Roma women are strong women.

Saturday morning we were talking with the Gypsy man's family about his birth, of which we were celebrating the 31st anniversary. He was four and half kilos, his mother told me. That's TEN pounds. And he had been gestating for over TEN months. I thought this was an exaggeration or that it had to be an honest mistake the first couple times I heard it, but I am beginning to believe it. He was due on January 15th and born on February 25th. And his mother birthed the inconsiderate little chubbers at home, without complications, without medication, and not by accident, but with the planned assistance of a midwife. After a bad experience at the hospital with her first, she had chosen to have the rest of her babies at home, even when this one made the doctors think she would have to have a Cesarian.

But I am not as incredulous about this story as some might be. I am a huge fan of unmedicated labor and homebirth. I love that she trusted her body to go into labor when both she and the baby were ready, even if it was unbelievably late. I especially love that she knew she had options and made her own choice about how to labor. I didn't birth at home, but I was determined from the moment I knew I was pregnant to have my baby naturally, and the process of labor was the most incredible, satisfying, and spiritual experience of my life. I chose not to have medication also because I believed it would benefit the baby, and I think my mother in law used the same reasoning.

Roma women breastfeed their babies for as long as they can or as long as the baby wants to. And they don't feel like they have to hide it. I really admire that. I have not yet quite overcome the exaggerated sense of modesty that I think has something to do with my religious culture, which at least in terms of breastfeeding has I think unfortunately wandered too far from the attitudes of early Saints. The impression I have from my experience with my husband's family is that Roma women do not hesitate to sacrifice personal comfort and convenience for the wellbeing of their children. From these and other observations I know that Roma women are strong women.