Am I actually insane for believing a mama should be recognised and praised for having an unmedicated and natural birth??

I’m not sure if this kind of post is allowed but I’m not to sure where else I could post it either haha. So just to be clear.. birth is not a competition and you’re no more or less of a mother for how you give birth (unless you just don’t give a fuck about your child then that’s a different story) and a mother shouldn’t be looked at any differently or shamed for how her baby is delivered, especially if a birth didn’t go the way it was planned (for those mummas and families I’m sorry.)

I see so many people and posts basically yelling “you don’t get a trophy for having an unmedicated birth” and I completely understand the sentiment in lifting up mothers who don’t want to be shamed for birthing with the help of modern medicine, but I also don’t think it’s fair to tear down mothers who don’t want or use modern intervention either. I actually do believe it is kickass to say no to something that would make the most painful experience in the world painless because your personal beliefs or whatever the fuck reason it is matters more than the pain you’re in. Giving natural birth shouldn’t be lorded over people, that’s not what I’m saying, but why can’t a mother feel a sense or pride for allowing and trusting her body to do something that is hard, scary and so very rewarding?

I know there will be people who feel the need to say “why would you want to feel special for doing something hard when there’s an easier/other way” and comments along these lines are exactly my point… Do people say things like this because they want more validation for their own way of thinking or is there an actual issue with my thinking?

I personally had a natural water birth with my daughter and loved every second of it (exhaustion and all.) I am proud that I did it by myself and that I trusted my body and I loved that I could be fully present and fully mobile in those moments. I stayed open minded to the fact that births often don’t go to plan and if I NEEDED medical intervention to save my daughter and I, that would t be a problem. I made my decisions because I simply trust my body more than anything someone could put into my body and in my country, C- section births are pushed onto mothers more for hospital convenience, not for a mothers actual care. A natural birth felt more aligned to me - I also just wanted to be able to experience a natural birth at least once incase my future births don’t go to plan and I wouldn’t be left with any kind of feelings about not knowing what the experience could have been like if that makes sense… And at the end of the day though this may come across wrong, I do enjoy pushing myself mentally and physically and wanted to test my limits of what my body could handle, so fuck yes I’m proud of myself for not giving up on myself and it bothers me that I feel like I’m not allowed to be.

I just think a woman should be recognised for something that is very real and very painful if she’s doing it for the right reasons but I may need to be educated on my way of thinking since I don’t have people in my life I can comfortably have a discussion like this with, thank you.