7 Things Moms Can Learn From April the Giraffe

Congrats to April the Giraffe!

I hear it all the time,

• “she was in labor for 4 days”,
• “the baby got stuck”,
• “my sister was confined to the bed”,
• “I wasn’t allowed to eat”

Since when did giving birth become so medicalized.  Reading the comments as April the Giraffe was giving birth over the last few weeks, has made it clear that many think this is all normal. It’s sad really at the mundaneness that birth has become, especially in the United States.  Home births and midwives are seen as cooky, but drugging moms and strapping them to the bed is seen as perfectly normal.

Now, before there’s a witch hunt, I do know that there are plenty of medical reasons that a birth does need to be medicalized, but let’s not forget that out of developed nations, the United States is the only one increasing in maternal mortality rate, up 136% in the last 20 years, according to the World Health Organization. 

Here’s 7 Things Moms Can Learn From April the Giraffe:

1. Don’t rush a baby
   • Babies know when their due date should be. Even if you know your exact conception date, you don’t know if your baby needs a few extra days or weeks to finish fully developing inside the womb. Just because you hit 40 weeks, doesn’t mean that is the end all be all. (Coming from a mom who carried her babies to 40+4 and 41 weeks)
2. Walking helps get the baby out faster
   • Laying down on a bed is typically the worst thing a mom can do to deliver her baby faster and easier on the body.  Squatting, moving, walking, dancing, all help to get that baby in a proper position allowing your body to expel the baby easier.
3. Your body knows what to do
   • One of the most amazing things to see happen while watching April the Giraffe give birth is that her body knew exactly what to do.  Hooves out, wait a few hours.  Head out, wait. Push a bit. Wait.  Push some more. Wait.  Birthing a baby takes time.
4. Breach births can happen
   • Very few doctors are even trained to deliver breach births in this medical climate, but the fact of the matter is that mammals can and do give breach births.
5. Interventions aren’t necessary
   • No one was in that room and that mama knew exactly what to do. Our bodies, for thousands of years, did not have all these interventions. While they are great in the extremest of situations, most births don’t warrant any interventions.
6. It’s completely normal for mammals to eat parts of their birth
   • I’m sure I’m going to get flake for this one, but let’s not judge a mom who decides that placenta encapsulation is what’s best for her family. April the Giraffe was eating the sac around her baby, which just goes to show that what you may think is gross, isn’t naturally all that gross after all.
7. Shit Happens
   • Literally.  My 4 year old was so grossed out that poop was falling onto the baby, but can we stop making this such a taboo thing.  Everyone poops. Now carry on.

I’m sure there’s more lessons we can learn, but there’s are just the ones that popped into my head immediately! Congrats to April the Giraffe on the birth of her adorable little one!  Now the hard part begins…naming that baby!

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