If you can't be a hero, you can at least be funny while being a chicken. Ina May Gaskin More Quotes by Ina May Gaskin More Quotes From Ina May Gaskin We are the only species of mammal that doubts our ability to give birth. It's profitable to scare women about birth. But let's stop it. I tell women: Your body is not a lemon. Ina May Gaskin womeninspirationalgiving Whenever and however you give birth, your experience will impact your emotions, your mind, your body, and your spirit for the rest of your life. Ina May Gaskin impactmindgiving Birth Matters... It matters because it is the way we all begin our lives outside of our source, our mother's bodies. It's the means from which we enter and feel our first impression of the wider world. For each mother, it is an event that shakes and shapes her to her innermost core. Women's perceptions about their bodies and their babies' capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they receive around the time of birth. Ina May Gaskin motherbabymean If a woman doesn't look like a Goddess during labor, then someone isn't treating her right. Ina May Gaskin goddessbirthlooks Pregnant Ina May Gaskin lawmotherearthquakes Remember this, for it is as true as true gets: Your body is not a lemon. You are not a machine. The Creator is not a careless mechanic. Human female bodies have the same potential to give birth as well as aardvarks, lions, rhinoceri, elephants, moose, and water buffalo. Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body. Ina May Gaskin elephantspregnancythinking The way a culture treats women in birth is a good indicator of how well women and their contributions to society are valued and honored. Ina May Gaskin birthcultureway The energy that gets the baby in is the energy that gets the baby out. Ina May Gaskin energybaby There is no other organ quite like the uterus. If men had such an organ they would brag about it. So should we Ina May Gaskin uterusbirthmen A society that places a low value on its mothers and the process of birth will suffer an array of negative repercussions for doing so. Good beginnings make a positive difference in the world, so it is worth our while to provide the best possible care for mothers and babies throughout this extraordinarily influential part of life. Ina May Gaskin differencesmotherbaby It does a man good to see his lady being brave while she has their baby... it inspires him. Ina May Gaskin bravebabymen The human species is no more unsuited to give birth than any other of the 5,000 or so species of mammals on the planet. We are merely the most confused. Ina May Gaskin mammalsconfusedgiving Why in the world do the insurance companies get to be the boss of birth? That's what I want to know. Ina May Gaskin bosswantworld I have never observed even the slightest laceration in a woman who used clitoral stimulation as a relaxation method during birth. Clitoral stimulation seems to increase vaginal engorgement as the baby emerges. Ina May Gaskin birthrelaxationbaby Even if it has not been your habit throughout your life so far, I recommend that you learn to think positively about your body. Ina May Gaskin moosepregnancythinking I had to learn not to let anyone push me around, to be brave and to say things I knew might make people mad. Ina May Gaskin madbravepeople Simply put, when there is no home birth in a society, or when home birth is driven completely underground, essential knowledge of women’s capacities in birth is lost to the people of that society—to professional caregivers, as well as to the women of childbearing age themselves. Ina May Gaskin agehomepeople Don't forget to bring your sense of humor to your labor. Ina May Gaskin sense-of-humorlaborforget When we as a society begin to value mothers as the givers and supporters of life, then we will see social change in ways that matter. Ina May Gaskin mattermotherway It is important to keep in mind that our bodies must work pretty well, or their wouldn't be so many humans on the planet. Ina May Gaskin healthimportantmind
