Listen, I tip my hat to women who welcome natural childbirth – in the same way I like to gawk at David Blaine for freezing himself in a block of ice. But if you’re a woman who feels the need to avoid a natural childbirth – don’t feel bad. You’re taking advantage of what medicine has to offer, and it’s for your own good. And for those husbands who preach natural childbirth on their expecting wives – you guys are fools.

Know-it-all mothers continue to preach natural as the only way to have a successful conclusion to pregnancy. But we should’ve followed our senses instead of reading books. My wife and I made a decision based on sentiment and emotion, but the reality of it was something different entirely. But we won’t make that mistake again.

I accept the fact that natural childbirth has its advantages. For example, the mother bonds with her baby by sharing the trauma of entry, and the mother can (in theory) remain alert and active while pushing out the baby, which can lead to a lessened likelihood for intervention. But after my wife recently had a baby using “natural methods” without any sort of pain management other than breathing exercises, I swore I’d warn every expectant father how wrong they are for preaching natural childbirth to their wives.

Listen, the woman has her whole life to bond with her fetus, so take advantage of modern medicine and help your wife feel empowered by it. Of course, it’s her call to decide ultimately, but remember that women can be empowered by making a decision that includes pain killers.

Aren’t women bigger than just their babies? Haven’t we gotten over that as a society? Why, then, is there this guilt women find themselves feeling when other women preach natural childbirth?

We’ve come a long way when it comes to advancements in medicine. Today, women don’t have to go through what our ancestors went through when they gave birth. The scene has been portrayed in movies countless of times: she’s cursing his man for getting her pregnant, breaking the nearest arm she can get her hands on, and all the while vowing never to get pregnant again.

I can tell you that this is exactly what happened with my wife, and she says she’ll never do it again without significant scientific involvement. Spinal and epidural anesthesia block the pain in the lower half of the body where women feel it most. The shot is given around the spine. Never again will I preach natural childbirth as the way to go.

A woman’s uterus will be contracting forcefully so that you can “squeeze” your baby out. That’s the main pain experienced. In addition, muscles all over her entire pelvic and torso area will be tightening – a very painful experience. Want to know how painful childbirth is? Think of it this way: a woman’s uterus is lined with millions of nociceptors which send a signal to the brain that something painful is happening. Let’s also remember that a coin-sized hole is going to be stretched and torn just so she can push out the baby.

Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head.
– Carol Burnett

Men can’t know for sure exactly how painful it is, but it’s a tie with getting kicked in the balls. So if you’re the husband, do you really want your wife to get kicked in the balls?

Sure, there are a lot of natural methods that you can do before and during childbirth to reduce the pain. These methods include meditation, visualization, breathing exercises and hypnosis. However, these methods don’t eliminate the pain. So yeah, meditate all you want, she’s going to feel pain and blame you for it.

Critics portend that epidurals have side effects, but these are very minor. Probably, the worst risk is nerve damage, but it happens very rarely. 1 in 13,000 cases will experience permanent damage to the nerves.

These side effects are real and are valid concerns. But going back to my first point – we’ve come a long way when it comes to medicine, and doctors have developed countermeasures for these side effects. Doctors and their staff, at least the competent ones, will come prepared for every side effect known. If you trust your doctor and the hospital you’re in, side effects shouldn’t be an issue. Of course, there’s always that risk, but isn’t there a risk in everything that we do?

Natural childbirth has its own risk as well. It’s painful, and a lot of bad things can happen because of the pain your body is going through. What if the labor period is long? What if there are complications to your labor? A third of women who start out expecting a normal birth now find themselves getting caesarean sections – they’re forced to take the pain killers anyway AFTER suffering hours of labor needlessly.