Elizabeth Cady Stanton, in a lecture to ladies, thus strongly states
her views regarding maternity and painless childbirth:
"We must educate our daughters to think that motherhood is grand, and
that God never cursed it. And this curse, if it be a curse, may be
rolled off, as man has rolled away the curse of labor; as the curse
has been rolled from the descendants of Ham. My mission is to preach
this new gospel. If you suffer, it is not because you are cursed of
God, but because you violate His laws. What an incubus it would take
from woman could she be educated to know that the pains of maternity
are no curse upon her kind. We know that among the Indians the squaws
do not suffer in childbirth. They will step aside from the ranks, even
on the march, and return in a short time to them with the new-born
child. What an absurdity then, to suppose that only enlightened
Christian women are cursed. But one word of fact is worth a volume of
philosophy; let me give you some of my own experience. I am the mother
of seven children. My girlhood was spent mostly in the open air. I
early imbibed the idea that a girl was just as good as a boy, and I
carried it out. I would walk five miles before breakfast or ride ten
on horseback. After I was married I wore my clothing sensibly. Their
weight hung entirely on my shoulders. I never compressed my body
out of its natural shape. When my first four children were born,
I suffered very little. I then made up my mind that it was totally
unnecessary for me to suffer at all; so I dressed lightly, walked
every day, lived as much as possible in the open air, ate no
condiments or spices, kept quiet, listened to music, looked at
pictures, and took proper care of myself. The night before the birth
of the child I walked three miles. The child was born without a
particle of pain. I bathed it and dressed it, and it weighed ten and
one-half pounds. That same day I dined with the family. Everybody
said I would surely die, but I never had a relapse or a moment's
inconvenience from it. I know this is not being delicate and refined,
but if you would be vigorous and healthy, in spite of the diseases of
your ancestors, and your own disregard of nature's laws, try it."
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