When Someone Asks You If You Had a Natural birth...do You Think...

I have never once had anyone ask me what kind of birth I had?? and I have never asked anyone what kind they had?? That seems kind of weird to me!

(The post by Annette H - LOL!! and I totally agree!!!)

As long as the baby doesn't come out your nose everything is natural.

I've always thought, and usually if other people are asking me, they mean it this way too, that natural means unmedicated. I have known a few women who also broaden the term natural to mean no episiotomy, one even meant catheters. I never thought to ask if they include IVs or fetal monitoring. But I find that usually when I am asked that, it is by super granola mamas, lots of which had or were planning home or water births or whatever. Anytime someone has wanted to know vaginal or c-section, they just ask me if I had to "have a c-section or not".

This has been a big topic here the last couple days, and it never really bothered me before, probably because I blew it off and didn't give the granola moms a chance to launch into me, but now having read some of the responses I resent having my child called unnatural or toxic or drugged, or a slow developer or any of the other things, or them acting like I was uninformed and didn't have my baby's best interest at heart. I didn't care what it took, I just wanted my son delivered safely and healthy. Pitocin wasn't optional for me and I was thankful to have narrowly avoided an emergency c-section. But I would never tell a mom who'd had a c-section that she had her baby unnaturally.

I'm with DanaW. If someone says "natural" I assume they mean vaginal and no pain medication.

Quick rant:
I think people get too obsessed with the whole thing. I heard a mother saying that c-section mom's "took the easy way out" to a friend the other day. It sucks that people label people who had pain meds or c-sections. It's as if having a vaginal, non-medicated birth makes one person's experience superior to the other. I think all we are doing is driving a wedge between moms. What does it matter? Why is one way superior to another?

I think the real question here is how much information do you think these people are entitled to? My experience is that the people I am close to know the story of how my son was born, and I don't feel like I have to share the details of delivery with everyone who asks, especially since it seems that most who ask have an agenda.
I personally think that a natural birth is any that results in a child being born :)

When I hear natural birth, I think of vaginal...just my train of thought I guess.

This issue of "natural" seems to be a hot topic on mamapedia these days!

Drugs have been used since time immemorial...I guarantee the Greeks, Egyptians, cave people...Knew about and used pharmaceuticals.

I am a big fan of saying what you mean...Exactly what you mean. That means getting comfortable with the word VAGINAL. Come on..Say it with me: V-A-G-I-N-A. If someone cannot come out and ask you what they mean using the right words, then they have no business asking.

My vote is Natural = un-medicated.

I had an epidural with both of mine. God created medicine for a reason!

Yes, natural means unmedicated, because once you add medicine it's no longer natural you've added a chemical to it. As for the morphine, this can actually stop labor, so you really want to avoid using it.
For me personally I had 2 that were medicated, and two I consider natural even though my last I had to have antibiotics for due to being positive for group B strep so I do consider the lack of painkillers to be natural. I did have Iv's for all 4 birth's because I don't handle the loss of large amts of fluids well. (I pass out from donating blood and it's not because I can't handle the site;)

Natural=umedicated. If you have morphine, that's medication aka not a natural birth. IVs for hydration only are saline and not medication, so that's still natural. If someone had an episiotamy but no pain medication I would consider that natural.

In my opinion, natural = unmedicated. So, a vaginal birth does not always = natural. Obviously, a c-section never = natural! I'm not judging! I had one! Since you asked, I guess I would draw the line at medications. To me, IV solution is just saline which is something in our bodies anyway. Fetal monitoring or episiotomies don't introduce anything foreign to the body so they still seems "natural" to me. Meds like morphine are not something our bodies normally make so to me are not considered natural.

According to the American heritage Dictionary, the definition of "natural childbirth" is: "A method of childbirth in which medical intervention is minimized and the mother often practices relaxation and breathing techniques to control pain and ease delivery."

