Member-only story
What Physiological Birth Feels Like
A story about my smooth experience enhanced by my fascination for the biology of birth.
A few necessary disclaimers:
1. I am not an obstetrician or a midwife.
2. Maybe this story will sound exotic to you if your healthcare system encourages physiological childbirth. In France, childbirth is funded by our healthcare system, which is amazing, but you need to be extra motivated to find care teams who will encourage you down the physiological path because there is a common belief that it is too risky. Medically assisted childbirth is also easier to cadence when you have low human resources in hospitals, which sadly is the case here.
3. This story could be challenging to read when natural childbirth is or has been out of reach for you for medical reasons, because you tried but couldn’t, or because it was something you experienced but didn’t choose. If this is too much to handle, feel free to stop here, I value people’s mental health more than reach.With all that in mind, my experience of a very bearable physiological childbirth is quite uncommon at least here in France, which is why I’m opening up about it. If you want to cut to the chase, you can jump to the section called “Oxytocin vs Cortisol”
