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Sparkle (2)
A lovely client of mine recently made an important observation about the tone of many natural, holistic books on pregnancy and birth. She said, "The statement 'You're pregnant! Congratulations! You are now a sacred vessel of life.' makes me angry. Why is it that the act of carrying a baby is what makes me sacred? Am I not already sacred without the need of a pregnancy to create or justify my sacredness?" Indeed.
I believe the intent of the sacred vessel statement is to help women embrace how great it is to be gestating a kid, affirming that they are special, worthy of extra self-nurturing. It's not malicious. However, this belief that pregnancy renders us sacred vessels puts an awful lot of pressure on women to match this projected beatific state with beatific behavior...even when they're just not feeling it.
For the most part, most of the women I work with enjoy their pregnancies very much. Sure, they experience some of the uncomfortable symptoms like troopers, but are ultimately quite enthralled with their ripe states. And others absolutely can't stand being pregnant.
I have sometimes heard incredibly judgmental statements from the "you are now a sacred vessel" crowd regarding the women who experience their pregnancies negatively. I have heard people, many whom have never even experienced pregnancy before say things like, "Other women have been trying for years to have children and can't. You should be grateful to be pregnant at all." Or, "Your negative feelings are bad for the baby. You should work through why you are being so negative for your baby's sake." Way to blame! This is the same thinking which blocks a woman's grief over a disappointing birth experience, encouraging her to basically "get over it" because she and her baby are healthy, and that's the most important thing. Well, duh, it's the most important thing. No woman would prefer the alternative of a fabulous birth but an unhealthy baby. But can't we just take a woman's gratitude for granted and give her the space to authentically express her emotions in spite of a good clinical outcome?
Most books on birth don't have a chapter called "When Pregnancy Blows" (though I'm writing one). And I assure you, having worked with hundreds of pregnant women, I know sometimes it really does. Sure, there are some people in the world who are whiners by nature and turn a normal experience into one of abject misery by focusing entirely on the negative. Upon examination, you would see that this is the way they are in their everyday lives, not just in pregnancy. But in my experience, most women do their best to downplay the more negative aspects of their pregnancies for fear of being perceived as ungrateful.
The truth is that sometimes pregnancy is beyond challenging. Sometimes it's downright awful. I have known some women to be so floored by pregnancy that they spend an entire nine months either hospitalized on IVs or lying on their couches wrapped around a barf bowl containing upchucked Diclectin pills. I have seen women literally crippled by their pregnancies, suffering the excruciating pain of pelvic girdle dysfunction. Others develop complications, either minor or otherwise, which turn them from the vital, active women they are into what they feel are bedridden, vulnerable shadows of their former selves, wreaking incredible emotional havoc. To some, the act of expanding in girth is not just a vanity issue, but a deep seated terror rooted in past trauma. Very few women admit this to the general public, but sometimes those whose pregnancies put them into an unusual state of suffering have feelings of "I don't know if this is really worth it," and have literally considered terminating. Sometimes they get resentful of the presence of the baby inside who makes them feel utterly miserable, and begrudge their bodies for "failing" them when their friends are bopping around taking spinning classes until their due dates. Does this make them unworthy of being sacred vessels? Absolutely not.
It is easy enough to feel for ladies dealing with symptoms deemed "acceptable" for sympathy, but what about those who are not wearing an "I have a complication" badge? For some women, parts of pregnancy, or even all of it, create an intense state of suffering. They may not even have symptoms they can explain. They simply just loathe it, and hate that they loathe it. These womens experiences must be honoured as well for our
