One of the most important Jewish teachings is to be fruitful and multiply. For many Jewish families, especially Orthodox Jews, having a large family and thoroughly investing in the religious education of children is essentially a sacred mandate. Jewish women not only bear the responsibility of childrearing but also experience intense pressure to avoid all danger and risk associated with childbirth. This mindset has been enforced by the increasing medicalization of obstetrics, despite evidence that natural and homeopathic modes of delivery are just as safe and effective for low-risk pregnancies. This is further evidenced by the fact that natural childbirth is gaining popularity throughout the world, particularly among Jews in Israel. Even within the context of natural childbirth, the pressure to deliver without epidurals or pain mediation presents as problematic when a woman struggles to identify her own preferences and desires amidst standards and pressures to conform to a certain mode of delivery. Though the medical model still dominates, trailblazing midwives such as Ina May Gaskin have laid the groundwork for a
revolution against the fear inspired by harsh medical procedures that pregnant women often experience in hospital delivery rooms, such as emergency Cesarean sections or episiotomies for cases of shoulder dystocia.
Sered’s research in Israel suggested that this medicalization is a systemic result of women having little to no agency when it comes to their reproductive abilities. She reports accounts of women having no say in procedures, ranging from minor IVs to traumatizing Cesarean sections. Based on these findings coupled with the progression of medicine’s history from an intimate domestic service to a multibillion-dollar public industry, it is not far-fetched to conclude that the dangers associated with childbirth even before the advent of modern medicine are still well lived
in the hospital setting. Women are fed ideas that their bodies cannot handle childbirth, and that to be safe they must have a bio-medically trained obstetrician with access to the most contemporary medical tools.
We know that this is not true based on basic physiology and evolution – our bodies have handled childbirth, granted not without a measure of difficulty, since we have existed. For ultra- Orthodox women, they must rely on the ability of their bodies to handle childbirth, especially considering Haredi families have about seven children, on average. But there is still fear of the dangers of childbirth evident in folklore and popular belief among this population. The Jewish demon Lilith is a pertinent example, with her history of taking life from newborn babies and their mothers.
During delivery, Jewish women exist in a problematic liminal phase. The pain of
childbirth is compounded by cultural expectations to be a good mother, which includes having a safe and effective delivery. Though years of research and experience, especially on the part of midwives, have given humans insight into how pregnancy and childbirth may progress smoothly, there is still danger and fear. Jewish women have found various ways of coping with such fears, whether that is through reliance upon the medical system, through natural childbirth, or through rituals to protect against unseen forces.
The feminine body is one of strength and endurance, especially when it comes to childbirth. To think that this has been questioned is regrettable. Ultimately we should hope that women in Judaism would retain their agency and right to make informed decisions regarding their reproductive bodies.
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