There may be valid medical reasons not to choose caesarean delivery (see Wikipedia), but there are also many reasons why caesarean delivery might be a very good idea (again, see Wikipedia).

There’s nothing in the Bible to say that getting health care is wrong or bad, and so there’s no reason to think that it would be wrong  to opt for a caesarean delivery. The Bible does condemn people who claim that they can heal (or that they have healed) when they haven’t:

“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is greedy for unjust gain; and from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely. They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.  Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,” says the LORD. (Jer 6:13 – 15)

This passage shows a strong theme in the Bible: what is wrong with our health is caused by sin, which comes from what God said when Adam and Eve sinned:

To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  (Gen 3:16 – 19)

It follows, from this passage, that reducing the pain of childbirth is as right or wrong as reducing the sweat of our face when we eat bread. In fact, it’s not wrong to try to palliate them, as long as we recognise that these things don’t deal with the real problem — that we need redemption.

Note: Unlike most other current healthcare practices, Caesarean section was a known procedure in Bible times, but under the circumstances (considered 100% mortality since it was only done when the mother was already nearly dead) it wasn’t something one would ever opt to have.

Tagged with →  
Share →

One Response to Is it wrong to opt for a caesarean delivery?

  1. Grahame Grieve says:

    From personal experience, I’m highly doubtful that C/Section is less painful than normal childbirth when all is said and done.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *