The McFadden Birth Bill of Rights

I reserve the right:

1. To talk nonstop about having an unmedicated birth, and then change my mind at the last minute.
2. To enjoy the process of creating my dream birth and believe that it can happen just as I've planned it.
3. To choose to ignore you when you tell me what "will" happen when I actually go into labor.
4. To NOT take your advice, even if you mean well and are basing it on your experience.
5. To not allow you to diminish my experience by telling me all about the horrors of your own.
6. To scream, cry, moan and beg for pain relief during the process of labor, without fear that I will looked at as weak.
7. To lean heavily on Kelly and then give her the credit, verbally and emotionally, that she deserves for being my rock.
8. To expect that those who are around me before, during, and after my birth will honor the experience and not try to manage it.
9. To not give your "I told you so" any credence if my labor does not go the way that I've planned.
10. To ask you to leave my presence if you continue to insist that I cannot give birth my way.
11. To withhold any information that I choose to about the details of my birth experience.
12. To share my story, in its full truth, if you ask me.
13. To learn our daughter, in our own way, in our time and without your input.
14. To ask for help when I need it, and to refuse help when I don't.

And most importantly, I reserve the right to exist in this experience fully and completely, without feeling like I have to explain or justify the things that are important to me and to my partner.