According to Collins English dictionary it is: "a method of childbirth characterized by the absence of anaesthetics, in which the expectant mother is given special breathing and relaxing exercises"

This article,
http://www.naturalbirthandbabycare.com/giving-birth.html ,
says: "Natural birth means that you're free from restrictive technology." They talk about being free from electronic monitoring and IV fluids also.

I can see what you mean though about the confusion between natural vs. vaginal. I honestly think people starting saying "natural" birth b/c they didn't want to say the word "vaginal"! :) Looks like there is some gray area here (Example "medical intervention is minimized") but all seem to agree natural birth does not include any medication.

I'm no expert, just wanted to pass on to you the definitions I found. My baby was breech and we couldn't get her turned so I had a c-section. Not natural by any definition but she arrived safely!

~L

I completely agree with Lisa M. A vaginal birth with medications is not really natural because there is interventions being used. People who are saying natural birth most likely are embarrassed to use the word vaginal.

I think of natural as a vaginal delivery. I am pregnant with my second right now and have had complications so I've been in and out of the hospital, and the nurses always ask me if I had a natural birth with my first. I always ask "do you mean natural as in vaginal delivery or no medication" and each of the 3 nurses I've had have said "natural means vaginal with or without pain medicine." So that coming from 3 different people in the birthing field, I would say natural means vaginal delivery.

:-) Hope this helps!

Natural birth is when the baby is born out of the birth canal. I disagree with the lady, non medicated or not has nothing to do with natural birth. To me it doesn't matter if you had meds or not. birth is either Vaginal or C -Section.

I absolutely HATE the term "natural" childbirth. WTH does that mean? I suppose the "natural" way to have a baby is to have it in a cave with your mother and medicine woman attending, having had no prenatal care or anything but what you hunted or gathered and then wrapping the baby in some sort of animal skin (presuming it survived). Of course, you'd have about a 25% chance of dying, so I probably wouldn't go that route.

I think that when most people use the term, they are trying to talk about a vaginal birth where the mother did not receive artificial pain medications during delivery. But it just serves to show how silly the term is-- there's nothing "natural" about having a baby in a hospital, or a near-sterile home environment with stethoscopes, college-educated birth attendants, and NICUs on standby. I vote we stop using the word "natural" at all!

Natural, in my opinion, is a vaginal birth, unmedicated. IV's, fetal monitoring, etc. is to help deliver a healthy baby, so I wouldn't consider that part of the equation.

I'm with you, I think of 'natural' as having come out of the birth canal. I have met people think otherwise, though, so I usually ask to clarify before answering a question like that, or sometimes just answer that I had all vaginal births.

To me, I've always known unmedicated as natural.

I used the terminology "minimally medically invasive" to describe my desires for birth. I too feel that all birth, irregardless of the method of delivery, is natural.

I think you need to consider the audience. If you are talking to the "general" public, I think they mean vaginal delivery when they say natural. If you are in a more pro-non-medical group, then they most likely mean non-medicated when they say natural.

If you are unsure, I would simply ask for clarification - "Are you asking about the method of delivery or whether my birth experience involved medications?" That shold be polite enough to get clarification.

~C.

In England , and other European countries a "natural" birth is unmedicated. I am from the UK and we have lot's of birthing centre's that are for "natural" births , meaning for those who don't want an epidual or any other drugs , but they do allow the use of gas & air which is also known as laughing gas , some of our hospitals also have birthing centres with birthing pools for those who want a water birth.

