My cousin Lisa, mother of four, is one of the most inspiring women I know. She is an African Goddess from Barbados. This is how she gave birth to her last child. In the sacred garden to the back of her home, she filled a large inflatable swimming pool with water. Under the cover of the stars, she assembled her closest friends. They formed a circle around the pool, encasing her with their love. The glow from the candle flames bounced off their faces. Soothing sounds filled the air as the stereo sang her favourite tunes. With her husband by her side she waded into the pool and floated around in the cool water. Before long the baby gave birth to himself. His first visit was to his mother’s breast.
Now she did not tell me the story in this exact language, I imaginatively created my own description, but the basic facts are true. How inspiring is that. She was fortunate to have access to an organized society of women in Barbados, comprised of midwives experienced in homebirths and water-births. But more amazingly, she was creative and courageous enough to actually do it. She represents the true essence of creation, the wonder and beauty of life springing forth.
Now flash back to how it could have been. They roll her into an unfamiliar, arid, commercial room. Sterile chords connect her body to drips and monitors. The lights are blindingly bright. They force her to lie unnaturally on her back with her legs spread in the face of the staff. She has to push and strain and force the baby out, as if a large lump of feces stuck in her constipated colon. They cut her vagina with one cruel slice to enlarge the opening. The baby is violently pushed out into the world of harsh light and irreverence.
I do not want to feel compelled to choose a traditional western hospital birth in fear or ignorance that there are no other secure options. I am issuing a challenge to everyone in the medical field: women aspiring to be nurses and doctors, particularly those in the Bahamas. Your community needs you to fill a huge void. We need a society of women capable of performing homebirths and water-births in the Bahamas, and everywhere else in which the tradition has been lost. Those who have the knowledge, please share it. Those who have the skill, please acquire the knowledge.
I pray if God blesses me with children I will be as creative and courageous as my cousin Lisa.