With the historic news that a majority of the U.S. workforce is now female, it’s clear that American women have more power than ever before, says OB/GYN and bestselling author Christiane Northrup, MD. But is that power reflected in the healthcare available to women? No, she writes in an essay for Huffington Post, especially when it comes to childbirth:

“Our so-called healthcare system, which is a direct reflection of the beliefs of our culture, sees the female body and its processes (like labor) as an accident waiting to happen…The truth is that labor and birth need not be the emergencies we think they are. And the medicalization of birth actually does more harm than good.”

Northrup criticizes the rising rates of cesarean section and labor induction, and cites the rising maternal death rate. “Studies have repeatedly shown that in healthy mothers with no risk factors, home birth is as safe as hospital birth. Increasingly, savvy women who trust their ability to birth normally [and, we should add, who have the resources] are opting to avoid the hospital altogether.”

Northrup concludes the essay with a call to action: “When it comes to pregnancy and birth, we as a culture and as individuals need to wake up and claim our right to literally birth right!”