| Summary: | This article focuses on the so-called « natural childbirth », one of the practices that, since the 1980s, have increasingly constituted a viable alternative to the hyper-medicalization of birth. The analysis of this model of birth will be based on the findings of the ethnographic research carried out in Tuscany, in one of the first maternity services that introduced natural childbirth in Italy. In the first part of the essay, I will explore the connections between the singular history of this maternity ward and the wider movement of criticism towards the increasing medicalization of childbirth. The analysis of natural childbirth will then lead us to investigate the evolutions of this practice over time, paying particular attention to the role played by midwives in this process. Finally, we will reflect on the idea of nature that characterizes this model of birth as well as the choice of women to give birth in a different way, although within a hospital setting.
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