Almost everyone in the world knows the term “natural birth.” It’s used to describe a birth that requires little to no medical intervention, such as pain medication or an epidural.
But here’s another phrase people may not know: “good birth.” It’s the new term being used to replace “natural birth,” and the reason behind it is so touching and significant.
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The case against the term “natural birth” was first highlighted in 2019 by *The New York Times*.
Writer Jessica Grose wrote that the term “natural birth” could “shame women whose deliveries were deemed not ‘natural’ — whether they had C-sections, needed to be induced or simply desired pain relief.”
No one deserves to be shamed for their birthing choices.
This is especially the case when a person is unable to give birth naturally due to medical reasons.
The New York Times pointed this out, writing that even medical professionals are sometimes shamed for their choices. They shared the example of one such doctor.
Dr. Anne Drapkin Lyerly, an obstetrician and professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and author, has had five C-sections.
Despite these operations being medically necessary for her small frame, she said that she “felt sad and ashamed even though I had all the rationality.”
Regardless of the outdated name, there are advantages to a “natural birth.”
Ryan Dickerson, M.D., an obstetrician in Baton Rouge, told Parents that recovery can be smoother for those who delivered their baby without drugs or anesthesia.
“These moms are up faster, feel better, and often experience less tearing and swelling.”
But since it’s such a vague term, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what natural birth is.
We at least know where it came from: from a British doctor named Grantly Dick-Reed in 1933.
He had written a book called Natural Childbirth , where he wrote that the birth rate was declining for upper and middle-class “civilized” women who were scared of the pain of childbirth.
He believed that childbirth could be tolerable without medication, as long as there was preparation and deep breathing.
When the term arrived in the United States in the 1940s, it was a lot different than what people were already calling it.
This included “pain-free childbirth” and “prepared childbirth.”
Over the decades, the term that once empowered women to give birth naturally eventually shamed those who didn’t — or physically weren’t able to — go that route.
Enter: the need for the term “good birth,” which was highlighted in the 2019 New York Times article.
They explained that it was Dr. Lyerly, a professor at Duke who wrote the book, *A Good Birth: Finding the Positive and the Profound in Your Childbirth Experience*.
She and her and her team of researchers interviewed 101 women from all walks of life, including racially and economically diverse backgrounds.
These women also all had different experiences of giving birth.
By interviewing these women, they were able to determine the five things that qualify a “good birth,” regardless of the way you give birth.
This began with agency , which is the “capacity to make their own choices, even if things didn’t go according to plan.”
Then came **personal security** (“a sense of safety during birth”) and **connectedness** (“with medical providers, family members and with their babies”).
Finally, there was respect (“an acknowledgment that birth is a transformative life event”) and knowledge (“understanding their bodies, and also understanding that birth was a process they couldn’t fully control”).
“I love the framing of a ‘good birth,’ because it removes the false dichotomy of ‘natural’ versus ‘unnatural,'” wrote Grose.
“The outcome everyone wants for their delivery is a healthy baby and a healthy mother. Health includes emotional health, too.”
Sooo true. For the full story, read it here .
