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I consider it without meds. I had an epidural and I don't say I had a natural birth.

I consider it with or without meds because it's vaginal. Whereas c sec is not natural.

@Honeybee: agree!

If the baby comes out of the vagina, I consider it natural. A c-section is major surgery and definitely not what nature intended!

@Honeybee: I actually agree with you and need to start changing the way that I say things. I usually say natural birth when referring to birth without pain meds. But, I think that would really be NO interventions. I am being induced today and hope to have a pain med free birth, but will have some induction medicines so I won't really be having a natural birth.

I always thought natural birth meant no epidural and a vaginal birth. I thought natural means you feel and push the baby without meds.

Now, I'm not so sure.

Now that I'm on this HB, I realized that they give you meds when you are induced. Also there are different kinds of pain medication. I thought there were pain meds that allowed you to feel some of the pain.

My mom and sister had a natural birth but I'm not sure if they ever had to be induced.

I think "natural" means med free. Vaginal birth with meds/induction I consider just a "vaginal birth."

If vaginal birth with meds/induction is "natural," then what do you call a med-free birth?

Depends on the context. I have definitely heard, "Natural or c-section" but also "natural or epidural?"

So... what if it's without epidural but with some different pain medicine?

@Mrsdaredevil: It's also a natural birth...and also, as you said, med-free.

My reasoning is based on what @Arden said. Having drugs involved in your birth doesn't make it unnatural. Birth is inherently natural.

There are plenty of old fashioned ways women used to induce labor or manage pain, but that didn't make the births unnatural!

I always thought natural meant med-free.

When I hear people say "natural" IRL or online, I assume they mean completely pain-med/induction-med free.

I don't really like the term "natural" either, since it implies other methods are inferior (like all the recent backlash against c-sections), and because although its obviously the way we bring more little people into the world, I don't think birth is very natural in general, considering how many women it kills every year. Seems like there should be a better way, or that a "natural" thing wouldn't be so dangerous.

I always assumed natural to be vaginal with no meds. I never ask another mother how their baby came into this world, just in case they get offended or had some bad experience they'd rather not talk about. I let them decide when they want to discuss it, but happily share my son's birth experience.

I am not comfortable saying "vaginal" birth to people so my instinct would be to say natural birth. I do expect to get an epidural (knowing my pain tolerance) and will say I had a natural birth, if asked. If asked about pain meds, I will say that I did have them.

I can understand how people who have natural birth with no pain meds may think that is not the right thing to say but, if that's the case, what are you supposed to say to a co-worker who asks, what type of birth did you have? I'm certainly not saying vaginal to them.

To me, natural birth is the baby coming out of the area that nature intended, with or without pain meds. I think this is one of those that may not have a good answer to it.

I consider a natural birth to be a vaginal birth without pain medication.