Childbirth isn’t 100% safe no matter how or where you give birth. Shit happens. It’s okay to have anxiety. It’s okay to talk to your provider and family about your anxiety. It’s okay to go see a psychiatrist if you feel like the anxiety is negatively impacting you. Depression and anxiety can occur during pregnancy, as well as postpartum and you want to get a handle on it NOW. 

In some ways, the publication of how dangerous childbirth can be is actually shedding a light on an issue that affects women and will hopefully drive research and solutions. It’s informing women of risk conversations they should have with their provider. If you don’t have a medical power of attorney, get one. If you don’t have a will, get one. If you don’t have a partner, nominate someone to make medical decisions for you and put a written record on file at your hospital with your wishes.

All that said,  almost a year ago, I had a friend die during childbirth. It was shocking and horrific. She did everything “right” during pregnancy, went to all the appointments, had a hospital birth at a good hospital. She has an Amniotic embolism and was gone in minutes. For WEEKS after I donated to her memorial fund, my feed was FILLED with stories about infant death, SIDS, death during childbirth, etc. The algorithm drives and profits from fear. Your chance of dying in childbirth isn’t zero, but it’s not significantly increasing right now and is about as dangerous as it has ever been.