I’ve just read an article in the latest issue of ‘British Journal of Midwifery’ discussing women’s ideas about what is a ‘normal birth’ and whether these are the same as health professionals.

The WHO defines normal birth as “Spontaneous in onset, low risk at the start of labour and remaining so throughout labour and delivery. The infant is born spontaneously in the vertex position [i.e., head first, not breech], between 37 and 42 completed weeks of pregnancy. After birth, mother and infant are in good condition.”

The study only included 4 women, so I don’t really think any meaningful conclusions can be drawn about what they said, but what I found interesting was that it made me think about MY opinions about what is normal and what isn’t. What I think a ‘normal delivery’ means that the baby was born vaginally, without forceps or ventouse.
Any different ideas?