my first pre-natal class was a huge success - the second, just as good. the third was a bust. i tried to bite off more than i could chew and, because of it, didn't do the promotion it needed, nor did i walk the community like i should have. but, that's the past, and i'm re-newed and ready to go at it again.
my passion for teaching women about their pregntant bodies and the precious life they carry has not waned. in fact, it's is sparked every time i meet a pregnant girl (most of the pregnant women i come across in my line of work are teenagers). it's rekindled every time i meet a woman with an infected c-section wound, a woman told she just absolutely should not breastfeed, a woman who has no idea how birth works.
both of my kids were delivered through c-sections. i didn't know any better, and while i fought for "natural" birth, i was shot down, intimidated and made to feel worthless at every turn. from month five of my first pregnancy, i was told that i would most-likely need a cesarean, and don't worry, most women here do it. luckily, we had insurance that covered the surgery, but most women don't. and are led into birth believing that their bodies cannot handle natural, vaginal birth and, had they been rich, they'd be having this child the right way. but, they're not rich, and so they're doing it the wrong way, and birth, when you don't know what to expect and don't believe in yourself, can be traumatic.
instead of raising up girls to know that they are powerful (fearfully and wonderfully made, even) creatures, created with this very process in mind, we are raising them up to believe that their bodies are worth nothing, that they cannot handle this amazing thing for which their body was designed. and it starts young.i'm sure you can imagine my disgust when, while shopping for christmas gifts, asia and i found this barbie-type (steffie, to be exact) who is pregnant. she looks like a normal doll, with a big belly, but when we flipped the box over - we found this.
the little girl playing with steffie just pops off steffie's belly and pulls baby out. forget about pushing a kid out, it's as easy as making a hole and pulling! excellent! from an early age, we teach these beauties that it's as easy as a major surgery to have a baby.
i know that c-sections often save lives, prevent problems (and the transmission of HIV from mother to child), but in a country with over 60% cesarean births (most in private clinics), it enrages me that this is what we're presenting to our children (not to mention the way-too-many pregnant teenagers).
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