Your Body Knows How to Birth: Reclaiming Trust in the Natural Birth Process
Your body knows how to birth. This foundational truth has been lost in a system that often fears birth more than it trusts it. In this powerful conversation with Dr. Stu, a community birth physician and advocate for home birth, we examine how our culture has shifted from honoring birth as a natural, God-designed process to viewing it as a risky event requiring control and intervention.
The Rising C-Section Rates—and What They Reveal
Since 1970, C-section rates in the United States have increased from 5% to 32%—a 500% jump. Yet there’s been no corresponding improvement in maternal or infant outcomes. According to the World Health Organization, the ideal C-section rate should fall between 10–15%. That means hundreds of thousands of surgical births every year may be unnecessary. Still, few doctors will admit they’ve performed an unnecessary procedure.
Dr. Stu sheds light on this cognitive dissonance within the medical field: “Every doctor thinks their C-sections are necessary, yet half of them statistically are not.” This contradiction reflects a broken system, one that prioritizes fear and control over trust and intuition.
Midwifery Model vs. Medical Model: Two Different Worlds
One of the most impactful contrasts in this episode is between the midwifery model and the traditional medical model. The midwifery model trusts the birth process. It accepts uncertainty, supports physiological labor, and honors the mother’s intuition. Appointments are longer, postpartum care is frequent, and support is deeply personalized.
By contrast, the hospital model typically offers short prenatal visits, rotating medical staff, and minimal postpartum follow-up—often just one appointment at six weeks. This fragmented care leaves many mothers feeling unsupported and unsure, especially in those critical early days.
Dr. Stu emphasizes that your body knows how to birth—just as water finds its way around a leaf, the birthing body adapts naturally when allowed to do so. But when we interfere prematurely, we disrupt that natural rhythm, creating complications and long-term effects.
How to Know if You’re Receiving Supportive Care
Dr. Stu offers a simple but powerful tip: evaluate how you feel after every prenatal appointment. Do you walk away feeling more empowered or more anxious? Are your questions heard or brushed aside? This emotional feedback is a guide—follow it.
Even if you’re planning a hospital birth, consider working with a midwife throughout your pregnancy. Midwives are experts in physiological birth and can offer emotional, nutritional, and spiritual support. Whether you choose a home, birth center, or hospital delivery, midwifery care can help restore the experience to what it was meant to be: sacred, natural, and deeply connected.
Birth as God Designed It
At The Radiant Mission, we believe that God designed the female body with wisdom and intention. Psalm 139 reminds us: “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” Trusting in that design—especially during birth—honors both the physical and spiritual beauty of motherhood.
This conversation with Dr. Stu calls us back to that truth. Your body knows how to birth. Let’s stop doubting it and start supporting it—with providers who trust the process, offer compassion, and believe in the miraculous design God created.
Watch or Listen
The Radiant Mission Podcast | Episode 132
Host: Rebecca Twomey @theradiantmission
Guest: Dr. Stu @birthinginstincts
Thank you for listening to The Radiant Mission podcast! We are on a mission to encourage and inspire you on your walk with Christ and as you journey through life.
In Episode 132, Dr. Stu shares why your body knows how to birth—and how trusting it can transform your birth experience.
Bible Verses Mentioned:
- Numbers 6:24-26: “May The Lord bless you and keep you; may he make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; may he lift up His countenance upon you, and grant you peace.”
Resources & Support:
- Learn more about Dr. Stu
- The Highwire with Del Bigtree
- Healing Birth Podcast
- Follow the Radiant Mission on Facebook
- Subscribe to The Radiant Mission on YouTube
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