Another LDS woman's perspective on natural childbirth

Here is an exert from a birth story from one of my students. She gave me permission to share it and I felt that this was such a beautiful message to all of my LDS friends that I had to post it. A quick background: Laurisa and Darin had 2 babies prior to this birth, both born with an epidural. While pregnant with her third she began looking into natural childbirth and found Dr. Bradley's book and next thing we new she was in my class.

"I have learned so much about my body and about God and His plan from this experience.
God did not create women to bear children and not be able to handle childbirth! No- He made us powerful. Our bodies are amazing. Yeah, childbirth hurts, but it is something we as women get to experience. After the pain is over, our bodies are created to heal perfectly. The recovery is not meant to take weeks!
God knew what He was doing when He created the plan. I honestly believe that there is a lot more for us to learn through childbirth than we ever pick up on when we are medicated. There is power in sacrificing everything you can possibly sacrifice to bring another spirit here on earth. It is essential for us to learn these lessons that can only come from that kind of sacrifice.
I feel sad that we as a society are robbing ourselves of so much by medicating our births and intervening so much of the time. As if our bodies don’t know how to do it naturally. Growing up in our society, I of course always wondered why in the world anyone would not get an epidural. I thought it would make the birth experience miserable. I had no idea how empowering and spiritual natural childbirth was. This experience has changed me in so many ways.
I feel so close to my Heavenly Father, as I had to rely on Him through so much of the birth. I know that He was with me during this whole experience. I had been praying every day for a great birth experience, and He has blessed me with just that. He blessed me with strength, wisdom, safety and peace."

Thank you Laurisa, I couldn't have said it better myself! What can we learn from this? Be proactive in your decisions about the birth of your baby and never forget the power and strength our Heavenly Father has bestowed upon us as women. I will hopefully be participating in a panel discussion on LDS women and natural childbirth to explore why so many people are afraid of or against it. If you have any stories or ideas about this please share them with me. Thanks.