More about normal birth

I recently read on the Passion for Birth blog that the Maternity Care Working Party in the UK has a new consensus statement called Making Normal Birth a Reality. It is difficult to arrive at a consense definition of normal birth (which I define as “physiological birth”). They describe it as a women whose labor ”starts spontaneously, progresses spontaneously without drugs, and who give birth spontaneously.” There is a lot of room in each of these for some interventions (such as electronic fetal monitoring) that many activists would argue impede the progress of normal, physiological, naturally progressing birth. However, it is nice to see the emphasis on spontaneity and also to see what other countries are doing/saying about protecting and promoting normal birth.