Feminism

Imagine the scene of a pregnant mother giving birth. Chances are, you are visualizing a woman lying back, legs spread, and pushing hard to bring the newborn into the world. But that’s neither the only way for a woman to deliver a baby, nor necessarily the most comfortable.

Media is partly to blame for perpetuating this on-the-back-only myth. In a study, titled “How to Give Birth – According to Hollywood,” lying on the back is the dominant birthing position in films recommended for pregnant women across multiple search lists. Among the top five mainstream films on the list, only one of eight birth scenes showed a mother delivering not lying back. And in that lone scene where a woman gives birth in a bear-crawl position, the film’s characters find her to be “crazy” and “disgusting.”

It is physiologically possible for women to deliver standing, sitting, squatting, kneeling, or on all-fours. More importantly, many women aren’t aware that they have options — and should be given the power to choose.