General

When I was pregnant with my first child I asked my grandmother about childbirth, if I should take pain relief or not. She said at first that it was okay not to, that I'd soon forget the pain. Then her eyes glazed over. She sat motionless for a few seconds and then reanimated. She turned to be with a kind of imperative I'd not seen in her eyes before. "Take the drugs, sweetie, take everything they'll give you." Best Grandma advice I ever got. Period.

General

Childbirth has always been dangerous. That it is natural means little. It is also very natural for mother or baby to not make it. That is why we made so much progress in medicine for the safe delivery of babies. I realise that there is a huge natural birth lobby out there, but I'd be dead if I'd listened to them and my second and third children wouldn't exist. So, if you can go to a hospital to deliver, go. It is safer.

General

In childbirth the vagina and labia can rip. They often do. That's pain in addition to the contractions. Women who chose pain relief should be supported in that choice. To do this without such is medieval.