Natural Wisdom in Birth and Mothering
In the 1960′s childbirth without medication was not done. It was standard procedure to rush laboring mothers to the hospital and administer a drug called “Twilight.” The woozy mother was unable to push effectively and a large number of babies were born blue due to the stress.
It was taboo to breastfeed in that era. Only backwards, uninformed people would think of such a thing. I was told by one nurse that to suckle an infant was vulgar. The doctors told us, ‘How can you know that your baby has enough milk unless you measure it?’ ‘Since you cannot measure breast milk, it is dangerous to nurse.’ ‘Babies go hungry when they are breastfed.’
Those same doctors went on to say that order to get full nutrition you needed something that was proven by doctors to be nourishing for the baby. Babies grew fat on doctor-recommended home-made formula of pasteurized milk highly sweetened with Karo Syrup. This was before throw-away diapers and commercial baby formulas were being marketed.
Nature and medicine had parted ways. Women began to ask their doctors questions.
In 1973, I was one of those young women trying to find the path back to God’s way of motherhood. I began to ask questions. A doctor tried to dismiss my concerns. His arrogant attitude left me feeling dumb. In the face of his arrogance, I stiffened with a certainty born of an ancient mother-knowing. “I WILL have my baby at home, and I WILL nurse! And if you call the Child Protection Agency on me, then I will run and hide and STILL give birth to and nurse my baby!”
My solitary experience did not turn the course of birthing options for women. It takes a collective voice. Rather than accept the latest recommendations, women in the 60′s started writing books about how to give birth naturally, how to breastfeed effectively and how to bond with your baby rather than allow your little one to be carted off to a nursery. The homeschooling movement was born in that time of transition. It is to those passionate, rebellious women we owe a debt though many books have since been published on the topic of natural childbirth and mothering. Those pioneering women gave other young mothers the confidence to shout, “Yes, I WILL do this!”
Blue newborns and doped mothers are no longer the accepted norm because of those couragous writers. A doctor would be laughed out of his clinic if he told a mother it was vulgar and unsafe to nurse her baby. The infants born to mothers that first chose natural childbirth and homeschooling are now educated parents, homeschooling a new generation of well educated and well adjusted children. The results speak for themselves: A mother knows what is best for her baby.
Those books — while not always written by believers — were a valuable reference for mothers who desired to rediscover nature’s way, like myself. I was able to benefit from their willingness to share their knowledge and experiences.
In writing The Vision by Debi Pearl, I hope to carry on their fine tradition. Just as I have gained much from the visionary writings of women who came before me, I hope that the information I share will be used by those who follow.
Interested in more child training tips? No Greater Joy is a ministry dedicated to helping parents bring up children they enjoy. They have written a bestseller called To Train Up A Child that has helped thousands.
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