There’s something perverse about an entire industry predicated on the concept that excruciating pain is good for women. I’m talking, of course, about the natural childbirth industry, and the books, blogs, courses, videos and celebrities that comprise it. The”natural childbirth industry isn’t always sure that the pain of labor exists, but they are sure that if it does, it’s desirable that women feel it.
The unalterable bedrock of “natural” childbirth advocacy is that women should refuse effective pain relief in labor. The “ideal” situation is for women to embrace their pain and pretend that it is “good pain.” Of course, there is no such thing as “good pain”: they just made that up. The pain of contractions and the pain of vaginal distention do not differ in any way from any other kind of pain. It is not carried by different nerves, it is not conducted through the action of different neurotransmitters, it is not routed to different areas in the brain. It is exactly the same as any other kind of pain. So the take home message of NCB is that the excruciating pain of childbirth should be ignored.
And not merely ignored. What’s worse is that the NCB movement pretends that women are improved by experiencing the agonizing pain of childbirth, although they cannot think of any other instance in which human beings are improved by agonizing pain. The irony is that “natural” childbirth advocates have beliefs that are strikingly similar to the Victorian clergymen who opposed anesthesia in childbirth when it was first introduced in the second half of the nineteenth century. The clergymen believed that is was wrong to abolish labor pain with anesthesia because God intended for women to feel the pain. NCB advocates appear to believe that it is wrong to abolish labor pain because “Nature” intended for women to feel the pain. There is precisely zero concern for the effect of that pain on a woman herself.
The natural childbirth movement routinely demeans women who do not want to tolerate the pain. They are portrayed as weak, as “giving in,” as uneducated and uncaring because they don’t understand the “risks.” Or worse. The ultimate insult, implied, but not always stated is that “authentic” women can and should accept the pain, and that, therefore, women who opt for an epidural are somehow less womanly.
There is one strain of NCB advocacy that simply denies the reality of the pain. In this view, the pain of childbirth is psychosomatic in the true sense of the word. It does not reflect actual neurologic signals, but rather the social conditioning of women by a medical, technocratic culture. Pain is a manifestation of the fact that the woman has not “educated” herself that the pain doesn’t exist, doesn’t “trust” birth, and, once again, is not an “authentic” woman.
There is another strain of natural childbirth advocacy that acknowledges that the pain exists but that it can and should be “managed” in ways that are “natural” and inherently ineffective. The goal is not to abolish the pain; that would be wrong. The goal is to tolerate the pain so that the incentive to abolish it will be reduced. Hence the emphasis on hypnosis, water, and labor support. The pain is real, the pain is severe, and it is acceptable to reduce the pain. But it is only acceptable to reduce the pain in ways that involve no technology, and it is never acceptable to actually abolish the pain.
The “support” people in the NCB movement exist primarily for indoctrination. The childbirth educator exists to convince women that pain is good for her, and pain relief is bad. The primary function of a doula is to interfere with a woman’s desire for pain relief. At every point, the doula counsels the laboring mother that she does not “need” pain relief, that she’s doing “great” and she “can do it,” with “it” being enduring labor without an epidural.
At the fringes of the natural childbirth movement is a group that not only denies the existence of the pain, but inverts it. Childbirth is not painful, it is pleasurable. No remotely plausible physiologic explanation is advanced for this claim, beyond the inane observation that the tissues that produce the pain of childbirth could, in different circumstances produce sexual pleasure. The explanation makes as much sense as the claim that kicking a man in the groin could induce orgasm because sexual pleasure can be produced by contact in the same area.
Why are NCB advocates so invested in the idea that women should experience excruciating pain in labor? Why are they invested in the idea that women benefit from experiencing labor pain? Why do they direct the bulk of their efforts, both before and during labor, to pressuring women to forgo effective pain relief? Why do these efforts include misinformation about the risks of epidurals, and insinuations about the fitness of the laboring women as a mother, and even insinuations about her fitness as a woman?
I don’t know all the answers to these questions, but I do know this: it is inherently wrong to ignore the pain of women and to pretend that agonizing pain is good for them.
This piece first appeared in April 2010.
I’ve come to see both perspectives over time. To me, they are both limited. To me, the natural birth movement is occupied by people who try to trivialize the pain women experience during childbirth, and who assume just because their labors were “handle-able” it is the case for every woman. This is absurd, as, obviously, every woman/baby is different, and, pain is experienced to different degrees by each; I really felt during my first labor – which I attempted to do un-medicated – that the pain was indescribably bad – no massage, or hypnosis, or water would have helped at all. 13 hours of inhumane pain and I was not dilated at all; in comes a shot of morphine and I dilate to 3 cm in less than an hour. Unfortunately, I opted for an epidural and 15 hours later, despite full dilation, maybe because I was also very ill at the time – I wound up having an emergency C-section. Not a pleasant experience. Baby was born with an Apgar of 1, and had to be resuscitated. They kept him from me for 3 days because, despite being 40 weeks and 4 days, he could not hold his temperature. So, natural childbirth did not work for me; if I didn’t have the drugs, I would have surely killed myself. While I do think, in a magical universe, it would be ideal for children to be born without any drugs in their system, I think this requires women to be “super-women” – to endure a level of pain that is beyond comprehension. Maybe my labor was just especially bad. I’m trying for a VBAC here in 20 days, but, this time I am holding out little hope of doing anything without drugs. Probably I will use numorphine rather than an epidural – I do think walking around during labor is healthier than laying down, but, I agree with this article in that, it’s wrong to shame women for not being able to withstand that level of pain.
I find it incredibly elitist and arrogant when people refer to drug-free births as natural. Just because a mother takes some pain medication or has a c-section doesn’t mean that her labor is unnatural.
LOL There is a bit of mistaken logic going on when a system’s person, such as the good doctor, calls something that is NATURAL an industry. I find it laughable that a doctor who represents the BIGGEST industry in the country, one that is responsible for more prescription drug abuse, and is responsible for the third leading cause of death in the United States – Hospital medical errors (http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hospital-medical-errors-third-leading-cause-death-dispute-to-err-is-human-report/2013-09-20). And let’s talk infant mortality, where there are many less industrialized nations who utilize less managed birthing options than what our hospitals, our medical system, offer, and they boast less infant deaths (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934744.html). Hmmmm…. Countries like Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Israel, South Korea, and many more. This medical system that you are trying to sell, sure is a winner! Anyway, I truly hope mothers really do their due diligence and research things for themselves rather than taking the word of someone who profits from her position.
Just because it is a smaller industry then the medical industry doesn’t make it any less than an industry. If people are selling services and products and making a profit, I’m not sure how you’d NOT call it an industry? Lay midwives (which they don’t even HAVE in your list of “less industrialized nations”), doulas, placenta escapulators, rebozo scarf makers, book authors, conference holders, magazine writers and publishers, natural childbirthlamaze instructors, hypnobirthing instructors, birth pool suppliers – they’re not doing that for free.
PS – countries like Sweden, Iceland, Norway, South Korea are less industrialized than the US? How did you work that out?
Yes, I agree, there is an industry associated with the natural process that is birth. BUT, I want you to agree that birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention for it to have a positive outcome.
Some intervention is necessary to know if more is needed. Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and fetal distress require testing and then monitoring to determine course of treatment.
Since many of the commenters here have had children whose births needed medical intervention to have positive outcomes and other if us are people whose own births needed it, don’t expect that someone would agree. Not here. Not when you rush in and make such sweeping generalizations. Birth is a natural process, bla-bla. Sometimes, it is. Sometimes.
“I want you to agree that birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention for it to have a positive outcome.”
What for everyone? Obviously it went that way for you and your wife. That’s great for you guys if that’s what you want. It was different for me – but I’m alive as are my happy and healthy children, so it wasn’t the case for me. It’s such an individual thing. Turns out we’re not all the same 🙂
But KarenJJ….he wants you to agree. Help him out here.
I really doubt he needs the validation of a stranger on the internet that likely likes on the opposite side of the world to him in a “less industrialised” nation than the US.
Do you gave any idea how many women died in childbirth before hospitals and doctors and modern medicine?
*have
“I want you to agree that birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention for it to have a positive outcome.”
Wow, that’s an incredibly ignorant statement. Ignorant of medicine, ignorant of history, ignorant of birth.
No, I do not agree. A 5 minute walk through the cemetery up the road reading a woman’s tombstone and right next to it her newborn’s tombstone is proof enough that you don’t have a clue and that a very “natural process” absolutely can need medical intervention to have a positive outcome.
usobserver.com
” birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention for it to have a positive outcome.”
Please reconcile this statement with the infant and maternal mortality rates of previous centuries (including the beginning of the 20th), when there was no “medical intervention.”
Nope, I am not goibg to sgree with that. Birth is a natural process, and when allowed to proceed without intervention, it sonetimes kills people.
Yeah that I not going to happen. Sure birth is “natural” since everything we do is natural because humans are a part of nature. There is nothing supernatural about childbirth whether it is done vaginally or by c-section. And most of the time, everything turns out okay but occasionally things go very wrong. And when they do they go very wrong very quickly and it is important to have a team of medical professionals around to prevent injury and death,
“I WANT you to agree”, that pretty much sums up the natural childbirth philosophy doesn’t it? It’s really about what YOU want your birth experience to be.. it’s not about what might be the best, or safest course of action for mom and/or baby.. because if you were truly educated about those things you wouldn’t make such an absurd statement.
“Birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention for it to have a positive outcome.” Gee, I wish that was true. I’d have three living children now, instead of only two.
Come on KarenJJ, don’t be dense. Fjords and/or spicy food and/or not the United States= less developed.
Actually, in the hospital, the mother has the choice of whether to get pain relief or not. With out-of-hospital midwife care, the mother has no choice, she can’t have pain relief.
Infant mortality is the wrong measure. Please use perinatal deaths, including stillbirths. The USA’s stillbirth rate is remarkably low.
Actually, you’re right. The still birth rate is low. However, that is because hospitals are fantastic and well rehearsed with C sections – extracting the child. The real facts are that infant mortality within the first 24 hours after birth or extraction are incredibly high… in a hospital. And, if you want pain relief, the experience I have had with midwives is, they would be willing to take you to the hospital should you choose it. Hey, if you need medical attention, go see a doctor or go to the hospital, but birth is a natural process… I do agree, however, there are times when a hospital birth is needed for the well being of both the mother and the child.
The stillbirth rate is low because doctors rescue babies first. But birth is a natural process that needs no medical intervention. You are aware that you’re contradicting yourself, right?
And US infant mortality within 24 hours after birth? Let’s pull out some real data. In 2010, a total of 9,951 first-day deaths were reported to the CDC. Of those, 7,455 were born before 28 weeks gestation. These are teeny tiny babies who stand ZERO chance of survival without intensive medical intervention. In addition, hundreds of them were caused by extremely severe and hopeless birth defects.
In total, out of 3.5 million full term babies born in American hospitals in 2010, how many died within 24 hours, from a cause other than congenital anomaly? 289, literally less than one in 10,000. No epidemic of failures here, friend.
If you’re curious, go to wonder.cdc.gov and play with the infant mortality data yourself.
I don’t think he is smart enough to understand it..
First of all, since when are Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Isreal, and South Korea “less industrialized” than the United States? Those are all developed nations most of which have universal health care. Sounds to me like someone bought in to a bunch of American exceptionalism bullcrap.
Secondly, as been pointed out dozens of times on this blog, infant mortality is the wrong statistic. Infant mortality measures birth up to 1 year old so most deaths included in the numbers would have nothing to do with childbirth. Also, a lot of countries cheat the system by counting extremely premature babies as stillbirths. Since these babies are among the highest risk of mortality the United States takes a major hit in their infant mortality numbers because of this,
Thirdly, if a mother is in the hospital she can get pain relief right away or she coud choose not too. If a woman is at home she would have to wait until the midwife decides to take her to the hospital (and we have plenty of stories of midwives refusing to “transfer care” on this site) and then drive there and fill out the necessary hospital paper work because most CPN’s don’t have a back up OB so the hospital has no record of her
(continued because my tablet sucks)
So she has to wait at least half an hour to get pain relief. The mother doesn’t “have a say.” she is completely at the mercy of her midwife.
It should also be noted that everything you say about OB’s making a profit off birth goes at least double for homebirth midwives. OB’s get paid a flat salary for the most part but homebirth midwives get paid by the birth. A midwives has a direct financial benefit in convincing your to have a homebirth so if you want to look for conspiracies maybe you should start there. Also Amy is retired so she doesn’t profit at all.
AMEN to that!!
What a load of crap you are spewing! First of all it’s not about “infant mortality” it’s about perinatal mortality, big difference there. Secondly, I’ve worked in L&D for many years, and I feel grateful to have worked with some of the most phenomenal doctors, nurses, and other healthcare team members in medicine. If you think doctors only think “profit” you are badly mistaken. Almost every doctor I have ever worked with in over 20 years, has worked his or her BUTT OFF to take care of hundreds of women and their babies, saving many lives and graciously putting up with ungrateful, ignorant people such as yourself all the while giving them top-notch care. We do not push interventions on people, we let them make their own decisions, and those decisions just happen to be INFORMED decisions, which is far more than I can say about the pathetic natural childbirth INDUSTRY, which is profiting quite nicely off ignorant people like you! You are paying basically a lay person, your home-birth midwife and trusting them with your lives! That is pure BS to say that in the medical industry it is “the doctor who has the say”. You are living the dark ages, bud! Patients are offered, and THEY decide what they want! And tell me, what doctors feel “threatened” by patients taking their health into their own hands?? I haven’t seen any in the many years I have worked in healthcare. Do you go to a doctor? the ER? If so, why? Since you are so concerned about taking your health into your own hands, next time you get sick, get up with your natural childbirth friends and let them put their heads together, diagnose and treat you… let me know how that works out for ya..
I am deeply hurt by your statements, you speak of things you know nothing about (and I DO NOT mean childbirth alone.) My own father was a “victim” of “big pharma” but it was more his fault than the doctor or the drugs themselves. It’s called common sense people… The responsibility of his death rests on his own shoulders. They didn’t force him to take those drugs, he asked for them. My mother, brother and I would plead, cry and beg him to see a different doctor and find a different route. Did he listen to us or his own body? Obviously not…. That is the greatest pain I have yet endured and I highly doubt giving birth “naturally” would relieve that grief any.
In the end it is the client(patients) own responsibility to make their health their #1 priority.
On that note your sources are very misleading – you’re playing off the sympathies of expecting mothers. It’s more common that they are the ones who will die but let me put your little sources into perspective…
The infant death rates are (and I’m rounding here) literally 6 deaths to every 1,000 births in the United States, where as in Sweden they are 3 to every 1,000 births. Wow, their methods are FAR superior!
HA!
Did you know?: In India the infant death rates are much much much higher than in the United States “India 30.1 to every 1,000” I’m sure most of their births are done at home 😀 ALSO in Japan (a rounded 3 deaths per 1,000 as is in Sweden) only 0.2% of births are done at home. Did I just blow your mind?
-Sure they don’t like epi’s there, I’ll give you that- but they also keep part of the child’s umbilical cord in a box as it is directly related to the health of said child – mistreating the umbilical cord is seen as mistreating the baby… Perfectly reasonable to assume that’s as likely a reason as any a staggering 3 more infants per 1,000 die in the United states than in Japan. The answer to child survival is in the cord! I feel like I just stumbled upon a discovery greater than the measles vaccine. (oh compliance with vaccines is 99% there btw, I’m sure a lot of you natural birth freaks hate vaccines)
Ever heard of “natural bias”? You have it, and I for one will not tolerate someone bending science to their beliefs. SHAME ON YOU for being so misleading! Does my ability to research/reason appease you?
Our problem in the U.S. seems to be linked more to ignorance/arrogance/lack of education (professional and personal) It’s safe to say I’m going to squat over a kiddie pool and pray I don’t get a Perineal tear that requires stitches, because THAT sounds SAOOOOOO AWESOME!
This article is pretty funny to me. I am due on July 14th and have done lots of research on both pain relief and going naturally. I ultimately have decided on a birthing center and that I would like to try natural but keeping an open mind that I do have alternatives if it is just too much. I find that I am constantly bullied and poked at by the majority of my family and friends about how crazy I am for making this decision. Women who I know and love basically bark at me that I’m insane yet most of them had c-sections, were induced for no particular reason, and have had horrible tears in the experience. I have yet to find anyone who has gone natural who berates anyone else, in fact most have said that everyone’s experience is different and it should be totally up to the individual.
Is this your first? If you have a personal history of easy births, that’s all good and well (though no guarantee that this birth will be easy), but if you haven’t…You say that your family members are giving you a hard time about your decision and that a lot of them have had complicated births. Family history counts. Women from families where the births are difficult are probably more likely to have a difficult birth. I’d strongly advise you to find a nice crunchy hospital or birth center in a hospital to give birth in. If all goes well, great, you can brag about it afterwards. Feel free to come back here and tell me specifically “I told you so”. But if things go badly, at least you’ll be in the right place to get help.
Lots of research? How many scientific papers on the topic have you read from start to finish? Zero, right? Reading books and websites written by laypeople for other laypeople is NOT research.
Wow, they had c-sections AND tore horribly? My goodness! How do you know they were induced “for no particular reason,” btw? And what’s wrong with c-sections?
I guess it’s just me, but if a bunch of people I know, trust, and love, who I know love me, were to advise me against a particular course of action–which they have experienced and I have not–that carries no real benefit anyway…I’d listen.
But then, I’d also look at the fact that the women in my life are proof that so much can go wrong and so many complications can happen, and take that into account when making my decision, too.
My sincere best wishes for you and your baby.
So we are in August now. Tell us how it went. I hope it was nice, easy and straightforward. If I could make that wish come true for all women everywhere, the world would be a better place.
I find this post to be an ignorant rant. I’m not sure why the “risks” of epidural is put in quotations here. In the USA, 30% of babies are born by c-section. The WHO states that any developed nation should have no more than 15% of babies born by c-section. A huge reason for all of these c-sections is in fact medical intervention, such as epidural. I don’t think any woman should be forced to do anything she doesn’t want to but a woman’s risk of c-section rises with every such intervention. Far more women are discouraged from natural childbirth than they are discouraged from an epidural. Too posh to push?
Yup.
The WHO has long since retracted the 15% figure, admitting that it had no evidence to put that number forward in the first place. Also, what’s wrong with wanting an epidural? If I’m in pain, I want pain relief. If you don’t want pain relief, don’t get it.
