Cynthia Gabriel > Quotes

“Your brain has only a tiny thread of a connection to the outside world. If the connection is full of fear, your pain will get out of control. If your connection to the real world is full of calm reassurance, you can go about your task of letting go.”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“Can you tell me about the most recent natural birth you attended?”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“In your opinion, what helps women achieve natural birth? What can a woman do to prepare?”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“In your professional opinion, what are the main reasons that women who want natural births do not have them?”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“What do you think birth pain means to women? What is the value of birth pain ?”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“physiologic birth, which the American College of Nurse-Midwives describes as birth “that is powered by the innate human capacity of the woman and fetus.”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“We live in a culture that values logic and rationality. Bodily experiences can make us uncomfortable. We have built elaborate walls between our minds and our bodies.”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“Q. Can you tell me what kind of birth you chose for yourself [or what kind your wife chose], and what you learned from it?”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds

“Women who are upset about their birth experiences but who did not write birth plans often say, "If only I had known" or "If only I had prepared." In contrast, mothers who prepare for a natural birth and write birth plans but end up with necessary interventions do not have to blame themselves for lack of preparation. They are free to mourn without self-recrimination.”
― Cynthia Gabriel, Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds