The meaning of natural childbirth.
The term "natural childbirth" encompasses a variety of methods, including the Lamaze, Bradley, and home-birth approaches, which place more or less reliance on medical technology. Aristotle's analysis of three levels of human activity--digestion and reproduction, perception and locomotion, and abstract thinking--and Pellegrino and Thomasma's classification of the "living body," "lived body," and "lived self," provide a principled framework in which each of these childbirth practices can be considered natural.
Cosans
Chris
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Philosophy Department, Hanover College, Hanover, IN 47243, USA. philoanat@aol.com
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009321:Natural Childbirth / Q000379:methods; D010686:Philosophy, Medical; D011247:Pregnancy; D014481:United States