Birth is a good reminder that human beings are still
animals. Our "
civilization" has stripped us of many of our animal-like traits - we don't hang from trees or
burrow into the ground on a regular basis (and when we do we use tools). When we must
reveal the animal sides of ourselves - whether it be through
going to the bathroom or
having sex - we usually do it in private. One could argue that these parts of daily life, and perhaps eating as well, are as "
gross" and animal-like as birth. They just don't seem very
disgusting because we are exposed to those routines often. Birth, on the other hand, seems terribly
nauseating because we're not used to seeing
afterbirth. It's especially disturbing because the
vagina is mentally linked to sexual desire.
Humans are creatures of shit, piss, saliva, bile, sweat, blood, mucus, semen, pus, and in this case, afterbirth. Flesh is gross, and we try to hide our animal nature with our clothes, our customs, our big, shiny, clean industrialized world. In the end though, we're still animals, and realization of this can be both harrowing and beautiful.
Birth is beautiful. We're just not used to it.