Totally agree! Why do these NCBer’s feel it’s such a “badge of honor” to be able to “handle” the pain? I wonder if they have dental work (and I’m not talking about cleanings!) done with no anesthesia??
Research shows that epidurals don’t increase the risk of CS. You’re confusing correlation with causation–women with difficult labors are more likely to request the epidural and these women are also more likely to need CS for reasons unrelated to pain relief.
Re: your too posh to push comment: I knew a woman who had two homebirths. Her first one caused her agonizing pain. Despite that, she opted for a second homebirth because her midwife reassured her that second births are always less painful and that she’d get the beautiful birth she deserved. The second one turned out to be more painful, so much so that she blacked out during labor. When the baby was born she refused to hold him because she felt so much rage from the pain she was in. She found it a shattering experience and had to seriously question all of her beliefs around natural childbirth. If she’d transferred for pain relief, her memories of those first moments with her child would likely be much better instead of the horror show they turned out to be.
And lets not forget….until c/s, childbirth was a death sentence for numerous women throughout history 😉 Even Cleopatra needed a c/s. Thats why it is named after her son, the first baby in recorded history to successfully be cut out of his mother without killing her. In addition to that, pain medication is not ‘evil’. I didn’t need to feel each and every nerve ripping along my vagina to deliver a healthy baby. My son was 10 lbs, 12 oz, (no gestational diabetes, I’m just really tall with wide hips) I was 19, and needed several stitches. Even with an epidural, I was in excruciating pain. My son is in the 96th percentile nationwide for Math and reading….for a grade ahead of his own. I dont think my choice to not deliver him in a bathtub without medicine made much of an impact on his overall well being. How about moms start judging less, think a little more deeply on the differences between causation and correlation, and for gods sake, stop vilifying those of us who enjoy a nurse button and hospital bed?
Cleopatra never had a cesarean. Her son was named Cesarion. Cesarion’s father, Julius Caesar possibly had an ancestor who was born by cesarean, but this can’t be verified. Cesarean was invariably fatal to the mother in ancient times, and Cleopatra lived to give birth to twinsand a single child by Mark Antony later.
The goal of a natural childbirth for a new mother isn’t, from what I understand, a test of endurance or some kind of maternal bragging right. Some studies suggest/indicate that mothers who give birth naturally heal faster from tears and epistiotmies during birth, are able to breast feed their children easier(if they choose to do so) and get a good latch for baby in those crucial early hours of breastfeeding/ skin to skin. An epidural can affect baby as well making mommy and baby groggy, which can delay the bond between mother and newborn. It has also been indicated that some moms find it easier to know when to push during labor and have shorter labors than those on pain medication. Also not mentioned in this article is painful compared to what? I understand that childbirth is painful, but I’ve had excruciating toothaches that were a 10/10 easily, that would easily rival any pain any one has ever felt for days on end. Pain/pain endurance is a relative thing indeed. If a mother wants to give childbirth naturally,there may be advantages to that, just as there are advantages to giving birth with medication. This article does a poor job at really understanding the science as opposed to the hype about natural childbirth. Regardless of what a woman chooses, she is entitled to know a bit about both and an article does little to aid moms that are looking for facts. If you’re interested in comparing the 2, here’s a good place to start.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8826170
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1595040/
“An epidural can affect baby as well making mommy and baby groggy.”
No, it doesn’t. IV or injected pain medication does. Look it up, then talk to us about science.
I was refused pain relief by the natural birth lunatics. I screamed so much that my throat was sore the next day. No matter what I did, deep breathing, trying to relax, holding my breath in the hope that I would pass out and not feel pain, nothing worked. I am very angry at those ridiculing women’s pain. That was over 22 years ago. I am still angry thinking about it. As a result of such a horrible experience, I decided not to have any more children even though I very much would have liked to have had another baby.
Those forcing women to have natural birth should be tied to a chair and have all their teeth root canaled WITHOUT any pain relief!
I would advice any woman who wants to have a baby to find an OB/GYN who is willing to perform C section.
Reading this piece has brought on a lot of stress for me, because I was quite outraged by how my whole entire body had suddenly tightened up. I am not a doctor, a midwife or a doula. I am a natural birth advocate, but in general an advocate for all birthing women. I have had two natural births, by choice, at a hospital setting, which I had prepared and studied for. I can tell you I have read quite a bit about natural birth, and as a result I would like to share my response to this article.
First, I want to point out the Natural Childbirth is not a popular or dominating choicein our North American culture, as most women birth at a hospital setting, either with an epidural or C-section (on average 1 in every 4 births). Therefore even if what Dr. Amy is stating about the NCB is so true, it is very unlikely that it is going to affect a whole lot of women into becoming martyrs or bullied to accepting terrible pain for the sake of Natural Birth.
If anything, women who choose to have a natural birth are seen as the outcast. When I had mentioned my desire to birth naturally, lots of people laughed at me, told me I was crazy, and even recented me because they thought I was trying to say that I am somehow better than other women who had to resort to the epidural. I am not better than any other women desiring to have a baby. I chose to have a natural birth just as a woman would choose to get the epidural. I don’t know anyone who has had a natural birth with a midwife or doula ever be discouraged from asking for an epidural, but rather, tried to help them deal with pain as anyone would in any other given situation.
For example. If I had a terrible back pain, rather than getting tylenol for it first, having someone massage the area, put ice on it, etc, could help the pain ease a bit and then maybe I wouldn’t need the tylenol at all.
I think the bigger issue is that once again its an us vs them problem. I think women should have support from all spectrums but be aware of what their options and choices are, rather than have someone pointing fingers, incisting that having a baby naturally, or even desiring to, is a fanatic choice.
Malvina Beker
http://www.startwithmom.com
Just because you’ve never seen a mother left in pain because her care provider believes in the power of natural childbirth doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. You sound naive. I am an OB in a Canadian hospital working with well trained canadian midwives and it happens ALL THE TIME. Pain in labor is not taken seriously and is where a significant proportion of PTSD post partum comes from.
So if pain is never a good thing, no matter what, should we give our children oxy-contin when they fall and scrape their knee? We don’t want them to feel the pain that will teach them their own limits. . . I don’t see why society is so quick to medicate everything it can. If you are capable of getting through labor without having drugs, how is that bad? We are told our whole lives that drugs are bad for us, yet in this article you argue that anyone who thinks they don’t need drugs to do something that people have been doing for thousands of years without drugs, is wrong for wanting to do the natural thing. By natural, I obviously mean, without chemical interference.
Ignoring women’s pain: check
Demeaning women’s pain: check
Ridiculing women’s pain: check
Thanks for demonstrating my point for me.
Why the fuck should anyone–children or adults–be forced to endure pain “to teach them their own limits”? My kids are learning their limits by striving and achieving actual accomplishments, not by doing things that (as you admit) everyone else can do with absolutely no effort. Tell you what: cut off your legs with a buzzsaw. Because there is exactly as much point in that pain as there is in childbirth pain. And as a bonus, during rehab, you might learn something about humility and overcoming real limits.
I hate to break it to you but everything you do in life is with chemical interference. Your entire body is just a giant mass of chemical reactions. Then entire world is made up of chemicals. You would know that if you passed high school chemistry.
There’s a world of difference between a young children and understanding rough-housing and safety, and women in labor pain. You paint a ridiculous argument.
And there is a world of differance between a scraped knee and labour! (NCBers really do love the ridiculous comparisons and killer rhetorical questions)
And what’s with this “teaching a child its limits”? Is that how you get one of this famous high pain thresholds? Parents explaining that pain doesn’t hurt? And how does that one work with the “never let a baby cry it causes brain damage” bit?
(Brain damaged babies cry a lot, so that one is a bit backward. And, older, tend to be quite stoic about pain. Nerve pathways get a bit screwed.).
What is exactly the “lesson” from pain in childbirth?
You know what else people did for thousands of years without drugs? Died from infections. Now we have anti-biotics, and infections are effectively treated. Damn chemical interference.
“So if pain is never a good thing, no matter what, should we give our children oxy-contin when they fall and scrape their knee?”
No, but if they break their arm I’d want them to have something (whatever it is that they give to kids with broken limbs).
” If you are capable of getting through labor without having drugs, how is that bad?”
It’s not, and I don’t think anybody here would say it was. It’s just that there is a certain contingent of women who are convinced that EVERY woman should have to endure labor without pain relief–that women who get pain relief are somehow inferior–and therefore disseminate false information about the alleged risks of pain relief.
“We are told our whole lives that drugs are bad for us, yet in this article you argue that anyone who thinks they don’t need drugs to do something that people have been doing for thousands of years without drugs, is wrong for wanting to do the natural thing.” Read the article again. Dr. Amy sees nothing wrong with an individual woman who thinks she doesn’t need drugs. Hell, she has had two unmedicated births herself. What she is objecting to is the IDEOLOGY that is promoted by a certain contingent of women — that NO WOMAN needs pain relieving drugs and that it is BAD for women to have them. She thinks it should be up to the person (woman) in pain to decide how much pain she is in and how much pain relief, if any, she needs.
And sure, women have been giving birth for thousands of years without drugs… because for thousands of years there was no alternative, except maybe entering a convent and vowing lifelong celibacy. People put up with lots of things that sucked for thousands of years (smallpox, deformities, malnutrition, unpredictable natural disasters, etc.) because there was nothing else they could do. Eventually people found ways to not have to put up with these things.
Omg, thank you! I have always wondered that the purpose of pain was. My debilitating migraines? They surely teach me my own limits! My labor pain? Yup, limits limits limits. I learned quite a lot from it, namely that it was awful and that I should have asked for the epidural much much sooner.
My daughter severely burned her feet and they did the first debridement without sedation. She was basically tortured. She learned her limitations at the age of 6!
Omg, how awful! I hope she is OK now!
She, is, thank you. When we transferred to a bigger hospital, they suggested sedation for the next few debridements and we agreed. It actually helps me understand the whole anti- intervention thing because I didn’t know what to do- sedation has risks, but she was in so much pain, and for a long time I was doubtful that I handled everything well by agreeing with the doctors. Yet I could never have let her suffer more. Finally I accepted that I was being ridiculous. Of course we had to use sedation when it was available. She has some scars but all is well.
I think there is nothing perverse with trying to make a woman accept what happens with her body, The main IDEA of NCB movement IS NOT TO DENY PAIN, it definetely exists and there´s no doubt about it,
The purpose of people who support natural childbirth is to ENCOURAGE women to give birth without fears, to make them feel secure and confident with their body, We dont tell woman to avoid it, or that it doesnt exist, or even that it is good for them, we just tell them the truth. The pain is going to be there, its something they will have to go through, because, unless noted otherwise(C-section),natural childbirth is the best option for most women.
Not all pregnant woman have the chance to pay for epidural anaesthesia, at least not in the country i live in. In most public hospitals, where women with socioeconomic adversities receive medical care, anaesthesia is not even an option. So, for those who cannot afford it,or for the ones who want to experience giving birth in a natural way, its our duty to support them and try to make them feel good along this “natural” process.
Refusing to give pain medication to a person who is obviously in pain is barbaric. Do they do the same thing to people getting amputations or other surgeries?
What does it even mean, “accept what happens to her body?” What, a woman has to resign to feel this horrible pain just because it is childbirth pain?
you laid in the bed to get pregnant, you took the pleasure that came with that, yet you dont want to suffer the pain that comes as a natural result. Do you people hear yourselves? Ludicrous. In the meantime, the baby is left to suffer the pains and trauma of being squeezed, skull contorting, to fit through your vagina…Alone… while you exclaim in retrospect “my epi saved my life! I felt so much better after that!”
Well, yes. I don’t want to suffer pain. It sucks. You are saying that the reason I should have suffered labor pain was because I enjoyed sex??? What, like a payment for my pleasure? Or a punishment for being a woman? What about women who receive IVF? I don’t imagine that’s enjoyable. Are they allowed to get pain relief when they give birth?
And doesn’t the baby feel discomfort either way, whether his mom got pain relief or not? Your arguments are ridiculous.
You want heroic? I had a C-Section to save my son’s life. If I ever get pregnant again, I will gladly have another one.
Enjoy your labor pain.
That is some misogynistic bullsh*t right there Kim.
But hey, it’s easier when you’re that blatant about it to see how ridiculous you are.
The entire comment reads like a combination of slut shaming and a bible study about the place of women. No thank you.
“Suck it up sister, you liked how that baby got in there, and there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch!”
Except modern medical technology means that there is, if you want.
“Except modern medical technology means that there is, if you want.”
And that makes some women so mad and jealous. They suffered pain during birth, due to being duped into NCB, and now YOU should too! Remind them that there is a safe way of going pain free and they will tie themselves into knots to reassure themselves that you’ll pay later somehow: You’ll never bond! Your baby will suffer double pain! You’ll never become a real, mature woman!
If pain is something that is owed (to who?) to pay for pleasure, something like a credit card system, how do men pay for sexual pleasure?
What about the pleasure you get from eating a peach, or walking in the woods, or smelling your baby’s head? What kind of pain do you owe (who?) for those?
The baby might suffer during vaginal birth but that’s not an argument for everyone to suffer, that’s an argument for elective c-sections. (What kind of pleasure was the baby getting in the womb that it had to pay for with the pain of being born?)
We have the technology to alleviate pain, and you want women to suffer anyway? Ludicrous. I don’t see men suffering any pain to bring their babies in to the world.
I had a planned C-section for my baby’s safety, and he went to the NICU immediately afterward for monitoring. I didn’t get to hold him for 24 hours. Does it look like we forgot to bond?
You all ought to know about this:
Maryland Families for Safe Birth and supporters all over the world are standing up and asking Maryland State Representatives to pass our bill (HB1202) to allow CPM’s to attend births in Maryland.
Please read on to see what you can do.
We have a Rally Date:
Rally for HB1202 in Annapolis
Wednesday, February 27th, 1:30-3:30pm
Lawyer’s Mall, Annapolis
Follow this link to RSVP for the rally to support HB 1202:http://mfsb.wufoo.com/forms/rsvp-to-the-rally-and-hearing-to-support-hb-1202/
We need signatures on the petition.
Every Maryland signature that is collected generates an email that is sent directly to the House and Senate representatives. This is big, especially right now. We want them to see the community support for midwives. Please commit to collecting 10 or more signatures each day (send an email or post on facebook). This is a new petition created for this Bill so if you are not sure you signed our NEW PETITION, please do so.
To sign our petition go to: http://signon.org/sign/license-certified-profession?source=c.url&r_by=5659821
We need you to contact your State Representatives
Our State Representatives are elected to serve us. They only know what is important to us if we tell them. It is time to tell them that HB 1202 -Health Occupations -Certified Professional Midwives – Pilot Program is IMPORTANT TO US! Please use multiple methods of contact to ensure that your voice is heard. Email is quick and easy but is not as highly valued. Handwritten letters are a sign that this is really meaningful for you. A phone call carries weight and an in person visit truly demonstrates your concern. Please make every effort to at least email, write a letter and follow up with a phone call. Even if you know your representative is supportive. We need to keep them supportive! Don’t know who your representatives are? Find your elected officials by address by going to the Maryland State Archives – WHO ARE YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS: http://mdelect.net/. For talking points and letter guidelines, please go this link: http://www.marylandfamiliesforsafebirth.org/TalkingPoints.pdf.
We have a hearing date : Tuesday, March 5
Go to our website to find out more as details develop. If you would like to attend please RSVP here: http://mfsb.wufoo.com/forms/rsvp-to-the-rally-and-hearing-to-support-hb-1202/
To find out more about the issue, upcoming events, sign up for updates, or have a burning desire to contribute please visit our website:www.mfsb.me
In service,
Maryland Families for Safe Birth
Andrea, Robin, Kathy, and Jeremy
I am amused by the name. At least “birth choice” is honest if vague phrasing.
“Safe Birth”? Referring to CPMs? Disingenuous at best, at worst it is an outright lie.
Wow, how scary. Allowing uneducated, uninsured birth junkies to attend births. I feel sorry for poor babies who don’t have any choice in the matter…
spam? again?
Wow
great article about labour pain relief.
Personally though, I prefer the natural way. Call me crazy but I think the
less amount of drugs in your body, the better for your baby.
spam?
no!
She didn’t mention anything about how her midwife left in the middle of the birth and she was so sad but a spellcaster did some magic and got the midwife to return in time to deliver the placenta and now she and the placenta have been together for 8 years, so no I don’t think it’s spam.
In case the reference is unclear, see comments on this post: http://www.skepticalob.com/2013/09/the-best-method-for-getting-pregnant-have-sex.html
I am sooo grateful for that epidural… I had no illusions about natural birth with no pain killers .
Talking about pain, here’s an article that I’m sure has been shared here and elsewhere, before, but it seemed right to share this again. One of my biggest fears about childbirth is vaginal tearing and whatever little I know about the worse-case scenarios comes from reading. Do enough care providers talk about this, esp. as mothers reach full-term?
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/24/an-unspoken-risk-of-vaginal-birth/
Gah, I’m terrified of tearing. If I have a child I will seriously consider requesting a CS for no other reason than to avoid tearing.
There were a couple of comments that mention upright delivery as a cause of tearing. Does that make sense to any OBs here? Is there any reliable way to prevent or limit the severity of tears?
I’m always baffled by NCB stories where women gloat about how they delivered vaginally, even with 3/4th degree tears. I can’t imagine suffering injury to my rectum and thinking of it as a successful birth.
there’s been a poster here that had a torn clitoris! that’s enough to give anyone pause…
Vaginal tears…
http://www.skepticalob.com/2012/02/vaginal-tears.html
Looks like this comment isn’t getting much attention, so i’ll toss out some random thoughts.
I wondered the same thing. Asians have something like a 2.5% risk of severe tearing — that to me is not a small risk! I thought i saw a statistic on Indian women specifically awhile back, but now i can’t find it.
Here’s another Dr. Amy post that lists the risk factors for severe tears:
http://www.skepticalob.com/2012/10/perineal-tears-midwifery-care-and-the-gap-between-rhetoric-and-reality.html
I’ve typed up enough chart notes on incontinent older women to be very concerned about long-term effects. The pelvic floor physical therapist told me that they used to stitch women up haphazardly, rather than taking care to close each layer separately, which is why so many older women are having problems, but that now pelvic floor issues are generally taken much more seriously by the medical community.
The PT referral was a routine thing, by the way (the hospital or maybe my practice refers all women with 3rd and 4th degree tears), just one visit to go over Kegel technique. I haven’t had any real lasting problems after my third-degree tear. From what i remember and have been told, the delivering OB managed it well and did an excellent repair.
