Birth Defect: History of American Birth

Since time immemorial, women have traditionally given birth surrounded by trusted females and overseen by a midwife-healer-herbalist. Amazingly, we can date colonial birth history back to 1587 when Virginia Dare, the first American-born child of English parents was born. Fortunately, birth in America was safer than in England due to healthier living conditions and abundant food. But pregnancy continued to be overshadowed by a gray cloud of puritanical shame and guilt, and religious doctrine cursed women with painful birth blaming her for the fall from grace. Society was patriarchal (male dominated), as it continues to be today, but men were not regularly involved in childbirth. In labor, women were nurtured by loving relatives and friends and often for weeks following the birth.