Before pregnancy, I was wary of any fetishization of the “natural.” I was aware that “natural” as a label was a misnomer, frequently used to sell products or to promote nostalgic yearning, rather than to refer to anything real or tangible. I liked evidence, data and research. I was suspicious of ideology, of fantasies that concealed old lies. But I also wanted a birth that I could control in some way. So I was attracted to the idea of a “natural birth” without pain relief. Looking back, now, I realize how potent the ideology is, and how it intersects powerfully with broader ideas about how
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