PROS OF NATURAL BIRTH

■ It helps switch on certain primitive reflexes in the newborn.

■ Spontaneous vaginal birth involves less risk overall than caesarean delivery or assisted vaginal birth. If there are no clear and compelling reasons for you to consider a caesarean or the help of vacuum or forceps extraction, a spontaneous vaginal birth is likely to be the safest and most satisfying option for you and your unborn baby.

■ Birth, no matter how it happens, is the first intense emotional and physical experience that a baby will have, and a newborn needs to be placed back with his mother as soon as possible after delivery. Caesarean babies need skinon-skin contact even more than babies born by vaginal birth, especially if there has been no labour beforehand. ●