In the 1960′s childbirth without medication was not done.   A drug called “Twilight” was given to mothers in labor, and all mothers labored at the nearest hospital.   The woozy mother was unable to push effectively and a large number of babies were born blue due to the stress.

It was taboo to breastfeed in that era.  Only ignorant hillbillies would consider nursing.   One nurse related to me that it was a vulgar thing to place a baby to the breast to feed.   Doctors told new mothers that it was impossible to know the baby was receiving adequate nourishment because breastmilk couldn’t be measured.   ‘You’re endangering your baby when the milk is unmeasured.’  ’Babies go hungry when they are breastfed.’

In order to assure proper nutrition, these same doctors said you needed to feed babies according to their proven medical recommendations.   Infants were fattened on doctor approved homemade formulas containing Karo syrup and pasteurized milk.   This was before throw-away diapers and commercial baby formulas were being marketed.

Nature and medicine had parted ways. Thinking mothers began to question their doctors.

I was one of those mothers in 1973 that was seeking to return to God’s path for motherhood.   I began to seek out answers.   A doctor tried to dismiss my concerns.   His manner indicated that he thought I was dumb, and I almost believed him.   But something inside of me, an instinct as old as motherhood, raised itself and gave me confidence.  ”I WILL have my baby at home, and I WILL nurse! And if you call the Child Protection Agency on me, then I will run and hide and STILL give birth to and nurse my baby!”

My solitary experience did not turn the course of birthing options for women.  Many voices are required for real change. _ Such change requires a widespread outcry.  Courageous women in the 60s took pen in hand and used their writing to educate other women on the methods and techniques of breastfeeding, natural childbirth and infant bonding immediately after birth rather than allowing the baby to be taken from the mother. Homeschooling was born in that moving, changing environment.   It is to those passionate, rebellious women we owe a debt though many books have since been published on the topic of natural childbirth and mothering. It was this same passion that made young mamas jump up and scream, “Yes I CAN!”

Blue newborns and doped mothers are no longer the accepted norm because of those couragous writers.  A doctor would be laughed out of his clinic if he told a mother it was vulgar and unsafe to nurse her baby.   Today, the first generation of naturally birthed, homeschooled children are educated, successful parents homeschooling their own healthy, happy offspring.   The old adage, ‘Mother knows best’ has been proven when it comes to babies.

While the books and literature I read weren’t from the perspective of believers, there was a lot of valuable information being made available to women who wanted to re-discover natural methods.   I was the beneficiary of their desire to inform.

In writing The Vision by Debi Pearl, I hope to carry on their fine tradition.   It is my desire to see those who come after me benefit from my writing just as I benefitted from those writers from the 1960′s.

Interested in more child training tips? No Greater Joy is a ministry dedicated to helping parents bring up children they enjoy. They have written a bestseller called To Train Up A Child that has helped thousands.