Ah that felt good – way overdue. Of course it was non confrontational. But privately, I did imagine that I had a Vince McMahon moment (you’re FIRED!) with my girlfriend’s OB/GYN.  The reason for the firing – lack of compassion and understanding.  The crime committed – no birth plan allowed.

Now they were very nice doctors, however very closed-minded.  We did our intensive research, and we simply wanted to voice our preference of having a natural birth. It makes me wonder why, in this case, female OB/GYNs lack the compassion to allow a fellow mother her full right to choose a preference for delivering her baby.  It’s sad when our desire for a completely natural child birth is shunned by the medical community.  It’s almost as if it is taboo or witchery in their eyes.  Don’t they realize that child birth is natural and can be done without a doctor’s intervention?  Maybe they feel their doctoral degrees trump the laws of nature?

Instead of being applauded for going the natural route (showing our due-diligence), we were cajoled into thinking it was best not to have one. With their silly grin, they made us feel naive and foolish to even propose such an absurd plan.  Birth delivery is unpredictable. This is understood.  But why not give your patients (customers) a chance?   Hmmm… maybe because:

1. They are indoctrinated by the medical system.  Profit is top priority, followed by streamlined operations and profits for big pharma (who sponsor them).
2. Most traditional OB/GYN have never experienced a natural birth, especially outside the hospital setting (e.g. home birth).
3. They are not comfortable with anything outside what was taught to them and/or approved by their medical associations.  They identify symptoms, treat with synthetic drugs, and monitor and judge effectiveness with   tests or machines.  The notion that the female body naturally knows best and must be listened to, is uncomfortable to a doctor that must follow a protocol and believe only synthetic drugs can produce results.
4. Having a natural childbirth is too complicated and has too many variables to deal with.  There is no time to tailor a plan of action for every individual. Do you think you are special? This is an assembly line folks – everyone is treated the same.
5. Here’s what we really think is going to happen (and hope for, because anything else makes us nervous and doesn’t make $$):
   1. If baby is stalling and you are taking up valuable space in our hospital, we must break your water and induce you (Pitocin)
   2. But that causes violent contractions, so it’s only a matter of time you ask for painkillers (nurse get the epidural ready)
   3. If the baby is still being stubborn, we have no choice but to perform a c-section (money-maker $$$).  But don’t worry, you’ll have your baby in your arms in no time.

I’m quite positive that point #5 above would be mandatory practice all across America, if the subject of a women’s right over her body was not such a sensitive and charged topic. Ladies – you have the say here. It’s your body conversing with you and calling the shots. Make sure you listen. It’s the only natural and primordial health-related experience that has not been taken over by Western medicine.  Try as they will, a mother’s womb, birthing process, breast feeding/milk will never be replaced by technology or synthetic medicine. And they really despise that. So don’t let them steer you away from nature.  We didn’t. After all, we are the customer and we call the shots. We have since hired a new OB/GYN and he is awesome. It is quite refreshing.

Well as you can see, the pictured OB/GYN above is still smiling and will continue to smile.  I’m quite sure her and the whole practice is more than happy to not have to deal with customers like us.  There are countless other unaware mom-to-bes filling up her appointment book that are easy to succumb.  If you know such a mom-to-be, I suggest having her watch the documentary “The Business of Being Born” – http://www.thebusinessofbeingborn.com/