Author Archives: Jennifer Zimmerman

The language we use gives an impression of our knowledge on a given subject. Certain subcultures often use words that have special meaning only to them. The best example is local dialects. Here in Minnesota, we call soda, “pop”. We say things like “uffdah” and “ish”, which I am told most of the country is not privy to the meanings of. It is like this amongst the natural childbirth community as well. We are a subculture, and we use words amongst ourselves that have meaning only to us, or that mean something different to us then they do to others.

When this happens within subcultures, one can forget that the majority of people don’t use those words, or don’t use them in the same way. In extreme cases, it can even be difficult to communicate with people outside of your subculture about your subculture. A good example of this would be trying to explain the Star Trek universe to a non-Trekkie. Whether you are a Trekkie or not, I think you’ll know what I mean. Birth advocates must be mindful of this when representing their stand to the mainstream culture.

Certain words originate in a subculture and make their way into the mainstream culture, usually because there is no other term for it otherwise. A word that originates this way (among other ways) is called a “neologism”. If a word or phrase is going to originate from the natural birth community, ideally it should be clear and obvious and should not have any other meanings attached to it.

There are also words that have been shunned by certain subcultures, and replacements have been invented. In the natural birth community we could site “yoni” as an example of this phenomenon. These words are used as advocacy tools themselves. “Yoni” is used in place of “vagina” because that word’s origin was deemed unacceptable by some. Using these words with the general public usually wont have the intended effect. They can make the speaker seem uneducated or folksy. The audience usually will not understand the intended lesson meant for them.

Am I saying that we should abandoned our vernacular? No, not at all. It brings people together as a community when they share a language, or a dialect. We can use these terms amongst ourselves all we want. We do need to be careful, though, when we are facing the mainstream culture and taking our message of birth advocacy to them. We don’t want any confusion. We want to be clear about what we mean and what we say and how we say it.

With that in mind, lets examine some of the words or phrases that are used within the natural birth community. Some of these words or phrases are used in the mainstream culture as well, but the natural birth community uses them differently.

Let’s start at the beginning:

Birth

Birth is straightforward enough, right? You would think, however, we use this word differently then the mainstream culture, and notably incorrect. We say “my birth” or “your birth” as in “my birth was fast” or “its your birth”. We have to remember that mainstream culture doesn’t often talk this way. Also, it is incorrect english. In the examples above, what you are really referring to is when you yourself were born, not when you gave birth. The mainstream culture would say, “my labor was fast” or “when I gave birth, it went really fast”. This is a distinct difference and one that can cause some confusion if we forget who we are talking to.

Natural Childbirth

This was a term that was created in retrospect, which is called a retronym. Examples of retronyms are “acoustic guitar”, “snail mail”, or “cloth diaper”. After analgesics started to be used in most childbirths in this country, the term “natural childbirth” was coined to refer to drug-free births. Sadly, after using this term exclusively to mean “drug-free childbirth” for decades, the natural childbirth community seems to be loosing their descriptive term. The mainstream culture now terms any non-cesarean birth as a “natural birth”. Apparently, they can’t get the words “vaginal birth” out of their mouths or typed across their computer screens, so they had to steal a term that already had a well established meaning in both the natural childbirth community and in mainstream culture. As a birth advocate, if you use the term “natural childbirth” now, you run the risk of not being clear enough. The term “drug-free” may start to replace it as time goes on. If so, the good thing about this change is that women who had interventions will not feel the implication that their births were “unnatural”.

Birth Trauma

Within the natural childbirth community, “birth trauma” often refers to the emotional trauma that some women may suffer after a challenging birth. The hard part about using “birth trauma” to describe emotional suffering from childbirth, is that the term was already quite common in mainstream culture to describe a physically traumatic childbirth that results in injury, usually to the baby. For example, chiropractors often use the term “birth trauma” when talking about babies that need chiropractic adjustments after a difficult birth. The term “birth trauma” alone can therefore be confusing to anyone who has not heard it applied to the emotional trauma after a difficult birth. I often wish this term could be clarified by tacking on the word “emotional” to the front of it, because I don’t think it is specific enough to be understood by all.

Birth rape

Birth rape is a term that has been embraced by an even smaller sector of the natural childbirth community. Some women who have experienced birth trauma, of the emotional sort, have elected to refer to their experience as a “birth rape”. A birth rape is a very specific type of birth trauma. This word falls into the category of a word used as an advocacy tool itself. Whether the word has the intended effect is debatable, but it does describe something that no other word does. It describes being mistreated or abused while giving birth, whereas “birth trauma” can also happen from a painful birth, a physically difficult birth, or a birth that triggers a past trauma. I personally wish there was a gentler term that had the same meaning, as this can be a bit abrasive to the mainstream culture who has never heard it before, yet “birth trauma” does not feel specific enough when one was abused while giving birth.

Childbirth Education

This term is straight forward enough, and carries meaning in the mainstream culture as well as the natural childbirth community. However, the natural childbirth community uses nuances of the word “education” to mean different things. In other words, there is education and there is “education”. I see the term as having three meanings. Mainstream culture would likely tell you that childbirth education is hospital-sponsored childbirth classes that teach women and their partners about what to expect during labor and birth and during their stay in the hospital. Then there are natural birth advocates who will tell you that “educating” yourself means learning about childbirth from multiple sources; mainly books, videos, and private (non-hospital based) childbirth classes. This type of education is really referring to “preparedness” which includes preparing physically, mentally, and emotionally for labor and birth. Then there is the last type of “education” and that refers to learning about the selected provider, hospital or birth center, and medical interventions and procedures. This would include learning the ins and outs of the hospital system and how to navigate it, learning the intervention rates for a given provider or facility, and making choices of what you personally want based on the things you have learned, and then in turn teach your support team how to advocate for your choices. All three of these types are often referred to by the natural childbirth community as “education”, but the first type is all the mainstream culture registers when the term “education” is used. I wish we had three different commonly used terms for the things I mentioned above, such as “childbirth education”, “childbirth preparation” and, hmm that last one is hard…”maternity care preparation”? “Maternity care education”?

This is just a sampling of some of the words that I thought of that would make good examples. I am sure there are many more. Whatever words we use, we want to avoid confusion and clarify our meaning when needed. It is good to always keep in mind that the mainstream culture doesn’t always understand the natural childbirth community’s lingo. In some cases, certain words may sound shocking, silly, or unclear to them. If we receive this type of reception to the words we use, it will get us nowhere. We want our words to have meaning, carry our message, and be understood and well received. Thinking before we speak and choosing our words carefully is always good practice in any case. Remembering that we are not always speaking to people within our subculture may help us to become more effective birth advocates.
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