As a parent, I always knew I would be straightforward with my children about the human body and it’s capabilities. The proper terms for genitalia are used and often paired with giggling children. My goal is to keep them safe and healthy through knowledge without shame. Navigating these conversations with the young children of my pregnant clients has been nothing short of surprising!
The birth stories shared with me as a young girl through my family were often laced with fear, self-doubt, and discouragement. I believed that having a baby was the reward of suffering and that it is just something to be withstood, no matter what. “Healthy baby, that’s what matters right!?”
Um, no. There is SO MUCH MORE.
I’ve learned and grown to understand that the extreme circumstances, pain, and suffering of our most recently past-generations with relation to their childbirth experiences, more often than not, was the fault of a fractured & intrusive medicalized birth system that undermines our natural capabilities to give birth – while profiting.
The most beautiful and unexpected joys of teaching have been the the responses of the little girls that come to my office and learn about how babies are born. There isn’t fear, they ask insightful questions, and seem to somehow instinctively understand; easily accepting this about their own body’s design purpose. I’ve witnessed sweet nurturing toddler boy hands guide a baby-doll baby to latch onto the Mother doll’s breast to eat without being told that babies eat this way. I marvel at each little brain making obvious connections with the lessons as they turn their focus to their own body and back to the the doll’s using no words, only the light of their eyes telling me they understand.
Reaching young girls, teaching them about having babies without fear, and normalizing breastfeeding for their generation is such a fulfilling gift I wasn’t anticipating. I feel responsibility to each and every one of their potential future births and how they perceive their capacity to birth their babies. I give a piece of my heart to each of them as they bound out of my office door, completely unaware of how what they just learned could impact their lives. It is a humble honor to serve the youngest of potential Mothers.