From the heart of the Creator sprang strong
spiritual purpose, nurturing, and a commitment to
peacemaking.

The Creator called this energy "female" and
placed female next to male on a battlefield.

"Male and female," said the Creator, "You are
here to challenge each other...so that female will
learn to call up her strength and male recall his
softness."

"Only when you have combined and balanced
strength and softness will you be allowed to leave
the battlefield."
By Zachary, in the book by Janis Abriel, Exchanging Realities



If a woman wants a truly natural
birth, the only way she will get that is by giving birth alone without a
midwife, doctor, nurse, or doula. There will be no one present to tell
her what to do or what not to do- she will simply follow the
promptings of her body during labor.

The only problem with that scenario is that she will at some point in
her life, either during her pregnancy or before, have heard or read
something that will affect how she gives birth. The only way for any
of us not to be influenced by someone else's teachings is for us to
have been raised on an island away from all civilization without
television or books.

So, when midwives argue amongst themselves about what action is
or isn't natural during human labor and birth, scientifically none of us
can be sure  which of us is correct.

Some midwives adamantly believe and teach that no one should ever
tell a laboring woman what to do, while others believe that when a
woman cries out, "Tell me what to do," that her job as a midwife is to
help the mother by telling her what has worked for countless other
women who have birthed before her.

I have observed that during labor at the half-way mark, between 5-6
centimeters dilation, EVERY woman whom I have assisted feels a
need to change her breathing pattern from one of calm and deep
breathing to a moan, groan, grunt, need to bear down feeling, make
an OHHHHH sound, or she just outright feels like PUSHING.

I have seen thousands of women regain control of themselves when
they were told that it is okay to bear down or make noise during the
5-8 centimeter, or phase of maximum slope (as described in Varney's
Nurse Midwifery textbook).

However, if a woman is told that she will hurt herself by doing this,
and to compensate is taught a technique of childbirth which
prolongs labor for hours longer than is necessary, that's okay too.
That is, as long as she has been told both sides of the issue.

PowerBirth is not about the midwife's power, it is not about manual
dilation of the cervix, and it is not about rushing birth. It is about
eliminating the "Rule of Ten" established by doctors a long, long
time ago, which says that a woman should never, ever be allowed to
push until she is completely dilated because she will tear or pulverize
the cervix.

A woman will never bear down so hard that she will tear her cervix
because it will hurt. But, she can cut hours off her labor, help her
baby get born,  decrease the pain, and regain control if she works
with her body.

That is what PowerBirth is about!

When woman recalls her strength in birth and man
surrenders to this power by releasing his need to
control, then male and female can leave the battlefield!