FAO teapot

I would love to read your articles that you wrote. Is it published somewhere
on the website or could you send me a copy?

--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

"Sue" wrote in message ...
I would love to read your articles that you wrote. Is it published somewhere
on the website or could you send me a copy?

Ohh, thanks for asking, here is one of them, I have filed the other
somewhere strange, it is my birth story and I posted osmething similar
on MKP anyway. Hope you don't think this is too crap.

teapot


?Fear is the Mind Killer? - Why fear of Labour can make it painful

It is difficult to find active birth teachers where I live, they get
booked up quickly, so I thought I?d give the local clinics antenatal
class a try. It left me furious for a week and I decided never to
return! Why the anger? I knew I wanted a drug free home birth, and I
knew the best way to get what I wanted was to trust in myself. The
class set up such a fear of labour that one woman was wincing every
time the word itself was mentioned. The emphasis was on how to
control and stop the pain with drugs.

Labour is nothing to fear, Websters dictionary describes it as ?to do
one's work under conditions which make it especially hard?. It is
hard work and it can hurt a lot, but being scared of it will only make
it hurt more. Dr. Grantley Dick-Read coined the phrase
?fear-tension-pain cycle? in the 1930?s and that?s exactly what
happens. You fear being hurt, you tense up and blood and oxygen is
drawn away from organs that are not needed to flight or fight. Dr
Dick-Read said that a scared woman in labour has a white uterus, and a
blood free womb just doesn?t have the energy of a nice rich red one,
so it hurts.

I don?t know why I wasn?t scared, it might have been just sheer
contrariness. It may have been that I was immune to birthing horror
stories, because it seemed as if every mother on my street wanted to
tell me about their 48-day
labour, or how the midwife had to chainsaw them open to get the baby
out! I was probably not scared because I truly believed that normal
childbirth is a natural process instead of a medical one. I was also
busy being truly terrified of how to deal with the baby itself when it
arrived.

I think I discovered the fear-tension-pain cycle for myself at the
dentist after a root canal job. I realised afterwards that I had made
the whole thing so much worse for myself by being so stressed. The
next time I went, actually to have the tooth out, I recited in my mind
the Litany against Fear from Frank Herbert?s book ?Dune?

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

It worked, I kept myself calm and the tooth came out with a slight
twinge.

I am not saying that childbirth for me was just a twinge, I had a
quick labour but there wasn?t much time for me to collect myself
between contractions. It did hurt, and at times it was nasty but it
wasn?t a terrifying pain. It felt
hugely productive and as soon as the baby was out, all sensations
other than overwhelming love and bewilderment were forgotten. And I?m
not good with pain, I cry if I bump my elbow, get stung or trip up. I
am self-confessed wuss!
But I trusted in myself and in the amazing resources and stamina a
woman giving birth can have. It was a beautiful birth, an amazing
thing to do and it turns out I'm not scared of the baby either!

I use that litany myself plenty of times
I tell myself- its just pain, pain wont kill me
really helped NOT be afraid

"teapot" wrote in message
om...
"Sue" wrote in message
...
I would love to read your articles that you wrote. Is it published
somewhere
on the website or could you send me a copy?

Ohh, thanks for asking, here is one of them, I have filed the other
somewhere strange, it is my birth story and I posted osmething similar
on MKP anyway. Hope you don't think this is too crap.

teapot


?Fear is the Mind Killer? - Why fear of Labour can make it painful

It is difficult to find active birth teachers where I live, they get
booked up quickly, so I thought I?d give the local clinics antenatal
class a try. It left me furious for a week and I decided never to
return! Why the anger? I knew I wanted a drug free home birth, and I
knew the best way to get what I wanted was to trust in myself. The
class set up such a fear of labour that one woman was wincing every
time the word itself was mentioned. The emphasis was on how to
control and stop the pain with drugs.

