Celebrating World Physiological Birth Week
This week is the very first ever World Physiological Birth Week - a week dedicated to celebrating, educating and spreading awareness of physiological birth. To mark the occasion I wanted to share some of my own thoughts on physiological birth and in particular, on hypnobirthing and the services I offer in relation to both physiological birth and also other types of birth.
This is something I have pondered a lot since starting my hypnobirthing business. I say ‘hypnobirthing is for every type of birth’ but I’m also so passionate about protecting physiological birth and so vocal against the unnecessary interventions that occur day in day out within the maternity system. Do I really mean it when I say it’s for any birth? Can the two things really be aligned? And can hypnobirthing really help prepare for a physiological birth?
I often hear it touted that hypnobirthing is only for ‘natural birth’ and for that reason it can set women up for disappointment or even trauma if they don’t experience the type of birth they wanted. It’s a really important conversation to have and I would go as far to say that actually, if by ‘natural birth’ we are talking about truly physiological birth not only is hypnobirthing not ‘only’ for that type of birth it simply is not enough! I’m not trying to do myself out of clients here but it’s important to me to be honest.
So what actually is physiological birth?
What does that mean? It’s not just about vaginal birth, it’s about every single element of the birth process being left to happen on its own, in its own time, without any interference or intervention whatsoever. Birth the way it was designed to be, the way it has been done for thousands of years and what our bodies were designed to do.
Is this the type of birth everyone should strive for? There are certainly enormous benefits on the health and well-being (short and long term) for both mum and baby. But I think this is really a question for you to consider - is physiological birth something you truly want and more importantly something you are willing to work for? If the answer to that question is yes, then you should absolutely embrace this and do the work. Don’t ever buy into the narrative that it’s an impossible dream. But lets get it straight, birthing in this way, despite it being what our bodies are designed to do, is just not the norm these days. So if it’s what you really want you are going to have to dig really deep and question absolutely everything you think you know about birth, every element of your maternity care and you are going to have to be assertive and say NO - A LOT!
As an example of how rare physiological birth is these days, here are the NHS Lothian stats for August 2023. As you can see, the spontaneous vaginal delivery rate is 40% of births. So 40% born vaginally. And then that doesn’t take into account other things that might have taken place in those births, they may have been induced, there may have been augmentation (basically things done to move the labour along) and the delivery of the placenta may have been managed - we know from other stats for example that the physiological delivery of the placenta sits at around 3-5%. Those things might have been done for good reasons, or they might not have, but this clearly shows that the odds of a fully physiological birth are very much stacked against you and if this is the type of birth you really want, you need to know this and understand how to overcome the barriers. There might of course be circumstances where the barriers to this type of birth are not possible to overcome for the safety of yourself or your baby, please know that these are extremely rare, you should always question everything even when there are potential health concerns.
So can hypnobirthing help? I think it can certainly lay a foundation by giving you more of an understanding of how birth works, how to not be scared of it, instilling calm and confidence in you and empowering you to make decisions and navigate different challenges and choices. But there is so much more to be done than simply attending a course. I’ve heard it described as taking ‘radical responsibility’ and that’s exactly what is needed for those wishing to birth in this way in modern society. What I can’t do is promise that you are likely to achieve physiological birth (if its what you want) within the current maternity care system simply by practising hypnobirthing - because that would be setting you up with an unrealistic expectation. Its not impossible, but the odds are definitely not in your favour. What I I can help you with is providing resources and information and really importantly, signposting you to other sources of information and support to give yourself the best possible chance of the birth you really want. That’s where the ongoing support from me after your hypnobirthing course is really beneficial.
So what about other types of birth? Is physiological birth the ‘ideal’ and are other types of birth then inferior? My honest and genuine view on this is that the right type of birth is the one that is right for you and your individual circumstances. It shouldn’t be about what you think you should want (or what others think is important). And it definitely shouldn’t be about what is most convenient for your healthcare providers. If you want a physiological birth I’m there for you, if you want a caesarean birth I’m there for you and for every type of birth in between I’m there for you - and I believe hypnobirthing will benefit you. The follow up work and support I will signpost you for each of those choices will look very different but no matter what, I am all about empowering you to do birth (and motherhood) on your own terms.
No matter what your choices are, I still think it’s important for you to know about physiological birth and how it works. Why? Because to understand how your body is designed to work to birth your baby also opens up a whole new understanding of the impact of the decisions you might choose or need to make and the things you might be offered in your pregnancy and birth. Any and all intervention changes that physiological process, sometimes that impact can be small and sometimes it can be huge. Sometimes its needed, for example in a true emergency situation, and sometimes it’s not and is purely based on policy or care provider convenience. To make fully informed choices it’s important to understand those impacts, then you can decide for yourself what is right for you.
So my position on it is we absolutely should celebrate and promote physiological birth, because actually its really important for all types of birth and is the only real way we can ensure women understand and are supported in their choices. I would love to know your thoughts on this, especially if you have a particular type of birth in mind.
Mandy x
PS - you can follow along with all of the World Physiological Birth Week posts and updates over on Instagram.
