10/09/2025
Which birth interventions do you think are the most problematic or concern you the most?
The biomedical-techno model of birth is nothing but interventions, from start to finish, on the normal physiological process of birth. The energy it takes to stay in ‘the birthing zone’ is enormous! It all concerns me.
—Geradine Simkins
Leaving home to go to the hospital.
—Silja Seppänen
I was going to say the innocent seeming I.V. does a lot. Suddenly you feel like a patient and mobility decreases because it’s such a damn hassle.
—Sonya Ferris
Artificial rupture of membranes.
—Heidi Basford Kerkhof
Unnecessary cervical dilation checks.
—Teresa Pitman
Having family members there that think they should be there.
—Kelly Milligan
The vaginal exam.
—Bonnie Weinberg Cowan
Not moving, especially with mom on her back.
—Grace Fox
A healthy pregnant woman, seeking specialist (OB) care, instead of seeing a midwife!
—Marlene Waechter
Healthy women leaving their homes and entering the medical Industrial complex.
—Astrid Grove
Induction without medical necessity.
—Erica Andrews
Labor induction.
—Lorraine Gagnaux-Baur
Having anyone present who does not fully understand physiological birth.
—Laura Hamilton
All the unnecessary ones.
—Réka Morvay
Does separation of mum and baby count?
—Samantha Norman
Not being educated about how birth works. Women never hear that birth can be a positive, empowering experience and not the most traumatic, pain filled, scary, disempowering day of your life.
—Margarett Coffee
At the hospital, the separation of a woman and her support person. At homebirth, vaginal exams just to know how dilated the cervix is.
—Sandra Oliveira
Induction.
—Toshia Martin
Prone position. I don’t know if my body will ever recover. I had all kinds of interventions, but this is the only one I still suffer issues from 20 plus years later.
—Natalie Ovanin
Induction/augmentation.
—Amy Vater Haas
Obstetricians and other doctors.
—Ricardo Herbert Jones
Psychologically undermining ability and desires throughout the pregnancy.
—Desirre Andrews
Immediate/early cord clamping, lack of knowledge/ informed decision making around stem cell donation/storage.
—Amanda Burleigh
Doctors.
—Tora Spigner
Induction of labour for stupid reasons. I’m a midwife.
—Trees Are Green
Breaking the bag of waters before moving the baby out of the posterior position.
—Karen N Simon Whippy
The clock. How long has water been broken, how fast is she dilating, what time is it, when was your baby due, how long since last vaginal exam, how long has mom been pushing, how long since birth for the placenta, how long, how long? The clock is number one!
Hospital births that are the enemy of normal birth. I guess number two is belts, I.V.s, bed, all give subliminal message that birth needs to feared.
—Gail Johnson
Lack of kindness is long lasting.
—Claire Eccleston
Obstetrics, followed by obstetric-midwifery, followed by women’s socialization to be compliant. Interventions in birth only build on interventions throughout pregnancy which are designed to create compliance in women, so we act against our own best interests.
—Fraser Janet
Offering an epidural, or saying the anesthetist is leaving or going to be unavailable.
—Deb Drijber
Anything that causes the birthing person to not feel safe.
—Ellynne Skove
Thirty-nine week inductions. Because … thirty-nine weeks.
—Linda Bennett
Leaving your house.
—Gwendolyn Posey
Leaving home to give birth is the most deleterious intervention.
—Belinda Henkel
Continuous fetal monitoring.
—Peggy Vincent
Imprinting of unrealistic expectations via social media.
—Kate Aseron
Going to the hospital.
—Miriam Medicine Prayer
Induction with an unripe cervix.
—Diane Speier
As a hospital midwife, I had a supportive group of nurses, and non-interventional covering doctors. One thing that comes to mind was clamping and cutting the cord when there were more than one nuchal wraps. I spent a lot of time discouraging that practice and showing them how to somersault the baby as it was born, unwinding the cord, and not touching it until it stops pulsating. Getting them to put the wet baby on mom’s chest, covering them up and leaving them alone was another issue. Unfortunately, I did not have an opportunity to do home birth. Many of the women I cared for did not even have a home and had so many risks that they couldn’t have had home births. I did my best in the hospital and was fortunate to have nurses and doctors who were committed to non-intervention.
