• using the tools of yoga before and during the birth
• discussion of your preferences with any doctor you may visit during pregnancy
• making a Birth Plan and circulating it amongst your birth attendants beforehand, during and after the birth
• having the capability to make informed decisions in the heat of the moment should such a need arise.

At Birth Centres
   The philosophy of Birth Centres is to provide a woman with an intimate space to naturally birth her baby within a short distance of medical backup should it become necessary. Generally the midwives use non-invasive methods of pain relief and of managing the other aspects of labour. Where requested or required, depending on policy, they may use interventions such as rupturing of the membranes, and some Birth Centres offer pethidine or nitrous gas for pain relief. Transfer out of the Birth Centre is usually mandatory for more complex interventions, such as an epidural or syntocin drip.

At a Homebirth
   Intervention is not a concept embraced by homebirth midwives nor homebirthing women. In a homebirth situation, everyone present, plays the true role of assistants, helpers and partners – there to serve nature and the woman’s needs. Although an attending midwife may be skilled in some of the medical procedures, she will not use them as a matter of course and will allow a woman to give birth in her own time unless there is some real danger and the parents agree. Homebirthers and their midwives are usually skilled in natural ways of managing common birthing events and, outside of that, if there is an unavoidable need, transfer to a hospital or the calling-in of a doctor can be arranged.

	~Timing Guidelines~

   One of the worst aspects of modern obstet-rics and the cause of much intervention is the mentality of labour timing. Based on average (hospital birthing) figures of the time taken for the different stages of labour, medical science has developed guidelines as to how a “normal” labour and birth should progress. Whilst guidelines in any situation are not rules one must conform to, too often they become a rationale for “normalising” those who are at the extremes,or for steering those who are

unsure of what “should be happening”. Such a misuse of guidelines during labour works against the unique nature of each baby’s birth and can cause unnecessary anxiety within the mother, which of course leads to a further deviation from the so-called norm.
   In hospitals, 12 to 18 hours is considered normal for the first stage of labour (dilation of the cervix), during which time it is expected to dilate at a rate of approximately one centimetre per hour. In the second stage (passage of baby through the birth canal), up to 2 hours is allowable. The third stage (arrival of the placenta) usually takes less than 10 minutes, due to the use of drugs to expedite placental delivery. A woman who doesn’t fit into these guidelines may be offered, encouraged or even coerced by staff or family supporters into accepting intervention.
   But such figures are far from what natural birthers would consider the norm. In fact natural birthers don’t much consider there is any such thing as a norm! For example a slow and gentle first stage may take as long as 48 hours. Second stage may take up to 3 hours quite safely, and the third stage may take 3 hours or more quite safely. What is truly normal or truly natural is actually not able to be defined. Every woman will vary greatly, and so long as the mother and baby are not under stress, they should be allowed to continue as best they can. Numbers and timing of stages should not come in to it at all.
   I believe the biggest problem with all this timing business is that timing guidelines cause women to count the hours as they go, to worry about what “should have happened by now”, and judge their own performance according to the interventionist averages based on other people’s labours.
   A labour in a Birth Centre or at home, allows the mother and the midwife to watch, wait and work in tune with nature and baby, rather than to act according to some historical, arbitrary and fixed timeframe for the labour.

	~Induction~

   Under normal conditions, labour begins when the baby and mother are both ready. Exactly what signals this readiness and what first triggers it is not yet fully understood. It is known, that when the hormone oxytocin begins to be released into the blood stream, it starts the process of uterine contractions and the resulting dilation of the cervix, but