rewired' to aid motherhood"

This is the little article in Sunday's paper that caught my attention;

Science has finally caught up with what mothers have been saying for years.
They are superwomen with superpowers thanks to an influx of hormones during pregnancy and labour to enable them to cope with the demands of childrearing.
Neuroscientists have discovered that women's brains are rewired during that period making them faster, more robust and less stressed than before.
Professor Craig Kinsey, a neuroscientist at the University of Richmond, Virginia, found the lifelong transformation is caused by an influx of hormones, including estrogen and oxytocin, to the brain.
The revolutionary findings could lead to a new world of chemical therapies to transform "bad" mothers.
Professor Kinsley said if females with a deficit of the brain chemical oxytocin can be identified, "when they are first interacting with the baby you can give them a boost of oxytocin at a critical time".
Sunday Mail April 27, 2008 p26

Have they considered the natural rush of oxytocin that a mother's brain is literally washed with when she births naturally? This rush of hormones only happens during a natural birth, as the drugs used for epidurals stops the natural oxytocin from doing it's job. Synthetic oxytocin fools the body into producing contractions, but it blocks the natural oxytocin from being produced and having the incredible effect it is designed for.

Maybe, instead of trying to identify the "bad" mothers (their quote) after birth, perhaps they should be working on supporting mothers properly before and during birth, to maximise the opportunity for these women to start motherhood with every advantage that should be theirs, naturally.