Birthing

I just watched The Business of Being Born, a movie that I would recommend to all women intending to have children. Even if natural childbirth is "not for you", I think being informed is important, and unfortunately, a lot of the women that I know are not informed. Some of them would like a "natural" childbirth, but have never seen one and have no idea how to go about it. Others are making decisions about their body and their baby without getting all of the facts. Epidurals relieve pain, but they also slow labor. Getting one intervention often leads to more interventions. I, personally, think that hospitals are for sick people, and birthing is not an illness. OB-GYNs are trained surgeons, and most of them are excellent at what they are trained to do and I am glad they are there for when we need C-sections. I just think we have way too many unnecessary interventions, and too many of us say "yes" when our consent isn't actually informed. I watched the nurses hang IV bags without talking to me, assume that I had an epidural and blood pressure medication, and act as if first baby automatically equalled an unbearably and unacceptably long labor, among other things. I think we should be able to take advantage of the advances in technology and medicine without disregarding centuries of birthing knowledge and experience.