In the fog-wrapped city of Yichang on the Yangtze in the shadow of the world’s largest hydroelectric dam, Wan Xindi is triumphant as she cares for her new baby daughter. Her second child is healthy and cute, but Wan is most proud of how she came into the world: the old-fashioned way.
A natural birth is in itself an accomplishment in China, where caesarean section rates were, until a few years ago, the highest in the world. Wan was one of the many Chinese women who underwent a medically unnecessary C-section when her first baby arrived. During her second pregnancy, the 25-year-old went to every hospital in Yichang, determined to find a doctor willing to allow her to attempt a vaginal delivery. In the process, she became a foot soldier in the battle to wean China off its addiction to C-sections.
“We think of ourselves as tunnel fighters or guerrillas. We find all kinds of ways to make it happen,” she says. Her weapon of choice: the smartphone.