Talk about your crisis pregnancy! In the news today is a story about a young woman who gave birth in the Arizona desert and used nail clippers to cut her umbilical cord.

Probably she was attempting to cross the border illegally, but in the end, this is not the important part of the story to me.

Instead, what strikes me is the desperation that leads a new mother to perform terrifying and sometimes heroic acts in order to safely deliver her child. I have heard this sort of thing many times.

In fact, I know a birthmother who concealed her pregnancy from her family, gave birth silently in her bed at home, and sawed off her umbilical cord as best she could. Then she took her baby to an adoption agency, came home, and passed out due to loss of blood.

(The rest of the story is that she did eventually tell her family, the adoption is an open one, and she has a good relationship with her daughter. But as I hope we all realize by now, this doesn't heal all wounds.)

It's too bad that so many women have to experience this type of shame and fear during a crisis pregnancy and delivery. Ideally we would have better solutions to offer - solutions that don't include anonymous baby dumps or "maternity homes" that push just one option.

Many people will say that the mother who gave birth in the desert "deserved" her sufferings, but I say she was exercising a normal maternal urge to seek a better life for her child. (I can think of one famous historical mother who was forced to wander while pregnant, and who gave birth in less than ideal conditions.)

If you start to feel alone during your pregnancy, just remember that having a baby under crisis circumstances is a phenomenon as old as time. And it's continuing to happen right now, all over the world.