Labour is nothing to fear, Websters dictionary describes it as ?to do
one's work under conditions which make it especially hard?. It is
hard work and it can hurt a lot, but being scared of it will only make
it hurt more. Dr. Grantley Dick-Read coined the phrase
?fear-tension-pain cycle? in the 1930?s and that?s exactly what
happens. You fear being hurt, you tense up and blood and oxygen is
drawn away from organs that are not needed to flight or fight. Dr
Dick-Read said that a scared woman in labour has a white uterus, and a
blood free womb just doesn?t have the energy of a nice rich red one,
so it hurts.

I don?t know why I wasn?t scared, it might have been just sheer
contrariness. It may have been that I was immune to birthing horror
stories, because it seemed as if every mother on my street wanted to
tell me about their 48-day
labour, or how the midwife had to chainsaw them open to get the baby
out! I was probably not scared because I truly believed that normal
childbirth is a natural process instead of a medical one. I was also
busy being truly terrified of how to deal with the baby itself when it
arrived.

I think I discovered the fear-tension-pain cycle for myself at the
dentist after a root canal job. I realised afterwards that I had made
the whole thing so much worse for myself by being so stressed. The
next time I went, actually to have the tooth out, I recited in my mind
the Litany against Fear from Frank Herbert?s book ?Dune?

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

It worked, I kept myself calm and the tooth came out with a slight
twinge.

I am not saying that childbirth for me was just a twinge, I had a
quick labour but there wasn?t much time for me to collect myself
between contractions. It did hurt, and at times it was nasty but it
wasn?t a terrifying pain. It felt
hugely productive and as soon as the baby was out, all sensations
other than overwhelming love and bewilderment were forgotten. And I?m
not good with pain, I cry if I bump my elbow, get stung or trip up. I
am self-confessed wuss!
But I trusted in myself and in the amazing resources and stamina a
woman giving birth can have. It was a beautiful birth, an amazing
thing to do and it turns out I'm not scared of the baby either!

Wonderful article Lisa. I agree with you about being afraid. It can stop so
many wonderful things that could happen because so many people are afraid.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)
I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...

teapot wrote in message
om...
"Sue" wrote in message
...
I would love to read your articles that you wrote. Is it published
somewhere
on the website or could you send me a copy?

Ohh, thanks for asking, here is one of them, I have filed the other
somewhere strange, it is my birth story and I posted osmething similar
on MKP anyway. Hope you don't think this is too crap.

teapot


?Fear is the Mind Killer? - Why fear of Labour can make it painful

It is difficult to find active birth teachers where I live, they get
booked up quickly, so I thought I?d give the local clinics antenatal
class a try. It left me furious for a week and I decided never to
return! Why the anger? I knew I wanted a drug free home birth, and I
knew the best way to get what I wanted was to trust in myself. The
class set up such a fear of labour that one woman was wincing every
time the word itself was mentioned. The emphasis was on how to
control and stop the pain with drugs.

Labour is nothing to fear, Websters dictionary describes it as ?to do
one's work under conditions which make it especially hard?. It is
hard work and it can hurt a lot, but being scared of it will only make
it hurt more. Dr. Grantley Dick-Read coined the phrase
?fear-tension-pain cycle? in the 1930?s and that?s exactly what
happens. You fear being hurt, you tense up and blood and oxygen is
drawn away from organs that are not needed to flight or fight. Dr
Dick-Read said that a scared woman in labour has a white uterus, and a
blood free womb just doesn?t have the energy of a nice rich red one,
so it hurts.

I don?t know why I wasn?t scared, it might have been just sheer
contrariness. It may have been that I was immune to birthing horror
stories, because it seemed as if every mother on my street wanted to
tell me about their 48-day
labour, or how the midwife had to chainsaw them open to get the baby
out! I was probably not scared because I truly believed that normal
childbirth is a natural process instead of a medical one. I was also
busy being truly terrified of how to deal with the baby itself when it
arrived.

I think I discovered the fear-tension-pain cycle for myself at the
dentist after a root canal job. I realised afterwards that I had made
the whole thing so much worse for myself by being so stressed. The
next time I went, actually to have the tooth out, I recited in my mind
the Litany against Fear from Frank Herbert?s book ?Dune?

