I was just thinking of this topic this morning; a friend had posted on FB that her daughter had been in labor 30 hours and the midwife was “considering” sending her to the hospital. It made me sad for her, that she’d let herself suffer for so long. Too many women seem think there is some sort of award for going through natural childbirth or avoiding a C-section, and it’s always felt to me that childbirth is just the first of the many competitions that mothers have with each other. Surviving pain does not make you better than other women, and it does not make you a better mother; it just makes your hospital bill cheaper.