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Natural childbirth will become a thing of the past
Last reviewed: 02.07.2025
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A famous obstetrician-gynecologist from France stated that in the next few decades women will finally stop giving birth to children on their own, and modern medicine will be to blame for this.
Michel Odent, a world-renowned specialist in obstetrics and gynecology, said that women are losing their natural ability to reproduce children, and this is happening due to medical advances and frequent interventions in the birth process.
Michel Odent is over 80 years old, he became famous for his invention for childbirth - birth pools. Odent also published a book "Do We Need Midwives", in which he suggested that over time, women will be able to give birth only with the help of specialists, since doctors increasingly interfere with the birth process and contribute to the rejection of natural childbirth. Also in his book, Michel Odent suggested that women will also not be able to breastfeed their children. As Dr. Odent explained, half a century ago, contractions and childbirth in women took much less time than now, in addition, at present women are prescribed various drugs for the normal course of pregnancy, and women in labor increasingly need the help of a surgeon.
To support his words, Oden cited the results of one study, according to which the first stage of labor in modern women is on average two and a half hours longer than forty years ago (in the study, specialists analyzed and compared data on women giving birth in 2002-2008 and 1959-1966).
Michel Odent emphasizes that the emerging trend can only indicate one thing: women are gradually losing their natural ability to give birth to children. According to the French specialist, the number of women who can give birth to a child on their own is becoming smaller. The obstetrician speaks negatively about the currently widespread Caesarean section births. According to statistics, in one year (from 2013 to 2014), in the UK alone, 1/4 of women in labor had a Caesarean section, and most of the surgeries were performed without medical indications. The French gynecologist also calls for abandoning the use of synthetic oxytocin to stimulate labor, in his opinion, such a practice deprives a woman's body of the ability to reproduce this hormone on its own. Oxytocin is considered the hormone of "pregnancy" (translated from Greek, it means "quick birth"). A neurobiologist from Britain has proven that this hormone causes muscle contraction (in particular, the uterus in pregnant women), and the birth of a new life in a woman’s body cannot occur without oxytocin (thanks to this hormone, spermatozoa more easily overcome the path to the egg).
A high level of this hormone in the body signals that it is time for the baby to be born. If the birth is unnatural, the mother is given synthetic oxytocin. However, a number of specialists emphasize that oxytocin produced by the body, unlike synthetic oxytocin, acts not only on the uterus, increasing its activity during labor, but also on the receptors of the brain, affecting the woman's behavior (calming and slightly anesthetizing the birth process).
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