Starting from least medically intervened options to the most medicalised:
1) Least medicalised
- Physiological, Unassisted – vaginal birth, with no medical interventions, no pain relief.
- Free birth – vaginal birth with no medical or midwifery assistance.
- Home birth – vaginal birth at home, generally with the assistance of a midwife or birth doula.
- Water birth – vaginal birth in a body of water, like a pool.
2) Somewhat medicalised
- Assisted vaginal delivery – done via forceps or vacuum extraction. Having an epidural, any pain relief meds or induced labour also falls under this category.
- VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Caesarean) – this is where the woman can deliver her baby vaginally though she’s birthed her previous baby via a c-section. This process is generally monitored by an obstetrician. HBAC (home birth after ceaserean) is another subset of this.
3) Fully medicalised
- C-section or caesarean birth – an obstetrician delivers the baby through surgical incisions made in the mother’s abdomen and uterus. This is major abdominal surgery, and it can either be planned (aka elective) or unplanned (aka emergency).
PROS AND CONS:
The benefits of any of the vaginal approaches are:
- faster recovery
- lower rates of infection
- babies have a stronger immune system
The benefits of a C-section are:
- less risk of baby having trauma or being in distress
- possible lower risk of pelvic organ prolapse or pelvic floor dysfunction leading to incontinence or pain during sex
The cons of any of the vaginal approaches are:
- higher risk of pelvic organ prolapse or pelvic floor dysfunction leading to incontinence or pain during sex
- risk of perineal tearing
The cons of a C-section are:
- longer time to recover
- higher risk of infection
- possible risk of injury to bowel or bladder
- abdominal adhesions
You can always prepare and arm yourself and your support team with tools and practices to aid recovery, no matter the birth type!