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Let's talk about "natural" birth, shall we?
Okay, maybe I just need to stop worrying about what other people think, but—
Sometimes I worry that people think that I think (that you think that we think…kidding) that just because I had two home births and am all about “empowered birth experiences,” that YOU should have a home birth, too.
Or that you DEFINITELY shouldn’t have an epidural.
Here’s the thing.
Home birth is not for the faint of heart. Heck, BIRTH is not for the faint of heart.
Do I believe that there are often too many unnecessary medical interventions in routine birth experiences? Yes.
Do I believe more women can handle the heat than they give themselves credit for? Yes.
But are hospitals and epidurals evil? No, no, NO.
Did you know that most women have a hypertonic (read: TOO TIGHT) pelvic floor, and the reason their labor doesn’t progress, or the pushing phase lasts for hours, is because they can’t just relax the pelvic floor to let baby out?! (We talked about this the other week—check it out here if you missed it!)
An epidural relaxes you so that you can’t hold that tension in your pelvic floor (or anywhere, for that matter) and so that Baby can make his grand entrance into the world more smoothly.
Is an epidural the only way to relax? By no means.
Book a private session with me.
Let’s learn to relax the pelvic floor together.
(Side note: this matters beyond letting a baby out of your body, just FYI.)
Anyway, there are plenty of pros (epidurals let you sleep, etc) and plenty of cons (they might mess up your back, you can’t feel your labor to progress with it, etc), but just know that it’s ultimately YOUR decision.
And if you’re making your decision in an informed and intentional way, you’re making the right decision.
Now let me finish with this:
Let’s stop using the phrase “natural birth.”
Or, at the very least, define what we mean by it.
Are you talking about a vaginal birth?
An unmedicated birth?
Birthing a human baby instead of a saber-toothed tiger?
Personally, that last one is the only one I feel like we can really call “natural.”
May you be informed, empowered, and at peace, no matter where you are on this journey.
And if you did in fact birth a saber-tooth tiger, send me an email, and I can probably refer you to someone who specializes in rearing feral felines.
