Alisha

Being born and raised in San Diego, I never thought Arizona would be a place I would call home. But someone else had a different plan and I thank God that when He moved me to the desert - so far away from everything and everyone I knew - He paced me next to Florence.

Before moving to Arizona I received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from San Diego State University and thought I was pretty well informed. After all, I learned about growth and development, diseases and disorders, and even nutrition. Little did I know this was only the tip of the iceberg, I only begun to obtain true knowledge after I became pregnant.

At that time my reality was:

My baby would be delivered in a hospital.

I would be breastfeeding, yet still need to supplement with formula and baby food.

The birth of my baby would be followed by doctor appointment after doctor appointment.

Basically, I believed that it was going to be a lot of work and based on the stories I heard, I was in for a miserable experience.

Natural childbirth wasn't at the top of my list since I had never heard of anyone that didn't have problems in labor:

My cousins were born by C-section.

My mom had a horrible pregnancy and labor. In labor, she had to have the IV replaced twice because it got ripped out!

Stories of blood and pain were all I ever heard.

I remember that, as soon as I saw that plus sign on the home pregnancy test, my first thought was "now the baby has to come out!" I was terrified.

Even though my first OBGYN dropped the ball and never called me back like she said they would, I found one that came highly recommended. After reading all sorts of information online of all the things that could go wrong, I became even more terrified. When I expressed my concerns to the doctor she would just roll her eyes, give me some rehearsed answer and leave me feeling stupid and insignificant.

By this time, Florence had already encouraged me to go to the Birth Center. I thought, with absolute respect, that she could "do" natural childbirth, but I was not that crazy. Well, with my confidence in my OBGYN completely gone, I decided that the Birth Center and a midwife could not be any worse. I transferred my care at 34 weeks.

Johnathan at 15 months

The only support I received at the time was from Florence and our husbands. Everyone else doubted me, bet against me and tried to convince me that I would have the same experience they did.

Still, natural childbirth at the birth center was the best decision I ever made. The birth was not as perfect as I had wanted, but the midwives listened to my concerns, explained the facts, and assured me that everything necessary for a safe and rewarding birth would be done.

Since then, I have become passionate about educating people on natural childbirth, midwifery, breastfeeding and so on.

Florence and I are not some crazy, back-woods hippies trying to force our ways on everyone. We simply want women to know there are many healthy options to consider.

Having all the facts will help you make the best decision for yourself and for your family.

Go to Alisha's second birth stories: Kathleen

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