Best Selling Author, Katrina Zaslavsky Shares her Tips on Raising Strong, Empowered Women!
We are so thrilled that author and birth advocate, Katrina Zaslavsky has dropped by to share some of her truths and wisdom about growing strong women, and where it all starts. Katrina’s book ‘A Modern Women’s Guide to A Natural Empowering Birth’ is a must have for every new pregnant mother and takes you on a gentle journey to trusting your body and innate instincts right from the start.
Imagine if you were taught from an early age that “birth is a medical event, preceded by an illness called pregnancy and ends with an emergency called labour.” {Carla Hartley}
How would that impact on your anticipation of birth (massive fear, looking for what can go wrong) and the actual experience? (lack of trust in our bodies, looking to experts and technology for reassurance and salvation)
I believe this is what we are facing. Like a self fulfilling prophecy, we get what we expect. Reflected in this attitude is the fact that the vast majority of births in the developed world are highly medicalised. Joy is our birthright and nature’s design, yet one in three mothers are left traumatised, some experiencing postnatal depression and post traumatic stress.
Many teenage girls are receiving this message subconsciously and taking it on board. If these ideas are not questioned, they will inevitably be carried into motherhood.
The truth is, birth left to take its natural course without interference, can be a beautiful, transforming experience that can make the new mother feel on top of the world. Unhindered by drugs, mother and baby are on a natural high together, bonded in a beautiful cocktail of happy birth hormones. This marks the beginning of a beautiful love story and has many positive flow on effects. Combined with a massive sense of achievement, we have the perfect ingredients to move into motherhood with strength and confidence.
How do we build a new generation of strong empowered women? We need to start when beliefs around our bodies, motherhood and birth are being formed.
Our own example is the most powerful way to give our daughters confidence in the beauty and normality of birth. As mothers, we need to tell the truth about birth – nothing to be feared but something to be embraced in the moment and a natural part of life. That our bodies are amazing and women are incredibly strong
Raising teens with foundations of love, self esteem, positive body image, sets the stage for strong women who stand firm in what they believe, like a tree with roots so deep in the ground that nobody can shake them. A leaf in the wind is more likely to get blown about and swayed by strong forces. (ie authority figures)
Like butterflies, teenage girls are in the process of blossoming into a life of full potential and as parents, it’s up to us to provide them with the tools and support so they can discover their own power and ultimately, their own sense of self worth and confidence.
Do you agree and what will it take to “Raise a New Generation of Powerful Women?”
Learn More About Katrina Zaslavsky
As published in Pathways to Family Wellness Magazine ~ by Katrina Zaslavsky
Katrina Zaslavsky is an inspired international author, speaker, coach and voice for women. A former public health professional turned Mum on a Mission, she is making positive waves across the globe as founder of Birth Goddess, committed to being a part of the “Positive Birth Revolution” and empowering women for motherhood.
Her book, A Modern Woman’s Guide to a Natural Empowering Birth, is a collection of inspiring birth stories (afterword by Dr Sarah Buckley MD) and shares how she overcame her extreme fears of childbirth and discovered inner peace and power she didn’t know she had. One of her biggest personal revelations that she would love to shout from every rooftop?
