Thanks to some very high profile articles, Natural Birth is having The Best Week Ever. In case you spent the week under general anesthesia, here’s what you missed:

Heather Armstrong (Dooce.com): The Labor Story, Part One
Here, arguably one of the most famous blogging moms in history, tells the story of how she went from being a “give-me-the-epidural-two-days-ahead-of-time” type of mother, to being radically transformed into a Natural Birthing Evangelist, just 10 weeks before her second baby was due.  She credits a free copy of “Your Best Birth” for changing her mind.  Go Ricki & Abby.

Unnecesarean.com: “Pit to Distress: Your Ticket to an ‘Emergency’ Cesarean?”
In a word? Horrifying.  In another word? Familiar.  Here the lid is blown off a common procedure being performed in maternity wards every single day where doctors and nurses knowingly use Pitocin to inflict stress on a fetus, all so they can call for an “emergency” cesarean.  No.  I’m not kidding.  It’s very real. I would argue that it’s exactly how I ended up with my cesarean. 

And on the same topic…

Cate Nelson: “Leash This Pit”
More on the harmful use of Pitocin, and the “medicalization” of childbirth in general.  Cate talks about some alternatives to artificial induction, and calls out the dangers and misconceptions of chemical inductions.

Now in mainstream birth news – there go those silly politicians again, spinning the facts and undermining health care…

Louise Marie Roth: Dick Morris Doesn't Understand Birth or Health Care
I just love when men who have zero experience with birthing talk about birth choices as though they themselves might be personally affected. Here, Roth calls out former Clinton advisor-turned-criticizer, Dick Morris, for accusing the Obama administration of forcing women to sacrifice their health by having natural births.  Huh boy.

And finally (as though the previous things weren’t enough to chew on for the week)

(VIDEO) Bill Moyer’s Journal: Interview with former CIGNA VP, Wendell Potter
If this doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will.  Here the head of an insurance company reveals how his moral epiphany led him to resign from his posh job, and has him now speaking out about the amoral practices of both the large insurance companies, and the politicians who try to oppose universal healthcare.  He admits that Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko “hit the nail on the head” and that our country’s healthcare is in crisis.  After this, nobody has any great excuse for believing the bull the insurance companies and Republican supporters try to sell us.

Okay, you’ve got your hands full now.  Enjoy!