Yes, C-Sections Are Real Births
As a birth doula, I spend many of my days attending births, talking with clients about birth, keeping up on current birth practices and recommendations, and being asked questions about birth.
One of the concepts that’s been floating around for years is the perception that a c-section is not a “real” birth, and/or that it’s a lesser form of giving birth the “real” way (a vaginal delivery after a certain number of hours in labor).
Some keep this concept alive less blatantly by saying that a mother missed out by not experiencing a vaginal delivery, or by automatically following a mom’s mention of having a c-section with, “Oh, I’m sorry that happened to you.” Others perpetuate this concept by stating so more overtly, such as the birth photographer whose response to a potential client’s request went viral last year. This photographer responded to her prospective client via text message with, “A surgery isn’t birth, my dear. You aren’t giving birth. You are having surgery to remove your baby from your abdomen. That is not birth no matter how you swing it and I for one don’t want to be there to take pictures of it.” To make matters worse, this photographer continued with, “If you decide to give motherhood a go from the get and have an actual birth let me know and we can schedule your session. This motherhood job is hard, if I were you I would think twice about starting such a job by cutting corners so early in the game.” If this photographer’s viewpoint were completely unheard of, I would’ve finished the article and gone on a rant in my head about how ridiculous it is, and gone on with my day. But this is a concept I hear regularly, in many different forms, and I feel like I can’t stay silent any longer.
From a medical perspective, there are many reasons women have c-sections, and often, the reason is to save the life of the baby, the mother, or both – a reason I’d like to assume we can all get behind. And yes, there are some women, who for very personal reasons, opt for a C-section without it being medically necessary. Ask any woman who has had a c-section, whatever the reason, and she will likely tell you that recovering from major abdominal surgery is long, difficult, and painful – and about as far as you can get from “easy” or “lazy” (both terms often used to pejoratively describe a c-section delivery).
Regardless of the reason why a woman has a c-section, and more so, regardless of how any woman gives birth, why are we shaming them?
I have seen countless births – unmedicated, medicated, long, short, first births, fourth births, planned c-sections, emergency c-sections, births in water, births at home, births at many different hospitals – and no two have been even close to identical, because no mom or baby is the same. And no mom should feel that they are lesser because their birth experience was different than someone else’s. It’s likely clear by now that I vehemently disagree with this photographer’s opinion that a C-section is not an “actual birth.” There was a baby on the inside, and now there’s a baby on the outside. Some women need more assistance getting pregnant and some women need more assistance in giving birth.
I urge us to be aware of our own biases and instead of shaming women about how their baby emerged from their bodies, we acknowledge how incredibly lucky we are that we have options and we focus on celebrating the mother and baby. No mom needs our pity regarding how they gave birth, but all moms can use our recognition and support.
