Think people, think.

If I could even make ONE woman informed, I will have won, because today women just think that whatever is being told to them is "right" or the only way. It's sad really, so many people are so naive about the whole pregnancy and labor thing, and since I'm not a surgeon, I don't know what I'm talking about. I have researched both sides of the spectrum, and what I've have learned it just completely surprising. From the topic of drugs during labor to circumcision, people are just not informed. Kind of like why Bush was voted into office twice, people are uninformed and if they don't want to hear it, they don't want to hear it.

I'll start off small, and then work my way to more controversial.

1. Giving birth while laying on your back with your legs up in the air is THE WORST position that you can try to a push a baby out of. If you are in this position your baby is essentially going uphill to make it's way out into the world. I can't imagine this to be a very easy task for the little one in there, and it also means that the mother is pushing longer, and harder. Which in turn results in medical interventions because the baby just isn't coming out.

2. You should eat and drink while laboring. Labor is really intense. Your body is gearing up to do one of the biggest things it will ever do, and you need your strength. I don't get how most hospitals do not allow you to eat or drink during this process. I'll take a glass of water or juice over an IV every day. But you seriously need your strength. If you get weak and tired labor and delivery are going to be that much harder for you.

3. GET INFORMED. Seriously. Women these days just automatically assume that whatever is the norm is what's for them or what they are going to do. They let people tell them what is right and they don't question it. This baby is like the most important thing that will ever happen to you, and you aren't going to research anything about anything?? Just because someone tells me that it hurts and that I will need an epidural, and I should go to the hospital and see an OB, and get all this testing done and blah blah blah, does not mean that is what I am going to do. I am going to research it. I will not just pick the nearest hospital and call it a day. Birth experience is so important, and I want to be able to make the decisions of what I want during the whole process.

4. Just because everyone else is doing it doesn't mean you should too. This goes for several things, one being medical interventions during birth. OB's are surgeons. It's not exciting for them if there are no problems, not to mention most of them have never even seen a natural birth. While medical interventions are sometimes necessary, and it's great that we have them for that reason alone, people are too quick to say "I need drugs". Are you even thinking about what it might do to your baby? You are pumping all these chemicals into your body, and sure as shit they are affecting your baby. Not only that, but these medical interventions are uneccesary, and they are probably making it a lot more painful for you. Pitocin creates unnatural contractions. Longer, more painful contractions. After experiencing these unnatural contractions of course the first thing that you want, which a doctor just happened to tell you they were going to give you is an epidural. The process repeats itself until either your baby is born, or it's taking too long so you go in for an "energency c-section". You know why it's taking too long? The drugs. Epidurals make labor that much harder and longer for you. So what you think is good for you and your baby is really not. I just wish more people would research it. Pregnancy and labor is a natural beautiful thing, women have been doing it for centuries. It's not scary. Unfortunatley a lot people are scared by it.

5. The other thing that you shouldn't do because everyone else is doing it is circumcision. I have heard these reasons for circumcision: It's more hygeniec, it will decrease the risk of UTI and penile cancer, uncircumcised penises are gross, I want my baby to look like his daddy. The list goes on. All of these reason are ridiculous. It's absolutely not more hygienic to circumcise, in fact, it's probably more hygienic to not circumcise. The foreskin is not detached from the penis until closer to puberty, therefore you do not retract the skin to clean underneath. The foreskin cleans itself, and has anti-bacterial qualities. You do not even need to use soap and water, a little spray of water is enough to clean it. It doens't take any extra time, or any extra cleaning, and by the time puberty rolls around it won't take your son any extra time to retract the skin and just spray some water under there. The foreskin does not "trap" germs or bacteria. It is not dirty, it's clean, and it protects the penis from germs and bacteria. Less than 1% of men will get a UTI or penile cancer. To me this number is not large enough for me to want to remove a part of my sons body in a painful surgical procedure. If your son does contract a UTI the use of antibiotics will treat it and it will go away. Penile cancer is so rare. My chance of getting ovarian cancer is a greater risk than penile cancer, but women aren't getting their ovaries removed at birth. To whoever has said it's gross, grow up. Seriously. You have, or are going to have a child and you are saying a foreskin is gross. I don't even want to know what delusional shit you will be teaching your child. Do you know how they do it? And no, they don't use anesthesia because you should not use anesthesia on a baby that is under 6 months old, even then it seems risky to me. They strap the baby to this plastic device called a Circumvent, then they insert pliers into the tip of the penis to tear the bottom part of the foreskin from the penis. They then insert these metal things in that go in a circular motion cutting the foreskin from the penis, this continues until they reach the top. The foreskin is then cut off and your babys is left with a large open wound that is extremely painful. Torture.
The only reason people should circumcise their children is for religious reasons. Seriously.

These are just my opinions. And the opinions of almost every country that is not the United States of America. USA is the only place that promotes circumcision and medical interventions.

Of course you can't teach an old dog new tricks half the time, but hopefully I can get through to at least one person. I'm not knocking anyones decision, because it's your decision. But make sure that it is truly yours, and not what a doctor tells you is best. I urge everyone to research all options thoroughly before just jumping in blindly.