You may have noticed a little brochure floating around these parts for the last few years. It's cumbersomely titled "Natural Pregnancy and Birth Services of the Palouse and Lewiston/Clarkston Valley." This year it is Salmon colored, and can be found towards the back of the Co-op, near the fizzy drinks.

Let me explain:

Of the six billion people crammed onto this little blue planet, most of them were born, of women. This has led me to conclude, albeit unscientifically, that birth is a natural and common beginning to life. And that women can actually give birth successfully, usually. If it were any other way, the human branch of the primate tree would not have grown far, certainly not to six billion.

And this leads me to the idea of natural childbirth, a concept as old as the human race, and yet struggling to survive in modern times. Certainly, natural childbirth is not required and not even advisable at times. And yet, usually, it works out well enough. Although many women want a natural childbirth experience and idealize it, it doesn't always happen. Sometimes there are good reasons for that, and sometimes there aren't. Sometimes birthing mothers simply lack the information they need to get what they want, when they want it. It's not much of a choice when you don't have all the information. So, in the interest of a woman's right to choose, I created this brochure.

The simple Salmon-y pamphlet lists local midwives, doulas (trained to have "magical powers" of advocacy and comfort for birthing mothers in hospital and home), and Natural Childbirth educators. The list is meant to be complete, though some have opted out.

Please pick one up at the Co-op or around the Palouse. If you can't find one, e-mail me and I'd be happy to send it: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it