For the past month I have been working on my final for an English course. We had to write a big research paper and give a presentation on our findings. I chose to argue the benefits of natural childbirth against all of the hospital interventions that happen...all of this applying to normal, low risk pregnancies.
Know this, I'm not a technology or medicine hater....I know that technology saves lives and that we are lucky to have it. However, I feel like our perception of childbirth has become really, really skewed.
Anyway, I was super nervous to give my presentation. My class is full of people who are too smart for their own good and who love to argue and create confrontation. I wasn't sure how my views would be received; there were mothers/fathers and college boys in the class for crying out loud! I've been stressing for two weeks, just wanting it to be over.
So this morning, I got up at 5 and exercised and then spent the remaining 2 hours until my class getting ready, stressing, tweaking my presentation, stressing....
Finally, I give my presentation. I remembered everything I wanted to say and it went fairly well. At the end of my presentation the professor asked the class if there were any questions or comments for me--and 75% of the class raised their hand.
Long story short, everybody was super positive about my presentation and most of my questions were people who wanted to know more or wanted to know my thoughts on similar subjects. One guy from my class even asked for my presentation so he could learn more (he and his wife are trying to get pregnant).
I am so glad that it went well and that, for the next two weeks, I get to sit and relax through the rest of the presentations.
Here is a clip from my presentation that got a lot of feedback, if you're interested:
That is so great! It's hard when people are so controversial so I'm glad it went well for you.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, I've become super interested in this topic lately. Thanks for sharing this. You are awesome.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I would love to talk to you about this topic sometime. Did you know that I am a trained Doula?
ReplyDeleteSo glad your presentation went well! I can relate to the difficulty of discussing this topic with people. So glad people were open-minded. I hope some of the women in the class were empowered by your presentation. Have you seen "The Business of Being Born"?
I didn't know you were a doula. I have seen The business of being born, it was the inspiration for my research!
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