I like issues like this one where there are divergent and interesting viewpoints, but about which there is no solid “ruling.” One thing that I have found interesting in the Jewish Community in Jerusalem (I don’t know how it is elsewhere) is the number of people who are involved in the Natural Childbirth Movement. Like Vegetarianism, I am not solidly dedicated to the principle of Natural Childbirth, but I am nonetheless interested in hearing from those who are. However, I don’t think there are rabbis out there who are going to rule on one side or the other about natural childbirth (although the Chief Rabbi of a major city was going to rule against home birth because he felt it was unsafe, but his Rebbe told him to allow women to make their own decision on this issue). However, it is fascinating how women have adopted various Jewish viewpoints on childbirth.
Much of what I have learned about the Jewish view of natural childbirth comes from friends, mentors and books such as Chana Weisberg’s Expecting Miracles (Urim). There is no one Jewish view on this issue, even among the most stolid Orthodox. There are a small minority of women who believe that a woman should avoid epidurals because of the verse in Bereshit (Genesis) “In pain shall you bear children.” Rabbi Manis Friedman has said, this was meant to be a curse, and a curse is contrary to nature. Women should not have pain bearing children, and anything that G-d allows into the world to lessen the pain of labor is proof that Hashem is slowly removing the curse as the Age of the Messiah arrives. However, this isn’t to suggest that women who are firmly against the use of epidurals believe in experiencing the pain; Lamaze, water and aromatherapy are also used to ease the pain, but in a more “natural” way.
I have heard women say that pain is an essential part of childbirth, and since the era before Messiah comes is called “the birth pangs of Messiah,” feeling this pain is part of the experiencing the birth and the coming of the Messiah. While I agree more with Rabbi Friedman’s view, that pain relief is evidence of Hashem’s mercy before the Messiah arrives, I understand this view and respect women who feel that experiencing pain makes them feel more connected to birth. My personal opinion is that not all women have the choice of a natural birth. In my own experience, I had an extremely long labor for the first birth, and they gave me pitocin to “speed it up” because I hadn’t slept for two nights because of contractions. With pitocin, an epidural was, we felt, essential. Although I understand that natural birth is probably the best option, it significant to note that the rabbis have not ruled on this issue, because every women and pregnancy is different. Judaism accounts for the broad spectrum of human experience.