Nancy Northshore

That is the term my boss used for the rich white people in Milwaukee who live on the north end of Lake Michigan. Those Nancy Northshores who are also pregnant go to Childbirth class with me on Monday nights. I've been to 4 two-hour classes so far, but what I am finding most interesting is what is not said out loud in class.

There are several things that have become ridiculously clear to me in this class. The first is that none of these women have ever been in any real pain before (physical or otherwise), and so the thought of labor is terrifying. The second is that they want control over what is happening in their bodies and their own fear so the way they seek control (and are taught to get control) is by intellectual domination.

The first item is a symptom of a white supremist western society in the US but especially in Milwaukee that gives unearned privileged to white people just because they are white. Just one result of that is that these women don't know how to cope with pain. That can be true of other people in other populations as well, but I think it is especially true for these women.

The second is also a symptom of a white supremist western society based on Eurocentric values that favors rational intelligence over body intelligence. The body becomes something we must overcome intellectually by learning about it and understanding it, as if we are floating heads over dragging bodies. When we understand in our minds what our bodies do, then we have some sort of control over them. This domination of the intellect over the body is one of the reasons the Vatican cites against contraception, maintaining at least officially the stance that human beings are spirits incarnate, a being of body-mind-spirit so intertwined that we cannot separate one aspect from the other. But I digress.

Okay, so how does this happen in childbirth class? Well, I think the two key lessons in class can be summed up pretty quickly: 1. Every pregnancy/labor and delivery is different. 2. Your body already knows how to do this and will do it.

This seems great so far, but then the rest of the class series is all about creating a birth plan, practicing poses, understanding what hormones do what, etc. And some of it is good to know in case of emergencies, of course. But most of the time in class we literally pound our brains over what our body already knows how to do just so that we are comfortable with our body doing it. Then we create a flexible plan so that we feel in control again, because we would rather have our intellect in control than our bodies.

Wow, what good is that? What if we taught body intelligence instead and learned to trust our bodies? Or found a balance between useful brain knowledge and even more useful body knowledge? So how do you teach body intelligence? I've sat still in too many classrooms to know, but I think I know who to ask.

I guess I'll get back to you on that.


race angst.