As a female, birth has a theme people associate with their futures. While the idea is quite cool, a simple way to put it, it seems rather painful. The fact that a human body can develop and thrive inside of another human body for nine months, and then emerge a living and breathing human is quite remarkable. But why was our body not developed over time, to create a less painful process? It seems that we have evolved immensely, but the only thing that has improved in terms of birth is the scientific advances that aid it. It makes me wonder, why do we find birth worth the pain? Of course we want to further the human race, but what benefit does it bring the individual? Birth seems like it is a big sacrifice, and I find myself, while wanting to have a child, unsure of what drives this desire. Maybe the fact that having a child brings so much happiness into the world, that the pain of its arrival only makes the happiness that much stronger in contrast. Nietzsche said, “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.” Perhaps childbirth, however painful it may be, makes us stronger as individuals and a community, when we do not submit to the pain it causes.
While it is a painful process, like I said, it is also truly remarkable. However we come up with so many ways to avoid it. There are now multiple different contraceptives to be used and pills to be taken. We have been taken over by pleasure, which of course is not a bad thing at all, but seems to make birth less desirable. To grow up, marry, and have children is no longer as widely a practiced norm as before. If you “make a mistake” there is always Plan B, literally. Then there is also the controversial practice of abortion. I was speaking to my friend once, who believed that a child newly born too, should be able to be “done away with.” Her argument was that a newborn child has no more experience, feeling, or emotion than the fetus from the months before; the child is a blank slate. While the idea is quite liberal, it brings our definition of life into play. But we must ask, how was this idea even started? If we value an experienced human life so much, how has the discussion of the life or death of a fetus developed? What is it that we fear so much about birth that we feel life must be diminished before it reaches that stage? As much as our society prides itself on bringing new life into this world and creating opportunities for the children, we make quite the same effort to stall it.
Questions
What are the common fears surrounding birth?
How was the idea of abortion developed?
What influence does birth have on a family?
How can loosing a child in childbirth affect the mother?
How do natural and medicated births compare?
What affects does childbirth have on a woman?
What are the general misconceptions around birth?
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