Desi, good luck on your upcoming delivery! Looking forward to your post announcing your new baby!
– S
By the way, i think it’s fantastic that whenever i search for info on some random childbirth related topic, one of Dr. Amy’s articles is inevitably near the top of the queue. Thanks, Dr. Amy, for putting such important information out there! – S
Shucks, I totally missed commenting on your reply! Thanks a load–I had my baby, and guess what, no tearing worries–I had a c-sec after low fluid and an induction gone haywire. I’m doing swimmingly well (turns out some of us are “naturals” at taking surgery!) What you said about older women is very interesting–my grandmom had three (failed) deliveries and one successful live birth with little to no stitching (I think–don’t know the details) and she suffers from uterine prolapse and reasonably bad incontinence now. Is lack of repair (for any degree of tears) worse than bad stitching?
The problem is that pain can very often be the 1st sign of a very serious problem for mom or baby. I was reading a blog of a dr in India and by the time most women arrived at his clinic the babies have passed and the mother is near death herself. Often the labor had stalled or the woman was in much more severe pain than is normal, indicating that there was a serious issue.
I had stadol with #1, epidural with #2 and #4, nothing with #3. My boys were not only huge at 9 and 10 lbs, but also posterior. My first bruised/broke my tailbone (and other areas) so bad that I was pretty much delirious with pain the first month of his life and could barely take care of him. Even though #2 was also 9 lbs/posterior I had an epidural which made for an easier labor/delivery and no damage. My last baby was 10 lbs/posterior, got an epidural that didn’t quite take. Even though he had a more severe shoulder dystocia that ended with a broken clavicle, I felt fine afterwards and was up and about as soon as I could feel my legs again. I did enjoy the natural labor and birth of my daughter, she was only 8.5 lbs and was on her side so I didn’t have that overwhelming I-just-got-kicked-in-the-butt feeling. I went from 4 to delivered in barely an hour, nurse caught her. Her birth was much different than her brothers and it was all because she was more cooperative and just plain easier lol.
For my first one, I had some pain medication, but for my second, I did it without anything at all.
But that was just because my mom did it that way and I wanted to see if I could too 🙂
A little last minute addition…has anyone linked to this yet? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A44oEcmDn1c
I’m just glad neither one had an orgasmic birth.
I had a boyfriend in college who always had to win arguments with me, even if I just wanted to drop it. We argued all the time; I actually kind of hated him and heaven only knows why I stayed with him so long. Anyway, his tactic for trying to prove me wrong was to say, “Yeah, well, most people believe ___________ “(whatever his position on the issue was). It began to drive me insane over time. MOST people? Who are these people? Did you take surveys? What percentage? Prove to me that “most people” think this way; otherwise you’re just pulling stuff out of your butt to try to be right.
I was reminded of it by Good Day Sunshine’s posts. “Most men are fixers; that’s why we had thalidomide babies.” One OB telling a patient not to read too much equals MOST OB’s feeling that way. “Most” epidurals slow and stall labor. (My own OB, who supports a woman’s choice to do an unmedicated labor if she desires, explained to me how and why the opposite is true and how she’s witnessed so many patients over the years insist on no epidural, have a slow, agonizing labor that goes nowhere, then give in to the epidural, be able to relax and sleep, then have a perfect birth. Oh, but what does she know? I bet she’s never even read any of the incredibly informative birthing pages on FB!) “Most” epidurals lead to caesareans. “Most” babies from medicated births look stoned and won’t latch. (Not true for any of mine.) Many medical personnel give a laboring woman drugs and don’t bother to tell her, or what they are. The only time labor can cause PTSD is when things go horribly wrong.(I personally know some people who would dispute that last statement.)
I could go on and on, but the point is made. I’m not trying to be a jerk or make GDS feel bad or anything like that. Just pointing out that these arguments that she undoubtedly created after hearing some anecdotes online or from friends or reading natural birthing books or websites, are supported by NOTHING. “Most people” means NOTHING without surveys and data, but this tends to be all we get from NCB advocates. Why isn’t it obvious to them how these are not arguments at all, but just broad sweeping statements based on nothing but personal opinion? And often a personal opinion influenced by people with a) an agenda and b) zero medical knowledge or training.
I’m not trying to be a jerk or make GDS feel bad
Why not? She probably won’t change her mind but mocking her might sway undecided onlookers. She might as well be our useful idiot.
Oh, I don’t know. I guess I just believe something or other about flies and honey or vinegar or something like that. I get frustrated and let the snark fly sometimes, but I try not to be an asshole if I can help it. I really do hope that what is printed here might save some little lives – it already has, in fact. I just think not being outright mean serves our purpose better.
Every village needs one!
Thank you, I don’t have a creative name, for an excellent summary.
The other thing that bothers me about Good Day Sunshine’s posts is that many (if you’ll forgive my use of that term here) of her assertions contradict my own experiences, as well stories related to me in real life.
This makes me wonder what percentage of her generalizations are based on actual anecdotes, from real people, and what percentage are just statements generated to fit her worldview.
Yeah. Check this out: http://www.skepticalob.com/2013/02/my-marriage-long-contains-wedding-disappointmenttrauma-html.html#comment-807928501 (you’ll have to scroll up a bit to see more of the convo) This was where she had initially claimed that an OB had told her friend not to read books, as though that meant all OB’s felt that way. I called her on it, and she changed it to “at least 10” OB’s that she knows do that. Now I know for certain that she is not being truthful in her anecdotes.
I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt at first and was decent to her, but she’s just here to tell whatever lies she thinks will benefit the cause. The cause matters more than the truth. I don’t care for liars and am not going to bother engaging her anymore. Also in this same thread of convo: She made the claim that “most” nurses don’t know how to help a laboring woman, an OB nurse here called her on it, and her answer was: “Then you are one of the wonderful few. There are too many that I have
encountered in my travels that have no idea how to comfort a laboring
woman.”
Yes, because I am certain that there are soooooooooooooo many she has encountered on her travels, that she can make a statement like that fairly. Hundreds – maybe thousands! *eyeroll*
Aren’t there ANY NCB’ers out there that tell the truth and can debate based on logic, data, and reason??? Anyone?? Anyone??? *crickets*
Exactly why I’ve been finding it hard to take anything she says seriously! Or, perhaps ironically in my case, with a grain of salt!
On a related note, during today’s comments she has at least spilled that she does believe epidurals cause autism, as hinted in previous comments.
Any NCBers who actually followed logic, data, and reason wouldn’t be arguing *for* NCB.
I think you’re being a bit guilty of using Good Day Sunshine as a strawman for everyone who is in the NCB community. There are plenty of such goofballs* with very “woo” type beliefs, to be sure; but there are others with solid groundings in biology and physiology.
*Sorry, GDS, but while I’m sure you’re a very nice person, you are not doing the NCB community any favours with your comments.
No. They can’t. Never will.
Can I just say what a load of bullshit the concept of “bonding” is? Seriously ladies, somebody has really pulled a fast one on us. I see so many posts that tell birth stories, often that end in interventions, and then “Oh but I can’t imagine being more bonded to my little one!!”.
Well, I *can* imagine being more bonded to my kids. Yep. Just like in labor when I was able to imagine a pain worse than the one I was feeling at the time (“take this pain and add someone pulling off my fingernails”). But just like that imagined worse pain, I don’t dwell on the thought for long. Because: 1) What’s the point? You feel what you feel. 2) The thought of being in a perpetual “bonded” state with my kids feels ishy and claustophobic and infantilizing. I’ve got other things to think about in the world, thanks.
How did this concept of “bonding” become one involving so much hand-wringing? Who started it? And no I don’t mean who did the caged monkey studies or the institutionalized orphan studies. I mean who started “bonding is important and precarious” as a theme in the popular culture among mothers (and it is almost always mothers, not fathers).
Don’t you see what tool of control this idea is? It’s used to bully women into forgoing pain relief in labor. It’s used to bully women into breastfeeding when it’s not right for them. It’s used to pressure women to quit their jobs, rather than decide for themselves. It’s a terrible burden for women who don’t immediately fall in love (or never fall in love) with motherhood. It’s got to be a contributing factor for women sinking into postpartum depression. And it’s not even a concept that existed until very recently in human history.
I only held my kids for a brief time before they were taken away for weighing ect after the csection. I was also very queasy and threw up after the birth (my last two were the worst in regards to that). I didn’t want to hold the baby again until I felt better. I do not neglect my kids or love them any less because I didn’t want to hold them and throw up on them. I never even got that post birth euphoria (other than being pleased that I could breath deeply again) but I still love my kids plenty.
Oh please. What could be more comforting to a newborn than to be smothered in her mother’s pre-warmed personal stomach juices?
It will fix the gut flora of the poor c-sectioned baby, Aunt Bea! You’ve solved the whole riddle! PROBLEM SOLVED.
Totally agree!!
I think it’s important in animal husbandry, though more attributed to instinct. When it doesn’t occur, farmers and zookeepers have to step in, But we have brains that logically tell us to take care of our baby. If you are so disconnected that you can’t do that, it’s time to seek care.
I don’t know. Guess it depends on what you mean by bonding. To me, it’s not some magical force that is out of our hands, it’s the strong, fierce love that causes most of us to have no hesitation in doing the best for our child, even at sacrifice to self. I was never bonded to my mother, who rejected me pretty much from birth, and it’s caused me untold pain throughout the years (though with therapy and support from others, I am doing very very well now).
I agree though that it being portrayed as something magical that happens ONLY if you do everything the NCB way is cruel and causes otherwise loving, good moms anguish, fearful that they haven’t done everything “just right”.
Of my three births, one bond/feeling of love/attachment was instantaneous. The others took time to grow. And I had pretty much the same birthing experience each time. And it hasn’t mattered one bit in the long run… all of my kids are awesome and we have a wonderful family life.
I absolutely agree that there are some mothers and fathers who treat their kids like crap. I run into these parents and these kids, and the adult children of these situations in my practice. And I agree it has nothing to do with “bonding” as it is described in NCB. Parents who chronically emotionally of physically abuse their kids have Problems. They have chem dep, or narcissism, or untreated borderline, or were abused themselves, or are sadistic, or who the hell knows what. They are broken people with Problems. These parents are horrible to their kids, and would be with or without oxytocin or endorphins or instincts or baby hats or any other detail of the Cult of Bonding.
The idea that a mom would turn into such a monster, or perhaps an empty-inside robot going through the motions, because she doesn’t do skin-to-skin or some other bullshit is beyond stupid.
Do you avoid abusing your kids? Provide for their needs? Protect them from danger? Support and encourage them? Value them for the people that they are? Then I say that is more than good enough. It doesn’t matter when or how much or even if you fall in love with motherhood. It doesn’t matter if your heart swells with feeling of luuuuv 24/7 or if it doesn’t. It doesn’t matter if you felt a wave of “mother bear instinct” or whether you spent the first months or years feeling awkward and out of your element.
I blame Dr. Sears and the whole attachment parenting bullshit, whereby he had a very difficult baby after having a bunch of easy ones, read one too many articles about poor, emotionally stunted Romanian orphans who had come from horrible neglectful institutions, and decided to conflate the two issues and insist that moms must physically carry their babies everywhere or they won’t properly “bond.”
Some children are abused/neglected. Some children need more holding than others. It does not follow that children who are decently cared for but not held every second of the day will have attachment disorders.
I completely agree. This whole new-age concept of “bonding” is almost totally divorced from the excellent behavioral literature on bonding in animals and humans. Moreover, you have to have a pretty skewed picture of humanity and nature to think that the bond between mother and child is so fragile that putting a hat on right away, not breastfeeding, not cosleeping, or not doing any number of things, would completely and irrevocably sever the connection between parents and their children.
Originally written by thepragmatist, requested by i don’t have a creative name, and found (and posted far below) by Something from Nothing. I’m re-posting yet again so more people can read/re-read.
Just a word about the use of the term “natural” to describe vaginal birth. I think Dr. Amy has a really good post about this somewhere, but I kind of grimace every time I read the term “natural” applied to birth. What is unnatural about a c-section? Human beings as a species create technology to innovate and evolve past our limitations as a species. We’ve been doing this since our species was wandering out of Africa. We do this in so many ways. Our technology, while advanced and complex, is no different or less natural than any other species adaptation to the natural environment. I think it was Bertrand Russell who said that the division between man and nature is a false construct: that there is no division, since all we do is “natural”. We cannot buy out of nature. We are just as much part of nature as any other species and subject to the same laws. We are, as a species, doing what every species does: adapting to our environment and improving the survival rate of our species. A skyscraper, for example, is not so different than an ant hill, and it can be even argued that an ant hill is by far a greater achievement given the size of an ant, the enormous structures it creates, and its rudimentary technology.
Of course, as a species, we can be a destructive force: we are just so good at adapting our environment to suit us, or adapting ourselves to suit our environmental circumstances. It still makes us no less natural than a population of deer that has no natural predators and eats its way through a forest unmitigated.
That said, I do not believe that advances in childbirth, be them safe c-section or comprehensive care for pre-term babies or even surgery within the womb, are negative or harmful adaptations. As we become more precise in our ability to save babies, it becomes less necessary for women to carry many infants in order to produce few offspring, and women benefit greatly from this adaptation– to go on to lead longer, more productive lives, not crippled by bearing offspring, and able to contribute to the advancement of the species due to a longer life-span and less time spent child-bearing. Women have smaller families and offspring live better lives with a high rate of survival. It is more efficient, safer, and allows women far greater time to act as full participants in society.
I do not feel my c-section was “unnatural” or that I had an “unnatural” birth. I try to use the more specific terms vaginal and surgical birth.
-the pragmatist
I also thought it was brilliant…
*blushes* Thank you for the compliment!
I had an epidural, and I am not at all joking when I say getting the heplock put in while being admitted to the hospital was the most painful and scary part of the whole labor experience. I pushed for two hours but didn’t feel a dang thing. It was awesome. They did end up having to shove the baby back in and do a c-section when they realized she was trying to come out face first and got stuck, but much of her head was in the birth canal already and I couldn’t tell other than feeling like a basketball was suddenly between my legs.
Epidurals are one of the reasons I stumbled upon this blog. A number of my friends were pregnant around the same time and, since my husband and I were thinking of starting our family, I decided to go ahead and do some research. I’m a plan ahead kind of gal—I had my wedding planned since the age of 10 although, the pink carriage pulled by unicorns didn’t really pan out. One of the first things I looked into was epidurals and honestly, I never knew so much bad information existed on the internet until then. I don’t know if it’s hearing about my mom’s difficult labor with me or the video we had to watch in 7th grade health class of an actual birth in all its graphic detail (note: most effective birth control ever) but, the whole L&D process totally freaks me out. I wasn’t re-assured by the rah-rah you can do it sister, birth is natural and beautiful and empowering attitude on most mommy message boards. If anything, hearing this just made me feel like more of a freak for thinking birth was scary and ummm–I kind of hate to say as it may not be politically correct even here–gross.
As for the epidurals, even though my BS meter started going off when I read some of the things that were written about them, I had a nagging feeling that if so many women thought they were terrible maybe I was the one who was nuts for thinking they were relatively safe. I’m so glad I eventually found this blog which reassured me that, yes it was the NCB movement that was nuts and not me. However, even among my more reasonable friends there was this idea that a woman *should* at least try for a natural birth and only get an epidural if they absolutely had to. I really started to worry. I know this may sound extreme but, I wasn’t even sure if I wanted kids if without pain relief. I have a very low tolerance for pain and a history of panic attacks under stress. Eventually, I did find some good information, I think from American Society of Anesthesiologists which said there was no reason for women to delay epidurals if they didn’t choose to.
What makes me feel better about the possibility of facing pregnancy and birth is not to have a cheerleading section dismissing all of my questions and concerns by repeating me that birth is a natural, blissful experience. Finding trained professionals to give a balanced view of the risks and benefits and realistic picture of what to expect was the only thing that put my mind at ease. Ironically, I even feel better after reading some of the stories about women who had epidurals that didn’t work–now I at least know to discuss this potential issue my doctor when the time comes. Personally, I would rather skip the “empowerment” that comes with “trusting birth” and have the confidence that comes with knowing that I have truly educated and informed myself to the extent possible and knowing I can rely on professionals who make decisons based on the best available evidence rather than some silly theories about what is best for women.
I just got back from an antenatal appointment, I could hear a young woman in the labor ward screaming like a butchered hog. That was sheer, pure pain, not “pressure waves” and it didn’t sound like the poor girl thought there was anything uplifting, noble or orgasmic about it. The anaesthetist turned up just after I got there, thank goodness, I was so relieved for her when I saw him coming. Made me pretty darn happy to be able to schedule a repeat c-section when I saw the OB today, no fuss or trouble 🙂
Screaming like a butchered hog.. that’s quite the mental image. It reminds me of a book I read by someone who had escaped Warren Jeff’s cult. One of the things Jeffs would do to intimidate his followers and thereby keep them in line was torture animals. She described how one time he brought everyone to a certain area and presented them with a cow. He proceeded to saw the cow’s head off. The cow was tied up or something so that it couldn’t escape. She described the noises the cow made as being like a woman’s screams. It was horrifying to read.
Er, guess I’m not sure what that has to do with anything, other than it seems like these cults seem to have a commonality… forcing (or coercing) other living beings to suffer for no good reason.
The landslide response to this re-posting attests to the dark side of the natural birth movement. In the year after my son’s birth I saw a therapist who alluded to patients she had who had suffered physical birth injuries as a result of their insistence on ‘natural birth’.
Something important to always keep in the forefront–every single birth is completely unique. They can have features in common, but none are identical.
My ex-best friend (I think this was the beginning of the decline in our friendship) commented to me (as I coped with the fallout from my ‘failure’) that she had ‘always had a high tolerance for pain’. She gave birth without pain relief at the age of 29, no labor complications. Short labor. On the other hand . . .
I was 38, back baby (failed to rotate), cord compression, extreme heartrate decelerations . .. etc. The best metaphor I ever hit on for the worst of my labor was that it was like being drawn and quartered. For hours. And my childbirth classes had in no way prepared for me it though as I later found out, it was quite characteristic of “back labor”. I had been told it would take nearly an hour to get an epidural after the request. Mine was instant. I was told that once you get to 6 centimeters, you’re “nearly there and might as well hold off”. Um, NO. I was told they wouldn’t give you an epidural past 6 centimeters. False. I think I was 8. It ended in a near-emergency c-section, the only alternative at that point being a suctioning attempt which my husband and I were not willing to risk.
