Dr. Amy,

I'm wondering when you are going to get a life.

Nothing to be proud of? When I gave birth to my eleven pound twelve ounce son at home alone it was the absolute most empowering, fulfilling, and bar none most amazing moment of my life.

My body, which had been wracked by psychosis, multiple infections, asthma, deadly food allergies, skin problems, and a host of disease related to Candida Overgrowth from the overuse of antibiotics......MY BODY, my weak, sick, toxic, drug overloaded body gave birth to a child without any help from anyone!!!

This precious temple, my body, wracked by three needless surgeries (one was a section), court ordered psychiatric meds, and a host of doctors sniffing at me...."YOU probably should not have any more children because....well, fill in the blanks...."

My Body did it! And I have nothing, absolutely nothing to be proud of???

Sure it is true after our first UC, I did have to transfer to the hospital because that same body, with a liver overloaded by toxins could not clamp my uterus, (that same beautiful uterus that had been cut and sutured), fast enough after my child was born. And I bled out 90% of my blood volume. And now when people think of Jenny Hatch and Unassisted Birth they tsk tsk and think of the blood and that huge baby boy who was slow to breath.

But you know what I think of? I think of the doctors with all of the dire predictions. Actually, you remind me of them....da da da "every party has a pooper and thats why we invited you, party pooper, party pooper" dee dee dee

Those doctors with the stats and the studies and the drugs and the naysaying and the nurses with the "IF ONLY YOU Had come to us....NONE of this would have happened."

How right they are. I never could have gotten that 11 pound kid out of my body at a hospital.

But alone at home, I gave birth to that huge baby after three PAINLESS pushes. Painless, did you hear me.....NO PAIN. He was born in his amniotic sac, because nobody was around to break it. And I gave birth in the Yoga Goddess position, standing on my own two feet. Because that is what my body was telling me was the correct position to birth an eleven pound child in.

And you know what? I did not tear. Not even a skid mark. And no hemerroids, and no pain...It was a freaking miracle.

I'm grateful for the help I had from the docs who gave me a couple bags of blood and helped my uterus contract down with some pit, but I could have done without all of the sanctimonious tsk tskkkking during the few days we were in their care and my crit went from a 4.7 to normal and my son had every test in the NICU they could think of before they declared him healthy and sent us home. He is ten now and a real joy to have in our home.

And then? Well then I spent six years researching bleeding issues, I conducted 25 liver and gall bladder cleanses on myself...no professionals needed for that either. They would have took one look at my gall bladder and said, "lets cut this sucker out of here, it is just chock full of stones" cause in medicine, they don't know how to heal or cleanse internal organs, they just cut them out and claim your are "all better".

And my husband researched baby resuscitation and took a CPR class for infants, and we girded up our loins and alone without any professional help, we created a child.

And 42 weeks and three days later we birthed him alone in our bedroom. Not a midwife or a doctor in sight. Just a legion of angels and our four older kids sleeping in the other room.

And this time...well our nine pound son was born again with momma in the goddess position and Daddy catching. And when baby was born, Daddy JUMPED FOR JOY!!!

But we have absolutely nothing to be proud of. Nothing whatsoever, because everyone knows that mothers and fathers who give birth alone are somewhat delusional, if not downright frightening.

Only person frightening to me on this comment board is the gal with the MD after her name Shilling for Big Pharma and Toxicity.

Jenny Hatch

Hit a nerve did I? LOL. I am not defying authority, because those like you who are supposed to take up that title have abandoned your responsibility, leaving people like me in the lurch and having to read and make ourselves our own authority—but who cares? Geez, what is this, a contest on who has the right to be the most authoritative? Does the one with the most statistics and "facts" under her belt get to don the Authority tiara?

Your argument comparing "default" "dangerous" vaginal birth, drinking raw milk, etc. to riding a motorcycle without a helmet is ludicrous and typical of people who follow the dominant health "care" paradigm.

All your facts and figures mean nothing to me, unless I break a limb or am in a car accident. Then the usually worthless body mechanic actually comes in handy and earns my HMO deductible, but pretty much only then.

But don't worry, the majority are in your camp; you'll be in business for long time. They are safely taking the statins, eating the irradiated Mad Cows and the pigs and chickens fed contaminated pet food and restaurant waste, having drugged births in which their babies are safely ripped from their wombs and then profusely thanking you for the honor of mutilating their bodies and souls. Enjoy the Authority tiara while you can.

"I am so incredibly proud of myself"

Why? Vaginal delivery is the default mode. 99% of mothers who ever existed have had an unmedicated vaginal delivery (or died trying) and the majority of women who give birth around the world each and every day have an unmedicated vaginal delivery (or die trying). You don't even have to be conscious. I have seen women who are severely brain injured and unconscious have a vaginal delivery.

Essentially anyone can have an unmedicated vaginal delivery. The achievement is if the mother and baby live despite complications. I'm not sure why anyone would believe that having a vaginal delivery without taking every possible step to be sure that the mother and baby live is some sort of "achievement". It is no more of an achievement than having a pregnancy without a miscarriage.

"It led me to do other "unsafe" things like drink organic raw milk despite the FDA warning on the label, not vaccinate my baby"

As you have made clear, this is not about birth, or vaccination, or raw milk; it is about defying authority. If defying authority gives some people a thrill, that's fine for them. Having an unassisted homebirth, drinking raw milk or rejecting vaccines is as praiseworthy as riding a motorcycle without a helmet or smoking cigarettes, and makes just as much sense, which is to say that it makes no sense at all.