The Little Lion: A Freebirth
It was Saturday morning September 21, 2024. I sat in our living room waiting for what was to come with a mixed sense of concern and excited confidence in the marvel that was occurring in the next room. My wife, Caitlin, had labored all night—13 hours. She had wanted her space during the process and graciously allowed me to sleep. Her mother, Shirley, stayed by her side. This was our first child, so I did not really know what to expect, but I knew that Mother Nature was at work, completing a task She had completed countless times over eons of time—recycling the old, creating the new, bringing new life into the world one more time. Anything new can be frightening. But Caitlin and I were determined to bring this baby into the world by nature’s standard. We were fortified through a deep and profound faith in the infinite intelligence that directs all the properties and actions of our universe. We had made the conscious decision not to involve any medical intervention or supervision, but we knew we were not alone. We had the Sage of the Ages with us, expressing and experiencing itself through us. Not to mention, we had Ms. Chastity Lindberg, doula extraordinaire, present in support.
Freebirth: unassisted childbirth; the intentional act of giving birth without the help of a medical professional.
At 10:08 a.m., I heard a cry. My head shot up and my eyes widened. It’s here. It’s here! I ran to the master bathroom where I could hear Caitlin and Chastity talking. “It’s a boy!” exclaimed Chastity. “It’s a boy,” I thought. I have a son. In the middle of a bloody bath stood Caitlin, holding our son in her arms, umbilical cord dangling over her arm. I locked eyes with her, and immediately felt my lower lip tremble and my eyes tingle with the feeling of tears about to tumble over. She was emotional and exhausted, her hair matted down with perspiration, yet it was the most wonderful sight I had ever seen. Our son lay in her arms, chest to chest. She did it.
Having elected to avoid medical monitoring, we had not known the gender ahead of time. I had joked that “the baby’s gender reveal party has been scheduled for its birthday; date and time to be determined.” We had discussed names for months. Girls’ names came more easily than boys’. Yet once the task was at hand, it did not take too long to settle. He would be named “Ari,” pulling from my middle name, and honoring my parents. “Ari” in Hebrew means “lion.”
As vitalists, we understand that our world is a reflection of an infinite wisdom. This universal intelligence has been animating the Earth with countless living forms for eons. It is a silly notion to think that such an infinite and infallible cosmic brilliance needs the “help” of our educated human minds to operate.
Ari was allowed to grow and develop in utero without interference. There was no ultrasound, no blood work, and no fetal monitoring of any variety. He was born in the comfort and safety of home. He received no heel prick, no antibiotic ointment in the eyes, no circumcision, and he will not receive a single vaccine—not one dose. He was breastfed from birth. He was checked for vertebral subluxation and adjusted accordingly within an hour of being born, and each week since then. Why did we choose such a counterculture path for our little boy? Believe me, this was not done haphazardly, but with the depth of conscientiousness and awareness that sound life philosophy endows. Many years of study and real life practice experience had afforded us a tremendous conviction and confidence in taking the same path that our ancestors took generations ago.
Consider this: In the year 1900, 95% of births took place at home in the United States. That’s just 125 years ago! In the early 1900s, political medicine began a well-organized smear campaign against the practice of midwifery. Pictures were published in magazines and newspapers depicting midwives as dirty, dangerous, and unskilled amateurs, while hospitals were portrayed as clean, safe, and technically superior. OB-GYN specialty hospitals sprouted up. Big business took over, and the concept of “normal” regarding birth changed. In a relatively short period of time, corporate medicine convinced American women that they did not know how to birth their own children. By 1938, half of births took place at home. By 1955, this number dropped to less than 1%.
Today, the United States holds the dubious honor of boasting the highest infant and maternal mortality rate in the developed world. Midwives continue to attend over 70% of births in Europe and Japan, while only 12% attend births in the United States (as of 2021). All other developed nations with better outcomes utilize midwives as primary care providers and involve medical doctors only in emergencies. Over 30% of hospital births in the U.S. are by cesarean section. Now, if one can recognize the infinite wisdom that characterizes the complexity and wonder of our universe, if every other animal in nature is able to give birth as a commonplace matter without outside intervention, how could Mother Nature make such a mistake with human beings that one-third of all births are an emergency affair? How did humans survive before the advent of medicine?
A mother in labor should move freely as she feels fit, unhindered, so that she may follow her intuition and fully give in to the creative force at work within her. In fact, left to nature’s devices, conscious pushing during labor may not be necessary at all and may be counterproductive.
