# A 'Birth Party'?? Are you kidding me? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388 "2010-04-16T20:34:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/101 "2010-04-23T03:13:54Z")
> [@Salem](#): > > The biggest clue here is “first baby”. She may have some naive idea about the beauty of the birth process. That’s on the money. Yes, you can plan the perfect wedding, maybe even the perfect conception and pregnancy. But birth? Sorry, it’s hormones, not your networking skills that are running the show. I watched my then SO, a thoroughly capable woman who runs an emergency relief organisation reduced to alternatively a blithering, pathetic wreck and inferno screaming for every drug known to mankind, and damming the mid-wife, the hospital, all men in general and the concept of procreation in particularly graphic detail when #1 wouldn’t engage. The midwife ranked it as one of the top 5 best trantrums ever thrown at the hospital. Then add the possibility that the process might require intervention, that bubs might come out blue, or yellow, require urgent post-partum treatment or with additional or missing bits. It’s one of life’s most incredible, intimate experiences, not a photo-op. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388/102 "2010-04-23T16:04:28Z")
> [@cherchezlafemme](#): > > interesting. different strokes for different folks. I have 5 kids. By the time I had popped out my first two, i realized that hospital birth had its ups ( few) and downs ( many). My 3rd birth took place in a blow up pool in my back bedroom. Aunts and Uncles Grandmas and Grandpas took care of the older children who were free to come in at will with their assigned caretakers. We were blessed to have twin girls who had their whole family present at their beautiful births. One of my favorite memories is my sweet oldest daughter gently trying to wash some of the vernix off her new sisters head. Totally unafraid and totally accepting of this new creature. My son cut the second babies umbilical cord with assistance from the midwives. He and his sister have a special bond… " I made your belly button" > I had been strengthened by a strong circle of women during my labor at one point surrounding the tub in a wise quorum. I could feel the strength of their good vibes and karma as I dealt with the waves of the contractions. > 4 generations in the house that day. Very special. > Like I said , different strokes for different folks. That sounds like a little slice of Heaven to me. When I was in labor with my oldest and had all the family women around me it was so comforting. By the time my little one was born most of these women had passed away, and it was not the same. My Mig was a peach but he was so scared the entire time he wasn’t much comfort. I would have loved for my oldest to cut the cord but she had such a negative reaction to my pregnancy she didn’t want to be anywhere near. Also to whoever posted those “banned from Facebook” nursing photos? I looked at every page. By the time I was done I wanted another baby. Somebody please talk me down! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-birth-party-are-you-kidding-me/536388.md?page=5)