I've typically always thought of natural as simply meaning vaginal. Medication, to me anyway, is the norm and non-medicated is rare. I mean the second question they ask around here when you walk into the hospital is whether or not you want an epidural. They offered it half a dozen times at least and my births only last a few hours. Heck the last one was less than an hour! Who has time for an epidural? :)
Both of my births were not medicated and they were both natural, meaning vaginal. Whoever heard of a natural (non-medicated) c-section?
Fetal monitoring is typical. Unless we're only applying the term natural to home birthing only, then we're not going to get around at least some fetal monitoring and probably even a saline drip. But typically women who have home births, when asked how they delivered, they just say they had a home birth. It automatically implies vaginal and non-medicated. Natural implies that you were at the hospital but you had a vaginal delivery, whether it was medicated or not should really be a separate issue.
Episiotomies, at least where I am in Canada, aren't generally given. That would be done at the request of the mother. IV's are usually only necessary if you're being induced or your labour is particularly long and they want to give you fluids. But just because you have a saline drip doesn't mean you're adding medication and saline certainly doesn't equal pain killer. Those things are typical parts of any hospital birth.
Normally when I'm asked I say natural and un-medicated or pain killer free. Both of my births were also inductions, but I still consider them natural. The induction medication definitely doesn't do anything for pain, if anything it's supposed to make it worse! And quite frankly if they had simply broken my water, in both cases I would have delivered without the induction medication too. But they are reluctant to break the water without induction medication.
In order to avoid saline and fetal monitoring you'd have to have a home birth, period. And I don't think it's fair to apply the term natural to home births only. That's really not giving credit to the moms that do have vaginal deliveries.
So for me natural is vaginal, medicated or not!

to me, "natural" means unmedicated. but i agree with you that many people say "natural" as the alternative to c-section. people don't seem to like to say "vaginally"

when people ask me about my first, i say it was a "standard" delivery and i didn't get any drugs.

Generally, Natural these days = vaginal and no epidural.

I personally have gotten to the point that I'm not even remotely embarrassed to ask if it was a vaginal delivery. Between 2 kids and chemo, I have no modesty anymore - especially not with scientific things like that.

But, you are correct that vaginal is a natural delivery. It's simply the context in which it's used today vs. the literal meaning.

Natural = Undedicated; which means that there was not an epidural administered to the mother during delivery. (An Epidural is when the mother is given a regional anesthesia involving injection of drugs through a catheter placed in the back that ease the pain through blocking the transmission of signals through nerves in or near the spinal cord.) IV for hydration, episiotomy and fetal monitoring are not considered drugs.

I was raised in Oklahoma. When women there ask if it is "natural" most women 40+ mean unmediated. This because they mostly assume that a birth will be vaginal. Younger women tend to mean vaginal = natural.

In my case, there were medical reasons (for the kids) that made emergency c-sections in both my 5 and 3 year olds. (My mom still thinks it would have been a "natural" meaning vaginal birth if they were born in Ok instead of Va.)

I ended up having a section with my son, but I was planning and un-medicated birth and told the midwife at our first visit that I wanted a natural birth. She was all for un-medicated but the first thing she said was "I want you to remember that anything (a baby) coming out of your vagina is natural." It was good advice not to get too caught up in the non-medicated and realize that the goal was that as you said, "that the birth canal would be the 'natural' way for things to happen" of course it didn't go that way for me, but like another mom said, my boy is healthy and that's what matters!

I like what someone said in another post I read "it's the product, not the process!"

I would assume they meant unmedicated.

For me, "natural" means means no pain meds. Hydration, episitomy, etc., don't count against natural. My thoughts are emergency c-section, c-section, natural, or epidural. As far as people asking, I think it depends who is asking. Woman to woman, especially with small children or pregnant, I think we are actually curious, and willing to share experiences. Others...just seem creepy. :)

I think natural means unmedicated, and I think it means no drugs. An IV drip and fetal monitoring are required by many hospitals, but morphine or pain killers are not. For the record, I had an epidural (so I don't consider the birth "natural" in that sense) and I've had several people ask if I delivered "vaginally," which is distinguished from naturally. But this is just in my experience.

Where I live; natural is unmedicated. Also the hospitals I've worked in (also where I live... so there could be regional bias) consider natural births to be unmedicated births. Medication is one kind of intervention, but the only intervention (aside from c-sect) that pings a whole new separate term for itself in everyday English.

To me it's rather like the whole term "organic". As a science chick.. I can tell you the ACTUAL definition for organic is anything non synthetic. Hence organic chem v inorganic chem. Therefore each and every single food we put in our bodies are organic. So, as a matter of fact are sidewalks. But everyday English has pinged "organic" as meaning to meet certain x,y,z, standards in the growing/raising process. It makes my teeth itch every single time I hear, say, or read the word being used inaccurately. But I use it, so that I'm understood by others.