The truth is that it’s not Mother Nature that causes the complications. It is human interventionism and artificialism. As vitalists, we understand that our world is a reflection of an infinite wisdom. This universal intelligence has been animating the Earth with countless living forms for eons. It is a silly notion to think that such an infinite and infallible cosmic brilliance needs the “help” of our educated human minds to operate. While outside-in intervention may be necessary in an emergency, generally it does more harm than good by creating interference to the optimal expression of life. The modern business of birth is the epitome of this reality.
Hospitals are businesses. They are not set up to allow for natural birth. They are set up expecting intervention. Decisions are made for economic and legal reasons, and not what is in line with natural design or what is best for mother and child. Women are not allowed to labor on nature’s schedule. If birth does not progress on an arbitrary medical timetable, medical staff “facilitate” (force) the process through intravenous administration of the drug pitocin. Pitocin is the synthetic version of the naturally- occurring hormone oxytocin. Pitocin is used to induce labor. However, the contractions induced by pitocin are much longer, stronger, and close together than natural contractions. This substantially increases labor pain. Eventually, the pain of the unnatural contractions becomes too intense and exhausting for the mother to bear. So, she is administered an epidural anesthetic. The epidural has the effect of slowing labor contractions. Therefore, more pitocin is administered. The unnaturally strong contractions compress the baby, and compromise its blood and oxygen flow. The fetal monitor then registers the baby in distress, and the mother is told she has no choice but to endure an emergency cesarean section. Can you see how the first intervention sets up the series of subsequent interventions that ultimately lead to emergency? This situation is called “iatrogenic,” meaning caused by the practice of medicine. Investigations have shown a clear association between induction of labor and cesarean section. It is the comfort and familiarity of home, as well as the lack of unnecessary (non-emergency) interventionism, that puts the mother’s mind and nervous system in the most harmonious state to optimally bear a child.
Medical births place women in the famous “lithotomy” position. This position was originally designed to facilitate the surgical removal of kidney stones, bladder stones, and gallstones. The position has a woman on her back with legs raised and supported in stirrups. By natural design, a woman should give birth either squatting or on all fours. In this optimal position, the pelvis is allowed to open fully and the baby’s exit is facilitated by gravity. Yet, in a lithotomy position, the woman’s pelvic outlet is partially closed, it becomes harder to use her muscles to push, and the baby must be ejected against gravity. Why would the practice of medicine choose such an unnatural and counterproductive position? This position is chosen quite simply because it is easiest for the attending physician. This is yet another example of going against natural design for the sake of what is convenient to the medical establishment at the expense of what is best for mother and child. A mother in labor should move freely as she feels fit, unhindered, so that she may follow her intuition and fully give in to the creative force at work within her. In fact, left to nature’s devices, conscious pushing during labor may not be necessary at all and may be counterproductive. When not forced, but allowed to progress naturally, the innate intelligence of the mother’s body combined with gravity ejects the baby automatically. A woman should only push if and when she intuitively feels the urge, not on command.
Quite tragically, women of the Western world have had stolen from them a true concept of birth. Their image of birth is based on television programs, medical experiences, and popular fear-based culture. But birth does not have to be this way. By retracing our steps and by learning to appreciate the miracle and majesty of natural design, we can retake birth and motherhood as a birthright and rite of passage.
“A woman really doesn’t need to be rescued. It’s not the place for the knight in shining armor. It’s the place for her to face her darkest moment and lay claim to her victory.” – Cara Muhlhahn, certified nurse midwife
We chose this path for Ari because we felt it was best. Each mother and couple must make this decision for themselves. We simply seek to act as an example of what is possible; to speak wisdom, hope, and courage into every mother who might choose to seek this path as well. Not a day goes by that we don’t hear comments about how alert and advanced Ari is for his age. He has progressed through his developmental milestones without challenge or delay. He had no tongue or lip tie. He has had no issue with latching and breastfeeding. In his first year of life, he has not suffered an ear infection, allergies, asthma, congestion, chronic colds, eczema, colic, croup, or vomiting. In truth, he is not advanced or somehow superhuman. His nervous system simply hasn’t been damaged or interfered with. Health, vigor, and vitality are our natural state. We must simply live in line with nature’s design in order to experience it.
References:
1. Epstein, A. (2008). The Business of Being Born [Film]. Barranca Productions.
2. Munira Z. Gunja, Evan D. Gumas, and Reginald D. Williams II, U.S. Health Care from a Global Perspective, 2022: Accelerating Spending, Worsening Outcomes (Commonwealth Fund, Jan. 2023). https://doi.org/10.26099/8ejy-yc74
