After my first child was born in the hospital, I really wanted to explore the idea of a home birth. There are 4 things that ultimately led to my decision and got my husband, Matt, on board! This is my story and a big part of my personal relationship/journey with Christ. I understand the topic of birth is very sensitive and though we may plan for it to happen one way, sometimes it just doesn’t go that way. No matter how our births play(ed) out, we can redeem childbirth by understanding the resulting lesson for it…recognizing our need for a Savior. After my first birth in the hospital and when I became pregnant with my second, I needed a perspective shift to seeing God at the forefront. I needed to invite Him into my birth and create an atmosphere where I felt His presence everywhere. I want to be an encouragement in a practical sense, not in a false hope sense and hopefully this gives you confidence in our Lord and in yourself during birth. These same principles can apply to all birthing situations and I am no expert, but I do feel a call to write about this.
Here they are:
#1. God intended birth to be a certain way (Genesis 3:16).
In Genesis it says, “with pain you will give birth.” This comes after Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die,'” Genesis 2:16-17.
Everything that God does is for a purpose; therefore, the pain in childbirth has a purpose! Yes, I believe pain also has a physical need in birth, but here I am speaking spiritually. I do not think God was acting out of evil punishment, but rather fatherly punishment with the goal of teaching us something. God does all things out of love. A.W. Tozer stated, “Nothing God ever does, or ever did, or ever will do, is separate from the love of God.”
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love,” 1 John 4:8.
This verse does not mean God loves as a byproduct — say as you and I do. This verse points out that God is in fact LOVE itself. They can not be separate of each other. Because I realized God had a specific reason when he said, “I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing” in Genesis, I wanted to experience birth like he wanted it to be. In doing so, I would be learning what God needed to teach me through it.
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children,” Genesis 3:7.
Levi, January 27, 2015
Mia, September 25, 2016 – water birth
#2. There is a reason for the pain.
So, we have discovered that God intended birth to come with pain. The pain was a result of a specific sin and a sin of humanity. Because I believe Christ came for a purpose, He died for a purpose and He rose for a purpose — I then acknowledge I am a sinner in need of Christ. I am no different than Eve on the day she pulled that fruit. I can learn from her mistakes, though I believe the lesson comes with the experience. I needed to personally experience the pain to fully grasp the teaching. Yes, I was that kid who needed to touch the hot stove to learn even though I was told not to.
God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. This begins the moment we realize our need for Him, admit we are sinners and in faith receive Jesus Christ as Savior. How do we know we need Christ in our births if we don’t experience the pain of birth? Eve was deceived into thinking she could be like God and that she didn’t need God. Do you know what Eve said after the birth of Cain?
“With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man,” Genesis 4:1.
She acknowledged her need for God and credited her birth to God, not to herself or to pain medicine or modern day involvement. I am not saying that you can not experience God in a birth with modern day help. I am saying that I am stubborn and this is what I needed personally. I learned that the reason for my pain was to acknowledge my need for a Savior.
“Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God,” Matthew 19:24.
I think this same principle applies to childbirth. Let me explain. 1 Timothy 2:15 says,
“But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.”
Paul is not saying in this verse that childbearing in the literal sense is salvation, otherwise that would contradict Romans 3:23-24,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
What I think Paul is trying to say is, just like it is harder for the rich man to see a need for a savior, it might be that if childbirth wasn’t painful, powerful and supernatural, we would also miss the need for our Savior. Our sins (Eve’s sin) are redeemed through the experience of pain in childbirth by recognizing our need for Christ!
*Disclaimer: women do not need to have children to recognize their need for Christ! I believe this is just one way Christ opens our eyes.
#3. With God’s help, I brought forth man (Genesis 4:1).
As stated above, I learned the reason for pain during childbirth was to acknowledge my need for God’s help in childbirth and on a bigger scale, a need for God’s help in life! Because I was healthy and not at high risk, I believe I had all I needed at home.
“I can do all this through him who gives me strength,” Philippians 4:13.
I truly believe what this verse is saying, yet I also believe God uses His people as an extension of His hands — in some birthing circumstances the doctors and nurses are just that. When I was in the hospital with Charlee, I think all the equipment and environment stressed me out more and took my attention away from the presence of God. The monitor tight around my waist, the IV in my arm, the stale bed, the white walls, the cold floor, the gown that was falling off…all contributed to my anxiety and not the powerful experience God created our birth to be, resulting in an assisted birth with her. Do you know what happens when our bodies become stressed and anxiety ridden? “Stress is the body’s reaction to harmful situations — whether they’re real or perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body that allows you to act in a way to prevent injury. This reaction is known as ‘fight-or-flight,’ or the stress response. During stress response, your heart rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles tighten, and blood pressure rises. You’ve gotten ready to act. It is how you protect yourself,” taken from webmd.com. All these things during birth can lead to many dangerous outcomes and possibly the need for a cesarean delivery! If we remain calm and allow God to work through the body He created to do this, I do believe we have a better chance for it to be a success. Now when I say our bodies were made for childbirth, I do not want you hearing me say that it will be easy. God already told us it would be painful. God already pointed out that we bring life into this world with His help. I said our bodies were made to multiply only to point out that it is a fact from a Biblical perspective. The moment my second child came out, I truly understood there was no way I could have done that without Christ, but also felt the overwhelming accomplishment that my body just did that! Something that was not present in my first birth.
#4. There is no place for fear in our births.
“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love,” 1 John 4:18.
When we invite God into the center of our lives and into the center of our births, we are inviting in His perfect love — and we know from scripture that where there is love there is NO FEAR! The moment I said yes to home birth, I also said yes to God taking over every aspect of it. I had to say from that moment on, fear had no place in my mind. Of course I had to remind myself many times, but at the end of the day I knew who controlled the outcome.
“When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Matthew 9:28a.
When doubt crept in (because it did and it will!), I recited this verse above. I found a journal entry of mine from January 15, 2015 that had this verse written BIG! Levi was born on January 27, 2015. I was close to the due date and experiencing fear, but I had to squash it immediately or I would have lost sight of why God called me to do this.
“Yes, Lord,” they replied,” Matthew 9:28b.
I also said, YES LORD I do believe that you are able to do this.
“Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you,” Matthew 9:29. AMEN!!
Friends, I know there is so much that produces fear in us: past trauma, the unknown, lack of knowledge and lack of experience. We need to identify the root of our fears and tackle those with God’s help whether that is through Godly counsel, friendly advice, fasting, etc. Do not think we can do this alone. We were created to need HIM and His people!
Love you all,
Kristina.
