London, October 7 : Actress Emily Mortimer has spoken about the pressure pregnant women are put under to have a "natural" birth.

The ‘Scream 3’ star, who is due give birth to her second child in January, said she tried to stay away from the knife ‘to be a real woman’.

"I tried to do it naturally," the Telegraph quoted her as telling Psychologies magazine.

"I''d never been averse to any kind of medication, but you get brainwashed. I started reading all these books and doing pregnancy yoga.

“By the end, you feel you have to go natural in order to be a real woman," she added.

The 37-year-old also revealed: "I got myself a doula [birthing assistant] and a water tank and struggled on for 24 hours, and then I had an epidural. I can remember saying to the anaesthetist, ''Oh, I love you, thank you so much.'' I don''t know what I was thinking." (ANI)