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I'm 29 weeks pregnant with my third child. Another boy. Yes, I'm about to have 3 boys. Whenever you get around pregnant women, birth stories are sure to start flying. And sometimes, hard feelings and pride come up too.
“I had a epidural.”
“I had a home birth.”
“I had a natural birth.”
“I had a c-section.”
“My way was better.”
“I can't believe you'd give birth that way.”
“I was so sick through my whole pregnancy.”
“I never had any morning sickness.”
Why do we do this to each other as sisters-in-Christ? Every woman, every pregnancy, and every birth is different. There's an extreme lack of consideration and understand for each other in these areas. We've set up camps and have such strong opinions that we have pushed God out of the conversation and the experience.
Angie Tolpin is trying to do something about this problem. She's written Redeeming Childbirth to remind women that God crated our bodies to carry and birth children. We need to invite God into the experience and all Him to use our experiences to shape us. The stance of this book is heavy towards natural childbirth and how God uses our pain to draw us closer to Him, but there is understanding of the need for emergency interventions and even epidurals if that's the right course for you.
I was a little afraid that Redeeming Childbirth would be so heavy on the natural stance that I'd feel left out or insulted for my birth choices. Not true. It's more about embracing whatever your situation is and making the best choices in light of what God wants to do in your life, pregnancy, and birth. It's about worshipping and following God in all areas of life and not compartmentalizing Him out of things like childbirth.
Redeeming Childbirth is one of those books that needs to be added to your pregnancy and childbirth reading lists. I'll definitely be recommending Redeeming Childbirth to new moms-to-be around me.
Read more about Redeeming Childbirth and the movement behind it:
