THANK YOU. JESUS CHRIST.

Congrats, you’re the 1,000,000th person to bring up maternal mortality rates! That has nothing to do with what I said!

For the MILLIONTH time. I’m not saying that we should be giving birth the exact same way early humans did because that’s the way it’s always been. NO ONE is saying that.

It was an eyeroll at the lack of understanding on the author’s party, on the vast history of midwifery and childbirth in general, and how they affect our attitudes and practices today.

Nowhere did I say that we should be giving birth the exact same way that we did in Biblical times because that’s the way it’s always been. Nowhere.

Look, I’m not advocating for women to head for the woods at the first pangs of labor, cover themselves in healing muds and chant prayers to the pagan goddesses of childbirth. No one is advocating for that. Except maybe these Russians who give birth in the ocean.

Loove the UK maternity care system :)

Got it.

Oh it goes much further back than the Boomers! I was being sarcastic when I referenced Millennials.

I’ve read this comment about 5 times and still don’t really know what you’re trying to say.

I agree with you.

So because the US system is fucked up, the entire world’s population of midwives are all bunk witches peddling snake piss? Gotcha.

It’s super obvious that you are not current on any kind of obstetric dialogue or research or best practices at all... and I’m not going to be the one to educate you.

I’m so glad you got to have that experience! That is what my hope is for the North American obstetrics world. Women can have the best of both worlds...quickly available emergency procedures if needed, as well as the calm, trusting care of midwives. Like so many European women do already!

The way you seem to think your midwife was exceptional in her belief that women should be monitored during birth, makes me think that you’re conflating “free birth” (where the woman labors and delivers her baby without any trained persons to help or oversee the process) with plain old natural birthing. Midwives have…

You literally just described the early days of modern obstetrics when doctors forced midwives off the scene and started to attend women in hospitals (for a profit). :)

So am I! I’m glad you’re here. I’m also glad that I’m here, with my mother and two siblings. You (and most others) seem to think that I was making some sort of judgement call about the merits of interventions and medical developments in obstetrics. I’m not. All I was saying is that undisturbed, vaginal birthing is not…

I literally said nothing about the merits or lack thereof of modern medicine in obstetrics. I’m just stating that women have been birthing naturally for millennia and it’s not a new thing that people are now trying out for the first time.

I was with the author until she called natural birthing (understood to mean not at a hospital) a trend. I was expressing my general exasperation at the attitudes and ignorance in regards to birth that Jezebel spouts. I didn’t say anything about c-sections.

No. Just no. Giving birth in hospitals with doctors is a break from tradition. Women have been attended by doctors in hospitals for only a tiny portion of human history. Midwifery is an absolutely ancient profession and they had amassed an amazing amount of knowledge and insight into the birthing process. What they…