TY - CHAP M1 - Book, Section TI - Pain Management A1 - Aristizabal, Michelle PY - 2018 T2 - Natural Labor and Birth: An Evidence-Based Guide to the Natural Birth Plan AB - I’ll admit, I am one of those people who really don’t like medicine. I rarely even take a tylenol. I am sure that was part of the reason I planned for a natural birth. However, it was more than that. I felt like I was a part of this tradition going back to the beginning of time, where women worked to bring their babies into the world. It may sound strange to a lot of people, but I wanted to experience that. So much of our day to day life is depersonalized and cut off from nature, I just wanted to connect to this very real process of bringing forth life and to see what my body was capable of. I will not say labor was fun, but I am so grateful I chose to do it the way I did. I have never felt more powerful than when, after hours and hours of hard work, breathing through contraction after contraction, I lifted that red, beautiful screaming baby up to my chest. I just looked at her and thought, “I did this, I created this.” I really felt like after that, I could do anything. There was no parenting challenge before me that would be too hard. I am sure people have empowering birth experiences other ways as well, but for me the process mattered. It was important. I really felt like I earned my motherhood in that journey.—L. D., new mother SN - PB - McGraw-Hill Education CY - New York, NY Y2 - 2024/10/04 UR - obgyn.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159260616 ER -