Why go through natural childbirth?

I write this in response to an article written by Ahmed Banderker, published in the Daily Maverick on 05/09/2021.

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2021-09-05-c-section-rate-among-south-african-medical-scheme-members-the-highest-in-the-world/

Great, another commentary on birth by a man, this in itself is a big issue which I will not go into here.

A female college of mine in a birth keepers social media group commented: “Nothing new here, but at least a relief to have the truth published in a widely read newspaper”….

My response to my colleges comment and to the article:

This may be the truth in numbers, but unfortunately no effort was made to unpack the underlying cause or reason for these high numbers of birth by knife (Sister Morning Star’s, a true midwife’s name for c/section.)
The article really made no effort to explore what the truth is behind these dangerously high rates of surgical childbirth.

The article asks: “The question has become: why go through natural childbirth?” As if to defend the insanely high rates of c/section in women who are on medical aid schemes in South Africa.
This is such a misleading and unfortunate question.
The reason why “natural” childbirth is so traumatizing is because when birth happens in a hospital setting, IT IS NOT NATURAL!!!
The birth process has been tampered with beyond recognition of a natural birth, (I prefer to say, physiological or undisturbed birth), and that is why it’s traumatic. From the moment a woman walks into the labour room, she is bombarded with unnecessary routine obstetric practices that disturb the delicate balance of hormones that support the labour and birth process to unfold safely as well as provide the woman with an altered state of consciousness that gives her the strength she needs to walk through one of the most transformative processes she can experience in her life.
Having a vaginal exam every 2 - 4 hours unnecessarily is just 1 of the many “routine checks” performed on women as just 1 example of many that make the physiological birth process disturbed and therefore no longer natural. Anyone see elephants doing vaginal exams on each other in labour?

I could write a list here as long as my arm of other unnecessary routine “checks” in a hospital setting, and when I say unnecessary, I mean the process and outcome are unlikely to change if we did not perform these checks.

Perhaps birth is inherently traumatic on some level, transformation often requires some darkness/shadow aspect of ourselves to be revealed and when one walks through a right of passage there will be scary moments. But if held with love and fierce protection of the physiological process, I often find the challenging/"traumatic” moments of birth become part of the transformational story for a woman into motherhood. Many women have described to me the moments in which they felt completely shattered or lost in the labour process was the very catalyst for stepping into their magnificent power and strength as a woman and as a mother.

The other element to unpack as far as I am concerned, is who does this woman have by her side whilst she is in labour?Because we know from multiple studies that this DOES make a huge difference to the outcome as well as the experience of the woman and therefore, the baby, father/birthing partner as well. A mother is her baby and the baby is it’s mother.
Her birth guardians can continue to hold her and her story in the postpartum time and in this way through witnessing her transformation into motherhood, she can stand proud and move into motherhood feeling seen and heard, surrounded by love.

“Blame the medical aids”!!! say some.
We can’t blame the medical aids alone for this insanely high rate of surgical birth, although I cannot understand how financially it makes sense to pay way higher rates for all those c/sections when a vaginal birth is so much cheaper. Doctors do not inform women fully around their options. The information they provide is one sided and unfortunately, fear mongering is a norm, rather then imparting objective well balanced information. The pros and cons of all the options should be thoroughly discussed and made available to them around any decision. So women are not fully informed. How can we make an informed choice when we don’t have all the information? The obstetrical nurses who are in attendance at private hospitals in South Africa are taught to fear birth, fear the doctor and fear litigation. Women trust a medical system which is corrupt, broken, dis-eased and full of fear. They are also informed by the media which paints birth as a terrible thing to endure. Society at large talk about birth as traumatic and consistently continue to perpetuate this story, backed up by the media and their own traumatic experiences from birthing in the system. It is as if trauma is already written all over you before you even go into labour! This is also because pregnancy it consistently revolving around potential risks rather then filling a woman with confidence in her beautiful god given body. And so the trauma birth story revolves around and around.

The truth is, its not birth that is traumatic, its the environment in which we birth that either supports the physiological process or creates traumatic interventions which are in most instances not necessary. The place we birth in, the people we birth with and the stories we have been told that we carry into the birth process is of utmost importance for birth to unfold and be held in sacredness and love because after all what is happening is a miracle and therefor should only be held with the utmost respect.

Let’s speak honestly about the reality that birth has pretty much been taken over by the medical system and the only way to birth in sovereignty is outside of the system. Midwives used to be the guardians of physiological birth but unfortunately, regulated midwives and often times doulas have been co-opted by the system and are beholden by this system. They end up in many ways serving the system rather then the woman, in order to survive, or on the other hand, risk their livelihoods and registration if they stay loyal to a woman walking outside of the parameters of the protocols and guidelines. Because of this, I am beginning to see that the only true way to attend births in sovereignty is also outside of the system.
I think we are all complicit for this situation we find ourselves in. And it isn’t a good situation. Physiological childbirth has been shown to have countless benefits for both mother and baby. And a c/section should only be called for when there is no other option.
It’s the system that creates the current status quo around birth being traumatic and it’s been heading in this direction for decades. Centuries actually. So perhaps, I would also choose a birth by knife if I had been sold this story of fear and trauma. Perhaps this type of birth saves us the “trauma” of natural birth. But what so many women are not told about, is how c/section doesn’t save one from the complications related to such surgery. Short term and long term, big and small, complications to mother and baby, and believe me there are many.

Of course the current status quo doesn’t really want a woman being in her power and that is why physiological birth has all but disappeared. I have birthed 3 times unmedicated and free, and the experience was golden each time. When a mother journeys through childbirth feeling seen and heard and saying I did it, this has a ripple affect for her, for her baby, her family, her community and the world. And when a woman stands in her power its a beautiful thing to witness

Is there a solution? I ask myself.
I’ve tried working in the system to bring change and honestly it’s so sick and broken I don’t think it’s possible that way. I see the solution is to take birth out of the system and let women own birth. Let women care for women, lead by one another and lead by love. Let women make their autonomous choices around their birth. I witness time and time again, when the world of birth is truly and wholly held in the hands of a woman, then things really change.

https://www.nationalpartnership.org/our-work/resources/health-care/maternity/hormonal-physiology-of-childbearing.pdf

https://www.wombecology.com/home/a-complication-of-socialised-birth

https://www.freebirthsociety.com/blogs/the-free-birth-podcast/doulas-doctors-hospitals-oh-my-birth-advocacy-with-cristen-pascucci-from-birth-monopoly