Birth is a natural, normal healthy human experience.
Women’s bodies are created to conceive, nurture the development of babies and to birth. Their bodies are not flawed and destined to malfunction. In the absence of special circumstances, healthy women and their healthy babies deserve to be attended in a nurturing manner consistent with the status of their health.
Families wishing to experience natural, unmedicated birth should be supported in their decision and encouraged through care and information to view birth as a positive, natural and even joyous experience. Their births should be allowed to naturally unfold in their own time, without undue chemical, chronological or emotional manipulation.
Healthy women preparing for normal birth should be spared fear-provoking and intimidating discussions of abnormalities and dangers in the absence of any medical indications of such.Women, their partners and their babies are the principal players in this most significant experience. They deserve to be listened to and acknowledged as an integral part of the birthing care team.
Pregnant couples should be encouraged to ask questions and express their wishes or concerns. They deserve to receive answers from their care providers that enhance their confidence and esteem as parents. Threats, sarcasm or other means of intimidation have no place in a nurturing caregiver/family environment.
