The INDUCTION NIGHTMARE
by Ayla Serenemoon, Willits, California
It was June in Las Vegas and it was hot. I was swollen larger than I ever
thought I could be. My ten month baby kicked and rolled, keeping me up at
night and, most annoying, people (family mostly) called me daily asking,
�When are you going to have the baby?!� They weren�t used to a woman
following the rhythms of her own body. My own mother had been induced and
my aunt had two C sections, the second of which was scheduled simply
because of the first. Two weeks past my due date the family got even more
�serious� saying amongst themselves that something �had to be done�.
At two weeks past due my midwife suggested an ultrasound, just to make
sure the placenta was fine. I agreed, reluctantly, but in my heart I knew
that nothing was wrong. My body wouldn�t -not- have the baby. Two weeks
after the ultrasound my baby finally arrived. I took peace in the
knowledge that my son had been born when he needed to, not when it was
convenient for a doctor, my family or even me.
Even with that extra month my son was still only 7lbs 13oz. He was long
and thin. His feet flexed back like a preemie. I shuddered to think what
would have happened to him had he been forced to be born a month earlier.
It was clear to me when I saw him that he just hadn�t been done until
now.
When people asked me when I was due and I would say �two weeks ago.�
With a laugh, they looked at me like I was insane. �Well certainly your
doctor will induce you,� some of them would say. �Nope, I�m seeing a
midwife not a doctor,� I retorted. That would garner even more, blank,
blinking stares.
Most of my family couldn�t understand why I didn�t �get induced.�.
After all EVERYONE did it. Upon reflection that was true. Every single
woman I had known to give birth (outside of the group I knew through my
midwife) over the last five years had all been induced.
In 1981 when my mother gave birth to my sister she was induced. My sister
was two weeks Olate� and they feared that my sister�s head would get
Otoo big� for my mother to push it out. I had been a forceps baby so my
mother already didn�t trust her body. When the induction drugs didn�t
work fast enough, two doctors stood at the top of the bed and pushed down
on my mother�s bulging pregnant belly. My sister still resisted and they
pushed harder and harder causing my mother great pain. When my sister was
finally born her face was so squished together my father feared she was a
mental or physically disabled child.
When a relative of mine recently had her baby induced, purely for
scheduling reasons, her baby was a thin 6 lbs-something and spent over a
week in the hospital. (Have you noticed how home born babies range from 7
lbs through 10 or 11 lbs and hospital babies are 6 lbs on average?) My
relative was unable to get a good breastfeeding relationship started and
gave up when the hospital situation made it difficult. A few months
before, another relative of mine was also induced although for �medical�
reasons this time. Her baby was sickly from the beginning and spent over a
month in the hospital. He was, of course, not breastfed and the immaturity
of his digestive tract made it so that he spit up almost everything he was
fed. When my two- month-old son and I took a vacation to meet this baby
who was four months older than my son we found him to be half the size of
my son.
Some months later, while spending the day with my father and son, my
father, a wise King-Arthur-type, sage of a man, remarked, � I don�t
understand why women keep getting induced. In the wild we know that there
is a wide variation of gestation time for animals even of the same
species. Why would it be then that human women would follow a pre-set
clock exactly. It seems to me that doctors should say 36-46 weeks, instead
of NINE MONTHS.�
When I studied at the Ancient Art Midwifery Institute I learned about the
dangers of induction. I learned that Cytotec (the drug misoprostol used
for inducing) had never been approved or reviewed for use by the FDA yet
doctors administered it like candy to any woman. This wasn�t restricted
to women who went over their due dates. If the doctor and the mother had a
scheduling conflict; induce. If the father can only get off work on
Fridays; induce.
The number of babies being born on weekends is dropping dramatically as
doctors try to free up their Saturdays and Sundays.
Most women trust the doctor. From the moment they find out they are
pregnant they give up all their power. ALL of it. They plan their schedule
around the doctors and when the doctor says they need, or should, or can
induce for any reason they trust the doctor. After all, the doctor is just
trying to help and he certainly wouldn�t put her and her baby at any
risk, would s/he?
Maybe the doctor doesn�t believe that s/he is risking anything but s/he
is!
There are two ways to see the issue. Number one, God (a Divine source)
created humans and all of nature. Therefore, why would the divine create a
woman�s body in such a way that she cannot give birth, herself, with no
induction or interventions? Number two, man has evolved over millions of
years of evolution. Why, if evolution can create a lizard that can
physically change colors to blend into its environment to avoid predators,
would evolution leave women helpless when it comes to the most important
thing one can do for our species, give birth!(?)
Women are not taught to trust their own bodies. We are lied to or kept in
the dark about the sexuality of our own bodies for as long as possible.
Then when we are told about sex and human behavior we are told to suppress
it while men are encouraged to flaunt it. When we begin bleeding we are
told we must use pain reliever to cure us of our �burden� and that we
must stuff up our tender sensitive vulva so as not to get any of our �dirty�
blood anywhere. We must buy special soap to wash it and powders and spray
deodorants to cover it up. We are made to feel completely ashamed of that
entire area of our bodies. It is no wonder when we become pregnant we are
willing to hand over this event to a man in white. Most women have
probably never even seen their own vagina!
It is wrong for our society to keep women powerless when it comes to their
own bodies. It is inexcusable that doctors would take advantage of this
ignorance for their own convenience, putting mothers and babies at risk in
the process.
Induction is just another way to make women fear birth and feel out of
control. Soon women will think that no woman�s body ever gives birth
correctly and every woman will be induced on a date that she and her
doctor choose. Pulling women further away from natural birth. So far, that
�natural birth� will become a myth and a fairy tale of the past.
A little talked about danger of induction is setting the precedent that
your child must adhere to your schedule. When we don�t allow our babies
to slowly ripen in their own time we overlook their basic needs and favor
our own needs. It is wrong to pressure your baby into birth and once you
have done that it isn�t much of a leap to feeding on a schedule that�s
convenient to you, forcing your baby to sleep when it�s �time�, not
when he�s actually tired, etc. Soon your baby�s life is not his own, his
birth certainly wasn�t.
Which leads me to another point about induction, a more spiritual one. I
firmly believe that when and where and at what time a baby is born is very
important. It is a pre-chosen date and time that his/her soul selected.
His/her personality and direction will be aided by this chosen birth date
and time. What happens then when we force them out too soon? We know the
medical dangers, now what about the spiritual ones?
Your baby�s birth is the most important event in the relationship the two
of you will have. It will set the precedent for your entire lives
together. Do you really want it to be one of fear, both on your part and
your baby�s? Do you want it to be a white, lab coat, drug-induced
nightmare or a soft relaxing, low-lit, waking dream? Do you want to gaze
into your baby�s eyes and suckle him or her at your breast, or do you
want to lie in a bed, your ankles in stirrups, drugged out of you mind,
while your equally drugged baby is whisked off, isolated and treated for
all the medical issues inducement caused? Do you want him or her to deal
with those issues, those horrible subconscious memories for the rest of
his or her life? Of course any mother would answer, �No! I want a
beautiful birth and a healthy child!� So why aren�t women being
empowered? Why are babies being harmed and even killed, why are women�s
uterus� rupturing? Why, oh why on earth are we inducing?
Inside Mother
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