Why did I put myself through it? Because somehow I’d been duped into thinking that this was the great measure of my womanhood and toughness. Many months later I wrote a weepy, angry e-mail to Lamaze International. An intern initially responded with great compassion and kindness. But I never got any other response. So much for their great caring for women.
My son is now over 5 years old and you couldn’t imagine a child more healthily bonded to his mother. As an earlier poster put it—it’s like believing that the wedding makes the marriage. I was so ravaged when they finally put him in my arms I remember ‘faking’ my reaction! (“oh . . . he’s so beautiful!”)
My only experience with doulas was a neighbor who told me that I could fix up my low amniotic fluid by drinking lots of water (I was over a week past due and scheduled for an induction I ended up not even needing). she of course had #3 at home probably in a state of blissed-out oneness with her body that I failed to achieve.
I had a very long, rough labor with my first daughter (eventually got an epidural, as you did). My induction began on a Saturday after dinner and my daughter was born Tuesday afternoon. During that time, I didn’t sleep for a minute. By the time she was born, I also “faked” my reaction. When they handed her to me, I cooed but inside I was thinking “Great. Take her to the nursery and bring her back in eight hours.” We are also totally, awesomely bonded! Kudos for you for your honesty.
Clearly not a “baby friendly hospital” then.
BTW, I’m sorry for everyone here who has had shitty birth experiences :(.
I faked it too and my labor was not nearly as long and not as difficult. “Oh I love you so much!” as I’m holding my newborn, but only because I thought I had to say something like that. But yeah, as I said below – I felt nothing, really. Today, when I walked in the door after being at work, he laughed and laughed those deep baby belly laughs as I made silly faces at him. I feel pretty bonded to him.
The only “good pain” that I could think about is physical therapy which hurts like hell but if it wasn’t physical therapy I wouldn’t be able walk now so…yay?
Oh God, what are you having P/T for? I am currently on the couch with about a 7 on the pain scale waiting for meds that are just not doing their job tonight! Is it really supposed to hurt this much? My husband told me he won’t do it with me again if it is going to hurt this much. My pain is just getting worse and worse the more I do it and my GP said it is normal? Or more like, he looked rather concerned and frowned and said it was “expected” or some shit. I don’t know but I can’t get on top of pain! I’m pretty tough and have been through P/T before for another issue (and am glad) but I don’t remember it hurting this much. It’s for pelvic girdle/herniated disc issues. It’s making me limp and my leg go lame and stuff!!! I’m exhausted by it.
I am no longer doing P/T thank god. But I had to do in a lot as a kid as a result as a playground “accident” (School bully pushed me off the top of the jungle gym and seriously messed up my spine among other things). I still remember the pain of all the years of P/T and O/T. The therapist was nice enough and tried her best to make it “fun” but there is only so much you can do. P/T fucking sucks best of luck to you.
My most vivid memory as a medical student was a midwife telling me ” women don’t feel this ” as she cut an episiotmy at the hight of a contraction ! The patient promptly kicked her in the face – all the time giving her a running commentary that would make Billy Connelly blush ( I trained in Scotland ) This particular midwife was of the aged childess but knows-it-all variety , whose pet hate was what she termed ” pathetic wee girls” who asked for pain relief. Judging by what my classmates thought of her I suspect I could have sold tickets to see her getting a good kicking .
Disgusting!! I hope the poor woman complained to the hospital.
I can remember, deep in the woo, reading Spiritual Midwifery. One of the mothers-to-be was worried that the other women would think she was a “paddy ass” (ie soft, too delicate) if she could not handle the pain of childbirth stoically. Ugh.
I also recall women talking about being “labor warriors” and printing t-shirts with how many hours of labor they endured. When asked what they would do for women who had c-sections, no response.
I’m reminded of the lesson of the widow’s mite. Virtue can perhaps be measured in the cost to the giver rather than the benefit to the recipient, if you’re interested in virtue for its own sake. It seems to me a short step from there to the hair shirt. Redemptive suffering is a prominent religious theme, and it’s perhaps not surprising that it should intensify in women who experience pregnancy and birth as spiritual, beatific processes.
Choosing not to opt for pain relief comes from a position of privilege. Poor women don’t have to prove they can endure pain–they endure it every day in various ways, physical, mental and emotional. You have to have a relatively pain-free life in order for the idea of a personal test of pain endurance to have appeal. And the support needed to have a pain-free birth is also a marker of privilege since it is expensive–a doula can easily cost $1,000+ in my area, plus the cost of Lamaze classes, hypnobirthing books, etc. It’s also privileged in the sense that it’s time-limited pain–once you give birth it’s over, unlike pain experienced by poor women in their day-to-day lives.
“You have to have a relatively pain-free life in order for the idea of a personal test of pain endurance to have appeal. ”
…or to attach moral value to it.
Yes, I’ve dealt with a lot of untreated or undertreated pain in my life. There’s nothing honourable about it. It slowly drove me mad! But you know what, this kind of attitude toward childbirth pain is not limited to just pain during labour but women’s pain in general. At least that’s been my experience since menarche. And, in general, our society attaches a moral value to the experience of pain, so in some ways I think this is a symptom of an overall value system that sees those who suffer pain and seek relief as weak. This is typified in my own father who takes special pride in having dental surgery with analgesia. He often sounds no different than an NCB advocate. He uses self-taught hypnosis! If it works for him, great– but it’s definitely a moral judgment and he has judgment for people who “give in” to pain and let it “define them”.
My MIL is like your Dad, though not about childbirth, at least as far as I know…she had all Csections. Anyway, she was recently telling my husband that we coddle the children too much by giving them albuterol when their asthma flares up. My husband (and I) are also asthmatic, so we have a lot of experience with it…but when husband was a child, his mother basically denied he had asthma, and I wonder if she believes it is a made up disease. She was a nurse, and she is not woo-tastic, but her ideas about suffering instead of “showing a weakness” by getting help are very strange to me. I suppose you could say that having asthma is a weakness, but since no one I know is out to kill us with asthma triggers, I don’t feel that admitting it is an issue.
“She was a nurse, and she is not woo-tastic, but her ideas about suffering instead of “showing a weakness” by getting help are very strange to me.”
She’s certainly not the only nurse with this attitude. My mum is the same.
People who have High pain threshholds dont experience pain the same way as most of us Chickens!!
I think there is moral value to enduring pain or suffering philosophically or with grace. Just cannot see any value moral or otherwise in seeking out pain that can be avoided. I think I am influenced by the saying that one never sees a philospher with toothache – pain is mind numbing, obliterating and does not make you a better person! It reduces the rational thoughts that make sense of any morality.
Hi Guestina, I love your post! This answers the underlying question of “why”…why is enduring the discomforts/pain/suffering/agony/torture of childbirth admirable? Especially when pain relief is readily available.
You got it exactly right! We should be putting our energy and attention into helping the women in the rest of the world—where over half a million women die every year from complications from pregnancy and birth. Why don’t the Ricki Lakes of the world focus on that?
The exercise world is another place where people are told to ignore pain. I was just reading an issue of Fitness magazine from last year. All of these phrases/quotes are from the editor’s letter:
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”
“Pain is temporary; pride is forever.”
“I knew that the mental strength and perseverance it takes to overcome physical pain during a race or intense workout is the same fortitude that will propel me through any of life’s tough challenges.”
I’ve seen plenty of other similar statements in other fitness magazines and constantly on exercise DVDs. The PE teacher in my school tells the kids that they are “wimping out” if they can’t hold a plank for a minute or can’t do more than x amount of situps. They see anyone who can’t handle the pain as weak, and those who can as strong, a ridiculous idea! I wonder if the NCB world borrows ideas from the fitness community!
I that is why I always hated those fitness types. I have lost over 30 pounds and never hurt once. If you are in pain you are doing it wrong.
“I wonder if the NCB world borrows ideas from the fitness community!”
Certainly in the hypnobirthing class I did – it was a discussion on whether breathing through your mouth was better for your stamina than breathing through your nose.
Let’s face it: it’s because of what the NCB practitioners are able (and not able) to
offer. While they pay lip service to the “enduring pain for personal growth” mantra, they also spend a lot of time trying to perfect not-very-good methods of pain relief: hypno, music, tubs, massage. They talk about “gentle”, “tightenings” etc as a code for “since we can’t do much about the pain, let’s pretend it’s nothing much”.
Imagine if acute medicine gave you a stick to bite on while you got your dislocated shoulder put back in place, or massage for a bowel obstruction, or for gall bladder pain. And then pretending that it’s better for you to endure the pain.
They are lying to themselves, as well as families, because they are not able to offer anything very effective. And the ideology is everything.
Penny Simkin calls them comfort measures. I don’t like that term because that term “comfort measures” are usually what you would do for someone in hospice. Anyway, it’s double talk because if it’s such a rush, why in the world would you want to be comforted and distracted from it? Kind of like the midwife who was always telling clients that “babies don’t have a due date like a library book” and then asking if they were doing the pressure points and drinking the herbal teas that would “help them go into labor naturally”.
ooo, love your points, Bombshellrisa.
If the pain is supposed to be a “good” pain, why then do the NCBers in general and the homebirthers in particular try so hard to ease the pain, manage it, and minimize it? Why not let the pain and its effects hang out in all its glory? (Real answer: the notion that childbirth pain is good and noble is a flat out LIE.)
And so true about the “due” date hoopla. If they really wanted to “go natural,” why take measures to hurry nature along? (Real answer: they’re afraid that they’re actually post-dates, which increases the likelihood of stillborns.)
What about that woman posting on MDC (IIRC) who went home and did vodka shots with her midwife to stop her labor? That seemed completely, totally, batshit crazy to me. There are proven, effective, safe, NON-teratogenic things you can take to stop labor. We know for a fact that alcohol is VERY dangerous for fetuses and regular and/or excessive consumption during pregnancy can result in permanent brain damage. I just remember reading that and having my mind boggle that anyone could be so outright idiotic and hypocritical. You’ll chug back something that multiple studies show could damage your child’s brain permanently and irreversibly because your best buddy says it’s safe, but refuse something that carries no known risk just ’cause it comes from those eeeeeevil doctors?
And if anyone is wondering why I’m so dead-set against pregnant women having booze, read “Damaged Angels” by Bonnie Buxton. FAS is only the tip of the iceberg. Alcohol Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder is the real hidden horror.
It’s the same phenomenon:
– can’t prescribe tocolytics? Advise alcohol
– can’t prescribe induction agent? Advise toxic bowel irritant
– can’t treat GBS? Advise garlic
– can’t treat severe pain? Either (a) advise that it’s good (b) blame mother’s attitude or (c) massage feet
If all these things don’;t matter, why make up stuff that doesn’t work to manage them?
Yes, I remember that story. How absolutely “natural”.
I love the phrase batshit crazy!
My first exposure to “natural childbirth” was when I was 11. I was reading a historical fiction novel and in one scene, a woman was giving birth in excruciating pain (as would be expected in the 1800s). When it was over and the laboring woman was cuddling her baby, one of the bystanders said that labor pains awaken mother love. My first reaction? How massively sadistic and sexist! If an 11-year-old can grasp the misogyny of NCB philosophy, then why can’t college-educated “feminist” anthropologists get it? Also, why can’t NCB advocates see that their philosophy is nothing new and that it is basically old-school, Judeo-Christian (punishment for Eve’s sin, and I’m a Roman Catholic too!) misogyny dressed up in feminist clothing? Obviously, not everyone that embraces NCB thinks like that, nor do they all judge those that make different choices. However, the philosophical underpinnings of the movement as a whole as hugely problematic and frankly, I don’t see how anyone can really believe in them. Thank you, Amy, for stating what many of us are thinking and have been thinking for years. If I read this when I was 11, you would have been taking the words right out of my mouth and it would have saved me a lot of grief later in my life.
This I mostly agree with, as concerns most women. But who are we to deny the veracity of the accounts of the small minority of women who describe their experiences as pleasurable, even orgasmic?
We’re the same people who can deny the veracity of the small minority of people who claimed to have been abducted by space aliens. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and no evidence at all has been forthcoming.
You owe me a new keyboard. That is hilarious. lololol!!
I had an unmedicated birth. It was agonizing. When the pain changed to pressure and I pushed out my son, there was a feeling of bliss. I believe it was the sudden turning off of the pain, not any real “pleasure.” That’s my view, anyway.
Most women find epidurals blissful for the same reason.
The problem is not the women that describe their experiences that way, it’s the women that sell other women on the idea that this is normal, even to be expected but only if you labor and deliver in a setting where you are comfortable and you do so unmedicated and your birth attendant has to be a midwife.
That is a fair point. Dr. Amy makes a different point, claiming these women are lying.
They might be.
Sure, and everything you post here might be a lie for all I know. But I’m not accusing you of that, and I don’t think anyone should be accused of being a liar because their claims about a subjective experience do not match someone else’s.
It’s not that they lie, but what they do with the lie. Telling survivors of sexual trauma that they will be able to “heal” if they give birth vaginally and that they will have an orgasm and it will heal them sexually as well. Everything will be solved! Buy it’s not that easy. Being triggered, terrified and not having this joyous orgasmic rush that you are supposed to because you “did everything right” and all because of a lie that is nothing more than trying to one up the next stunt birther.
I could believe they were liars if they are selling something: a seminar, birthing classes, even doula or midwifery services. But there’re other people saying this without any angle to shoot.
Still, as I said in my first comment, I do agree with the overall thrust of this post for most women.
Alan, are you a man?
Yeahhh…are there women named Alan? Why do you ask?
Sorry to ask. I just didn’t want to assume.
Before I gave birth, there was a small part in my brain that always wondered if childbirth really hurt that bad. After I went through it, I realized that it’s very difficult to completely understand the discomforts/pain/agony if you haven’t gone through it.
Without being disrespectful, men can certainly empathize with a woman’s childbirth experience, but they will never completely understand it. I appreciate a man’s perspective, yes. But, really, it is outrageous for anyone to claim that childbirth gives a woman an orgasm (or to give these women even a smidgen of credibility).
Show the evidence, then maybe I’ll buy it. But like the alien abductees analogy, there just isn’t any scientific data to date that supports the claim.
I think some men (and women) just like to think that ANYTHING passing through the vagina is pleasurable. Sure, childbirth can be “pleasurable” in that a woman is giving life to a beautiful child, but it’s hardly comparable to an orgasm. Is there a high, of course. But it’s not in the same vein. To suggest that the pangs and throes of childbirth result in an orgasm is really, truly an insult to the suffering that women endure because of childbirth, with or without pain relief.
~ From a would-have-been homebirther had it not been for Dr. Amy’s writings
I really think you are overlooking the fact that I said from the get-go that we were talking about a “small minority” of women who have said this is how they felt. Before I heard of this minority’s reported experiences, I assumed it was extremely painful for all women. I have also had experience with women finding sex painful unless we really carefully eased into it. So your theory doesn’t hold water, not for me anyway.
I’m not sure why you’re so hung up on this.
I think it has been mentioned downthread- some men have orgasms from being punched in the testicles or having their testicles stepped on my someone in heels, others get pleasure from fisting or inserting dangerously large objects into various orifices.
They recognise it as a kink, not as something everyone should aim for. “Orgasmic birth” is the same- a rare accidental happening, not normal, not desirable, and not, for many women, remotely achievable.
Birth is not “orgasmic”- it is messy, tiring, mind numbingly painful hard work.
If you found it arousing doing the ironing or mopping your floor, good for you.
If you suggested that my house wasn’t really clean because I don’t. Or suggested that that fact that I don’t enjoy cleaning at all, and would much rather pay someone to do it for me makes me less of a woman.
Or if you then spent time lecturing me on how I too could find cleaning my floor sexually arousing if only I tried hard enough, I’d think you were mentally unwell.
Hung up on what? I’m just discussing the topic of the post. Isn’t that the point of the comments section?
There are plenty of books written by NCB advocates that mentioned orgasmic birth, also movies made by the same people and it’s always mentioned in every one of those birth bootcamps and workshops. I think there was something about it in Karen Brody’s “Birth!” play that was so talked about in midwifery and doula circles. So perhaps only a few women REALLY do have those orgasms during birth. But the idea that you can (perhaps even should) is put out there for many more people to get the idea into their heads with and then weigh a “birth experience” against.
Yeah, I can’t disagree with any of that.
I’m willing to believe that a few women in the history of the universe have had an orgasm with birth. There are case reports of orgasms happening in very weird situations like during sneezing. Some women have reported having orgasms during rape. I would even believe some men have orgasmed during a kick to the crotch, especially if it were part of some planned kink experience and the kick happened to be right over the prostate.
But what’s the point? That because a few people have orgasmed from rape or sneezing or kicks that we should all strive to during these situations? That a fluke of physiology should be the new gold standard?
And it does for sure have the “emperor’s new clothes” thing going on. So many women all of a sudden reporting orgasm? Ummm sure….
So this comment gets a downrating, like it is spam or trolling or something? WTF
No. You’ve misread her. Her primary claim is that NCB advocates are lying to women when they tell them that they can turn what is generally regarded as an extremely painful experience into an orgasmic one, and that there is some sort of value in attempting this. It’s just another unrealistic thing NCB presents to women. Another goal post to obtain in the pursuit of that perfect birth experience.
I am not unconvinced a woman can experience an orgasm during delivery (weirder things have happened) but to make it a goal is 1. unrealistic and unfair to most women (who cannot and will not orgasm) and to me, 2. rather creepy, since I don’t find it at all appropriate or comfortable to orgasm in front of anyone besides my husband, let alone while my child is crowning…
I’m not referring to her OP, but to her comment just upthread in which she said it was similar to people who claim to be abducted by space aliens.
So, honest question. I think the community here is a great mix of knowledge, and I’m curious about your opinions on this. I haven’t given birth yet, still hope to someday, so I’m wondering…
I hear a lot of NCB/non-medicated birth stories that describe the epic endorphin rush post-delivery, largely as justification for the decision. It seems like some of these women would definitely choose no pain relief again, largely for that reason. I haven’t heard the same from women who did choose an epidural; I’m guessing that the drugs interfere with that? I’m just wondering if any of you can speak to the differences there.
I should say that I’m a complete pansy, and can’t imagine going through birth without drugs. However, I’d be lying if I said the non-medicated birth stories didn’t intrigue me, particularly this focus on a “post-birth high” that seems absent from medicated birth stories. Opinions and explanations from those in the know are greatly appreciated!
I have chronic severe migraines. A sudden drop in pain can produce a sense of euphoria, but IMO, just in my case, it’s false/misleading, because my pain levels can skyrocket again just as quickly.
