Every time I take a training or read a book to deepen my birth practice I learn something new about the female reproductive system and have my faith renewed in a woman's ability to birth according to her instincts, without management. I trust in the physiologic process that is birth. Participating in a physiologic birth will lead you to your new self. You will recognize a strength and power you didn't know you possessed. It will redefine you and sculpt you as mothers and fathers.

A physiologic birth means that bodies are designed to create and bring forth life. According to Sarah Buckley's report, Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing: Evidence and Implications for Women, Babies, and Maternity Care, "the innate hormonal physiology of mothers and babies—when promoted, supported, and protected—has significant benefits for both during the critical transitions of labor, birth, and the early postpartum and newborn periods, likely extending into the future by optimizing breastfeeding and attachment. While beneficial in selected circumstances, maternity care interventions may disrupt these beneficial processes."

Lamaze international published a care practice paper on Continuous Labor Support. It states that, "Women with continuous support are less likely to have a cesarean, an instrument delivery, and regional anesthesia. They are also less likely to report dissatisfaction with or negatively rate their childbirth experience." The authors go further to encourage the inclusion of a doula, someone who holds an objective stance and who is trained in providing labor support.

​When you tell your care providers you would like to have a physiologic birth they know that it means you wish that they not offer medication (you can tell them that if you want it you will ask for it), you will wait for the urge to push before bearing down, you will choose the position that suits you best to birth your baby. A physiologic birth promotes delayed cord clamping so your baby receives the glucose rich blood stored in the placenta intended by natural design for this crucial time just after birth. Physiology dictates a baby be left with the mother to honor that magical hour after birth, taking advantage of the flawlessly balanced hormonal cocktail specifically designed to promote bonding and ensure breastfeeding. If it is your will to have a physiologic birth it is important to find a caregiver that you trust and with whom you can communicate well.

​You will only experience this pregnancy and this birth once. It is your right as a bringer of life to choose how you will birth.