I meet women every week who express the desire to have a natural unmedicated birth. Whether already expecting or thinking ahead to a baby in the future, they tell me, "I've always thought giving birth to a child would be a sacred moment, a special passage to be treasured for the remainder of my life." I can see the despairing look in their eyes as they ask, "Is it really possible?" Many feel lost and unsupported in our predominant medical culture of assembly line obstetrics. If you are one of these women you need to know, it IS possible to turn your unformulated desire into reality. Many women embrace a pro-active stance and take back their options in birthing. You can too.

Here is a Five Part Plan to build a bridge to the birth you dream of.

Turn inward: examine your desire —formulate your intention. Giving birth is among the most intimate and deeply personal experiences of a lifetime. What is the birth you want? There is no right or wrong way to engage this life-changing passage, it is 100% up to you. Perhaps after investigation you will decide birthing naturally is not your choice. Other women hope they can set the stage for a memorable peak experience they will treasure for the remainder of their life. Even though this stance is not culturally supported in this historical moment maps are available. Create the time, the space and the conditions to look deeply inside your own heart.

If you do want to birth naturally clarify your intention. Intention creates our reality. A focused intention clothes itself in power. Solidify your intention and commit to your vision. This is the path to strength and resolve. No woman can plan the details of giving birth but you can embrace it as a passage you want to engage fully. If you want to be an active participant and believe you have the innate capability to birth wisely and well then make a declaration of your intention. Write out or speak aloud to your partner your dream of giving birth and then proceed to step two.

Turn Inward: commit to your vision. A declaration of intention requires the next step of commitment to your dream. Commitment is necessary to overcome the obstacles and challenges inherent in any significant accomplishment. The following poem expresses this well:

My favorite one line birth story came from a mom working in a children's clothing store. Her child was almost ten years old but her eyes beamed confidence and pride as she said, "I climbed Mt Everest that day and no one will ever be able to take that away from me."

Turn Inward: Unearth your fear - Embrace your courage. First time mothers naturally feel a healthy level of apprehension. To not do so would not be human. Facing the unknown requires a leap of faith. The variables of birth are impossible to control. In our culture and historical moment we are taught subtly in a million unspoken ways the process of birthing is broken, it is something to be feared and endured not experienced.

Using art therapy, journaling, meditation or hypnosis unearth your fears and expose them to the light of day. The monster in the closet will find an appropriate size when the light of quiet consideration is shined upon it. Write them down until you have a complete list. Step toward your fears and size them up, give them their due and decide how best to defuse the power they have over you. To do this you need to know you are bigger than your fears, this leads to the second half of step three.

Embrace your Courage. Does your heart tell you that you know in your cells how to birth wisely and well? Do you believe the body and the heart have their own wisdom? Do you believe we all carry reserves of untapped strength in our heart and mind? Do you believe the intelligence of nature is woven into women's innate knowledge of giving birth? Do you believe birthing well requires a journey beyond the confines of the cognitive mind? Invoke your heart strength and begin building a foundation of moral character by daily embracing your potential. Authentic and personal affirmations of your belief in the wisdom and power of your own body and spirit will create a unique link to the reservoir of the collective strength of women. Entice the voice of courage to speak and write down the confidence it whispers. All of us have an infinite source of courage in our hearts, start building a bridge to the well spring within. Create the time and space in your life to embrace step four.

Feed your heart, mind and moral imagination with stories of strong confident births. Seek out women who have had strong confident births. Although a little underground some digging will lead you to a cornucopia of beautiful birth stories. Listen to them. Talk to midwives, doctors and doulas that can share empowering births they have witnessed. Seek out books, videos, audio stories and internet resources to nourish your heart, mind and moral imagination with images of powerful and poised birthings. The heart feeds deeply on stories as it creates its own unique mythology woven out of your own dreams and the enriching experiences of women who found giving birth a defining moment of empowerment. 

Create your unique plan of action. Traditional cultures viewed the journey to motherhood as a right of passage. It was often seen as the initiation of women, a passage of testing which has the potential to reveal the reserves of power and strength within. Touching that source of strength lays a firm foundation for one of the most challenging roles life offers, being a mother. Giving birth is challenging. The pain of childbirth is interwoven with the totality of the experience at every level. It is not meaningless pain but pain with a purpose. As a psychospiritual being you can work with both body and mind to safely navigate labor and delivery. Mind-body medicine modalities are effective and make the pain of labor manageable. Investigate and decide which of these techniques suits your temperament. Whether you choose hypnobirthing, mindful meditation for birth, yoga or acupuncture preparation and classes are required. Most modalities require practice and mastery to be available during labor. Do you want the support of a birth doula? Sort through all the options and decide what best suits your temperament. One size does not fit all, only you and your partner can decide what you want to have in your psychospiritual tool belt the day you give birth.

Birthing Naturally Classes meet for four hours. Approximately 1.5 hours is spent with the 5 part plan. The remaining 2.5 hours focuses upon the alternatives in mind-body medicine modalities available. See schedule for dates and times.

Private classes also available.