I recently had the pleasure of having sat in on a lecture on birth and the media, and the effect it can have on the perception of birth; especially for new mothers. As a doula, or even care providers, why should we care? Because it can be wrong! The media is extremely powerful in shaping one's viewpoint, and women get their ideas of what they want for their birth from the media. The lecture covered as far back as the early 1950's, utilizing "I Love Lucy" as an example of how birth was portrayed during that time; and ended up in the 2000's, using the show "ER" as the example for how birth is portrayed today. Back in the 1950's, birth was not a "big thing"; contractions were not shown, and the da was shown sitting and waiting in the waiting room while his wife was wheeled away to give birth. Once the baby was born, the dad was shown the baby by the nurse, not the mother. Today, the media's motive is to advertise fear. What is normal and what is real about birth from what the media is showing us in movies, commercials and television shows? Today, shows like "ER" demonstrate the worst case scenerio, showing a woman with many complications (most of which are very, very rare), and in the end, she either dies or nearly dies from doing what her body was naturally designed to do; giving birth! The media is very good at scaring women into believing that every woman must have a doctor and a hospital to give birth. We learn what to expect from birth from the media because it is our only source of information. We learn what labor is like, where to deliver our babies and how we should get there. We learn how the mom is supposed to act and how the dad is supposed to react to the pain the mom is going through.

As doulas and as women, what can we do to change the expectations of birth that are portrayed in the media? Television shows like "Judgeing Amy" portray a woman having a water birth; "Dharma and Greg" portray a woman having a home birth. The dialogue between Dharma and Greg is hilarious during this moment, but Dhrama's attitude about the situation is pivitol to understanding the role birth should play in a man and woman's life: Greg wants to take the woman to the hospital because she is in labor, and Dharma says "Why? She's not sick!" Hospitals can provide comfort for women who are extremely nervous about giving birth; but they are not the only place to give birth, nor is it the only way to give birth.
The average person when asked what they think of when they hear the word "birth", relates screaming, fear, helplessness, stirrups, technology, intervention and pain to childbirth. If there is one thing that I want my clients to realize about birth is that it doesn't have to be scary-God created birth, and He meant it be a joyful, intimate experience to be shared by the mother and father.