I was traumatized; not by the birth itself, but at the belief that I’d failed: as a student, as a woman, as a mother
You’ve devoted your life to assisting women in the most vulnerable times in their lives. You’re clearly well-informed and well researched, and come with a trove of helpful knowledge to assist women. Clearly, you also have strong opinions. And not without reason. In your role as doula, you’re by definition the expert; I assume you know your word holds much weight.
New mothers take in every class, absorbing the messages and ideas you’re giving over. This is true not only of the facts and figures you present, but of the hashkafic content as well. And this was the first area I struggled with in your classes.
You determine the type of birth you have. Epidurals are the worst possible thing you can do for your body, and can certainly be avoided. Women I work with never have a C-section. These messages were delivered, emphatically, forcefully, in varying ways, insinuating that birth and the way it progresses is completely in a woman’s control.
But don’t we know that Hashem, and Hashem alone, holds the keys to birth? You, with all your knowledge and experience, seem to have wrested those keys from His Hands, and believe fully “kochi v’otzem yadi.” Is this a hashkafah you feel comfortable relaying to women?
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