Perhaps the NCB crowd is referring to the (true or false?) euphoria caused by a drop in pain once the baby is delivered?
That’s a pretty interesting hypothesis, Stephanie – and kinda what I’m curious about. Physiologically, what could account for it? Thanks!
The body produces oxytocin to tell the uterus to contract. Oxytocin is also the “love hormone”. Whether or not you have a medicated and/or surgical birth, it will not change the natural mechanism of your body to produce oxytocin to tell your uterus to contract– unless you aren’t, for some reason, making enough oxytocin (which obviously happens, since we have to manage third stage of labour). I definitely got the euphoria post-birth and it was like NOTHING I’ve experienced. Then it went on and on… 🙂
I am prepared to belief that hormones have something to do with it, because I have never experience anything like it outside of childbirth – you just clearly do not need an unmedicated vaginal birth to feel it.
What I remember was being so serene and at peace with the world – it was suddenly a beautiful place, everyone in it lovable. I remember feeling so sorry for those experiencing the “baby blues” and wanting to spread my bliss over them. It makes me smile even now to remember what it felt like! Dotty, really.
I remember once, when my 10-year-old was a baby, looking out my window at 7 AM and seeing a guy in a suit in the parking lot getting into his car. I felt sooo sorry for him, that he had to go work, while I got to be home with my baby.
That was my brain on oxytocin.
when you are in pain, your body produces endorphins…they are natural opioid-like substances and act to counter the pain (a bit). When the pain stops, you are left (briefly) with the euphoric effects (ie runner’s high)
Sorry it took so long to reply – I’m still learning the ropes of commenting on here. Endorphins can be released when one is in pain, according to this article, and they act pretty much the same way opiate drugs do, except in the case of endorphins not assisted by medication or drugs (i.e. heroin), there’s no addiction factor. http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55001
I have the same phenomenon with migraines. I experienced something very similar after my daughter was born, because I went from mind-numbing pain to almost no pain in a matter of seconds.
Works fast, doesn’t it? I wonder if in cases like that, it’s like being in shock.
Dozens of posters here have commented about the post-birth high, whether natural, medicated or c-section. You will be happy because you have a baby, not because you gave birth. To the extent that NCB mothers feel any additional euphoria at all it is because Thank God the Torture is Finally Over.
exactly what I thought!
I’m not sure. With my first the high was a “Look what I made” kind of high, lol. I was so gobsmacked that a *person* came *out of me*. I didn’t expect that feeling, but I was so proud (and I know, I’m not the first person to have a person come out of them, lol, but at the time it certainly felt that way). I did have an epidural, no second stage relief, and there was a ‘thank god the torture is over’ sense, at least until the doc started stitching me up with no lidocaine (ouch), but the high remained for a few weeks.
With my second I had her unmedicated, and the high was incredible. Not the ‘look what I did feeling’, but a ‘OMG that was awesome’ feeling. I didn’t regard her birth as torture in the least and felt back to myself within two weeks (first degree tears are sooooo much better than third degree episiotomy extensions), but the high remained for literally 3 months. I was ready to have another baby before we even left the hospital, lol.
With my third (also unmed), I felt good, but there really wasn’t any “high” at all. I was somewhat disappointed at that (not for long, I’ve got three beautiful, healthy girls, so what if I didn’t get a “high” after my youngest’s birth), mostly because I had remembered the intense feelings I had after my second child (and to a lesser extent, after my first) and had hoped for a repeat of that. I can’t figure out what was so different betwen her delivery and the other two…. Honestly it seems so hit-or-miss and random, it’s not worth forgoing wanted pain relief in the hopes of getting some sort of post-birth high. I think it happens or it doesn’t, no matter what transpires during the delivery. JMO.
I had euphoria when my epidural was put in….huge drop in pain and i was high as a kite. After my son was born I was…relieved….stunned not exactly euphoric. But every day when I look at him now, or when I rock him right before bed and breath in the sweet smell of his baby head and hair, I am in awe, amazed.
I think its the precipitous drop in pain that leads to the euphoria, nothing else.
I definitely had a post-birth euphoria, despite having not just an epidural but also a c-section. I don’t have any non-medicated births to compare it to, but I was definitely soaring the first few hours after the baby was born.
Me too – high as a kite after second CS. Large part of it psychological, I think. Relief, achieving what you wanted to achieve.
I think the reason the “post birth high” *seems* to be left out, is because when your entire birth story is happy because of proper pain relief, the last part isn’t as pronounced. Doesnt mean it doesnt exist. When you have hours of the worst pain in the world, and it ends, it seems like the best thing, Im sure. I think its kinda weird to expirence pain just for a (maybe) better high….
I had one of each (the unmedicated one was unintentional), but didn’t have an endorphin rush either time.
I didn’t experience an endorphin rush, after 22hrs of labor (with an epidural for the latter part), I was exhausted. l remember asking if the babies were ok, and I remember them holding them near my face and saying “Kiss your baby!” while they were waiting on the placenta and stitching the small tear I had. To be honest, I didn’t really feel the rush of love as they say, until the boys were around 2mos old and started smiling at me. I was just too tired, and in damage control mode.
I asked my husband if he felt any endorphin rush when the babies came and he said no.
Post-birth after my unmediated labor: I was dazed and largely relieved that it was over. I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Then I started hemmorhaging and got to endure manual examination of my uterus without pain medication (no hep lock). This was worse than delivery, which I didn’t believe was possible. When I got back from the OR after having my cervical laceration repaired, I was totally out of it from blood loss, exhaustion, and anesthesia. My husband was supposed to be bringing our son in for our first real visit. He came in and said, “don’t be upset honey. The baby is fine, but they are observing him in the NICU because he is grunting.” After confirming that our son really was okay, I said good, and went back to sleep. I had no desire to see my baby at that point. Later that night, I woke up wanting to see him desperately, but had to wait until the next morning since I had to be wheeled back. I did feel euphoric when I finally got to hold him, but natural birth actually prevented me from being with him sooner.
After my epidural birth, I was overwhelmed with euphoria as soon as they placed my son in my arms. He had sudden distress while crowning, and the NIcU team had to work on him for about 20 minutes, and I was so eager to hold him. I was on a high for weeks.
Good thing you were in a hospital. Otherwise, the NCB would have said that your baby wasn’t meant to live.
It is hard to describe the endorphin rush a felt after our first son was born. It was out of this world amazing. It was a high that lasted for days.
And he was born by c-section.
Although I cannot vouch for how his mom felt.
LOL! See my above post about “Dad face”… exactly! My husband was on some sort of crazy high for weeks after our son was born. He got all soft and sweet and super lovey. And he was high, high, high on our son’s birth even though he wasn’t even in the room at the time. The photos of him holding my son show how deeply enthralled he was with his new baby and how blissful he felt. Ah…
I was euphoric when my epidural kicked in and the pain stopped. I was also calm. That lasted about five minutes.
I was insanely euphoric and excited when my baby was born, painlessly. So was my husband and he hadn’t had any pain at all. That one lasted days.
It’s like hte people who don’t find out in advance the sex of their baby and they’re all “it was such an amazing moment when the doctor said ‘it’s a girl/boy.'” Well, I found out the sex of my baby at 20 weeks. It was an amazing moment then, and then it was ANOTHER amazing moment when the baby was born and the doctor said “Here’s your baby.”
You get all the moments, just at different times and ways. I don’t think I missed out on anything but excruciating pain by getting an epidural. I don’t think I missed out on anything but waiting another 20 weeks (and maybe more green/yellow clothes at the shower) by finding out the sex of my baby in advance.
I can tell you that I had a c-section AND an intense endorphin rush once the placenta was delivered. It was the oxytocin released by my body once the placenta detached. My OB told me that the mechanism of the oxytocin rush had little to do with how I gave birth and rather was a mechanism of placental detachment… the feelings of bliss and well-being will stay with forever. I think it’s absolute bunk to tell women that they will not experience that “rush” of love and bliss just because they had a medicated or surgical birth. The mechanism by which oxytocin is released by the body, producing transcendent feelings of love and bliss, doesn’t change through method of delivery. Dads also have hormonal changes at birth: hence the reams of photos of goofy, happy dads with dopey looking love faces holding their brand new baby. We call it “dad face” around here. If you scroll through photos of dads holding their babies in skin to skin post c-section you can see this ridiculous and adorable phenomena that truly fills my heart with love. It’s always sweet to see the big burly men with the soft, soft faces on, reduced to a puddle of love by their wee little babies. 🙂
I think that trauma may interfere with feeling bliss and well-being but again, I don’t think that has much to do with the mode of birth as much as it does with fear, pain, etc. All in all, whether you feel that rush or not, makes not a whit of difference to your bonding with baby later.
I had a non-traumatic, well-managed birth that produced a lovely high. I was “birth high” for months after my birth. Even today, every time I think back on the birth I feel overwhelming joy. And I am a happy c-section mom. If I have another, I have no doubt similar will happen. 🙂
I had one helluva post-spinal block high, thanks to the pain relief, quickly followed by an even bigger post-birth high when I heard my daughter’s first cry. If I could bottle that feeling and sell it on street corners, I’d be very, very rich. I think that “post-birth high after medicated birth” stories are comparatively rare because women who have medicated births or c-sections aren’t proselytizing about the benefits in the way that the NCB crowd has to, in order to justify their position.
I have to say I’m a little jealous of all you folks who had this blissful, euphoric feeling after your babies were born. I had severe PPD/A right from the start after both of my babies, and all I felt was intense anxiety that lasted for months. On a happy note, I did recover both times with the help of good doctors and wonderful friends and family, and I could not adore my children more now, but my fear of going through this again is the main reason I don’t plan to have more children.
I did have two (mostly) pain-free c-sections, but I don’t think they are the reason I had difficulty bonding at first. The hormonal fluctuations involved with having a baby just caused my brain chemicals to get a little whacky, and I don’t think a med-free vaginal birth would have changed that at all. Unfortunately, this is just the way my body and brain react to having a baby.
PPD/A is an awful thing to have to deal with and I’m glad you’ve recovered now. I think it’s pretty bloody unfair that the hormonal fluctuations don’t make everyone euphoric.
I wish I knew that PPD could manifest as anxiety. I certainly had that. Although it didn’t help that an older relative visitted and stayed for a few days a couple of weeks after the birth and knew all sorts of terrible stories of things that had killed young babies.
I was so tightly wound in the few days after my baby was born that any sound in the hospital (there are a lot of sounds in the hospital) would jerk me from sound asleep to on my feet in half a second. My husband said it was like watching a cartoon character.
I guess i don’t see why it matters? One will love and bond with their baby the majority of the time no matter what the birth was like, “epic endorphins” or no.
If the high after pain is really that important, BDSM seems like a more reliable and frequent way to get it, though that is certainly not my cup of tea.
Blissful, bursting into tears, never been so happy in my life feeling- I had that with my daughter, and I had a planned, prelabour CS with a spinal.
Holding my baby was enough, honestly- no labour, no pain necessary for me.
It isn’t something I’ll actually tell people though, because, well, it makes you look like a b*tch- “Oh, you laboured for 48hrs med free and had an amazing post birth high that made up for it- good for you, I came to hospital and painlessly had a baby 3 hrs later and I felt just the same”- doesn’t make you many friends.
This is one of the fears that NCB philosophy plays upon. It seems quite reasonable and not uncommon for pregnant women to worry about 1) the pain of labour, and 2) whether they will bond with their babies. NCB soothes these concerns by claiming that labour pain is all in your head and going drug-free will guarantee bonding.
In contrast, there are no guarantees in medicine. Your epidural or other form of pain relief may not work or may be unavailable. You may not fall instantly in love with the baby that has given you months of nausea, exhaustion, heartburn, headaches, and swelling (not to mention kicking the shit out of your insides for at least four months). What a pregnant woman wants is to look at her healthy baby for the first time and know that it has been totally worth it to sacrifice her body for its sake.
Some women get the post-birth high, some women don’t. Some people fall in love with their future spouse at first sight, some people start with friendship and it evolves into love over time. Some people get a high from skydiving, some people hate the experience. Some people adore reading, others never ever read for pleasure.
I’m ok, you’re ok.
My first was a completely medicated delivery, with my son going into distress and the vacuum used right at the end, he didn’t breathe right away amd so the peds team worked on him while we waited for his cries when we heard them we both had a crazy high.
My second, 2 weeks ago, was completely natural, not by choice – labor was 2 hours from the first twinge to baby out and I felt terrible, I was so shell shocked from the mind bending pain and the quickness of ordeal, I cried, but not from joy or even that the pain was over, but because I never thought that such an excruciating experience would ever happen to me. I never had any sort of high, instead I spent his first 24 hours trying to process that had just happened to me.
I’m not concerned at all with bonding, since I didn’t feel all that bonded with my first for weeks and now I couldn’t be more attached to him and I know it will come.
I just feel like everything NCB sells is a total lie. I feel like less of a mom and woman for going through something so painful and for losing all control and I certainly have never felt less empowered than I did while I was stuck in one position screaming my baby out.
I knew I wanted an epidural during labor, but my OB, the nurses, and even the hospital literature suggested waiting until labor was well-established (“usually by 4 cm”) before getting the epidural. The problem I hadn’t anticipated is that once my OB broke my water (at about 4cm, while we were waiting for the anesthesiologist) is that I would dilate very rapidly. So by the time the anesthesiologist arrived I was in extreme pain, and when the epidural had to be replaced, I thought I was going to die. I remember collapsing onto the bed and immediately falling asleep once it was replaced. The next time I was checked, not long after, I was at 8cm. (It seems I went from 4cm to complete in about 3.5 hours or so.) Those couple of hours before I started pushing were nice. But the damage had been done: I was already exhausted by the time I started pushing, and when my son was born I felt…nothing. Didn’t cry. I was just so goddamn tired and in shock at how painful it had been.
Next time, I’m getting the epidural immediately. I see no benefit to suffering through that much pain and fatigue.
“…the claim that kicking a man in the groin could induce orgasm…”
I can tell you don’t have experience in certain subcultures, so let me just say that this is not just entirely possible, it happens. I have seen, and marveled over it, even participated in it, many times.
No one thinks this is a normal, or desirable way to orgasm, though! It is considered a perversion, a kink, a fetish, a mental anomaly and physical abnormality. No one that likes this (they are very rare) would ever go around suggesting that because they enjoy this, that other men should get kicked in the nuts in order to try to feel this pleasure. I can’t even imagine such a conversation between men!
I do think “orgasmic birth” is possible, in two ways: the enormous distention of the vaginal walls and related pressure, and with standard sexual stimulation during birth. There are people that sexually enjoy enormous insertions, even people that purposely give themselves prolapses (do * not* google this), so why not enjoy the same sensation during birth? I also think that some people can masturbate in any circumstance, so that someone does this during birth is not surprising to me.
Once again, there is no way this could be considered normal, and no normal person would think to try this out during birth in order to see if they are one of the rare people that enjoy such feelings. The pain usually deters people from such things.
Unlike those who are into SnM, those promoting Orgasmic birth seek to promote their unique experience as universal! Instead of realizing their experience is out of the ordinary range of human possibilities, they assume it’s would be common and is just misunderstood because of social pressures. They tell all women that they too can feel this way, that if they don’t, it’s only because they aren’t in touch with ancient energy (or something similar).
It never occurs to them that like a man that likes getting his nuts crushed by high heels, they are outliers on the spectrum of human sexuality. There is nothing wrong with being unusual in this way, the mistake is to believe that when others cannot feel the same way, they are doing something wrong.
Thank you for saying this! I was thinking the same thing, and you expressed it very well.
Poor men. If only they had some form of “natural” pain that was capable of improving them. We should feel sorry for our male counterparts, because they never get a chance to experience that “good” pain that ultimately makes them more manly. Perhaps they should be required to smash a limb every time their partner goes into labor, so they can experience some of that good and natural self-improvement that can only come with excruciating pain. Women are so lucky. (snark)
In North America, I would love to know how many women ask for epidural pain relief but cannot get it for non-medical reasons. I want to know how many women are unnecessarily subjected to the pain of labour that they would prefer to forgo. That is the rights violation I’d like to know about and see be addressed.
I was nearly one of those women. One of the 2 CNMs who was on at the time I began requesting an epi basically said, “We don’t like to give them,” and walked out of the room. Eventually my husband, who would have likely gotten himself arrested had any of the people denying me an epi been male, spoke to an L&D nurse about it. She in turn spoke to the midwives, and the three of them stood at the foot of my bed, watching me writhe in pain, while discussing whether or not I should be allowed an epi as if I weren’t in the room. After getting a lecture about the evils of epidurals from the same bitchy midwife, I was given the epi they had no reason to refuse me in the first place.
I switched offices for this baby, and when they asked why I had left the old practice, I told them, without sugar-coating it. I have hopeful expectations of being treated more respectfully during this birth.
This is why my blood boils when I read complaints online that “A nurse offered me pain meds when I CLEARLY STATED in my birth plan I wanted to go all-natural! How dare they try to pressure me?!” But when someone mentions being denied pain meds when they ask for them? Crickets.
I see the later being a far graver injustice than the former. It should inexcusable in non-rural/remote settings – further I think the informed consent process for epidurals should happen long before labour when the mother is clear headed. If mom asks for an epidural, she should be given one and should not be made to wait an inordinate amount of time (not more than an hour).
They did this to my daughter, and I was getting ready to go and thump someone, She had dilated quite slowly from about 10 am and was getting scared and upset. By 8 pm she was 7cm and it looked like we were in for a tough two or three hours. The bland cheerleader midwives were really beginning to get to me but fortunately the last bit went quick – baby born at 9 pm on the dot. Neither of us are going to forgive those young women in a hurry.
It’s a sad state of affairs whey you can’t even trust a hospital to help you when you’re in pain. Scenarios like this scare me a lot more than any cascade of interventions that NCBers keep going on about. To be in a position where you are in horrible pain and you know someone could help but, they turn a blind eye based on their personal assessment that you don’t need help or based on some ideology that you have no interest in, sounds horrifying. It reminds me of nightmares I’d have as a kid where someone was abducting or hurting me and I would be screaming for help but, no sound was coming out or people around were just ignoring me. I feel panic just thinking about it.
I’d like to know from any lawyers reading if patients have any recourse in situations where they are not getting access to pain relief? I’m not talking about situations where the anesthetist
is just busy and can’t get there in 30 seconds but, situations where requests for relief are being actually ignored. I’m not the kind of person who likes to threaten a lawsuit whenever something doesn’t go my way. However, if I thought it would get the hospital to take me seriously, you bet I would keep my lawyer on speed dial.
