You do not have to ask permission to use your own vagina

It is yours to use as you please, and that includes birthing your baby through it. In conversations with other women about pregnancy, all too often phrases crop up such as "My doctor won't let me ____." This is where you insert any item of the long list of things doctors won't "let" women do. Doctors say it, too. Picture this: a woman waits in an exam room for the doctor. Today she is going to go over her birth plan. She does not want a routine IV, among other unnecessary interventions. The doctor says "I can't let you do that." So she consents to a heplock instead. And that is if her doctor is open-minded and flexible.

My doctor won't let me have intermittent monitoring.
My doctor won't let me eat or drink during labor.
My doctor won't let me walk after my water breaks.
My doctor won't let me labor longer than hours.
My doctor won't let me push longer than hours.
My doctor won't let me push in any other position except on my back.
My doctor won't let me have a doula.
My doctor won't let me go longer than 40 weeks pregnant.
My doctor won't let me have a VBAC.
My doctor won't let me have a normal, intervention-free birth.

Your doctor does not have power over you. Your doctor is your employee. Your vagina is yours. Do not give away the power you have over your own body to doctors, midwives, nurses or hospitals. Use your employees to give you information so that you can make decisions should they arise. Your doctor won't "let" you? Find another doctor. Better yet, hire a midwife. No matter who you hire, you still do not have to ask permission to use your own vagina.