in not fully understanding 'natural' birth

[edd021208]

A lot of mums I know talk about how they had 'all natural' births but then talk about how fantastic they found using gas and air .....I've no big issue one way or another (had epidurals) but wonder if using gas and air constitutes an 'all natural' birth?

I agree with you sabire - as I said earlier, it's a different experience. Different doesn't mean 'better' or 'worse' - it is a neutral term.

I had a Csection and felt that I'd had a major operation. I didn't feel that I'd given birth. That's a fact. Of course, I was elated with the outcome - a dd - but the actual process did not feel like giving birth.

In contrast, my first birth in a midwife-led unit did leave me feeling on a natural high.

I think we need to learn to acknowledge DIFFERENCE better, rather than always attaching a value judgement to it.

violet - we can pass a value judgement without turning it into a moral issue.

My second birth was better than my first by every reasonable measure - I recovered faster, I breastfed more easily, my health was generally better, my baby was healthier, I was happier and more satisfied.

Doesn't mean that I loved my second baby any better or 'achieved more' by any sort of act of will - mine was purely down to better care.

"I had a natural childbirth - baby came out the way it got in"

If this were the case for me I would have had a couple of bottles of champagne during labour! Now that would be better than gas and air any day!

And yes, I'm making a value judgement here. Those of you who were drunk on cheap plonk when you conceived are lesser mothers than I.

I have had two drugless births.

But I have gas and air for check-ups at the dentist.

V. strange that the word 'natural' is so often seen as positive.

Things that occur in nature:
Earthquakes
Ebola virus
Nick Griffin

Nature's rubbish.

lol at Nick Griffin
You are right on the money there InMyLittleHead
natural can be lovely or it can be brutal

i had g &a for both my dds and my last dd was 10lb 6oz so i dont think that was natural as i dont think babies should be that big and still fit through your fanjo and everyone be in one piece