Right here – mine was delayed hours as my nurse pushed NCB rhetoric at me – I had asked for the epidural before I was even in labor and it was in my “birth plan”
I just had a lovely, pain-free RCS a month ago and can’t imagine being more bonded to my little guy. I was pretty nervous going in – with my first I had a long induction, finally agreed to an epidural, then baby went immediately into distress. Emergency c-section, separated for a while, I was exhausted, recovery was long and painful, breastfeeding never established well, and it took a long time to bond with my newborn. It wasn’t easy to accept when my OB said I’d need another c-section, because I was sure it would be another mess.
This was worlds different. I went in at 7am after a full night of sleep, not exhausted and starving after hours of induction. The spinal worked perfectly, no pain at all, no side effects. We were all relaxed and joking, I picked the O.R. music, and had my baby on my chest before 8:30. He latched like a champ while I was still getting stitched up and he didn’t leave my arms or right beside my bed until we got discharged. I got out of the hospital only 48 hrs later, not needing any meds stronger than tylenol.
Frankly, I think a lack of pain is a huge factor in bonding. It’s much easier to feel a rush of love when you’re comfortable and well-rested.
Dr. Amy, with all due respect, I have a friend whose blood pressure dropped after she got the epidural and for that reason she needed a C.
For her next baby, she had a lower-dose epidural so her blood pressure did not drop too much, and had a vbac.
Also, in teaching hospitals, a woman might get a resident doing the epidural. I have a friend who gave birth in a teaching hospital and suffered severe back pain. For her next babies, she chose not to have the epidural.
Blood pressure drops are a known side-effect of epidurals, but can usually be managed by fluids. I also had a resident do my placement. It took him about 4 tries. It was uncomfortable, but not painful. I can definitely see how someone who has needle phobia would hate it though.
I know some women who don’t want epidurals, and that’s just fine. Labor pain varies. I just hate hearing about women who feel like failures for accepting pain relief. That we are even talking about this in the 21st century proves that we have a long road ahead of us before women are true equals.
Yeah, my blood pressure dropped after my epidural, and the nurses and anesthesiologist acted like it was no big deal – gave me some fluids and all was fine.
I had tweedle dee and tweedle dum residents attempt epidural placement with my third baby (I had previously had an epidural with my first baby, which failed to provide any second stage relief, and had an unmedicated delivery with my second child which was really a pretty easy labor; my third baby took quite a bit longer, I was getting tired and dehydrated and requested an epidural, even tho I figured it wouldn’t provide much second stage relief, I at least wanted to be able to rest for a while before pushing – my first two kids took over an hour to push out). After their third attempt (when they struck bone – talk about terrifying), I said thanks but no thanks. Fortunately in the half hour of failed attempts I went from 6 cm to 9 cm (I still can’t believe I held perfectly still thru all that, lol). In retrospect I’m glad they failed, but sheesh, talk about demoralizing. I remember after they left the room, but before my CNM checked me I was so scared – to not be able to get pain relief (I was so afraid they would do damage or leave me with a spinal headache), but to also think I had hours left to go…. thank all things holy that I was able to start pushing very soon and she was out in 3 ctx! In retrospect I suppose I could have requested that the attending do the epidural, but by the time they were done failing so massively I was to scared to let *anyone* near my spine, lol. NCB was nothing compared to that fear….
It’s pretty disrespectful to call them tweedledee and tweddledum. The got through medical school and are doing a residency, which already puts them pretty far up there in terms of academic achievements. How do you think the attending learned to do epidurals and got good at them? Everyone has to learn. Have some respect.
Lol. Are they here? Do they know I’m talking about them? No, I wouldn’t call them that to their face – I think they felt pretty bad about not being able to get the job done. The reason I even let them attempt it in the first place (rather than insisting on the attending do it) is because I *know* they have to learn on someone and I was willing to be that “guinea pig” (until they struck bone – that is one of the scariest sensations I’ve ever felt).
People who are so high on that pedestal (that you are putting them on) should really be able to poke fun at themselves and have some humility. And maybe even learn from their errors. I didn’t berate them or get upset with them. I simply asked “Can we stop? I’m scared and I don’t want an epidural anymore”. The attending piped up and said “Of course we can stop. We don’t have to do it if you’ve changed your mind.” No one’s delicate sensibilities were offended when I decided I no longer wanted to play human pincushion.
Nobody’s perfect. Lighten up. Learn to take a joke. Grow a sense of humor.
It is very unpleasant to be on the receiving end of a bad epidural placement. With my second delivery, I knew from the get go that I wanted one, but it was a fast delivery (4 hours) and what with delays with triage and delays in getting a room, I was in transition before the anesthesiologist got to me. I was having a lot of trouble keeping still. I’m not sure exactly how many tries were involved, but it was easily half a dozen. It started working just in time to interfere with pushing. The epidural placement was terrible (and seemed barely worth it at the time), but from what I’ve read here and heard from my current OB, it was probably worth it to have pain relief during repairs.
I suspect that the whole thing would have gone much more smoothly if we’d been able to start the epidural earlier, before I was thrashing around uncontrollably. .
Just being a resident doesn’t mean that they’ll do a bad job. I had a student nurse anesthetist do mine and she was fantastic.
I let my friend (Resident equivalent) do my spinal, and stick the largest bore IV (I think it was a 12G) he could find in my wrist. Although my back is wonky, I’m very skinny, and it is very easy to feel the spaces between my vertebrae. I also I have great big juicy veins and no fear of needles so I’m a very easy stick and an anaesthetist’s dream patient. I figured not everyone would be happy to let him do that, I didn’t really mind, and I knew that at least he was already good enough that he shouldn’t have any problems.
Unfortunately no one is born with the skill to take blood, site IVs or stick needles in spines- you have to learn by doing, and the more you do the better you get. Someone will have to take one for the team so that one day that Resident can be as good as they need to be.
I think my first day on the wards doing a blood round I averaged about 3 goes for each patient. By the end of the year I’d be beating myself up if I didn’t get first time with even the most awful veins. So, it took me about a month to get good at bloods, but if most of my patients had asked for a senior it could have taken a year…
Not nice to be the one being the guinea pig even so.
Is there anyone here with the relevant experience to say whether labour pain is more painful than fracturing your spine? Since I definitely rate a fractured spine as 10/10 but I haven’t had kids, and if labour is more painful than this I’m not sure I will ever want to try it.
Lizz – there are no absolutes. Not only does everyone have different pain experiences, and, in labor, different positions, but spinal fractures are also variable in site and nature. Best to leave it that labor pains, like kidney stones, are known almost universally as “the worst pain” you can get. That doesn’t mean 100% of the time, or for 100% of people – life’s not like that.
Even though lots of people like to say “pain is pain!” I imagine there is a huge difference in labor pains and fracturing your spine. Just like there is a difference in period cramps and slicing your hand with a knife. It depends on how you tolerate different kinds of pain. Although I imagine having had a fractured spine, labor may be likely to aggravate an old injury like that? I don’t know.
Anecdotally: I have had two unmedicated labors that hurt like the dickens. I cried my way through the 3 minutes it took someone to tattoo one small letter on my finger. I would happily have more children with unmedicated labor, but will never get another tattoo.
the problem with a spinal fracture is you have bone-on-bone, muscle, and nerve-on-nerve pain. So, you would have to rate each. That is a lot to deal with. I am not sure you can compare. Plus if you fractured your spine in an accident that might cause some traumatic feelings which make everything worse. Labor pain is different and unless something traumatic happens you usually forget exactly what it was like.
Thank you. I am 100% logically and emotionally behind pain relief during child birth for every woman – except myself. I do my best to make decisions that are rational and not emotional and I did that when I chose to have an epidural. But I still feel guilt over it. For no reason. There was no cascade of interventions. My child nursed immediately. I had no side effects. There was simply … no more pain. My head was cleared of the fog of constant pain. I rested. I was totally present when my child was born.
So why am I reading your post and the comments here and crying as if I need that decision to be validated? Why do I feel the need to justify a rational, humane choice?
You’re feeling the need to justify your decision because of the NCB subculture that works hard to convince women that “good” mothers make certain kinds of choices; therefore, if you choose differently, you’re not a good mother. It is utter bullshit, but getting to the point where you not only recognize that but can effectively tune it out can be hard.
I think it might be a little bit more complicated than that. I have no time for NCB nonsenses, but I think there is something in human nature (or religious/cultural brain washing) that says that easy should be a source of guilt; that suffering in child birth is a kind of entrance fee and that we are better mothers for enduring it. Of course, NCB feeds and stokes these irrational feelings and turns them competttive instead of challenging what is irrational and unnecessary.
For thepragmatist: You recently had a post about why everything is natural that was fantastic, and stupid me forgot to c&p it, and because you don’t have a permanent account, I can’t go look for it either! Do you happen to remember where it was?
I did cut and paste it and here it is…
Just a word about the use of the term “natural” to describe vaginal birth. I think Dr. Amy has a really good post about this somewhere, but I kind of grimace every time I read the term “natural” applied to birth. What is unnatural about a c-section? Human beings as a species create technology to innovate and evolve past our limitations as a species. We’ve been doing this since our species was wandering out of Africa. We do this in so many ways. Our technology, while advanced and complex, is no different or less natural than any other species adaptation to the natural environment. I think it was Bertrand Russell who said that the division between man and nature is a false construct: that there is no division, since all we do is “natural”. We cannot buy out of nature. We are just as much part of nature as any other species and subject to the same laws. We are, as a species, doing what every species does: adapting to our environment and improving the survival rate of our species. A skyscraper, for example, is not so different than an ant hill, and it can be even argued that an ant hill is by far a greater achievement given the size of an ant, the enormous structures it creates, and its rudimentary technology.
Of course, as a species, we can be a destructive force: we are just so good at adapting our environment to suit us, or adapting ourselves to suit our environmental circumstances. It still makes us no less natural than a population of deer that has no natural predators and eats its way through a forest unmitigated.
That said, I do not believe that advances in childbirth, be them safe c-section or comprehensive care for pre-term babies or even surgery within the womb, are negative or harmful adaptations. As we become more precise in our ability to save babies, it becomes less necessary for women to carry many infants in order to produce few offspring, and women benefit greatly from this adaptation– to go on to lead longer, more productive lives, not crippled by bearing offspring, and able to contribute to the advancement of the species due to a longer life-span and less time spent child-bearing. Women have smaller families and offspring live better lives with a high rate of survival. It is more efficient, safer, and allows women far greater time to act as full participants in society.
I do not feel my c-section was “unnatural” or that I had an “unnatural” birth. I try to use the more specific terms vaginal and surgical birth.
-the pragmatist
I also thought it was brilliant…
The guy who thought that wanting childbirth to be as safe as possible was due to a sentimentality about babies needs to read this. I can’t remember if it was Adam or Alan. Someone should cut and paste at the top of the thread.
It was Alan. Who had no problem being sentimental about his own kids, wanting them to be safe and spending his (or society’s) money to ensure safety. But other people should forego that right in order to save money.
Oh awesome!!!! Thanks!!!!!
Really, I was not a believer in the whole childbirth orgasm thing, but I’ve gotten two convincing case reports, one of which was a woman with a walking epidural which had been turned off for 3 hours of pushing (and tearing). She was VBAC ing, so she was definitely exposed to the NCB cult, but she said it was a sort of BDSM pain/pleasure thing and I thik she was telling the truth. I don’t believe that it is ever 100% pleasurable, or even 20% enjoyable, but I don’t think someone would lie about something like that. The brain can play strange tricks on you. Ending agony can feel like extasy if you are expecting it to, I guess. Nevertheless, this does not make me want to try any BDSM and it is still a lie to tell women that childbirth=pleasure.
Off topic, but why do you assume someone who is VBACing has been exposed to the NCB cult? Lots of people VBAC who have no interest whatsoever in NCB, myself included. The dr who did my section recommended a VBAC for me (I was a textbook candidate) and that was reaffirmed by my next OB who attended my VBAC (in keeping with ACOG guidelines). I’m a daily reader and big fan of this site as well as an OB nurse, so I’m well aware of NCB, but it had no influence whatsoever on my chosen method of delivery. So what gives?
to keep it on topic, for said VBAC I planned and got a wonderful epidural and felt nothing but joy upon meeting my daughter. F*#% anyone who says feeling everything would make me a better mother.
Yeah my wife’s OB tried to talk her out of doing an elective C-section after previous C-section: he wanted her to at least try for a VBAC.
I was also pressured into a VBAC buy a hand full of docs at the LnD I landed in with pPROM. It was pretty crazy, and very one sided. Had I not already talked to my trusted OB, I would have been very ill informed. They never even mentioned rupture!
I guess they are trying to get their caesarean rates down? They should concentrate more on avoiding them with primaparas IMO.
This is spot on! Even when pain is acknowledged in NCB, it is very difficult for anyone to address the intensity of it honestly. There is also a tendency to make broad generalizations. For instance, my childbirth teacher said that women find pushing to be a relief after the pain of transition. While I know this is the case for some women, I don’t think that is true for most, and it certainly wasn’t for me. I was wholly unprepared for the amount of pain during pushing, and I was pissed at my childbirth teacher.
With my second, I had an epidural within an hour of being admitted. I slept through most of my labor. When the catheter dislodged during transition, I was panicky because I was afraid that they would make me push without pain relief. Thanks to CEFM, they knew my baby was doing well, and the anesthesiologist re-dosed me when I was complete. I could still feel the sensation of pressure and I was able to push quite effectively because I could focus. No screaming, no fear, just enjoyment as I watched my son’s head emerge. This was a dignified, peaceful experience, and part of me still regrets not having the epidural with my first child.
I had the same experience re: pushing. Crowning was the worst! The only way it was better is that I felt less passive in that I finally got to *do* something. Still, way worse than transition in terms of pain.
The epidural was so good that I had no pain during crowning. It was fantastic!
When my daughter was finally born, the midwife said “Reach down and grab your baby!” and I was so out of it with pain and trying to cope that my first thought was, “Baby?”
It would have been so much better with an epidural!
I do this with my patients. Women who have epidurals reach down and feel the baby’s head and help pull the baby out and up onto their chest. Women without epidurals usually do not, they are so focused on the relief of birth and the after pains from stretching that they usually take awhile before having the baby on their chest. Not everyone, but the majority that I see.
That’s funny (not ha ha funny, interesting funny). With my first (epidural) I didn’t even touch her until they were done cleaning her up and all (they put her on my chest, but I didn’t touch her). It didn’t even dawn on me to kiss her until they were wheeling us to my PP room, and they dropped her off at the nursery (SOP at the hospital I delivered her at). With my second and third (unmed) I didn’t help to lift them up, but I immediately held, touched, kissed, and nursed them. Maybe because the epidural failed and I wasn’t mentally prepared for that, but I was mentally prepared for the second stage pain with the subsequent births…. IDK. Just found your comment interesting; I believe you, but it certainly wasn’t my experience.
With my first I only had the epidural for the last 2 cm or so and pushing – had it for about 1.5 hrs. I never, ever would want to go through pushing without pain relief. It seems so horribly brutal and barbaric! With my second, I had a small spot where the epidural didn’t take and it hurt so much in that one spot I was afraid something was really wrong, like malpositioned baby (I had had polyhydramnios). They re-dosed. Knowing how much that hurt, I am honestly terrified at the thought of pusing without. How could it be other than agonizing, especially for your first?
I could still feel the sensation of pressure and I was able to push quite effectively because I could focus.
Exactly. The nurse who was with me when I gave birth was kind of annoyed because I had so much trouble coordinating with my contractions. I attribute it to being in so much PAIN (I had an epidural but it wore off) and being so EXHAUSTED from labor.
I would highly recommend getting an epidural early and enjoying your birth with a clear, calm mind. I wish I had.
Oops, the first sentence was quoted from moto_librarian.
Same for me with my first! Pushing took an hour and a half because I couldn’t focus and couldn’t sustain a push through a full contraction. I remember the midwife saying at one point, “are you excited to meet your baby?” Honestly, the answer was no. I felt a bit resentful because of the pain. I just wanted it to be over.
There is a difference between pain that is being inflicted upon you and pain that your body is designed to do.
Having your arm sawed off because it is gangrenous is inflicted upon you. Having your uterus contract, the way it is designed to, is natural.
I don’t deny that there is pain in childbirth. But when that pain comes and is at it peak, it is because the end is near.
Why do we feel the need to erase all pain? Why do we as a country want instant pills to take that can make it all go away? Why can’t we just accept that there are something things that we have to go through in order to get what we want?
What is unnatural about gangrene?
Sounds more like a Puritan mindset! You can “go through” it (and I chose to go through it, too), but otherwise, MYOB, please.
Um, because in the 21st century we have access to safe and effective pain relief during labor. If you enjoy being a martyr, go ahead, but don’t tell me that suffering in labor somehow makes you a superior parent.
Safe is relative..
Right. Relative to the pain of childbirth, and the benefits of pain relief, epidurals are overwhelmingly safe. Safe is relative.
All pain is as natural. I don’t understand your point.
Yes, but there is a difference in the type of pain from me breaking your leg to the pain of muscles doing what they are designed to do. One is inflicted and one is naturally inflicted. Yet they should not both be feared the same way.
Did you even read Dr. Amy’s post? “The pain
of contractions and the pain of vaginal distention do not differ in any way from any other kind of pain. It is not carried by different nerves, it is not conducted through the action of different neurotransmitters, it is not routed to different areas in the brain.”
Oh let me guess, you don’t believe Dr. Amy because she practiced back in the old days BEFORE different types of pain DID affect different nerves, neurotransmitters and parts of the brain…..
As for the fear thing, I’m sure it would hurt just as much if you got shot in the back and didn’t see it coming as if you had experienced the fear of knowing you were about to be shot. You might think the pain of childbirth is all due to psychological
conditioning but, then please explain why people who are told again and again by NCB not to fear birth still feel it!
Lies. Sheer lies. If you repeat them enough, they don’t become true.
The cause of the pain might be different, but how does pain deemed “natural” cause any less suffering than pain deemed “unnatural”?
Sunshine, do you get period pains?
That is smooth muscle contracting “the way it is meant to”, and yet, for some women it is agony, and there is some evidence that those women have physiological reason why that should be the case (higher levels of prostaglandins, stronger and more frequent uterine contractions during menstruation etc).
Pain isn’t “good” or “bad”, “physiological” or “pathological”- pain is pain is pain.
If we have the power to relieve it, and the person in pain wants it relieved- I do not see a problem with relieving it.
