The NCT pushes ‘natural birth’ too hard, but we have a lot to thank it for | Letters

Another article about how birth has been hijacked by some cult focused on how women should live their lives (‘Women made to feel like failures if they haven’t had a “normal” birth’: how the NCT has shaped birth in the UK, 27 August).

A healthy, uneventful pregnancy is no indication that birth will follow the same pattern. When it comes to pushing a fully formed human being through a narrow tunnel, things can go wrong very quickly. When that happens, we need professionals to make sure that mother and baby have the best possible experience under the circumstances. There is no room for a stubborn, idealistic response when intervention is the only way to save the day. Birth is messy and painful, and it is cruel to make women believe that they have failed when they need help to cope.

When I had my first child in the early 80s, my midwife recommended a good book that covered the process from conception to birth and also went into great detail about what can go wrong. That was a godsend because when things got a bit awful, I knew what was going on and why. Women need to know this because how else can they understand what is normal and what to expect?

When it comes to bringing life into the world, know that it’s not going to be done by the rules. To make it as safe as possible, we need to move away from fanaticism and instead respond directly to what we see in front of us. So tell women what can go wrong, tell them that pain relief is not an excuse, tell them that breastfeeding doesn’t always work and that bottle feeding is fine, listen to their fears and don’t dismiss them, and stop making them feel guilty.
Michelle Gibson
Cambridge

The NCT did much to improve the lot of pregnant women in the late 1960s and 1970s. When my first baby was born in 1975, my husband was allowed to be present at the birth thanks to the York branch of the NCT.

Women were subjected to ultra-medicalized obstetrics. We lay on our backs, episiotomies were the norm, as was the mandatory dose of castor oil followed by an enema. The NCT fought tirelessly for more relaxed births and a relaxation of the four-hour feeding routines.

I am so grateful to the NCT. Of course there are still huge dangerous imperfections and tragedies, but don’t blame an organization that has done so much for women. I still use my “NCT breath and chant” when I have serious dental work done.
Janet Mansfield
Alteyrac, Chirac, France