—Vicki Gilbert Ziemer
Early cord clamping is the number one intervention that causes the most problems. Especially, if resuscitation is needed. You cannot resuscitate a hypovolemic baby. Resuscitation should take place on the bed and not in a warmer. A heating pad and cutting board inside a cover is all that’s necessary. A baby depressed from cord compression needs time for its blood volume to normalize through placental transfusion. It could take 40 minutes or longer for that to happen. All my babies stay attached to their placentas for several hours after their placenta is born. To prevent anemia as well. I help placental transfusion along by keeping mom upright or squatting and allowing gravity to infuse the baby before s/he makes their way to mama’s breast.
—Geri Lehner
Leaving the house.
—Gina Merlin
Checking boxes instead of sharing wisdom ... way before we get to the birth transformation.
—Danielle Bergum
All sorts of interventions are problems, but the first thing is lack of bodily autonomy. The person birthing is the true expert during each birth and needs the support and awareness of that. When birth is interfered with, problems are more likely to happen. Yes, sometimes birth needs assistance, but more often than not, that assistance is given before it’s needed. When a birther can listen to the inner self, baby and mother communicate and help each other during birth. That needs nurturing and developing so more births happen without trauma and abuse.
—Mary Siever
Inductions at 38 weeks.
—Deb Puterbaugh
Believing you must give your power to somebody else.
—Irene Garzón
Vaginal exams.
—Joanne Gottschall
Right now? The Thanksgiving risk-factor inductions. Nobody gets out without the offer. Ugh.
—Kendra Woody Machen
The ones that cause me to ask, what did I miss or overlook?
—Elizabeth Davis
Separating mamababies in hospitals.
—Electra Economidou
Inducing fear by telling a woman her baby may be too big next week “so let’s have an induction now.”
—Simone Valk
Leaving the house.
—Elizabeth Baer
Primary unnecessary cesarean.
—Mary Ann Hall
Epidural anesthesia in place of education and support.
—Janet Titmus Delettera Midwife
Instilling fear, in so many ways, and undermining confidence.
—Helena Wu
Giving Pitocin after birth “to stop bleeding” in a non-medicated, relatively intervention-free hospital birth. They don’t give mom time to recover on her own. Why is everyone given that after every birth in the hospital?
—Heather N Bosco Lau
Fear.
—Heather Brock
Inductions with no, or low, medical indication.
—Tine Greve
Leaving your house.
—Amy Leichleiter Bauman
Laboring women down who have a strong pushing urge. Breathing out the baby may help with some conditions, but the fetal time in the birth canal is a big issue with oxygen loads. I particularly hate laboring down women with epidurals, which most OB nurses are taught to do. How long can second stage be prolonged ... and still have a newborn infant in good
shape? I have seen babies left there 12 hours. Brain injury is not immediately evident.
—Tonya Brooks
Unnecessary interference in any shape or form.
—Bettie Sheets
Leaving home.
—Morag Fraser
The head monitor.
—Sylvia Smith
The normalization of the obstetric (technocratic) model of care.
—Sarita Bennett
Time restraints on the length of gestation. On birth, every aspect of it. On getting the baby washed and dressed. On mothers being expected to “bounce back.” Ban the clock!
—Jacky Bloemraad-de Boer
Not allowing women to move! Non-ambulation sets women up for every other problem, and the need for pain medication, because they are unable to cope with the increasing discomfort of labor if they can’t walk, squat, sit, dance, shower/bathe. If she is empowered to move, she will cope much better and can avoid pain meds and all the interventions that domino as a result.
—Kim R Lane
Active management of the third stage.
—Coral Daphne
Bedrest with continuous monitor.
—Kaleen Richards
“Fundal massage” to “expel clots.” I would kick like a mule.
—Julie Bell
The biomedical-techno model of birth is nothing but interventions, from start to finish, on the normal physiological process of birth. The energy it takes to stay in “the birthing zone” is enormous! It all concerns me.
—Geradine Simkins
Artificial induction.
—Elizabeth Wyson Smith
I’m troubled by all unnecessary interventions, but as a doula who does hospital births, the most disruptive is fetal monitoring. They want 20 minutes of monitoring, with mom in bed, at admission. Inevitably, baby will move away from the monitor. After 20 minutes, they come in and say they need 20 continuous minutes of monitoring. So, the process restarts. This can go on for hours unless mom strongly refuses. And when she does, the scary talk begins. It’s just a way for the staff to maintain control of the process and deny mom her wishes. I prepare my clients well for this intervention.
—Teresa Fox Magri
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