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Sweet Pea ​Births
Sweet Pea ​Births
...celebrating every swee​t pea their birth
...celebrating every swee​t pea their birth
Blog
Peace on Earth
| Posted on June 15, 2012 at 9:01 AM |
Today’s post is short.
I hope I will get some insightful answers to a question. One that just occurred to me and I wonder if
it has occurred to anyone else out there in the birth circles.
It started to tickle my brain as we entered the political
season here in the U.S. A time when I
discover that although my birth and breastfeeding friends and I all share very
similar beliefs about birth and breastfeeding, we are split into different
voting parties. Then I took it another step back – when do these divisions
happen? Was there ever a time of peace
on earth, when all were in harmony? Has
there ever really been a day without discord?
There is a saying in the birthing community that goes like
this, “Peace on earth begins at birth." I love that saying.
It is a grand goal – allow children births free from chemical
influences, and births that are intentional and into the loving arms of their
parents, and voila! Peace reigns. As a
Bradley™ teacher I would add "healthy pregnancy" somewhere, then again, it's hard to rhyme with pregnancy. Anyway, a mom that avoids harmful substances and gets a whole food, nutritious diet for optimal
fetal development will also help…I think you get my point.
The premise is that peaceful beginnings are the basis for a peaceful
world.
Put on the brakes…up until 200 years ago, all births were
homebirths. There was no access to
pharmaceutical grade analgesics or anesthetics. Most babies were breastfed by someone, because there was no formula. And many cultures kept their babies close to a warm body as the babywearing practices of today and emulating. Watch this interesting video from the CBC (1963!)in to see an anthropology of babywearing: Reality check: Wars have raged since time immemorial…history classes teach us about the conquests and dominant periods of a variety of different
cultures.
I am in awe of mothers whose children serve in the
militaries of the world. My heart isn’t
in it for sacrificing our flesh and blood.
As a mother I hope I will have it in me to support our children’s
aspirations, down whichever path it may lead them, even if it includes military
service.
So, here is my question(s):
What is going to be different this time?
If we are going back to all the “natural” ways: intervention free
births, breastfeeding, babywearing…what will we do differently with our
children to ensure that we really and truly build a foundation for more peace
and less fighting?
Please share your thoughts in the comments – enlighten me!
*For an update on the Rights for Homebirth movement, click
here for the AZ Dept of Health Director’s blog post;
for the original post on Rally Day click here.
Disclaimer: |
Categories: Birth Circle, Breastfeeding, Epidural, Parenting
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4 Comments
Reply
Yolanda
4:45 PM on June 15, 2012
What an interesting link (video). Thanks for sharing. I'd say until many more people learn to care outside of themselves, there will not be peace on earth. Even if there should be one day without war, there are always violent incidents in residential areas and in homes. There is an inherent evil within us that makes us self-centered. Blessed are those who can sometimes overcome that and be caring, loving individuals.
Reply
Krystyna
5:28 PM on June 17, 2012
Yolanda says...
What an interesting link (video). Thanks for sharing. I'd say until many more people learn to care outside of themselves, there will not be peace on earth. Even if there should be one day without war, there are always violent incidents in residential areas and in homes. There is an inherent evil within us that makes us self-centered. Blessed are those who can sometimes overcome that and be caring, loving individuals.
Interesting points...the possibility of smaller acts of violence occurred to me, too. I do not agree that we are all inherently evil. I think we are capable of evil, however, I cannot believe that there is inherent evil in this sweet child that I just finished nursing and is now sleeping peaceful in my arms.
Reply
Rachel Davis
11:03 PM on June 19, 2012
What a provocative question, Krystyna! I, too, love that phrase of "Peace on Earth begins at birth." My perspective is that, while in the past all women had natural/home births, they did not have a choice in the matter and therefore, perhaps, they weren't using their birth experience to intentionally set out on a path toward peace. (Just as the concepts of a healthy pregnancy or particular parenting styles would have been unknown concepts, given likely limited diets and limited literacy and exposure to the range of ideas we have access to today.) Whereas in our modern world we have the blessing of having many choices for how we choose to bring our babies into the world, what we eat, how we parent, what we feed our babies, etc. Planning a birth with peace in mind is but one step toward that goal, and it is representative of a parent who has the intention of pursuing that path with every decision they make. I don't believe that one can have a natural birth and then feel as though they have done their role in pursuing peace...they must continue to raise their child(ren) with this value in all aspects of their family's life. Thus, a natural birth without any further action is not likely to result in moving our global community toward peace (hence why I don't believe that saying can really be applied in the past). Along with that, I believe that there are some amazing people who are walking the path to peace and they may not have had (or desired) birth experiences like mine...and I don't believe that they are doing any less toward the pursuit of a peaceful and just world. As I consider this political season and the myriad of perspectives that my friends and family have, I always come back to, "What are their most deeply-held values? Are they really that different from my own?" For the most part, they are not. We are all more alike, deep-down, than the world of politics would have us believe. Red/Blue, Republican/Democrat/ Conservative/Liberal...these labels can be as misleading and inappropriately divisive as Home/Hospital, Breast/Bottle, Vax/Non-Vax, and the list goes on. At the end of the day, deep down, often times we are all searching for the same things for our family...and recognizing *that* would be a great leap toward peace. :-)
Reply
Krystyna
2:34 PM on June 20, 2012
Rachel Davis says...
What a provocative question, Krystyna! I, too, love that phrase of "Peace on Earth begins at birth." My perspective is that, while in the past all women had natural/home births, they did not have a choice in the matter and therefore, perhaps, they weren't using their birth experience to intentionally set out on a path toward peace. (Just as the concepts of a healthy pregnancy or particular parenting styles would have been unknown concepts, given likely limited diets and limited literacy and exposure to the range of ideas we have access to today.) Whereas in our modern world we have the blessing of having many choices for how we choose to bring our babies into the world, what we eat, how we parent, what we feed our babies, etc. Planning a birth with peace in mind is but one step toward that goal, and it is representative of a parent who has the intention of pursuing that path with every decision they make. I don't believe that one can have a natural birth and then feel as though they have done their role in pursuing peace...they must continue to raise their child(ren) with this value in all aspects of their family's life. Thus, a natural birth without any further action is not likely to result in moving our global community toward peace (hence why I don't believe that saying can really be applied in the past). Along with that, I believe that there are some amazing people who are walking the path to peace and they may not have had (or desired) birth experiences like mine...and I don't believe that they are doing any less toward the pursuit of a peaceful and just world. As I consider this political season and the myriad of perspectives that my friends and family have, I always come back to, "What are their most deeply-held values? Are they really that different from my own?" For the most part, they are not. We are all more alike, deep-down, than the world of politics would have us believe. Red/Blue, Republican/Democrat/ Conservative/Liberal...these labels can be as misleading and inappropriately divisive as Home/Hospital, Breast/Bottle, Vax/Non-Vax, and the list goes on. At the end of the day, deep down, often times we are all searching for the same things for our family...and recognizing *that* would be a great leap toward peace. :-)
Rachel, thank you for your thoughtful and insightful answer. I hope and pray that doing things intentionally will help make the difference. I also like your point about similarities. When in conflict, it would be amazing if opposing groups would recognize their shared values first - maybe make their opponent "human" instead of "the enemy" would be helpful in resolving some of the socio-political conflicts of our time. Ah, to dream...I would love to think that our children will see less strife and heartbreak than we have.
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