Adrienne Carmack - Reclaiming My Birth Rights: A Mothers Wisdom Triumphs Over the Harmful Practices of Her Medical Profession

RECLAIMING MY BIRTH RIGHTS

A Mother's Wisdom Triumphs Over the Harmful Practicesof Her Medical Profession

Adrienne Carmack, MD

Copyright 2014 by Adrienne Carmack

Smashwords Edition

Praise for Reclaiming My BirthRights

"It truly warms my heart when a fellow sisterdoctorwith excellent medicaltraininghas the courage to see the dogmaof medical trainingespecially when itcomes to pregnancy, labor, and newborn care, and then gets the wordout to others. In Reclaiming My Birth Rights, urologist AdrienneCarmack, MD, explores the wisdom inherent in the body and how toguide your lifeand that of yourchildrenwith that wisdom, not medicaldogma. I read this book and cheered!!"

Christiane Northrup, MD, obstetrician andgynecologist

Author of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom andThe Wisdom of Menopause

"Unique.... A landmark in our understanding ofdialectical thinking...."

Michel Odent, MD

Author of Birth Reborn

www.wombecology.com

"The incredible journey of a woman who was able tocomplete a medical education with mind and heart still willing tolearn.... While Dr. Carmack has a disclaimer about the medicaladvice in her book, if everyone followed her advice, mothers andbabies would be healthier, happier, and we would be living in amore gentle world!"

Marilyn Milos

Founder and Executive Director, National Organizationof Circumcision Information Resource Centers (NOCIRC)

"If the medical profession accepted the common senseand recommendations contained in this insightful and courageousbook, the health and welfare of children and society would besignificantly improved."

Ronald Goldman, PhD

Executive Director, Circumcision Resource Center

Author of Circumcision: The Hidden Trauma

"[P]art autobiography and part thought-provoking tourthrough medicine.... I would recommend this book to anyoneconsidering having children.... I applaud Doctor Carmack'srealisation that non-therapeutic genital surgery on males andintersex children is inherently harmful and her robust rejection ofthe practice is most welcome!"

Richard Duncker, Men Do Complain.org

"[R]efreshing.... [T]his fascinating account... is ajourney that all parents and care providers can learn from and beinspired by..."

Laura Shanley

Author of Unassisted Childbirth

"I thoroughly enjoyed following Dr Carmack's bold andbeautiful life journey throughout her book, Reclaiming My BirthRights. I found myself relating to much of it, and can imagineher story rings true for many thoughtful parents, who havegradually become disenchanted with the misuse and over use ofmodern medicine. Dr Carmack's experience, strength, and insightinspires the reader to embark on a quest for holistic healthcareand authentic family living."

Kathryn Los

Editor and Publisher, Holistic ParentingMagazine

"As a long time questioner of everything, I havelonged for the validation I felt in this heartfelt, intimatebook.... I am so grateful to Dr. Carmack for taking the importantand much needed risk of speaking out in favor of personal choice,responsibility, intuition and ultimate, transcendent wellbeing."

Barb Lundgren

Founder of the Rethinking Everything conference

Blogger at rethinkingeverythingtheblog

Editor of the self-directed education movementmagazine, Home Education Magazine

Read more at www.adriennecarmack.com

Reclaiming My BirthRights

A Mother's Wisdom Triumphs Over the Harmful Practicesof Her Medical Profession

Adrienne Carmack, MD

United States

This book is a personal memoir and is not intended tobe used as medical advice in any way.

Copyright 2014 Adrienne Carmack. All rights reserved.No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, ortransmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying,recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without theprior written permission of Adrienne Carmack, except in the case ofbrief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain othernoncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permissionrequests, please contact the author viawww.adriennecarmack.com.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoymentonly. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people.If you would like to share this book with another person, pleasepurchase an additional copy for each recipient. If youre readingthis book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for youruse only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

First Printing: June 2014

The story of Kaili's birth was originally publishedas "Physician, Heal Thyself," in issue 3 of RethinkingEverything Magazine, 2010.

All personal quotes used in the endnotes arereprinted with full permission from the quoted persons and theorganizations who originally published their words.

Published by Adrienne Carmack/United States ofAmerica.

ISBN 978-0-9903060-2-3

Cover design: Ilian Georgiev and Barb Lundgren

Cover art: Stefanel-Bejenaru Alexandra

This book is dedicated to

the women who inspired me along the way,

who weren't afraid to make different choices andspeak out,

who planted the seeds from which my path wassown.

Contents

Throughout time, dogma and beliefs have beenmistaken for truth. As an inquisitive medical doctor, I have soughtand found much truth. Many of these insights have shown me greatflaws in standard practice. In this book, I speak out about theinjustices I am seeing and share paths to true wellness. Somesubjects may be difficult to reconsider, like circumcision or homebirth, yet I hope after hearing my stories, you will feel free todiscover your own best path.

As a child, I had a profound interest in the humanbody and the diseases that afflicted it. I committed at an earlyage to pursue a career in which I could support myself via thispassion. I graduated from medical school with honors at age 23. Myinborn desire to know, understand, and be complete in my experienceand wisdom spurred me to always ask questions, probe, and notaccept things at face value. As I moved through my medical trainingand motherhood, I came to appreciate the depths of seriousmisconceptions surrounding health.

In retrospect, I can see how blessed I was as a childto have divorced parents. I spent a lot of time with my parentsseparately and a lot of time with extended family members. I hadthe benefit of not having one "core" authority, a set of parentsworking in harmony, to tell me "the way things were. "Havingparents who disagreed and negated each other's viewpoint feltuncomfortable at the time, because, as a child, I wanted to trustand rely on the adults around me. But I can now see this as a gift,for it allowed me to see the stories told much more clearly andrecognize much of what I was taught as merely the opinion orpreference of one and not the actual truth. Seeing that myparents and other adults had different beliefs allowed me to alwayssee the value of two sides of the story and to know that neitherwas inherently correct.

Seeing the truth is much more difficult when allthose around you are espousing dogma. Though I was free from manyof the beliefs a core family tends to impose, I was not free fromthe beliefs the vast majority of society shares. Five years into mysurgical training, I decided to become a mother. Although I hadalready been questioning what I had been taught, this reallybrought it home. Unwilling to accept common practices that justdidn't feel right, I explored natural childbirth and was shocked bywhat I learned. So many false beliefs about childbirth are held bythe masses, perpetuated by authorities in our life, and shown inour mediabeliefs that do not serve us atall but are, in fact, rather harmful. These beliefs disconnect usfrom our true nature and our true guidance.