Nothing.
and yet, everything.
A lot of us who are involved in the birth community speak often about natural, or unmedicated, births. They are largely encouraged for many reasons: to lower the grossly high cesarean rate we have in this country but also in the state of Oklahoma, to provide a statistically quicker labor and delivery, to prevent the cascade of interventions that carry their own risks, and the list goes on.
https://www.consumerreports.org/c-section/biggest-c-section-risk-may-be-your-hospital/
https://www.cesareanrates.org/oklahoma/
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/cesarean_births/cesareans.htm
https://www.ok.gov/health2/documents/17040MCHS%20-%20Cesarean%20Section%20Deliveries%20in%20Oklahoma%20Booklet%208.5x11_HR5.pdf
But this can also leave a lot of other moms who have either not experienced an unmedicated birth themselves or who have no desire to feeling a little less special.
The truth is, ALL births- no matter how they unfold- are beautiful in their own right. The entrance of life into this world deserves to be celebrated ALWAYS.
(read more below the photos)
However, there are many moms out there (myself included) who have set out to have an unmedicated birth because maybe we had a c-section in a previous birth and desperately want a VBAC and feel that a huge step we can take to achieve that goal is to have little to no medical interventions possible, or maybe because we want to experience birth to the fullest and the way it was originally designed by our maker, or maybe because we have an allergy to some of the medications or materials used in some of the devices and tools a nurse or doctor might use.
Whatever the reason is, when a mom seeks out to have a natural, unmedicated birth she is often met with skepticism and doubt from her friends, family members, and unfortunately her provider.
That then fills mamas minds with unnecessary doubt of her own body's capabilities. How unfair is that to go into her birth with an automatic discouragement simply because people think the idea of giving birth unmedicated is "weird" or laughable in a day in age where we have immediate access to anesthetics and other pain medicines and resources.
So when you see or hear a woman shout it out from the rooftops, "I DID IT! I GOT MY NATURAL BIRTH/VBAC!"- that is why. It's really to give herself that humongous pat on the back that she spent 9 months having to listen to all the doubters and never-the-less, she persisted. She continued to believe in herself and her medical wishes despite it all. She probably hired a doula or read many natural childbirth books and literature to best prepare her and keep her mind rid-free (as best as she could) of any fears that people were throwing at her.
She probably ISN'T shouting out her happiness to make your birth less meaningful than her own. She likely isn't wanting you to feel badly what-so-ever (because you don't deserve that, either), but more so wants to help encourage other moms out there who are now in the position she once was in that she can do it, too.
So while there is nothing that separates a natural birth from a medicated birth in terms of how special and rewarding it is, for a woman who has had to fight the system and those around her to have the birth she wants......it's truly everything.
