Despite good intentions, many “experts” are all wrong about birth. They’re perpetuating birth myths left and right, and it’s not always their fault.
For years, media of every kind has trained us to see birth as a traumatic, painful experience rife with adrenaline and danger.
We rarely see examples of any births that take place outside of a hospital, and birth professionals like midwives are barely mentioned in our books, movies, television shows, or media outlets.
You have to work hard to find an alternative vision for birth, both for mothers and newborn infants. It’s time to tell a new birth story.
I’m on a mission to bust the major birth myths. These birth myths keep women in fear – cutting them off from their bodies, their intuition, and their power.
Today, I’ll start with the top 5 birth myths that need to go.
Are you ready for a new perspective on birth?
Sign up here for my FREE webinar, 4 BIGGEST LIES REVEALED: Discover the Truth About How to Have a Successful Pregnancy from Fertility to Birth and Beyond.
THE 5 MAJOR BIRTH MYTHS REVEALED
1. Birth is painful.
Can you recall the last movie or TV show you saw where a woman was giving birth? What was her emotional state?
I can just about guarantee she was screaming in pain while doing intense Lamaze-style breathing with a frantic staff of medical professionals scrambling around her to prepare for the arrival of her baby.
What if I told you that birth does not have to be painful?
Pain during birth comes from several factors, including weakened adrenal glands, which are the engine for birthing a baby, a lack of understanding of the process of birth, which creates uncertainty, and a poor support system, including professionals trained to micromanage birth at every stage.
Read about my personal experience with the pain-free birth of my eldest daughter on my blog here: Pain-Free Birth: Muneeza’s Birth Stories Part 1.
2. Birth is a medical procedure.
There is a birth myth that says birth is only safe when it takes place in a hospital. Modern medicine has taken control of birth, but what happened before modern medicine stepped in to make birth fit into its business model of high-volume medical procedures?
We often hear that childbirth was far more dangerous before we moved it almost exclusively into hospitals. But is this narrative based on truth?
This historical timeline of childbirth from Midwifery Today is fascinating, and it points out that in the year 1900 in the United States, less than 5% of women gave birth in hospitals. It simply wasn’t normal.
If women began moving more into hospitals throughout the 20th century, we should see new reduction trends in major birth-related risks, right? Historical data tells a different story.
This chart from global data company Statista shows that infant mortality rates were already on a massive downward trend in 1900, which continued through the 20th century. This trend is likely due to a better understanding of hygiene practices that prevent infection during examination and birth. This trend wasn’t born in 1900 – it was well underway.
This article from the US Centers for Disease Control describes a maternal mortality rate of between six and nine women per 1,000 live births at the turn of the century – hardly a shocking number, especially considering that hygiene practices were still becoming widespread.
We currently enjoy a remarkable reduction in that number (0.1 reported maternal mortality events per 1,000 live births), and there is no doubt that modern medicine is phenomenally equipped to handle challenging births when they arise. Still, with the development of the last 120 years, we cannot attribute all of the improvements to hospitals alone.
The fact is, the female body was designed for birth, with or without medical intervention. Traditional wisdom about preparing the body, mind, and infant for birth has been traded for medical expertise.
Yes, there are benefits to this approach in many cases, but we’ve lost knowledge of the natural phases and unfolding of birth. Treating birth as a medical procedure that must happen in hospitals is not the only viable option.
At The Farm, a well-known birthing center in the United States, all births start in birthing huts supported by midwives. Only 5% of births at The Farm require trips to the hospital for medical intervention, and only 3% require Cesarean section births.
Compare that number with the 32.1% of hospital births that result in Cesarean sections, and you see how this myth begins to dissolve.
I gave birth to my third daughter at home, a life-changing experience I cherish to this day. Want to learn more about how you can experience a panic-free home birth? Safe and beautiful home birth is NOT a birth myth.
Read the story on my blog here: Home Birth Without Fear.
3. Birth is an emergency.
Let’s go back to the last time you saw a woman on TV or in a movie who was going into labor. How did she behave when her water broke? How did the people around her behave?
Was she prepared, calm, at ease with her understanding of her body and the beautiful, sacred experience that was to come, or did she panic immediately? Did everyone around her freak out?
We have come to see birth as a four-alarm fire. Based on what we see in the media, we’re not doing it right if we’re not panicking. Right?
Wrong. Birth is different from a visit to the emergency room. Sure, birth is intense. But it was not designed by Nature to be innately dangerous.
Do you think indigenous women worldwide gave birth in panic for hundreds of generations before Western “civilization” took over and hospitals were established? Just as we have been trained to believe that children don’t like healthy food (disproven by my own children!), we have been trained to see birth as an emergency event. It is not.
4. Birth ruins your body.
One of the most pernicious birth myths is the one that tells women their bodies will be ruined in the process.
A woman’s mental and emotional state is already often fragile leading up to birth due to the disproportionate amount of fear our culture teaches women to hold around birth. The added fear of post-birth body complications is like salt in the wound.
It is not inevitable that you will be exhausted after birth, that you will lose your hair, or that you will gain weight and never be able to lose it.
Join me for my free webinar on busting birth myths to learn why these birth myths are wildly untrue and what you can do to empower yourself with the knowledge that helps your body to be resilient immediately after birth.
5. Nursing will be a struggle.
Many women have experienced challenges producing milk after birth, so much so that entire businesses have sprung up to connect women who need breastmilk with women who are willing to produce and ship it.
This myth is, thankfully, an easy one to bust. Most women who cannot produce milk after birth experience depleted glucose levels. Adequate glucose is essential for the production of breast milk.
Read more in my blog, 5 Tips for Successful Breastfeeding.
Are you ready to challenge the mainstream beliefs about birth and discover a new perspective that will empower you to create your own experience with birth?
Join me next week for my free webinar:
You’ll discover:
- The #1 anti-fertility drug that too many women are exposed to without realizing it
- The top 3 foods you NEVER want to eat when you’re trying to get pregnant
- The secret “goldmine” hidden right under your nose that’s essential to having a pain-free birth
- The worst mistakes that keep you and your baby exhausted and struggling during your postpartum period
- How chronic illness can be triggered or worsened during these phases of womanhood, and what you can do to lessen symptoms
- And so much more!
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
I am so sick of the constant gaslighting campaigns that make women feel that their bodies are faulty. When it comes down to it, this is what harmful birth myths do – they undermine a woman’s trust in herself, her body, and the community of women around her.
When we go to a medical professional before speaking to our mothers, we have lost something that generations before us cherished: traditions of women’s wisdom and experience.
I’m sick of women being blamed for their chronic illness and symptoms with false beliefs and myths that say, “It’s all in your head,” “It’s your hormones,” or “Your genetics are faulty; there’s nothing you can do.” And the worst of all: “Your body is attacking itself.”
I want the truth to be known. You can recover from your chronic illness to rediscover a life built on thriving health.
I want women who feel that birth is out of reach for them due to their chronic illness or their misguided belief in the myths of a faulty system that they can overcome to discover the joy of creating life.
And I will continue to do everything I can to change the narrative for women whose hearts ache to be healthy and whole again, to give birth joyfully and peacefully, and to pass their wisdom onto the next generation of women and girls.
To your health and peace,
Muneeza
