The word "natural"

Natural is such a trendy word these days. Everything is natural. Chicken is natural. Beef is natural. Clothing is natural. Pasta is natural. Hell, pretty much everybody's birth is natural. The crazy thing is that since it's so trendy, it's taken to being able to mean just about anything on the face of the earth.

Yesterday, someone asked me what local hospital would be best for a natural birth. I replied that "hospital" and "natural birth" should really never be used in the same sentence, and that if she wanted a natural birth, she should go to one of the birth centers, or birth at home. She looked confused and said that she knew lots of people who had natural births in hospitals. I asked what natural birth was to her. No drugs. That's it. OK, now I understand. I told her she could accomplish that at any hospital on the planet, but that University Medical Center, the public hospital, actually has the lowest c-section rate in town, and is statistically slightly less scary than the private hospitals.

Last week, someone else mentioned to me that she was going to try for a natural birth, even though her doctor was concerned because she has a low placenta. I said it's totally possible to have a great birth under those circumstances. I explained that I, too, have a low placenta this pregnancy, that my midwife thought it would be fine, and we're proceeding with our homebirth. We are taking precautionary measures to build up blood volume in advance so that if we do face increased bleeding due to the low placenta (there is a chance of that) it won't take as much of a toll. I told her the names of some herbs to take to build up blood volume. Then we talked a bit more about her birth plan (why do people make birth plans, seriously?) and she was talking about the different types of pain medications she wants, in what order. I said I was confused, that she had said she was hoping for a natural birth, so why plan on pain medication before even giving herself the chance? Her definition of natural birth: Vaginal birth.

Some OB even came up with some cockamamie thing called a "natural c-section". The idea is that they bring the baby out slowly, so it's more like a regular birth. But yes, now even babies arriving via an incision in the abdomen have their arrival classified by some as natural.

So what is MY definition of natural birth? Orren's birth was close, but still not a truly natural birth because I had to take a car ride during labor, and that felt VERY unnatural and wrong. Otherwise, Orren's birth is a good example of MY definition of natural birth. No internal exams, no strangers, no IV's, no monitors, eating at will, laboring on my own turf, moving around as I wanted to. My unassisted labor with Orren fits my definition of what a natural labor would be. His birth itself was close. It was hard to concentrate again after the car ride to the birth center, but once there, and once I did manage to get my head back into the game, his birth was pretty natural. Obviously no pain medication, no monitors, no coached pushing, positioning of my own choosing, moving around at will, etc. This baby's birth will quite probably be my first and only truly natural birth, since the only glaringly unnatural thing about Orren's birth was leaving home while in labor. I'll tell you, that felt SO wrong. If Thak were willing to catch the baby, I never would have gotten in that car. That's a HUGE reason we're homebirthing this time. For me, natural birth includes not having labor interfered upon by a car ride.

There are people who have far more stipulations on it than I have. Some don't accept any assistance at all. By some people's definition, it is unnatural to even have a midwife present. By their definition, none of my births would ever be considered natural because I really do like having a midwife there just in case I need help or guidance. (Granted, I have hired a very hands-off style of midwife, because I don't like to be "managed", but I still want her there to help me if I need it.)

The fact is, none of these definitions is THE supreme and all correct definition of natural birth. It's just not. None of them. These definitions vary so much from person to person, that it is really rather impossible to say a true definition of "natural birth" exists.

I am not competing when I say that "natural hospital birth" is an oxymoron. I'm merely coming from my own definition of what natural birth is, and the fact that my idea of what a natural birth is, is actually incompatible with the hospital environment. I would never be able to have what I would consider a natural birth in a hospital. For a lot of people, the two things can coexist nicely.

I propose the term "natural birth" either be officially qualified in some way, or stricken from our vernacular completely. You want a "drug-free birth", a "vaginal birth", a "hands-off homebirth", a "birth center birth", or whatever it is. Natural birth, though.... what the hell is that anymore?