first, i didn't feel at all deprived of medical advancements. 
if i wanted or needed medical advancements, i would have sought them out. but birth doesn't require medical advancements, as birth has happened for millenia prior to medical advancements.
likewise, i was never choosing something "over" my baby. i was choosing this for my baby as well as for myself. there were many reasons for doing so, but spiritual fulfillment wasn't one of them. of course, i believe that birth is inherently spiritual and fulfilling--regardless of how one births. so, that wasn't really a consideration for me.
when the questions of diagnostics came up, i thought of a couple of things. first, what did women (and doctors/midwives) do before these diagnostics existed? and second, if the child does have something that can't be treated during pregnancy and wouldn't be harmed further after birth with a delay (of roughly 10 minutes--our distance to the hospital) should something be wrong, what is the benefit of the u/s other than creating worry or even potentially false worry (a friend of mine was told her baby had DS, so she prepped for a DS baby only to have a chromo-normal baby at birth)? and fnally, if the child is disabled but that disability doesn't require any specific, immediate medical attention, isn't the u/s simply there to set up a eugenics situation? So, the bottom line for me was "What is the true benefit of the u/s to me and to my child?" i could see few compelling reasons TO have an u/s, so i chose not to.
on the issue of education, it's such a 'funny' thing to discuss. i mean, if we just think of education outside of this particular instance (birth), we might notice that a lot of people have very different ideas about what a 'good' and 'proper' education is. some believe in traditional schooling, others in alternative schooling (such as montessori or waldorff), and others in homeschooling of all sorts, and some in unschooling. all can argue that theirs is super-awesome and everyone else stinks! LOL!
i think that each person is going to have strong ideas about what preparation and education mean, what makes or creates an education that has value (in this case, birth, the value being having a safe birth). for some, nothing is needed, for others, a strictly followed series of classes, books, videos, and instruction is absolutely the best course of action, or hiring a professional who knows or can do all of that stuff. i can't say that one is necessarily wrong or right. i have my preferences, of course, but i know some awesome unschoolers and i think i'm ok and i was 'traditionally educated!' lol!
anyway, this is an interesting discussion.
if i wanted or needed medical advancements, i would have sought them out. but birth doesn't require medical advancements, as birth has happened for millenia prior to medical advancements. likewise, i was never choosing something "over" my baby. i was choosing this for my baby as well as for myself. there were many reasons for doing so, but spiritual fulfillment wasn't one of them. of course, i believe that birth is inherently spiritual and fulfilling--regardless of how one births. so, that wasn't really a consideration for me.
when the questions of diagnostics came up, i thought of a couple of things. first, what did women (and doctors/midwives) do before these diagnostics existed? and second, if the child does have something that can't be treated during pregnancy and wouldn't be harmed further after birth with a delay (of roughly 10 minutes--our distance to the hospital) should something be wrong, what is the benefit of the u/s other than creating worry or even potentially false worry (a friend of mine was told her baby had DS, so she prepped for a DS baby only to have a chromo-normal baby at birth)? and fnally, if the child is disabled but that disability doesn't require any specific, immediate medical attention, isn't the u/s simply there to set up a eugenics situation? So, the bottom line for me was "What is the true benefit of the u/s to me and to my child?" i could see few compelling reasons TO have an u/s, so i chose not to.
on the issue of education, it's such a 'funny' thing to discuss. i mean, if we just think of education outside of this particular instance (birth), we might notice that a lot of people have very different ideas about what a 'good' and 'proper' education is. some believe in traditional schooling, others in alternative schooling (such as montessori or waldorff), and others in homeschooling of all sorts, and some in unschooling. all can argue that theirs is super-awesome and everyone else stinks! LOL!
i think that each person is going to have strong ideas about what preparation and education mean, what makes or creates an education that has value (in this case, birth, the value being having a safe birth). for some, nothing is needed, for others, a strictly followed series of classes, books, videos, and instruction is absolutely the best course of action, or hiring a professional who knows or can do all of that stuff. i can't say that one is necessarily wrong or right. i have my preferences, of course, but i know some awesome unschoolers and i think i'm ok and i was 'traditionally educated!' lol!
anyway, this is an interesting discussion.
) that this particular couple did not paint freabirthers or uc in a favorable light. My dh watched this with me and said that "you are never doing that" which sparked a *debate* about my right to birth where and how I wanted and how he could not make a judgment based on what one couple did. Especially considering the other woman on the show were wonderful examples of uc'ers. Let me clarify that I had never talked about or even mentioned wanting to have a uc and that dh is normally very supportive of me, but he was so appalled (I'm not even sure that's a strong enough word to describe his reaction) by this couple and their lack of preparation.
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