Why is it "brave" to plan for a completely natural birth?

[Trillian]

Because we've become so conditioned to view birth as this Terribly Dangerous Thing that can Kill You and Your Baby in an instant if it's not done in a hospital under the care of a surgeon (ob) and anyone who births outside of that highly medicalised paradigm is Reckless, Dangerous, Selfish etc etc. Those messages are constantly reinforced every single time natural birth is mentioned in the media (thanks Mamma Mia!) so it's no wonder that as soon as anyone mentions publicly that they want as natural a birth as possible they start the tsk-tsking and head shaking.

I think this situation is made 10 times worse due to the fact that this baby is the future King or Queen of England and no one wants to think that something could Go Wrong. I wish she hadn't of said anything publicly about her true desires for the birth just so she didn't have that pressure on her.

[Arimeh]

I've heard soooo many times that I'm so "brave" for going for a homebirth this time. Before that it was because I was going for a VBA2C.

I'm not brave - I'm just awesome!!!!

PMSL (so totally kidding there, don't worry, no huge ego here....)

[Cricket]

I think part of the reason people think it's brave to plan for a natural birth is because there's a point when almost everyone would take pain relief if it was offered. And maybe those who have given birth at hospital and did accept pain meds feel like they really, truly could not have done without them. Or maybe they feel a small twinge of guilt or inadequacy for "needing" them, when others have gone without. I know that with many of my deliveries (four of which have been med-free) there was a point (usually at transition) where I'm not sure if I can handle any more, and if someone would offer drugs, I'd probably take them.
I have to say that in my first delivery, I definitely felt like I needed pain relief. I was overwhelmed, panicking, and not coping well. It was a fast and intense labour. So when I hear a first time mum say that she wants an all-natural delivery, one half of me is thrilled for her and knows she's making a good choice, and the other (silent!) half of me is thinking "oh honey, I hope you've got some support to help you though this, 'cause it really is hard!"
I think a lot of first time mums dream that they'll sail through labor strong and silent and stoic, and aren't really prepared for the challenge that labour presents. Then, as they struggle to cope when labour becomes challenging (and it IS challenging!), they feel like an epidural is their only hope. If they knew what they were up against - realistically, without horror stories, or glossing over of the real challenge of labour - they could prepare better with alternative coping options and the support of a doula.

[Cassius2]

I think it is a reflection on a birth environment where women are not truly supported and cared for in their labours and birth.

So people that call someone naive or brave or something along those lines they are merely commenting on an environment that is the normal situation: it is really really hard and lonely to have an empowered positive natural birth without love and support of high quality (and I mean, people that know and understand and support normal birth) and knowledgeable birth support surrounding you.

I guess for many, the idea of achieving a true hypno-waterbirth is unimaginable if their only exposure to birth is ala: OBEM, where you have midwives and OBs pressuring for a medicalised approach and reliance on machines to monitor birth rather than their own set of birth skills and innate understanding and respect of a physiological birth.

In respect to the upcoming new royal birth...I can only hope and assume that she has a wonderful birth support team that understands how important birth experience is and will help guide her to have her and baby's best birth possible, come what may. that is what we should all be striving for.

[BellyBelly]

I think its a multitude of things:

* You're brave because we live a sedentary lifestyle and are not used to 'pushing' ourselves like we used to
* You're brave because you're likely birthing in a place (and time) where normal physiological birth is not embraced, commonplace or celebrated
* You're brave because you're birthing in an environment that is not mother/baby friendly and you're going to have to try and cope with that without relief or confidence
* You're brave because there is not enough (appropriate) physical support and care for women in labour - hospitals seem to have lost the way with what women really need giving birth hence the rise of the doula
* You're brave because at your most vulnerable, weakest moments, many (especially in private hospitals) carers are not going to support you to keep going, just, 'why suffer?' Pain = pain relief mentality
* You're brave because you are up against so many emotional, physical and un-birth-friendly hurdles that it takes you a will of steel and carefully thought out plans to have the best chance of it working beautifully - or you could rely on luck.
* You're brave because in quite a few hospital based birth classes, you will be left unprepared to birth naturally. As one midwife in a Melbourne private hospital told me, 'We just teach them about epidurals because thats all they want to know about." A client of mine: "They showed us a video where the woman was saying she wanted to shoot herself. I'm reconsidering my ability to do this without pain relief."
* You're brave because you hear the horror stories of those gone before you in the same system with the same care, with all of the above unfriendly issues.

[LionsandBears]

I think it's a combination of a couple of things:

1) People are generally ignorant about birth, apart from what they see on TV. It's not like we live in communities where we see/hear a woman labouring regularly, so our information comes from "entertainment" sources. Mostly American rubbish too.

2) People love drama and seeing others suffer. Just look at the casting for reality TV shows - they combine people who will generally be nasty to each other and provide entertainment to the viewers, who can then feel smug and superior for an hour or so. So if we expect people to suffer, we generally feel ripped off if they don't. That probably doubles for those who have suffered through birth - they dont want to hear about an alternative. It threatens them.

From what I can see, the whole birth and parenting industry is generally geared to make women compete and put each other down. Anything that rocks that status quo is a threat that must be squished into the ground before civilisation collapses.

Stop being so bloody radical, lie back, take the drugs and do what you're told! *sarcasm*

[BellyBelly]

LOL L&B!!! Sad, but true.