17/02/2021
All birth is natural.
Women choose an epidural for pain management, this does not make their birth unnatural.
Women experience complications that lead to a medically necessary cesarean, this does not make their birth unnatural.
Women choose to have a repeat cesarean, this does not make their birth unnatural.
There are plenty of medical tools available during childbirth, for comfort or necessity. No way a child enters the world is unnatural.
Using the term “natural birth” while talking about an unmedicated or completely unmediated labour and birth invalidates the many women who chose a different birthing experience. It can also hit very close to home for women who were striving for an unmediated birth but ended up in an operating room for reasons out of their control.
Just a hump day reminder before talking to your family and friends about an “all natural birth”, try using “unmediated” instead! 🤍