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

It worked, I kept myself calm and the tooth came out with a slight
twinge.

I am not saying that childbirth for me was just a twinge, I had a
quick labour but there wasn?t much time for me to collect myself
between contractions. It did hurt, and at times it was nasty but it
wasn?t a terrifying pain. It felt
hugely productive and as soon as the baby was out, all sensations
other than overwhelming love and bewilderment were forgotten. And I?m
not good with pain, I cry if I bump my elbow, get stung or trip up. I
am self-confessed wuss!
But I trusted in myself and in the amazing resources and stamina a
woman giving birth can have. It was a beautiful birth, an amazing
thing to do and it turns out I'm not scared of the baby either!

Wow! What a great article! You summarized exactly what I feel is true about
labor. It hurt, but it wasn't the worst pain ever (try back surgery) and at
the end you get this wonderful baby (and a hot shower right away instead of
waiting for the drugs to wear off).

--
Melissa (in Los Angeles)
Mum to Elizabeth 4/13/03

"teapot" wrote in message
om...
"Sue" wrote in message
...
I would love to read your articles that you wrote. Is it published
somewhere
on the website or could you send me a copy?

Ohh, thanks for asking, here is one of them, I have filed the other
somewhere strange, it is my birth story and I posted osmething similar
on MKP anyway. Hope you don't think this is too crap.

teapot


?Fear is the Mind Killer? - Why fear of Labour can make it painful

It is difficult to find active birth teachers where I live, they get
booked up quickly, so I thought I?d give the local clinics antenatal
class a try. It left me furious for a week and I decided never to
return! Why the anger? I knew I wanted a drug free home birth, and I
knew the best way to get what I wanted was to trust in myself. The
class set up such a fear of labour that one woman was wincing every
time the word itself was mentioned. The emphasis was on how to
control and stop the pain with drugs.

Labour is nothing to fear, Websters dictionary describes it as ?to do
one's work under conditions which make it especially hard?. It is
hard work and it can hurt a lot, but being scared of it will only make
it hurt more. Dr. Grantley Dick-Read coined the phrase
?fear-tension-pain cycle? in the 1930?s and that?s exactly what
happens. You fear being hurt, you tense up and blood and oxygen is
drawn away from organs that are not needed to flight or fight. Dr
Dick-Read said that a scared woman in labour has a white uterus, and a
blood free womb just doesn?t have the energy of a nice rich red one,
so it hurts.

I don?t know why I wasn?t scared, it might have been just sheer
contrariness. It may have been that I was immune to birthing horror
stories, because it seemed as if every mother on my street wanted to
tell me about their 48-day
labour, or how the midwife had to chainsaw them open to get the baby
out! I was probably not scared because I truly believed that normal
childbirth is a natural process instead of a medical one. I was also
busy being truly terrified of how to deal with the baby itself when it
arrived.

I think I discovered the fear-tension-pain cycle for myself at the
dentist after a root canal job. I realised afterwards that I had made
the whole thing so much worse for myself by being so stressed. The
next time I went, actually to have the tooth out, I recited in my mind
the Litany against Fear from Frank Herbert?s book ?Dune?

I must not fear.
Fear is the mind killer.
Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

It worked, I kept myself calm and the tooth came out with a slight
twinge.

I am not saying that childbirth for me was just a twinge, I had a
quick labour but there wasn?t much time for me to collect myself
between contractions. It did hurt, and at times it was nasty but it
wasn?t a terrifying pain. It felt
hugely productive and as soon as the baby was out, all sensations
other than overwhelming love and bewilderment were forgotten. And I?m
not good with pain, I cry if I bump my elbow, get stung or trip up. I
am self-confessed wuss!
But I trusted in myself and in the amazing resources and stamina a
woman giving birth can have. It was a beautiful birth, an amazing
thing to do and it turns out I'm not scared of the baby either!