Christ-Centered Childbirth

Christ-Centered Childbirth
by Susana Fierro-Baig

Obtain the fruits of the spirit through Christ-Centered birth.

Likely you've heard people refer to living a Christ-Centered life. Those who center Christ in their lives do so through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's Atonement and by obedience to gospel commandments and principles. We center Christ in our pregnancy and birth experiences through the same process.

The blessings to be had through Christ-Centered living and birthing are the fruits of the Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. Additionally, couples are blessed with guidance, comfort, strength, knowledge and deliverance.

The couple striving to center their pregnancy and birth in Christ must be committed to prayer, worship, scripture study, fellowship, faith, obedience, forgiveness and repentance.

Expectant couples must also seek to truly exert their God given free-agency. This is accomplished through studying the scriptures and applying gospel principles to the birth process, as well as studying the full spectrum of birth choices available to them, then pondering and praying to know God's will for their pregnancy and birth, which is revealed through the Holy Spirit.

It is my desire to inspire couples to turn to Christ in order to birth in greater ease and safety. And it is also my desire to support couples in birthing as the Spirit prompts them to do.

I believe that if most couples were to study the full spectrum of childbirth choices, then ponder and pray to know how God would have them birth, more people would birth through a more autonomous fashion and with greater self-responsibility than is the norm.

In regards to delivery, we must choose between an OB hospital birth, Certified Nurse Midwife attended birth, CNM attended at a birth center, lay-midwife homebirth, and medically unassisted homebirth.

I believe that only God can and should tell a couple where to birth. How will God convey this to you? Through a still small voice, a peaceful feeling and/or through a burning in your bosom.

I do not discount that many couples will be directed to hospital birth by God. But I adamantly believe and promote that home birth is safe (particularly for low-risk women) and more in accordance with the gospel principles of abounding more and more, priesthood/head of the family authority, modesty and propriety. Therefore, more and more couples with be brought to and embrace home birth. When couples decide to birth in the hospital they must strive to birth in accordance to these principles as much as possible that their birth may not be defiled by routine protocols and erroneous practices.

I also believe that when the Spirit guides couples to homebirth, they are resistant to it because it goes against this societies' current traditions. Homebirth has been made to seem dangerous and an extremist approach, thus people who desire to know more or who come to believe in homebirth, face the stumbling block of fear.

I find this pattern to be a consequence of the enmity that was placed between Eve (womankind) and Satan. Satan is woman's adversary and he seeks to devour her and her child/children. As per Revelations 12:4 the adversary distresses the pregnant woman and stands "before the woman which (is) ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it (is) born."

It is my testimony that the means for defending ourselves from Satan's attack is to study, then yield our will to God's will (whatever that may be), apply the Atonement and obey gospel principles/commandments.

So although I recognize that hospitals, technology and medications are beneficial to many, my blog is dedicated to: Encouraging couples to employ less interventions during hospital birth; extolling the benefits of homebirth; and supporting those who have been guided to homebirth, yet must overcome fear.