You know, I was raised that you don’t just “take a pill” and make it all go away, but this is still kind of insensitive. Scratch that. No “kind of” about it. The pain of childbirth is unique (in it’s intensity mostly – there are few other things that are so painful, especially in young, healthy people) and it is a very personal experience. My labors were not all that bad. But I am not entirely without the ability to empathize… just because I had a relatively easy go of it doesn’t mean I can’t identify with those that don’t. Of course women accept that they will have to experience some pain associated with pregnancy, birth, and the immediate post-partum period. But why should they have to suffer? Why should they be made to feel inferior, or weak (as you imply), because they couldn’t or simply didn’t want to “go through” it? Heart attacks aren’t inflicted upon people. Neither is appendicitis or gall stones. These are naturally occurring things and adequate pain management is a big part of treatment. Yes, our bodies evolved to give birth. But, as I tell my 6 year old, who has an aversion to imperfect produce, perfection does not exist in nature. Sometimes labor is dysfunctional. Sometimes it is longer or more painful than expected or anticipated. And, equally valid, sometimes people don’t want to “go through” what can be an incredibly painful experience without help. There is nothing wrong with that.
I’ve mentioned this before, 3000 years ago, pain in childbirth was recognized as being so bad that it was attributed to being a punishment from God.
I am not aware of any other pain being described that way.
They are naturally occurring things that go wrong when something stops working the way it is supposed to.
We are not perfect, nature isn’t perfect, but we cannot know what our own imperfections are in birth if we do not first try to let nature take it’s course.
Torturer. Sadist.
You cannot know what your hearts imperfections are when you have a heart attack either unless you first let nature “take its course”. Do you realize how foolish you sound?
GoodDaySunshine- that just boils down to “pain in childbirth is a moral test”- which is bollocks, and only believed by those who smugly think they passed it.
I don’t even know how to respond to that. Most people don’t know they have an imperfection of the heart until they find themselves in the back of an ambulance.
We don’t have to accept there are some things we must go through when it comes to labor pain…at least in developed countries, we have a safe way to reduce or even eliminate pain. This pain isn’t necessary, and it is avoidable.
We do have to accept that we must go through pregnancy (the exception being adoptive parents) to get a baby. Until we come up with gestational incubators ala Brave New World, we have no choice but to go through pregnancy.
I am myopic. Instead of just accepting my fate, which nature bestowed on me, I see an eye doctor and wear corrective lenses. If I went blind from glaucoma, I would have to accept it, since we have no technology that restores eyesight after glaucoma. Do you see the difference?
THIS MAKES NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. All pain is as “designed” by your body. It is the body’s method of saying there is something wrong. When your hand hurts when you hold it against a hot stove, that is because your body system is designed to scream “get my hand off this stove, it’s hot!”
When we have pain during the beginning of our menstrual cycle, that is not telling us that “the end is near”, and yet it’s also what our bodies were “designed” to feel. But why feel it?
Why should we suffer through the pain? Are you also arguing that in order to get what I want when I go to have a cavity drilled (i.e., non-decaying teeth), I should suffer through the pain of doing so without anesthesia? If I get what I want when I go to the hospital to have a broken bone set (i.e. a bone that heals nice and straight) should I suffer through having that bone set without any kind of pain relief?
Why is childbirth the only pain that we should be forced to suffer? How misogynistic can you get?
What about people with CRPS, a condition that makes them feel agonizing pain long after a relatively minor injury has already healed?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004456/
That’s a condition produced by their bodies. So they should just suck it up.
Oh my gosh, that sounds AWFUL.
Only thing worse: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/06/30/080630fa_fact_gawande
Because it is not just our bodies being affected. Having a hole drilled in your tooth and birthing a child are different types of pain. Yet fear is applied to both and we are afraid of both. One is being done to treat and cure a infected tooth and the other is nothing more than your own muscles working the way they were designed to, to birth a baby.
We all know babies are more susceptible to medications because they are developing at such a quick rate. Who is to say that the medications we are given aren’t getting through to them and affecting them some how? There isn’t a conclusive study done on this. There is a difference in how Newborns behave that are born naturally and when they were born to a mother who had the epidural and pitocin coursing through her. One looks stoned and the other doesn’t. One has a harder time latching on to nurse and the other doesn’t.
Birthing without medication isn’t about proving I am a tougher mom than you, it is trying to do what’s best for the baby from the start.
Ignorant liar.
“One looks stoned and the other doesn’t.”
More nonsense.
Maybe she’s been watching that breast-crawling video.
I should have kept reading. Sorry I bothered to reply to you above. Clearly you have absolutely no clue about labor analgesia. And as if that’s not enough, you are making it pretty clear that you don’t respect women. “Best for baby from the start”… Ridiculous.
Who’s to say medications aren’t getting through to the baby? Physiology and anatomy – that same body you believe is designed to know best.
An epidural is a local anaesthetic in one of the areas around your spinal cord. Your body is ‘designed’ so it doesn’t get into your bloodstream, and no bloodstream means no placenta and no baby.
If you believe your body somehow ‘knows best’ in the matter of pain, why don’t you think it ‘knows best’ when it comes to circulation? Are blood vessels not as smart as nerves and muscles?
And babies looking stoned because of epidurals? No. They don’t. Just because you want to believe something doesn’t make it true. That’s a big claim, I suggest you come up with some evidence.
Actually, babies born naturally and quickly can look “stunned”- that is, they really don’t seem enamoured with the idea of having been born at all, and appear overwhelmed and not keen to latch or cry or do much of anything..
My kid was born after a prelabour planned CS with a spinal- we have a picture of her being lifted out of my abdomen, cord still attached- pink, wriggling and clearly quite pissed off. She looks a lot less “stoned” than the images and videos of blue, floppy, hypotonic, barely moving waterbirth babies I keep seeing.
My first grandchild looked anything but stoned. This 5lb 35 weeker was the livliest baby I have ever seen. Looked round wide-eyed and interested and knew exactly how to suck. Second one, no epi, full term, rapid exit was not such a great colour and nowhere near as responsive in the first couple of minutes.
Now, the first is quiet, athletic, thoughtful. Second is a little dynamo who stops for nothing.
Pain is pain. The pain of an infected tooth or a muscle cramp or a labor pain is all pain. Pain is pain is pain. My baby was not stoned. There have been many studies about what medications pass through the placenta and what medications do not. Pitocin and oxytocin are chemically identical. You have NO IDEA WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.
Chemically identical yes, but there is a difference in how our body reacts when it releases it’s own compared with being given it.
I assume this is due to the special natural oxytocin receptor system which processes endogenous oxytocin and produces the legendary bonding high, and which must not be confused with the separate oxytocin receptor system which exists in order to process pitocin and activates the intervention-to-c-section cascade sequence?
LOL, lacrima! (I don’t think she’ll get it, though)
Why can’t you just accept that not everyone assigns an arbitrary moral value to pain?
There is a difference between pain that is being inflicted upon you and pain that your body is designed to do.
Explain it, please. Also please explain what kinds of pain aren’t “natural.” Without tautology, please.
You sound like Penny Simkin, who insists that pain is simply a side affect of labor, and that pain medications interfere with the “the hormonal process” that makes a woman unable to be “overjoyed with the birth of a child”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlj9ehB-hLc
She is a liar and a misogynist
The better question is, why suffer when you don’t have to?
Wait, don’t answer that. I don’t care if you choose to suffer. Likewise, you shouldn’t care if someone chooses not to. What’s it to you? We’re not advocating for all women to have pain relief – we’re advocating for women to have a choice either way, and for those like you who want to tear down women for making a choice different than their own, to stop thinking their choices have to be everybody else’s.
You just told me on another post that the reason we ever had thalidomide babies was because men are “fixers” and that’s why they aren’t good care providers for pregnant women. Is this why you’re against pain relief, too? Because it was likely invented by men and “fixes” something?
Yes. It fixes the noise we make when we are in labor. We are the most operatic when we are in labor. Some of us curse our husbands, some curse the child being born, some just scream as the baby is crowning. With us all on epidurals, we are no longer making noise. The L&D ward is quiet and peaceful and only filled with the beeping machines or newborn wails mixed in with the sounds of happy tears.
We (men and women) seem to have a serious problem hearing people make any kind of sound that can be related to pain. Men seem to have a harder time with it. My father stated this plainly when I asked him why they didn’t have more kids, “I didn’t want to put her through that much pain again.” He filmed mine and my brothers births and I have watched (not us crowning, but my mother grunting and the doctors holding us up.)She made noise, but it was nothing past what I made when I had my kids.
This idea of scaring mothers and husbands into believing that birth is this horribly traumatic and painful thing that we need to medicate is very wrong. I know so many husbands who were scared of their wife being in labor because they didn’t want them to be in pain. Where did they get that idea? It’s from the noises we make while in labor.
You almost sound as if you believe this complete and utter steaming pile of horse manure.
either that or she is an especially effective and annoying troll
Maybe the husbands are scared becauase they know labour is one of the most dangerous days of their wive’s life and they are wondering if she is going to come through it ok ie not bleed to death or seize etc etc.
That idea came from their grandfathers, who knew nothing about birth. Just as their wives knew nothing about sex until they were married.
Or maybe that idea came from their knowledge that birth is not inherently safe, since there are many men out there who are not idiots?
Wow, do you believe that? My grandparents knew PLENTY about sex before they were married, given that they got married when my grandmother was 4 months pregnant. As Winston Churchhill was fond of saying, “every baby takes 9 months, except the 1st one.”
I can beat that – my GREAT grandma was pregnant at the alter, in 1905!
Honestly, GDS, you make too many assumptions about what other people know and do. Sticking to facts would serve your case much better.
I’m sure they did. But no one told them about it until they went along with their natural urges.
My husband was completely terrified watching me bleed and bleed and bleed after a longish second stage at our hbac. I wish I hadn’t believed the woo and put him through that and am forever grateful that Lady Luck was on our side for our foolish risk.
Newsflash: you can be in appalling, hideous, soul-destroying pain without making much noise. Not everyone screams (or, as I’m sure you’d have it, “vocalizes”) during labor, even when they are in agony. I screamed *once* and apparently moaned quietly for a while. All the screaming was being done on the inside. My partner knows I had a traumatic and painful experience because I told him. Oh, and the couple of years of therapy and meds to deal with the fallout. Besides, what’s so horrendously awful about a L&D ward which is quiet and peaceful and filled with crying newborns and only happy tears? Sounds good to me.
In Japan, very few women get epidurals and hardly any of them make noises, even when they are in enormous pain — that is a cultural construct. When I was in an L&D ward in Japan, I was nonetheless quite sure the women there were in as much pain as their American counterparts. It has nothing to do with the pain they are feeling or not feeling. How much noise a person makes in pain is subject to that person’s own comfort level with making noise while in pain.
So men didn’t know that 1 in 7 of them would lose their life partner in birth? It was other men who told them this? Or are you saying it was not true and men didn’t know anything about childbirth at all so they just made it up? Why do you think the Grim’s tales are so full of step-mothers? I mean, they make great antagonists, but seriously, they were there because lots of people had them.
Drinking water that’s come into contact with human waste and contracting cholera is extremely natural and normal, and so is the ensuing pain, diarrhea, dehydration, and death. Please remind me again why doing everything “naturally” somehow makes one more pious/morally superior again?
I do accept there are things I have to go through to get what I want. I had to go through a lot of hard work and stress to earn my degree and all the knowledge that accompanies it. However, if we ever developed a technology that allowed us to safely deposit a degree’s worth of knowledge into a human brain, I would jump on that in a hot second.
Do you not understand the whole point of humanity’s pursuit of technology or what? It’s to bring us longer, more comfortable, more knowledgeable, and more interesting lives, generally speaking. If you want to eschew various technologies that’s a personal choice, not a morally superior one.
“I know kung fu.”
Sorry. had to.
Bahaha! I honestly didn’t even think of The Matrix when I typed that, but come to think of it, I suppose such technology would have lots of practical applications…including kung fu.
Bringing us more comfortable, longer, knowledgeable and interesting lives, is coming at a cost. Just as our baby boomers and the 1 in 166 that are being born with autism. Science is doing something, but I’m not sure I like what I’m seeing.
I’m not for doing everything naturally, just the things that our bodies are designed to do naturally.
Your stupidity grows in leaps and bounds! Your hate for all human beings is clear, as well as your ableism and despicable belief in eugenics.
Science IS doing something – diagnosing autism more frequently.
How do you distinguish between things that our bodies are “designed to do naturally”?
DO you walk everywhere? Do you only use your voice, or do you use a telephone? Do you ever listen through headphones, view through binoculars, wear glasses, use a magnifying glass, cut your fingernails or hair…?
What a load of nonsense.
Yes, they are diagnosing it more frequently. Then what? They know it has a host a different triggers, what if (yes it’s a big what if) that first trigger is pulled during l&d?
Things that our bodies do naturally are things that they do without us having to think about it. We eat when we feel hungry, our stomach and digestive systems take the nutrients out and pass the unusable’s. No one sits around for hours concentrating on moving the cilia in our small intestine to move the food to our large intestines. Just like, despite our wishes, we don’t go into labor because we want to. There is the chemical trigger that comes from the baby when it’s full term and boom, labor. Yes, some women never get that signal and have to have interventions, but for most labor is something that just happens.
Cilia in your small intestine? Poop doc help!
(ignoring the rest of the eternal sunshine post for now)
they line our intestines………..look it up.
where? Dr. Karma? Look further sweetie. I understand this is out there on the web but it’s one fool citing another fool’s blog. Really. Please look around it’s villi NOT cilia.
Thank you for pointing that out. I forgot that we have both but they go by a different name in the intestines. I knew what I was talking about, just had the dang word wrong.
The difference between cilia and villi goes beyond their names. Totally different functions. Although a minor point, it adds to the very strong impression you’re making that you have nearly no idea how the body works, and that therefore all of your pontifications about how the body is supposed to work are worthless.
Biology was not my strong point and it is violently obvious. But then again, I am not in the medical field at the same level as the others on here and I probably won’t have to understand these terms until my children are learning them.
But then why tell a bunch of OBs, MDs and RNs about how you think the body should work when we have ample evidence to the contrary?
Because we live in a country of Doctors who make mistakes, medications that are created that have deadly side effects, and have a deplorable health care system. Doctors may know how the body works in certain areas, but there are ones who give into the pressures from insurance companies, Pharmaceuticals, and even our own government. The time when we could be sure a Doctor was 100% doing something for our own well being has been replaced by paranoia that maybe they aren’t doing what is best for us or maybe they are missing something. I was raised to question almost everything and to think for myself.
Right, but you have to know what to question. Should one argue with a doctor that digestion actually occurs in the lungs? Should one argue that humans are designed to have three arms? Obviously not, so you must know enough to question intelligently, and I’m afraid you have not shown evidence of having a good base from which to question and argue.
That there are widespread problems in healthcare is known, and people who actually understand the system are continually trying to improve it. You keep posting rhetorical questions that read as though you believe you are the first to point things out to the readers of this blog but you are sadly not the first, nor will you be the last.
To get back to my original point, you are arguing with experts in the field about a subject on which you admit your knowledge is weak. You argue over basic biological facts which you believe to be true but are not and your lack of background makes your positing mostly worthless.
Thinking for yourself does not mean you get to make things up that conform to your worldview. Understand that there are gaps in your knowledge and work to remedy them. This can take a whole lot of time and effort. You also have to know your biases so that you can evaluate your information as objectively as possible. You’ve shown a whole lot of confirmation bias without ever acknowledging it in your various comments. You may have been raised to question almost everything, but you have not questioned your own biases and beliefs, and have, in fact, parroted most NCB talking points.
Thinking for yourself does not mean you get to make things up that conform to your worldview.
That is a lovely, succinct sentence, which absolutely sums up the NCB approach. It follows the “It stands to reason/Everybody knows” logic of flat earthers, and explains both ends of the NCB spectrum – the intelligent in love with their own “informed” ability to get 6 from 2+2, and the less bright and gullible.
It’s a form of arrested development, really. The reasoning of a 7 year old, before they discover that the inconvenient facts and discoveries of science make superficial observations unreliable, and that the world is a lot more complicated than it seems.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Poe's%20Law
Villi, if I recall high school biology correctly.
What a woo lesson one can get from googling cilia and small intestine! Apparently the woo giant minds think Celiac disease means has something to do with cilia. There are plenty of site that talk about the cilia in the small intestine-chiropractors, Lance Armstrong, Dr. New Age name…. but the mainstream sites try to educate the “gluten is an opiate like cocaine” nuts that it’s villi in the small intestine not cilia. Good Ol Sunshine, frequently wrong but never in doubt! Must make life so easy.
I’m not ashamed to state here that I got the word wrong. I know we have both cilia and villi, but they go by different names depending where they are.
I actually have never googled celiac disease, but thanks for the quick lesson in sarcasm.
Oh Sunshine. They aren’t the same they function differently. But have you considered how you said you are not an expert in biology yet you have lectured us with your pet theories on obstetrics, breastfeeding, kidney stones and autism? Have you considered you might be wrong about a lot of that too?
I was right about the kidney stones, calcium based stones are found to run in families.
I’m not going to touch the blow to breastfeeding, because I came here originally to talk about the topics Dr. Amy was blogging about.
But now that I have my own troll following me, I’m going to say good-day and throw a sheep or two your way.
Well, I am serious that you might want to consider that if you don’t understand basic biology you might carefully consider what you say and question your beliefs about birth related issues. I noticed you are equating gastric bypass with a cesarean now. I’ve taken care of lots of women who are pregant after gastric bypass and lots of women with C/S. You are again stating things with certainty that are blatantly foolish. Sorry you think I am your troll but if the people who criticize your posts are trolls you certainly have been keeping us well fed. What blow to breastfeeding.
So someone who finds fault with what a person says and posts replies to that end is a troll…. so Susan is GDS’ troll, but that rule doesn’t apply to GDS, so she’s not Dr. Amy’s troll. Got it.
I actually meant this to go to someone else, I’m sorry if I offended you. There is another who I’m starting to feel is goading me on out of boredom or for entertainment.
It’s funny I just posted that I thought you might be a Poe- goading us on out of boredom or for entertainment. If you are for real it’s more exasperating than offensive.
Going into labor “just happens” but you say above that we should have a cheering section around us to get to the finish line of delivering the baby. How is the cheering section natural? I don’t invite my husband into the bathroom with me when I need to push out an especially big turd.
Encouraging others is natural and sometimes being told that she is almost to the end is all a mother needs to push out the baby.
