I'm not really sure what to say, April422, since none of your comments seem to have anything to do with me, despite following quotes from me. I birth the same way you do. Lots of strong ejection reflex action. I pushed for 25 seconds with my last baby. It seemed like a LONG time, but I've timed it on the video and it was 25 very powerful, no-way-I-couldn't-push seconds. I'm not a "breathing baby down" person, so I don't have anything to add about that perspective except to say that it's not something I teach.
I also don't equate enjoyable births and pain-free births, I don't teach that they are one and the same, and I can't find any place on this thread where I seem to do so. I happen to have very comfortable births, and enjoy them very much. I am completely in-tune with my body in a way that I never could have imagined before giving birth. I didn't have any need for cervical checks during my Hypnobabies births (although I did have one during my first Hypnobabies birth to convince the midwives I really was giving birth - they thought I wasn't in labor yet, but I was actually fully dilated), and was always very confident about what I knew was happening in my body. But I certainly know that there are many ways to enjoy birth, and every woman needs to find that for herself. Totally comfortable births are still very intense and powerful, just not painful. But that doesn't mean everyone can or wants to have a birth like mine.
And I'm also in total agreement with you about programs that teach that pain means you've done something "wrong" or that you can only enjoy birth if it is totally painless from start to finish. Actually, I only know of one program that teaches that, and felt totally screwed over by it when I made the mistake of choosing it for my first birth. Thank God I found a bunch of additional materials that gave me better skills before the birth. Still nothing close to enough childbirth information, but at least some better skills to help me work with my body. So yeah, I'm with you on that, too.
I can't say anything about the people you have met who are strict about their word choices. As I said, that has just never been my experience. But that is probably because I haven't seen any activity surrounding the old method around here in many years. There have been a bunch of 'Birthing instructors in my area, but they all fade out pretty quickly, because none of the midwives will accept their students, and the word of mouth from their students isn't generally very positive. So I have very little experience with people using that, except for my brief foray into that world, and chatting with people on-line.
And I haven't seen Orgasmic Birth yet. I know I've seen Birth As We Know It, but apparently it wasn't very memorable for me, because that is literally all I remember about it. I think maybe I liked it, but really don't remember. There are a couple I've seen and enjoyed, but that doesn't mean I have time to show them in class. Isn't Orgasmic Birth an hour+ long? We have some excellent ones we show of couples using the skills they're learning, and of course that results in them seeing births. I also have some videos available to them in addition to the books in my lending library. But I wouldn't take up class time to show any of them.
I hope you get your wish.
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