What do you mean by "normal" birth?
We use the term normal birth to mean labour and birth without medical interventions. Other ways we might refer to this are natural birth, physiological birth or straightforward vaginal birth.
Why did you decide to use the term normal birth rather than any of the others?
We decided to use this term as it has been defined by a consumer organisation. The Association for Improvements in Maternity Services (AIMS) has defined normal birth as "a physiological birth where the baby is delivered vaginally following a labour which has not been altered by technological interventions".30 Specifically excluded from their definition are women who have had artificial rupture of membranes, induction or acceleration of drugs, epidural anaesthesia or episiotomy. We are aware that the term 'normal birth' is not necessarily helpful for women. You can see more discussion of this here.
If you are using the AIMS definition of normal birth, why does the normal birth rate on this website include women who have had acceleration of labour ?
Our normal birth rate is published nationally by the the Information Centre where it is called the 'normal delivery rate'. The Information Centre uses information collected from individual maternity units to calculate this. Because of the way these records are filled in by the hospitals it is not possible to identify the number of women who had acceleration of labour. At BirthChoiceUK we think that this data should be collected, and when it is, it should be included in the calculation of the normal birth rate. At the moment we don't know by how much we are overestimating the normal birth rate because of this.
For the years 2001 and 2002, normal delivery rates were not published nationally, but BirthChoiceUK was able to calculate them using data obtained from the Department of Health Statistics Division. For more information about how the BirthChoiceUK normal birth rate was calculated in 2001 and 2002, click here.
I was induced and then went on to have a fantastic labour and birth experience. How can you tell me that I didn't have a normal birth?
The term normal birth is not meant to be judgmental in any way. We are instead trying to produce some measure of how much technological intervention is currently used in birth. These statistics of course do not tell us anything about a woman's experience of birth which is likely to be of far more importance to her than whether she was induced or had an epidural or had her waters broken. It is hoped that every woman can have a fulfilling and positive experience of birth regardless of the interventions she has received. This is, of course, much harder to measure!
What is the point of producing a normal birth rate for individual hospitals then?
The BirthChoiceUK website provides information to women to help them make maternity choices which will result in the birth experience they wish. Producing normal birth rates can give out more information about a hospital to help women make those choices. Women who are hoping for a straightforward vaginal birth may find it useful to know what proportion of women have this at local hospitals. It is also useful for maternity units themselves to compare their normal birth rates with other units to see if they can increase the number of women who have a normal birth, by reducing levels of unnecessary intervention.
What are the advantages of a normal birth?
These can be found on our Normal Birth Research Summary.
How can women increase their chances of having a birth with no medical interventions?
Please read our article written by midwife Jilly Rosser, Helping yourself to a straightforward birth.
Return to the Normal Birth Pages.
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