Hellobee Boards

(pain) med free vaginal delivery = "natural childbirth" to me. vaginal birth with pain meds = vaginal birth.

I think "natural" is a code word for without meds.

Med-free

There was nothing natural about my vaginal birth.

No meds!!

@lawbee11: I think some people probably say "natural birth" when referring to any vaginal birth because they don't want to use the word "vaginal"!!

To me it means med-free too

I purposely try not to use the word natural because I think it automatically puts other births in an "unnatural" box and gives them a negative connotation.
I just say "unmedicated vaginal birth", if I'm thinking about it.

I get unsure of what people mean too. I try not to say natural at all even for med-free because I think it puts a negative connotation on other types of births. So I say I had a med-free birth. I think people tend to mean they had a med-free vaginal birth when they say natural.

I think it means med free.

I like to think if a baby comes out your vag, that it is pretty natural.

I prefer terms like "medicated" and "unmedicated".

Whether medicated or not, it still came out your vajaja!

I don't usually use the term because I think it's confusing and people mean different things, so I'll say I had a med free birth (which obviously also mean vaginal). If someone asks a question (like if a friend had a baby and someone wants to know if if was c section or vaginal) I'll skirt the issue and say she didn't have a c section.

But generally if someone says they hada natural birth or are planning one I assume they mean med free (pain meds and pitocin).

I am not really a fan of that phrase, but if I heard someone else say it, I would assume they meant med-free.

@Arden: I agree!

But I also agree with @GrapeCrush: about my association with it.

When someone says "natural birth", *I* think about someone giving birth in the woods, on the ground, surrounded by "nature".

I've been around other people have used it in both contexts - medicated/medicated and vaginal/section. I don't like the term for reasons people have mentioned.

@Adira: I totally agree.

I think among my gfs, it means med-free.
If men are present, it means vaginal with or without meds.

Yes, it is childish

"Natural" to me is a med-free birth on HB,

but IRL a natural birth is just a vaginal one.

@spaniellove: I had so many stitches and PP issues that I may have been better off with a csection!

@MrsKoala: Seconded.

Not really a term I use personally - same issues with calling anything "unnatural" which has negative connotations. However, if someone asked me if I had a natural birth, I'd assume they meant unmedicated, vaginal and say no. Which yeah, led down the same line of questioning as the OP indicated. "So you had a C-section?" and then all confused when I say no to that as well. No epidural either, but I did use gas, and a local anesthetic afterward for stitches, which I think precludes me from saying I had a 100% unmedicated birth.?