Colloquialisms may actually tell us more about any society and culture than anything else... but it doesn't mean I have to like them.

I think most people mean unmedicated. I personally feel both are natural. I've had three natural births-two unmedicated and one medicated.

Natural means unmedicated. I had my epidural kick in after delivery with two out of four. I guess it was too late/they came too fast.

I loved the post that said "granola" moms! It is ashame that we have to be judged for the way we gave birth. The point is...we gave birth! We all stared with awe at our new babies, we all stayed up many sleepless nights, we all changed many messy diapers, we all cried at one point when our baby cried. We are all mothers! Stop judging how we got our babies here! It is not a contest... we all win the same prize.... our beautiful new baby :)

I have asked this question (when it didn't seem rude) meaning vaginal birth. I had 2 children via c-section and one through adoption....

I was hoping for vaginal with my last child, so I was curious to know if friends had done things they felt helped it happen the "usual" way.

Ah well....I'm done now & they're great kids, but yeh, I always meant it that way.

To me you have a vaginal birth or a c-section. When you have a vaginal birth it can be with the assitance of medication such as an epidural or natural vaginal birth which means you have no medications at all. Most of the people I know say did you have your child the regular way or a-c section? The next question is with or without medications.? So in answer to your question most people who say it was natural means vaginal without the assistance of medications.

I've always thought natural to mean vaginal, unmedicated birth. A vaginal delivery is one in which the mom delivered vaginally, but with medication and a c-section, of course, is the surgical procedure.

They are all ways of giving birth, but the only "natural" way is vaginally with no medication.

You can have an IV for hydration and still have a "natural" birth, but start introducing drugs, and you've still had a medicated, vaginal delivery.

I had 3 kids, naturally and 2 of them were born at home. Natural birth is not as rare as people want to think it is.

A "natural" birth is an UN-MEDICATED birth. There is a BIG difference between a "natural" birth an just a "vaginal" birth.

As far as episiotomy, fetal monitoring & IVs, those are INTERVENTIONS but do not necessarily make a birth un-natural.

Yeah it is dicey to figure out. First I don't ask people this question, I let them share, keep things so much simpler:) I just never want anyone who had a c-section or who had pain meds to feel like some kind of wimp. I mean having a baby is taxing, long and intense emmotionally and really wonderful. Who really cares how it goes down? But I think if the question is posed as "were you able to deliver your baby naturally?" would mean vaginally. Then it would be a seperate question about drugs. I have heard many women say "Oh yes I had my baby all natural and with no drugs." So I think there is distinction. I am with you natural=vaginal, and then you can add the info about the use of drugs. But when you read literature that describes natural "labor" as opposed to the word birth it is talking about non-medicated labor/birth. Anyway that is my two cents. If someone asked me if I had my children natural, because I had them vaginally I would say yes. I also did it without drugs, except for something they put in my IV pretty far into it to help me relax. BELIEVE me it did nada for pain, but it did make the room spin a bit;)

I say Natural birth is unmedicated!

I always thought natural birth meant un medicated.....

I think most people think of "natural" as unmedicated. But you can just ask them what they mean. It's semantics. I think they are usually referring to an epidural as the non-natural part of it.

I haven't read any responses, but personally, when someone says they had a "natural birth," to me, that means it was un-medicated.

