I attended a wonderful birth this morning.

Before labor began, the mother was afraid that her body wouldn’t go into labor without “help.”  (She was induced with her first birth.)  Surprise!  At 42 weeks, she woke up in labor with contractions 3 minutes apart.  She labored quietly and with strength until transition came.

“I’m afraid.”

“What is your fear?  What are you afraid of?”

“I’m afraid I won’t remember how to do this.”

“You don’t have to remember, your body knows and remembers.”

“Ok…”

And it did.  She didn’t need me to tell her what to do.  She just listened to what her body told her to do. It remembered quite well.

Afterward, she was in awe of the strength of her body and its ability to give birth.

“I am just awesome!  My body rocks!”

How many women sell themselves short?  Not just by insisting on hospital interventions like inductions and epidurals, but by the way they act, think and take care of themselves.  Why do they prefer to act weak, to take the passive role, to give their power to others without a question?

I loved it when I heard this mother tell her 3 year old daughter “You’re going to grow up to be a strong woman, too.”

The secret is out…