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believe that the pain of normal labor does have meaning. The interesting thing about pain is that it is clean. When you are finished experiencing pain, it is over. You cannot reexperience its sensation by remembering it. Labor pain is a special type of pain: It almost always happens without causing any damage to the body.
Pain
The Farm Midwifery Center experience supports the view that most cases of toxemia can be prevented with good diet. In a published study of the prenatal records and dietary histories of 775 women from The Farm community, only one woman developed a case of preeclampsia (0.1%). Her case was mild, and her babies were all born vaginally. 4 Women from our community eat high-protein vegetarian diets (with protein sources such as soybean products, various varieties
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of dried beans and nuts) that also include plenty of vegetables, whole grains, and water as the main beverage. We midwives do not restrict women’s use of salt during pregnancy. Women in our care salt their food as much as tastes good to them. Several studies carried out in a variety of locations have lent support to the benefits of assuring good nutrition during pregnancy and the role nutrition plays in lowering the incidence of toxemia. 5–9
