Natural Birth in a Hospital Setting: An Oxymoron?

A growing number of women desire a natural birth but only want to do so with the perceived safety of a hospital setting. Does this defeat the purpose of natural birth?

Perhaps as a result of internet and social media influence, women are becoming more and more intrigued by the beauty of natural birth, as well as the side effects and potential dangers of birth interventions, and the normalcy of the birth process as a whole. Seeing more and more natural birth has spurred a revival of the inner-knowing women were born with but have lost sight of over time. It is a beautiful thing and a win for women everywhere.   

Women who feel the pull to reclaim birth may consider or plan for a “natural” birth in a hospital setting. Their reasoning is often that they want to be in the hospital in case of emergencies. Although they feel the call of unmedicated, low-intervention birth, they don’t fully trust birth as a result of a society that conditions women to fear and numb their bodies and their power. These women want the power of a physiological birth but only with the perceived safety of a hospital setting.

But the truth is, leaving the comfort of your home and stepping into a hospital setting is in itself an intervention.

What is Natural Birth?

True undisturbed physiological birth is much more than no medications or epidurals. In its purest form—and in the way birth was designed—undisturbed physiological birth occurs as a mother allows for birth to unfold completely in a quiet, calm, and private birthing space with her body and baby as the ones guiding the process. 

How Does Birthing in a Hospital Setting Impact Natural Birth?

Modern obstetrics fosters the opposite environment and has created an industry out of constant monitoring and observation of a birthing mother. Disturbances during birth such as bright lights, visits from strangers, transportation from home to hospital, and the rush of a labor and delivery room tell your body that labor needs to slow and interrupt the physiological process. While these things seem like normal and insignificant occurrences in our society, to a birthing mammal they are anything but.  

What is often forgotten in modern obstetrics is that we are mammals and thus have the same birthing instincts as other mammals. This innate birth system has evolved over tens of thousands of years and is nearly perfect—when we allow it to be.

Our mammalian bodies birth best when they retreat into a place of isolation and quiet where we feel safe, comfortable, and private. Any sense of a threat or change, whether that be a true or perceived threat, can disrupt the hormonal processes and signal our bodies to slow or stall our labor. 

Perceived threats can be as simple as a new nurse coming into the room during labor, conscious or subconscious fear of doctors, a negative association with hospitals, bright lights, beeping machines, or being told you are on a timeline. Our nervous system doesn’t differentiate between a true and perceived threat. Disturbances during a birth signal our “fight or flight” hormones which not only slow labor but also redirect blood away from the uterus and baby as it prepares the mother to flee to a place of safety. Leaving the home to birth in a hospital setting is the beginning of the distortion of physiological birth. 

It has only been in relatively recent years that we have deemed birth as a medical condition that needs saving. Prior to this, women knew. They knew of their innate ability to give birth and they trusted their bodies' instincts to do so. As renowned midwife Ina May Gaskin says:

“We are the only species of mammal that doubts our ability to give birth.”

So why does this matter? Because while women birth unmedicated in hospitals every day, honoring the way birth was designed gives us the best chance of birthing the way we envision, for optimal mother and baby bonding, and for both mothers and babies to avoid unnecessary trauma. Our DNA truly contains the blueprint of birth and the wisdom of this innate process that has been refined for thousands of generations. 

You Are Worthy of Having the Birth of Your Dreams 

If you are feeling the pull to have a transformative physiological birth experience but need the confidence and education to help get you there, our Uncovering Birth Masterclass is for you. This is a self-directed online class with elements of digital doula support to help you gain a deeper knowledge of how labor and birth work, effective relaxation techniques, how to navigate variables and unexpected scenarios through birth, nutrition and postpartum health, and much more! 

Are you processing birth trauma or looking for more comprehensive support? Schedule a bespoke prenatal consultation or one-on-one birth trauma processing session to help you navigate your thoughts and experience so that you can come back a more empowered and healed you.