I do not understand the PC parade around the use of the word "natural" in reference to childbirth. There is nothing wrong with doing things in a more medical way rather than naturally. I started this pregnancy open to having an elective c-section or epidural. And, I never considered either of these options natural because there is nothing natural about having pain numbing medication inserted into my back through a needle during childbirth. Nor is there anything natural about having a doctor perform medical surgery to extract the baby out of my baby. That's okay. Not everything in modern life is still "natural." Webster defines natural as "existing in nature and not made or caused by people . . . not having any extra substances or chemicals added."
With this definition in mind, I am failing to see how an epidural birth is on its face natural childbirth. Medical interventions are by their very definition un-natural. There is nothing wrong with that, but we should not have to bend definitions to make insecure women feel better about themselves. A lot of things are not natural. I do plenty of things that are not natural. But, I do not feel the need to make people who choose to do things naturally to stop using the term "natural" to make me feel better about myself. Of course, childbirth is unpredictable and with the evolution of modern medicine in the U.S., most women do not choose natural childbirth. Good for them. But there is no need to pounce on someone for using the term natural. Be happy about your choice to do things less naturally. You are still a mother, and it is still okay. But, you shouldn't require people to complete PC semantics to spare your feelings.
@Luccie By this very purist definition, one would effectively have to give birth alone, in a hut, and refuse anyone to aid them in any way. So technically almost no one has a natural birth. It would mean that if you were dehydrated and needed an IV, it wasn't a natural birth, if you had strep B and responsibly received antibiotics during labor, you didn't have a natural birth, if you had an episiotomy because of stalled labor, even without meds, sorry, no longer natural birth!
I'm not really crazy about PC either, and I agree that some of the comments could have addressed the semantics more tactfully. It can get confusing as so many venues will define a low intervention birth as "natural." But I also think words are important, and intelligent people are careful about how they use them because they understand their meaning, implied or literal. I'm a FTM who plans on using as few interventions as possible, so I resent using that as an excuse for being ill-informed. Frankly I found the OP to be naive at best, insulting (hopefully simply due to ignorance of the subject) at worst. I don't think any of the women pointing out more appropriate wording, which unmedicated and low intervention would be, as we've already discussed how narrow and exclusive a definition "natural" really is, are being overly sensitive or insecure, but simply requesting precision in speech that would actually indicate a level of knowledge of the experience one would like to have. Which is why I think the best argument, which many women with a variety of birth plans have given, is to simply leave natural out of it. The logic is pretty sound, so it seems more like the defenders are the ones who are a bit insecure and needing of validation....
Re: Anyone else giving natural birth?