Should women feel guilty about having a C-section?

In admitting her guilt-free Caesareans, Kirstie Allsopp has enraged natural birth lobbyists who demand that women should fight medical intervention in childbirth

After a chance meeting with a woman who’d given birth by caesarean section while filming Location, Location, Location, Allsopp decided to engage with the public on the issue by posting a simple tweet to the social networking site Twitter. ‘I asked if anyone recieved information on C-sections from their NCT and it all exploded,’ Allsopp explained during a recent interview with The Times. She was bombarded with messages from women all over the UK who felt terrible about not having had a natural birth; women who were left unprepared for the invasive procedure by the National Childbirth Trust. ‘It was so sad, all these women telling me how bad they felt and how guilty they were made to feel,' Allsopp explained. 'If you think that one in every four women giving birth ends up having one, it’s crazy how little anyone is told about it. ‘I had a Caesarean. I did not feel guilty. No woman should.' Now the argument has exploded with Allsopp refusing to back down after being critisiced by natural-birth lobbyist groups who believe that women should ‘fight the cascade of intervention'.

Mother-of-two Allsopp, who gave birth to both her children, Bay, four, and Oscar, two, through C-section has found herself in the middle of a warring debate over childbirth. Women have tweeted Kirstie Allsopp in their hundreds accusing mothers who have given birth via C-section of not bonding properly with their babies and not giving birth to their children properly. How has a procedure that saves women's lives come under attack? Why do we all get so worked up about childbirth? Have you had a Caesarean and felt guilty about it? Perhaps you've been verbally attacked by friends, family or total strangers. We would love to hear what you think on this important subject so get in touch by posting your comment below.

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