I guess I would normally think someone using the term "naturally" means unmedicated. But I guess my question is in what context did they ask? I think most of the time I've ever gotten the question it was more about comparing vaginally to a c-section. I don't think I'd ever ask someone was it "natural", unless maybe that person was thinking of doing it without medications and wanted some advice or thoughts. I think I only know one person who had her baby "naturally" and that was only b/c it was too late to give her medications. :)

When I hear the term "natural birth" I think of an unmedicated birth, although I have to agree that the most natural way for a baby to come out is definitely through one's vagina. However, there's nothing natural about having drugs administered in order to bring a baby into the world. Don't get me wrong - I can respect the fact that there is a time and a place for medication/pain relief/c-sections/whatever intervention is necessary for the health of mother and child...but I wouldn't call it a natural birth, because it's been assisted in some way. On that same note, episiotomies and IVs don't fit in with my idea of natural birth either.
I've got to say that a comfortable medium exists between totally "natural" birth and a cascade of interventions. A couple of pain relief techniques I've gotten interested in is the use of nitrous oxide in labor (evidently pretty routine in the UK?) and sterile water injections (usually used by midwives,) but again, I wouldn't treat these as natural alternatives to narcotics and epidurals...just something less harmful to mother and baby.

I have asked the question and have been asked a few times. When asked if natural I believe it means vaginal but it also means how many if any drugs did you take.

At one point I have thought about giving birth with no drugs and I am amazed how woman can do it. I made it 15 hours and was in tons of pain. In the end it doesn't matter but it is always interesting.

Hi- I've never heard the term natural applied to any birth where medication was used at all. Vaginal birth as appose to a c-section is not what people in my area would call natural, ever. Fetal monitoring and episiotomy are interventions and a little less clear but I think most of the time when people say natural they mean no drugs.

Natural to me means unmedicated. The line is if there is any pain killer given. I had an epidural, so that wouldn't be a "natural childbirth."
I see your point. Some people do mean vaginal. I think it's best to just ask what they mean.

natural = unmedicated

I had 20 plus hour labors for both my kids so my response for my first child was "I made it through 10 hours of natural labor"...

Natural childbirth is one without medication. An episiotomy does not determine whether you had the baby natural or not. I found information on babycenter.com, as well. See below....

What are the advantages of natural childbirth?

If you want to remain in control of your body as much as possible, be an active participant throughout labor, and have minimal routine interventions such as fetal monitoring in the birth process, then a natural, unmedicated approach to controlling labor pain will suit you best.

If you choose to go this route, you accept the potential for pain and discomfort as part and parcel of giving birth — an experience that includes working with complete awareness through each stage of labor. But with the right preparation and support, you'll probably feel empowered and deeply satisfied by natural childbirth.

Here are the pros:
* Most natural childbirth techniques are not invasive, so there's little potential for harm or side effects for you or your baby.
* Many women have a strong feeling of empowerment during labor and a sense of accomplishment afterward. And despite having to endure pain, many report that they'd want an unmedicated birth again the next time. For some women, being in charge helps lessen their perception of pain.
* There's no loss of sensation or alertness. You'll be awake and active during labor and birth — so you can move around more freely and find positions that help you stay comfortable during labor and remain able to aid the delivery process when it's time to push your baby out.
* If you don't need to be hooked up to an IV or a monitor, you can move around with ease
* You're less likely than women who get epidurals to need interventions such as oxytocin (Pitocin) to make your contractions stronger, bladder catheterization, or a vacuum extraction or forceps delivery.
* Your partner will feel involved in the process as you work together to manage your pain.
* Breathing exercises, visualization, and self-hypnosis can be practiced ahead of time — and used again later. Many new mothers find themselves drawing on their relaxation techniques in the early days of breastfeeding, while coping with postpartum discomfort, or when caring for a newborn feels especially stressful.

i always though natural birth was unmedicated, but have a little bit of pain meds to take the edge off before push is fine. but i think it really is what poeple what it to be.

I don't think the distinction is so clear for everyone...especially those who haven't done it!

When I've been asked if I had a natural birth, the second question is almost ALWAYS if I had any pain medication. If they don't ask, I make sure they know that I endured 19 hours of unmedicated labor to get my daughter into this world (and would do it again).

It all depends on the audience and how specific you really want to be. Open as I am, quite frankly there are some audiences that don't need to hear the word vaginal come out of my mouth.

While I believe, for me, the best way to get a kid out is vaginally and unmedicated, there are many models of birth out there.

my assumption was natural was no medication....like with a midwife or something of the sort....