I've been observing for a while now that some recent mothers are not clear about the concept of natural birth and vaginal delivery. For many it seems that the two things are the same, because they talk to you about their birth interchangeably with one or the other concept, but the reality is that both terms cannot be used interchangeably, because they are not equivalent.
It is clear that a woman who has a natural birth has given birth vaginally. However, it is not true that every woman who has given birth vaginally has done so naturally.
A friend who recently gave birth to her second child told me gladly: “How well, after the caesarean section with the first one, I was able to get even and say that I have given birth. I have had a natural birth. ”
But no, his birth had not been natural, because he had epidural anesthesia, because he had a canalized route through which he was given serum and because he had an episiotomy from which he is still recovering. Vaginal yes, because the child came out of the vagina, but naturally no, I'm afraid not.
What is a natural childbirth?
A natural birth it is not only the one in which external means are not used to control a delivery that is going well, but rather the one in which nature is allowed to take its course (but watching in case at any moment it is necessary to intervene, of course).
To give an example, a woman could give birth without epidural, without synthetic oxytocin that induces labor, without episiotomy and without medication, but dilate in an excessively lit room, with constant interruptions, with professionals not respectful of her processes and needs, with a continuous monitoring preventing the mother from moving and / or putting her in a lithotomy position (face up with her legs raised) and this birth, in theory, could not be considered as a natural birth because natural physiological processes would be continuously torpedoed (I say in theory, because for me it would be the natural birth of a “champion” woman, for achieving it despite the attention received).
A natural birth is (in theory) the one in which science is made available to the healthy pregnant woman, in case at any time it is necessary to apply it, but not the one in which science decides to take command of something that by itself is more likely to succeed. It is as if now, in the background corridors, a doctor accompanied them to the side, trying to verify that the vital signs are in order. All runners will reach the goal, but the constant interruptions will take longer and more than one to stumble or fall for having to run with someone trying to look at your health continuously.
What is necessary for a natural birth to occur
In order for a birth to go on the right track and be considered a natural birth, a series of circumstances and events should occur whose objectives are for a healthy child to be born (the end) giving the prominence of the moment to the mother and her baby (the means) . It is evident that when we talk about giving birth to the end (that the baby is born well) it justifies the means (whatever is done, the most important thing is that the mother and the baby survive), however one thing does not take away the other , because you can reach the same destination taking into account how both the baby and the mother can feel.
Sometimes I have come to hear criticism of mothers struggling to have respected births, as if it were a whim "I feel like being treated well," and the baby was less important than the mother. The truth is that mothers demand respect, in the first place, because they have been treated worse for many years than they should be treated and secondly, because when the mother is respected and allowed to follow her rhythms and listen to her body the chances of success in childbirth increase, decreasing possible problems and interventions in both the mother and the baby.
For a delivery to go well, there should be:
- Privacy, security and emotional support: Childbirth is a sexual act and, as such, requires a woman dedicated to it. The more active the rational brain is (thinking about the people around it, whether it is doing well or badly, the anger that the midwife has put in it or whatever distracts it), the more disconnected the woman from your body, its sensations and everything that is happening and more inhibit the hormones that facilitate the delivery.
- Freedom in every way: that the woman may be standing, squatting, on all fours or as she thinks it should be to give birth. It cannot be that the posture to give birth is determined by the professionals as they do well, because the position they choose is normally the least adequate.
- Professionals prepared but “invisible”: able to appear and act with mastery in case of problems, but being "invisible" if the delivery takes place normally.
- Natural procedures to mitigate pain: If the woman is allowed to disconnect from the environment and focus on the process of childbirth, her endorphins act and the pain gets better, without the need for medication or anesthesia that can interfere. To do this, changes in posture can help, being in a hot tub, performing lumbar massage, using a dilation ball, using relaxation techniques, having done a previous psychological job to prepare for that particular moment, etc.
- Skin to skin contact right after birth: If everything went well and the child is healthy, there is no reason to separate mother and child and skin-to-skin contact, along with the onset of breastfeeding are very important to help create a solid mother-child bond and long lasting.
