Читать книгу Sister Lilian’s Pregnancy & Birth Companion - Lilian Paramor - Страница 24

Just as we accept that it is our right to have and raise children according to our personal life views, so, I am sure, our babies come to this planet and our homes with certain expectations. And just as the ticking of the biological and emotional clocks may have made you decide that it was time to have a baby, babies operate according to natural laws too. They expect, I would imagine, the very best birth, postnatal care and childrearing on offer.

Children must adapt to their family and its norms. But there is no disputing that babies need the best birth experience possible. The laws of nature lead babies to expect a natural birth and this should preferably only be broken if either mother or baby is in real danger, at which stage intervention is the kindest option. Babies are also programmed to expect that their feeding will be the very best nature has to offer and you can bet your bottom dollar this does not come out of a tin!

I am aware that this might sound moralising, but it saddens me that we so easily pull the wool over our own eyes and, in the process, break our unwritten contract with our babies. It might seem that the man-made way is easier, more efficient and better than what nature offers with regard to pregnancy and childbirth. This Companion, while informing you of all your options, will help you to realise that in the age-old human activity of parenting, Mother Nature really does know best most of the time.

What a pity that the pace of modern life hardly allows for physical, let alone emotional preparation for parenthood. It is customary now for women to work right up to the end of their pregnancy, so that they can have as much time with their newborn baby as possible before returning to work. This means that there is not much time during pregnancy to reflect and prepare yourself emotionally. This is a great pity because creating, nurturing and rearing children impacts strongly on our lives. Women often become introspective during pregnancy, even to the extent of being averse to touch. This is coupled with the much-maligned tendency to increased emotionality.

We have alienated ourselves from the deeper processes at work during pregnancy. Do not be tempted to be the calculating, efficient career woman right up to the end of pregnancy. You are a partner in creation, and what is a physical creation without a soul? It is healthy to dwell on the meaning of mothering, the nature of nurturing and the impact you and your baby will have on each other and your world. We are not just islands in an anonymous ocean for the duration of our life, only to shrivel up and die. Society does its best to divert us from a path of emotional discovery. I want to urge you to keep delving, as it greatly enriches human experience. What more precious gift can we give our babies than this?