Child birth is a blessing.

 Genesis 1:28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

We are commanded by God to bear children. Children are blessings. They are our eternal gifts from Him. How can we deny Him of these children?

Is the pain of childbirth  the curse of Eve.

To understand this we must understand the scriptures themselves. Eve was not cursed. God cursed the serpent ( Satan). God cursed the ground. God did not curse Eve.

Genesis 3:16Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Greatly multiply thy sorrow and they conception and in sorrow bring forth children. Many can relate to this with the pains of pregnancy and childbearing. If we read on,

Genesis 3:17And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

 Sorrow is also used in reference to the work of Adam, ie: man. My belief is that the "Fall of Man" was a blessing, pre ordained by God. Adam and Eve were not an experiment. This plan was carefully designed. Adam and Eve could have lived out their lives in Eden. They would have never partaken of the fruit. They would have retained their innocence and never conceived. Eve would have never had the joys and pains of childbirth and motherhood. Because without one, we cannot have the other. the pains of labor, whether is a hard days work, or bearing children, are a blessing. They are a reminder of all that we have been given. Because without sorrow, we can never feel pure joy.

John 21A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

Pregnancy and childbirth is how everyone of us has come to be, including our savior, Jesus Christ. Therefor it stands to reason that it would be Satan's goal  to make it as undesirable as possible.

Preparing for children. 

Childbearing is not an illness. It is a normal process of life. Our current culture treats it as a medical issue. Many avoidable health issues and lifestyle choices, create childbirth emergencies later. We know from the scriptures that taking care of our bodies is very important to our temporal well being. If we keep our bodies in good physical health, we will have less complications later on in pregnancy. The Lord's law of health is a perfect outline for prenatal care. We should abstain from tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs and even medications that are not necessary. We should choose our diets carefully. Eat meats sparingly and salts and sugars in moderation. We should eat wholesome meals. Work, rest and exercise should be equally balanced. Too much sleep or not enough can make us unproductive and are necessary to a strong body. Exercise and physical activity is very important.  

D&C 89 18And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; 19And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; 20And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint. 21And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

Many of the complications of labor arise from not following these guidelines. It is our duty to care for our children. This care begins before birth. Disobedience to these guidelines give Satan an upper hand in his tactics to make childbirth fearful. Diabetes and high blood pressure are among the top reasons for inductions. 

The Fear Factor

Every time I mention pregnancy I hear a comment about how dangerous childbirth is. I meet so many moms who were convinced the child was in danger to justify the medical intervention they had. In turn, many reject effective traditional child birth methods.

This is not to attack moms, many of whom were honestly scared for their child's life. But todays culture has made women into powerless creatures who have no ability to give birth on their own. In a time where the womens rights movement is at an all time high, I often wonder how we have let childbirth keep us so oppressed.

I think a large part of it is Satan's attack on the family. Satan knows how vital families are to God's Plan. In March of 1976, President Spencer W Kimball said that Satan garnishes evil to make it appear beautiful, pleasing, easy and even good. Satan is the father of lies. Some of the lies he tells us pertain to motherhood specifically. That we don't have to be burdened with children. He tells us that abortion is fine, you are in control of your body. He convinces us that we are doing the right thing by not embracing the idea of a large family due to monetary reasons. Many women feel justified in their decision to only have a small family or none at all so they can enjoy the "nice things". Satan has bribed women out of the blessings for children and traded it with the "blessings" of material items. 

Matthew 6:19Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: 20But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 21For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Recently I have watched a few shows where they portray birth as a critical medical event. The mother is "overdue" or has a medical issue ( preventable one) that requires induction. Pitocin is given. Chemically induced contractions elevate pain more severe than natural contractions. Mother is discouraged from movement, mother begs for epidural, epidural slows down progress, baby does not receive epidural, feels intense chemically induced contractions, goes into distress, mother is either forced to push even tho her body is numb or mother rushed to surgery.

Is this really the perception of birth we have come to accept? No wonder women are fearful of birth. Not just fearful of the pain but fearful for their own safety and safety of the baby. We have taken our faith in God and put it into man. 

