I was strapped down both times. The first was an emergency under General, the second elective with a spinal. For the second they unstrapped one of my arms so I could hold him right after he was born.

I thought being strapped down was the norm, and was part of the reason I was so freaked out the second time. Not that I'd be trying to go anywhere, but the thought of being strapped down just made the process seem all the more barbaric and made me feel that I'd be completely and utterly out of control and at their mercy. Of course this thinking is not very rational, because it is barbaric and you are out of control, arms strapped or not, but when you're in such a situation, these are the things that matter. We need to collectively make a lot more noise to change these practices to be more mother-centered if there's no pressing medical need for them.