AbstractThis paper is a report of a study of obstetric intervention in childbirth and its effects on neonatal behaviour. Interventions included anaesthesia, augmentation, induction and caesarean section and their relationships to behavioural responsiveness of the babies over the neonatal period were examined. Among the 120 mothers, the study found considerable rates of intervention into childbirth. Babies were assessed on three occasions using the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Data from one hundred and nine babies were analysed. Babies whose mothers had epidural anaesthesia were less likely to achieve optimal Motoric subscale scores than babies whose mothers did not. A lower percentage of caesarean birth babies than vaginal birth babies achieved optimal scores on the State Control, Interaction and Motoric subscales of the NBAS. It is recommended that every effort be made to reduce the high caesarean section rate, the rates of other interventions, such as induction and the levels of use of epidural anaesthesia and episiotomy. A preferred way to do this would be to make a more natural birth available to all but the truly high‐risk populatio