Tag: birth

Q: Why do some women have vaginal births and others have C-sections?

A: Obviously, vaginal births are the more natural, and therefore the more preferred option for delivering a baby.  However,  30% of all births in the US are done by C-section.  This can happen for a number of reasons:

1) If it is determined that health of the mother or baby would be threatened by a vaginal birth more than by a C-section.

2) If during labor and vaginal birth, complications develop, doctors may decide to switch to a C-section to alleviate the complications.

3) If a woman wants to plan exactly when she will have her baby, she may schedule a C-section for that time.

C-sections are considered major surgery and so they are not without risk.  Any decisions about whether a woman should deliver her baby via vaginal birth or C-section should be made in consultation with her doctor, mid-wife, or other birthing specialist.

Q: Why does a C-section count as not being born of woman?

A: This question comes from reading Shakespeare’s play Macbeth.  It does feel like a “cheat” to many, but if you think about the words of the witches’ prophecy, it’s technically true.  To be “born of woman” can also be interpreted as to be delivered through the birth canal (the vagina) and to literally come out the opening designed for birth.  To be born by a C-section (which means opening up the woman’s abdomen, cutting through the uterus and removing the baby) does not fit the “natural” definition of being “born of woman”.  Yes, Macduff had a mother and she gave birth to him, but not in what would be considered by those pesky Elizabethans a “natural” way.