 Isaah 26:3Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

God knows our bodies. He designed them!! He knows how a baby is supposed to be born. He has not only given the keys to us, but to the child as well. When we ignore the natural birth process, we tell God that his design is flawed, and have found a way to "fix" it. 

The induction rates in the US range as high as 98%. Epidural rates are about 76%. Cesarean rates are about 32%. This is incredibly high, even by international standards. Most of these are done for convience. 

Why this is a problem. 

Lets start with the EDD. Estimated Due Date. We have this idea that this is the magical date in which the child must arrive. You may have heard the phrase, an estimated due date is not an expiration date. The average human gestation is 280 days from fertilization. AVERAGE. Very few us us know the date of fertilization. This process can occur up to 48 hours after intercourse and can also vary depending on your ovulation date. Again the AVERAGE woman ovulates on the 14th day after the start of your last cycle. So unless you have had IVF its nearly impossible to know the moment of fertilization. Especially if you are very active sexually. Whe  can however narrow it down, hence why we use estimates. By 

The EDD is given as a rough estimate. It it NORMAL for a baby to arrive at weeks 38-42 on the EDD calendar. It is not uncommon for a baby to arrive after the 42 weeks safely and naturally on its own. Babies have control over their birth. They release a protein from their lungs that initiates labor. The baby decides its birthday. When it has developed to the proper stage, it is ready to be born. Taking a child before this time, can lead to an array of problems for mother and child. Now lets revisit the 98% induction rates reported by the CDC. Think about that for a moment.

The next issue is fetal size. We often hear the baby was to big, or baby got stuck. Our bodies are specifically designed to give birth. They move, they stretch, they do things during pregnancy and labor that enables us to give birth. Babies have this same ability. They twist and turn and wiggle their way out, with the help of mom. Its a wonderful team effort. If the mother restricts her body and does not allow for certain motions, the baby can get stuck. We must allow mothers to move as her body needs to to allow the child to birth safely. The most ineffective position for birth is lithotomy, ( on our backs)   ironically that is the method most commonly used in hospital births. Studies show allow a mom to just move about decreases the chances of intervention drastically.

Exodus 1:15And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives, of which the name of the one was Shiphrah, and the name of the other Puah: 16And he said, When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive. 18And the king of Egypt called for the midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the men children alive? 19And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. 20Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty. 21And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he made them houses. 22And Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.

This is a great story for the concept of childbirth for those who have faith in God. The Hebrew women were strong, spiritually and physically. They were healthy and lively. They often gave birth before the midwife arrived. They birthed upon stools, akin to various birth positions. The Egyptian women were accustomed to more pampered life and suffered thru childbrith. They also lacked faith in God. They took a less active, more passive role in labor. 

Job 39:13Gavest thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich? 14Which leaveth her eggs in the earth, and warmeth them in dust, 15And forgetteth that the foot may crush them, or that the wild beast may break them. 16She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers: her labour is in vain without fear; 17Because God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he imparted to her understanding.

“To mothers, daughters, and women everywhere, let me stress the fact that because of your great potential and influence for good in the lives of all of us, Satan is determined to destroy you. You cannot compromise with him. You must have the courage, the strength, the desire, and the determination to live as the Lord would have you live—good clean lives.…“Girls, prepare yourselves to assume the roles of mothers by gaining knowledge and wisdom through a good education. We teach that the glory of God is intelligence, and so we must all be aware of what is going on around us and be prepared to thwart Satan in his attempts to divert us from our divine destiny. With knowledge, wisdom, determination, and the Spirit of the Lord to help us we can succeed” (N. Eldon Tanner, in Conference Report, Oct. 1973, 126, 127; or Ensign, Jan. 1974, 8, 10).

Just as we as mothers do not want to see harm done to our children, Heavenly Father wants the same for us. He knows our capabilities and wants us to do the best we can. He has given us a task. A mighty task of rearing children.  He knows its a hard task.  He gives us the ability to conquer it. He knows we cant do it alone and we must seek His help and guidance.  We must decide what is best for our children and ourselves. Not what is easiest, but what we must do to ensure the mental, spiritual and physical well being of our families.  Once you have done this you have made the best childbirth choice. 

Ephesians  6:10Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  11Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  13Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 

*originally posted 2/14/2011