The birth process and the environment it takes place in both exist in a web of larger cultural mores and societal pressures. There is no one group of people to blame for the situation we have found ourselves in, it has evolved over generations through negative attitudes towards natural bodily functions, in particular, sexual functions. No mother should feel guilty or a failure because she found labor difficult and painful. No man should feel guilty for being a man. We as a society need to recognize and take responsibility for our situation if we are to change it. It is not possible to hope for more relaxed pregnancies and labors unless we look at the sources of anxiety that disturb the capacity for pleasure in all aspects of human sexuality. An understanding of the sexual nature of the birth process and the origins of armoring in the way that children and adolescents are raised to contract against their own sexual natures is fundamental to this hope becoming a reality.
展开▼
