VOA慢速英语:女人选择在自己家里生孩子是有目的的！

Empowering. Life-changing. These are two words women often use to describe natural childbirth. Painful would be a third. But that’s a different story.

女人们常用“赋予权利”和“改变人生”这两个词来描述自然分娩。剧痛只能算第三个词。但那是一个不同的故事。

This story is about midwives in Los Angeles, California. They are trying to bring more women of color into the natural childbirth profession and convince more women to give birth at home.

这个故事是关于加州洛杉矶的那些助产士。他们试着让更多肤色不同的女人尝试学会自然分娩的职业并且说服更多人在家里生孩子。

But the numbers are small.

但是数量比较小。

Only one percent of babies in the United States are born at home. However, interest in home deliveries is on the rise. In Los Angeles, California, for example, some women are choosing to use midwives instead of the usual hospital birth with a doctor.

在美国只有1%的的小宝宝在家里出生。但是家庭生产的比例却在上升。比如说在加州的洛杉矶一些妇女宁愿选择助产士，而不去医院找医生。

But first -- what is a midwife? Midwives are specially educated in childbirth. They begin as apprentices or students and then must pass state-issued tests, or Medical Boards.

但首先什么才是助产士呢?助产士就是接受专门培训接生孩子的。他们一开始作为学徒或者学生，然后必须通过州测试或者医学委员会的相关测试。

In 2012, Jasmine Lavender delivered her second child in a bathtub.

2012年Jasmine Lavender在她的浴缸里诞下了第二个孩子。

“It was an amazing experience. Very empowering. You know, I encouraged to support other moms to have a vaginal births. It was life-changing, to be honest.”

“那是很棒的经历，非常神圣，我常常鼓励其他的妈妈也通过阴道自然分娩。事实上那真的改变了我的人生。”Jasmine Lavender说到。

She chose home birth with a midwife because she did not want to repeat the hospital experience she had with her first child.

她选择在家请助产士帮忙接生，因为她的第一个孩子就是在医院出生的，她不想再重复那里的经历。

Ms. Lavender says at that time, the hospital performed an unneeded and hurried medical operation -- a Caesarean section. During the birth she says she felt that her time was running out. And not time on her body’s clock but rather on her doctor’s clock.

Lavender女士说，那时医院给我做了完全没必要，并且匆忙的手术，剖腹产。在手术期间，她感觉自己的时间在一点点流逝，不是她的身体的时钟而是她的医生的时钟。

But some women, because of medical reasons, need to have a Caesarean section and some simply choose it. It is a personal choice!

但是有些女人因为一些医学上的原因的确需要做剖腹产，一些只是简单的就选择剖腹产，这都是自己的选择。

Ms. Lavender’s second baby arrived naturally with help from the Community Birth Center in south Los Angeles.

Lavender女士的第二个宝宝是在洛杉矶南部一家社区接生中心的帮助下在家里自然分娩的。

Licensed midwife Racha Lawler established the Center. It provides services to people who might not otherwise receive them. Ms. Lawler says the Center offers some general health services, such as testing for sexually transmitted diseases -- or STDs.

Racha Lawler是一位通过相关测试有执照的助产士，是她建立了这家中心。它为那些可能不接受他们的人提供服务。Lawler 女士表示也提供一些一般的卫生服务，比如测试性传播疾病或者简称STDs。

“You know, as a midwife you can draw people’s blood and test people’s blood and test people for STDs. You can, you know, teach women about how their bodies work in regards to their ovulation and fertility. So why not make sure everyone in the community knows that?”

“你们知道作为一名助产士，你可以收集人们的血液，测试他们是否有性传播疾病。你可以告诉她们身体是如何运作的，以及排卵和生育能力的相关知识。你怎么知道社区其他人都对这样的事情有了解呢?

When the Center first opened, there were about 300 licensed midwives in California. Most of them were white. But Racha Lawler hopes to increase by 100 percent the number of midwives of color. She hopes to do this through reaching out to the community and offering free help for students like Tanya Smith-Johnson.

这家中心最初建立的时候，整个加州只有大约300名合格的助产士。但是Racha Lawler希望不同肤色的人都能加入助产士的行列，使它的数量能翻一番。她希望为社区的人提供帮助，也希望为像Tanya Smith-Johnson这样的学生们提供免费的服务。

Ms. Smith-Johnson says women of color have a special need of pregnancy and delivery care. According to her, the “stats” which is short for “statistics, ”show that women of color need special help when it comes to caring for mothers and babies.

Smith-Johnson女士表示女人在妊娠期和产后都需要特殊的照顾。根据数据显示women of color在照顾她们的妈妈和宝宝时需要特殊的帮助。

“The stats (the numbers) show women of color, we’re the ones who need maternity care. Our babies die at rates 3 or 4 times that of white women. And one of the solutions to that is having more women of color tend to women like themselves.”

数据显示不同肤色的女人更需要母性保健护理。我们的孩子比白人妇女孩子的死亡率高百分之3到4.那其中一个解决办法就是让越来越多不同肤色的女性也能够像他们自己一样。

Are home births and natural childbirths more common where you live? This is a great chance for our women listeners to share their thoughts on childbirth in our comment section! But of course, everyone is welcome!

在家生孩子，或者自然分娩在你居住的地方普遍吗?这对于女性听众是一个很好的机会，你可以在评论部分发表自己的见解!当然也欢迎男同胞!

From VOA Learning English, I’m Anna Matteo.

这就是美国之音英语教学的内容，我是Anna Matteo。