It is safe to say that csections are not natural birth. They’re surgical births. And I’ve never heard anyone argue to the contrary.
However the definition of what is natural birth can cause some pretty stirring debate.
Some will argue that vaginal birth no matter what is natural birth. Even if it is induced, medicated and riddled with intervention.
Some would argue that only true unhindered birth without any intervention is natural childbirth and that natural childbirth can never be achieved in hospital because it’s an unnatural setting to birth in.
I’m somewhere in the middle.
To start I believe that a birth does not have to be natural to be empowering. Even csections can be positive and as long as the mother has a chance to make an informed choice then she should be proud of her labour and birth.
I do not believe that birth that is medicated is natural childbirth the same way I don’t believe that taking paracetamol to relieve a headache is natural.
I do not believe that birth using forceps or vacuum is natural childbirth. You may have labored naturally but an instrumental delivery is an assisted delivery. Same as walking the last 100m of a running race doesn’t equate to running the whole way. It’s still a huge effort that you should be extremely proud of, finishing is finishing and birthing unmedicated is birthing unmediated but forceps and vacuums are not natural.
I believe a natural birth means without unwanted intervention. I know some women get offended if you say their birth wasn’t natural because of xyz. That’s not my intention. I believe all women should feel empowered by the births of their children. But I don’t believe vaginal birth automatically means natural birth.
That being said I do believe a natural birth is possible in hospital but I do believe it’s difficult to achieve.
If you want a natural birth you are more likely to get it at home, and if you’re in Australia the Joyous Birth is the perfect Homebirth community for you.
BellyBelly has a great article on planning a natural birth.
I’ve never had a natural birth. I’ve had an empowering medicated vaginal birth and a traumatic planned csection.
Comments on: "Defining Natural" (3)
Not a fan of labels, I had to tick ‘unnatural conception’ everytime I had a checkup or a scan – made me feel horrible, like I was giving birth to an alien or something. Too much focus I feel is put on Mum’s for having a ‘natural’ birth’ – all this stress and worry when really everyone has a different idea of what natural is (I had panadeine and therefore I didn’t have a natural birth if your eyes for example).
There’s too much one-up-man-ship among mothers. Like you say you birthed vaginally with panadeine, someone else will say they birthed with no pain relief medication, another will say they birthed at home with a midwife and it goes on and on.
Just because something isn’t natural doesn’t mean it’s bad. Natural remedies do nothing for my migraine headaches so I take pain medication, it’s not natural but I wouldn’t do it without it. No one is handing out medals for surviving a headache without medication after all.
I had two natural births and one beautiful, empowering (unplanned) cesarean. I loved all three of my births and feel so grateful to the care providers I had who supported me even when one of my labors did not go the way I had anticipated. The cesarean was definitely not natural, but I have zero regrets. I think it helps that I got to have natural births, too. That way, I know it wasn’t a “failure.” It was just an unexplainable event. I’ll never know why my baby couldn’t turn his head into a more favorable position. But I know that my body is fully capable of pushing babies out. And I love doing it! Thanks for your post.