The first ‘birthing experience’ I ever witnessed was my cat having kittens. I of course was beyond excited and it was magical, but it wasn’t until my husband and I were pregnant with our first young lady that it clicked as to how absolutely incredible that experience truly was.
Have you ever seen a mammal in nature give birth – whether in person or a video? If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. What do our friends in the animal kingdom do? They find a safe place, they get comfortable, and they breathe. That’s right. Simple. Birth.
And that is exactly what my cat did.
I can still see her right now. She was curled up in a little cardboard box in our front entryway. Snuggled down on a soft pink blanket. She just laid there with her eyes closed, and she breathed.
She breathed.
And she kept on breathing, very calmly, instinctively. And eventually, this tiny little bubble of a kitten emerged. Mama cat opened her eyes and leaned over to clean her little babe. She licked and prodded the kitten and eventually, the little one went to breast.
And then what did mama do?
She laid right back down and breathed some more.
She continued this process again and again, and eventually, she had FIVE KITTENS!
Now I know, kittens are smaller than human babies, but cats are also smaller than human adults!
This strong mama found her safe place, got in a comfortable position, and breathed her way to having five kittens. No hospital, no drugs, no walking the halls, no worries about what Auntie Whosie is going to say – just following her mammalian brain and body, and breathing.
Wouldn’t that be nice?
It should be.
It can be.
Educate yourself.
Find your birthing place.
Find your birthing team.
And breathe.
Embrace Your Birth.