Going into labor, usually, just happens. There are some mothers who never go into labor, but most women they have no say when it happens and sometimes they are even started like something out of the movies.
>I don’t invite my husband into the bathroom with me when I need to push out an especially big turd.
Maybe you should try it; it might be an empowering, orgasmic experience! You could even hire me as a poop doula for only $600…
We eat when we feel hungry, our stomach and digestive systems take the nutrients out and pass the unusable’s. No one sits around for hours concentrating on moving the cilia in our small intestine to move the food to our large intestines.
Trust digestion.
I guess we can shut down the NIDDK.
Pre-term labour? What’s the rate of that? Those babies are ready at 34, 32, 30 weeks?
Actually, if you want to explain how labour starts I’d love to hear about it. What’s the chemical trigger from the fetus? What in the fetus detects this readiness? How does this mechanism work?
I never went into active labour by 41 weeks, 1 day. By this point, I had a huge baby who had passed meconium, and who, all indications say, had a head that wouldn’t fit into my pelvis. Thing is, and those in the field correct me, without a time machine, it’s hard to tell the difference between me and my doppelganger who would have gone into labour the next day and delivered a <8lb baby.
So then would you give your kids antibiotics for painful, hearing loss-inducing ear infections?
Only if the antibiotics will help. If it’s viral it’s not going to do a dang thing.
Ooh, my bingo card is full. First there was diet, and dangers of epidurals, Now it’s autism… What’s next? Homeopathy? Come on, give us the woo!
No doubt she would blame my daughter’s Asperger’s/ASD on my epidural.
I’m not sure what she would blame my Asperger’s on, though, because my mother didn’t have an epidural… maybe my MMR?
And I’m really not sure what she would blame my dad’s Asperger’s on, because they didn’t have the MMR back then…
I personally blame heredity. 🙂
Don’t forget to oogle your lucky bingo troll.
If you ate only organic foods, you wouldn’t have to worry about Cholera, Malaria or HIV.
Dear GoodDaySunshine,
I see your point, but hold your horses.
What we all want is a LIVE, HEALTHY baby. Sometimes when the pain of childbirth continues for too long or for the wrong reasons (e.g., mis-turned baby/back labor), continuing on without pain medication is foolish. Your mind starts to leave you and your body starts shutting down. It’s called
exhaustion, and this is one of the ways women and babies would die before there were hospitals and its accompanying [effective] pain relief. The body quits because it’s had enough.
So when we’ve had enough, let us learn to ask for help, help that only an epidural is fully able to provide. It gives us our sense of sanity back and allows us to take steps toward the true goal: having a live, healthy baby in the end, no matter how that end is achieved.
But part of the trick with receiving an epidural, I am learning, is that one needs to have it in a timely fashion. Lots of us wait until we can’t take anymore, but often it’s really too late for the epidural to have its full effect. And so by that time, the body is already exhausted and can’t too what it’s “supposed” to do, whether under an epidural or not.
So, sure, you say there are some things we have to go through (which is what? The discomforts/torture of childbirth?) in order to get what we want (which is what? A baby? The right to be a mother?). Well then chalk yourself up there with all the men (and women) who want to keep women in their supposed place (weak and in pain).
It takes a STRONG woman to realize that she has a CHOICE when it comes to childbirth: she DOESN’T HAVE TO SUFFER IF SHE DOESN’T WANT TO.
~ From a would-have-been-homebirther had it not been for Dr.
Amy’s writings
“So when we’ve had enough, let us learn to ask for help, help that only an epidural is fully able to provide.”
YES.
Really, there’s a harder way to do nearly everything. You can live without a roof over your head, you can bake your own bread by the wheat you grew yourself over the fire you built with friction, and you can make paper and write letters to people (rather than using the internet). Have at it! Just don’t try to convince everyone else that you’re superior to them for your own choices.
Good idea! I think I’ll eat only raw potatoes and meat, put it through the food processor and tell everyone that I am better. After all, cooking is so not natural.
make sure it’s raw meat and that you use a hand crank-using a food processor is NOT natural
The only natural “food processing” is done by your teeth. And that wholesome raw meat will give you important symbiotic organisms (parasites) that will assist digestion and strengthen your immune system. /sarcasm
Ugh. You’re going to buy that meat and those potatoes aren’t you? Why do we as a country want instant access to food at the grocery store? Why don’t we realize that sometimes we need to hunt and gather in order to eat?
Raw food advocates really believe that!
It does take a strong woman to admit defeat and I have no issues with mothers receiving one after hours of grueling labor. If they are too advanced to have one given, then what they need then is strong support. People rallying them along like the people on the side lines of a marathon who cheer them on. (Ok granted, I didn’t want anyone cheering and whooping when I was in labor, but having true support and being told I could do this and I was strong enough really helped.)
My biggest issue behind this is what can happen when the epidurals are given. The slowed or stalled labors. These are the ones where the mother is then filled with pitocin. She doesn’t feel a dang thing, but like our c-section statistic show us, the baby does. Yes, the end result is a healthy baby, but that same baby was put into a serious, even life threatening risk, because the mother didn’t give it her all. Is that really worth it?
I hate you and hope you die. There’s simply no excuse for people like you and no room for you to exist on this earth.
Oh oops, am I venomous? You deserve ten thousand times worse for your evil, hateful, sadistic treatment of women. I have no patience for you and your ilk. Not a whit.
more lies about epidurals. Seriously, I sort of hope that you continue in your delusions so you don’t have an OMG moment when you realized that buying these lies caused you to experience unnecessary pain.
GDS – more errors – babies do BETTER with cesareans – and don’t have a big headache! You’re not talking to a bunch of elementary school kids here…if you say silly stuff, you’ll be called out on it.
Babies certainly breastfeed better after a scheduled c-section than after a long, exhausting vaginal birth.
Ok, I’ll bite again. I got an epidural after four hours at 4 cm and, guess what? Fully dilated 20 minutes later thanks to the relaxation. All the wonderful support I had from my husband, and my nurse ( whom I worked with for years and had a great relationship with) didn’t get me there. Oh well, guess I didn’t ” give it my all”, hey? Screw you and your messed up ideas about pain. I’m finding it hard to believe that we are all entertaining you with responses.
I find this viewpoint misogynistic. Why is only childbirth pain treated with this kind of dismissal? Try telling a man trying to pass a kidney stone that “the pain is at its peak because it’s almost over.” After all, a kidney stone is perfectly ‘natural’ and your body should be able to pass it without any interventions.
I dare you. Try.
I tried this argument with her on another thread. She is totally OK with the founder of NCB being a mysoginist because, to paraphrase, everybody was back then. No, I’m serious……
To me, boasting about forgoing pain relief is the modern day equivalent of the 50’s boast of having the whitest laundry. Both are designed to encourage women to compete with each other while remaining firmly mired in a culture that rewards women for domesticity and punishes them for being smart or ambitious.
Because the mans urethra isn’t designed to stretch the way a woman’s uterus, cervix, and vagina are. It’s a simple course of anatomy. The urethra is designed simple to pass urine. The uterus is a set of two muscle layers that work together to push the baby out.
Kidney stones are often a result of a poor diet unless they are genetically inherited. Women don’t become pregnant because of a poor diet. The two are unrelated and it is an exhausted argument.
Seriously just shut up, you pig. You have absolutely nothing of value to say. You are a sadist who absolutely hates women and wants them to be tortured.
“Because the mans urethra isn’t designed to stretch” – the stones are in the kidney and ureter
“Kidney stones are often a result of a poor diet” – not true
Next?
NCB love a good dose of victim blaming.
Boy howdy, do they ever.
There are genetic kidney stones conditions. That’s why I said Often. Thank you fast food nation and Mountain Dew.
“There are genetic kidney stones conditions.”Oh? What conditions are they?
There you go with your design theory. Did god design the uterus to give birth and the urethra to urinate? Who designed it all, exactly? And why do you think pain was such a big part of this clever design? Your theories are fascinating…
It is the pain of a muscle that rarely gets used for it’s full purpose. It’s like going from lifting nothing but a glass daily to having to lift 100lbs with the same muscle. It can be done, but it’s gonna hurt.
GDS – that is nonsense. Please don’t make stuff up.
Glad I’m entertaining you this evening.
I’m struggling to see the distinction you’re trying to make. When you say that the pain is “natural” for childbirth, but not kidney stones or menstruation, do you mean that the pain is a necessary part of the process? Like a design feature?
It’s similar to the pain we feel when we are working out muscles that we don’t work out often. They have the ability in them to lift 100lbs, but it hurts like heck the first time we do it. Our uterine muscles that are used in childbirth are only used when we bear children. They know how to work, but they don’t do it stretched out that way monthly with out cycles.
It’s not a design feature, it’s a strengthening feature, if you will. I hope that makes more sense.
But is the physiological pain response a necessary part of the strengthening or is it an unwelcome but inevitable side effect of the exertion? Muscles hurt because they are damaged. They get stronger when the damage is repaired, provided the damage isn’t excessive. The pain is a consequence of the damage, not a prerequisite for the repairing and strengthening which follows.
I think that has a lot to do with the viewpoint of the person who is putting out the exertion. If one is told that we cannot do push ups without ripping our arm muscles, then we will never attempt to do so and the very thought can bring on sheer terror.
The trouble is that there is no repeat exercise in strengthening the uterine tissues shortly after the tissue is repaired, at least not intentionally. The pain of muscles rarely stretched and worked is short lived in the long view of it’s purpose. This pain is unwelcome, but just like people we see at the gym, some grunt “Feel the Burn!” and others sob “I Quit!” after the same workout. Neither is weak, but their perception of the same thing is quite different. One views it as a sign of strength and the other sees it as a sign of weakness.
GDS – look up the difference between skeletal muscle and smooth muscle, then come back to us. Also remind yourself that the uterine muscles contract monthly during menstruation. Then you might make more sense.
I know they do. But tell me does yours stretch out to the size of a full term pregnancy during the month and then deflate back down again? Thought not.
I’ve had 3 natural births. I drank that koolaid. What I discovered, and why I went back to epidural assisted birth, is that my resources are finite and I have the right and the obligation to see that they are used correctly. And I am someone who values being able to persevere through adversity. Of course anyone can have a natural birth. Of course the pain is worse at the end than at the beginning. But that doesn’t mean that muscling through that pain was a good use of my resources. In retrospect, it is clear to me exactly how foolhardy this cost/benefit analysis was in my births.
There is something to be said philosophically for being able to deal with the hand you’re dealt, and exercising self control and willpower. But there’s also a whole lot to be said for choosing your battles wisely. The calculus for whether a mom wants or needs pain relief in labor is entirely up to her, and I’m going to suggest that a lot of women who are seeking natural births are doing so because they *have* reserves in ways that a lot of other women may not or may be invested in having this one place of success the way other women are not. If you are worried about your electricity getting shut off, you generally don’t care about whether you had a vacuum assist. That we’re talking about the morality of pain relief in childbirth at all is very clearly demonstrative that this is an issue for a very privileged subset of women who are lucky enough that in a problem solving triage equation being able to voluntarily manage serious pain for a period of hours or days is actually on the table.
It’s often said that birth is like a marathon, and I agree with this in many ways. But I think that natural childbirth advocates would do well to remember that 1. not everyone wants to run marathons and 2. they are unaware of both the marathon that many women run while they’re getting to L&D and of the marathons that many women have to encounter after giving birth to their child. Life is hard enough as it is without demanding that people make more out of their already stretched resources. Taking that relief and opting out of an unnecessary struggle isn’t weakness in those situations. It’s better known as prudence, and possibly even humility.
Terrific post, PrecipMom.
To be a lot less charitable, as there seems to be a certain number of women who can be irrational when they are not in pain, maybe they don’t mind being irrational through the pain. Those of us who place a value on self-control and the ability to think straight have a different approach.
“Those of us who place a value on self-control and the ability to think straight have a different approach”
That’s not really fair either. You can’t complain that the NCB crowd is insulting those who make other choices (which of course is wrong) if you are going to insult those who choose differently than you. FWIW I felt more “in control” and certainly could think more clearly during my unmedicated deliveries.
Fair enough. Though I don’t complain that the NCB crowd are insulting, I complain that they are dishonest or misleading. I don’t really understand how anyone can think straight when in continuous pain, but if you feel you could and that it was at a manageable level, I have no desire to insult you. I would never have set an unmedicated birth as a goal myself because I can’t see the attraction at all, but if I had found the pain easily manageable then I wouldn’t ask for pain relief!
I suppose women are the only ones who want babies, eh?
What good is it doing to scare husbands as well?
Who is trying to scare husbands?
Because, to put it bluntly, pain sucks. And the majority of the time, nobody “has to go through it”. Choosing to go through it is one thing- personally, if I don’t have to be in pain, I’m not going to be.
Not even if that pain is only for one day? Not even if it is at it’s worst right before it is over and as soon as it is over, you are no longer aware of the horrible pain you were in?
Liar.
Do you have a money back guarantee on this stuff that you are selling? One day? Try three. I remembered a great deal of my child’s delivery and I wasn’t even in that much pain. I was lucky – others aren’t.
No, not even then. I do have some ‘high pain tolerance”. I made it through a broken foot without as much as a tylenol and my whining was about having to stay at home. Anyway, I do take medicine for my menstrual cramps and I sure as hell won’t be in pain even if the whole Google University & Natural Childbirth Propaganda troops gather to sing me mantras about just one day pain.
Nonsense. I am exactly aware of the horrible pain I was in with my final unmedicated birth.
SO young girls starting menstruation, with bad cramps, should just put up with it, lie in bed and miss school because it’s what their bodies are “designed to do”?
Well, they could go to school and vocalize their way through the pain, but I am not sure how well that would go over with the teacher.
That is completely unrelated. Menstruation isn’t supposed to be painful. Pushing something the size of a melon our of your body isn’t going to be pleasant. But our uterus’s are designed with two layers of muscles to do this. The cervix is designed to dilate and stretch to let the baby pass and the vagina is also designed to stretch.
I very seriously hope you die. Torturer. Sadist.
The uterus was designed to contract and push out the menstrual blood and also to kink off the spiral arteries so you don’t bleed to death every month.
uterine contractions with period = pain
uterine contractions with labour = pain
Our bodies aren’t designed to give birth. They evolved to allow enough mothers and babies to survive childbirth to continue the species on.
So you must also believe we aren’t designed to breastfeed either.
If you ever have the chance, look up the birthing process, from the chemical signal from the baby to the last contraction. We are designed for it.
“If you ever have the chance, look up the birthing process”
Ah – GDS – you do know that this is an OB’s blog, don’t you? Have you guessed that there are lots of L&D nurses, hospital MWs, OBs, NICU nurses and other clinical people here? Ever guessed that many readers might have some idea of “the birthing process”? Perhaps even more than you?
Why? Because you are such a ringing endorsement from Google University that we should all try “educating ourselves”. No thanks.
I read books thank you. I don’t Google unless I have to.
We are also “designed” to get appendicitis.
Funny that I haven’t yet then. I also still have my tonsils.
Menstruation isn’t supposed to be painful?
I must be a freak of nature because my labour didn’t hurt as much as my worst period cramps.
I was also on that boat, that’s how I knew I could handle going natural. Normally it’s not supposed to, at least according to the OB I had as a teen.
But didn’t you just say that menstruation isn’t supposed to be painful? Now your cramps were more painful than labour? Also I had Pitocin, no epidural – seems like all your claims are getting blown apart by anecdotes as well as empirical evidence. Time to rethink things?
It’s not supposed to hurt as stated by my OB in HS. I had endometryosis (s/p?) and he thought I was just faking it.
“Menstruation isn’t supposed to be painful.”
Are you joking? Menstruation is the same muscles that you so admire, contracting to expel the uterine contents (in this case blood). Please think twice about pontificating about stuff you don’t know much about.
That is a quote from the OB I saw while in HS.
So, if you son or husband has kidney stones, you would want them to embrace the pain, right? Because kidney stones are very natural. Our kidneys are made to create and pass kidney stones.
Kidney stones are usually a result of poor diet. In some instances they are inherited. But it has been proven that people who eat a poor diet and don’t drink enough water get them.
Ignorant liar.
it has been proven that people that have unprotected sex get pregnant. What the HELL is your point?
Non sequiturs are her specialty!
I don’t think it was a nonsequitur; i think it was an analogy.
(This is meant as a response to Clarissa, but the reply button just vanished along with her comment.)
I thought alenushka was making an analogy between labor pain and kidney stones. Then, GDS replied with “kidney stones are caused by diet”. Other than the fact that this statement contains the words “kidney stone” I dont see a connection to the original post. Is she saying that kidney stones don’t qualify as natural pain because of their cause?
Are you saying that kidney stones aren’t natural or that the people who get them deserve to suffer because it’s their own fault?
Kidney stones are natural, but they happen more often in people who have poor diets. And, I’m going to sound heartless, but yes, most people who get them in a way deserve to suffer because they won’t eat a healthier diet.
A dear friend of mine, who is a complete moron, has had to have his kidney stones removed surgically, every year for the past seven years. He refuses to eat any kind of vegetable or drink water unless it’s mixed with koolaid. I had sympathy the first 3 times, but now I just hope he will realize that actually listening to the advice given about his diet will stop these things from happening.
I can sell you $10,000 worth of natural stuff that will cure it in only three years.
Why can’t we just accept that there are something things that we have to go through in order to get what we want?
Undoubtedly, there are. But unmedicated labor is not one of them. There is no need to go through a painful, potentially PTSD-inducing, labor to get a baby when you could simply get a low risk epidural and go through labor comfortably and with dignity.
The only time PTSD is induced with labor is when things go wrong, horribly wrong. And unless you at least attempt to try having a natural birth with pain handling techniques, you don’t know how bad this pain is. It might be within the thresholds of being able to handle it.
There is no low-risk to an epidural. It brings a whole menagerie of side effects with it, if there is mistake in delivering it, it can kill the mother and baby within minutes. Then there is the fact that it is not JUST the epidural that is given. Since epidurals usually slow and stall labor, they have to give an augmenting medication as well. These two alone have helped raised our c-section rate to an abominable 1 in 3. Anyone who tries to tell me that THAT is because THAT many women had complications while in labor is a fool.
How is vocalizing and making noise to help you deal with contractions undignified?
I had my mother present at my first birth, she was a woman who’d had four short labours with pain she described as no worse than period pain. I held out for several hours of back labour without pain relief before getting an epidural, which she agreed was the best decision I ever made. Afterward my mother said to me “I never knew labour could be like that”. There are many women with unique pain experiences in child birth who do not deserve the condescension of NCBers telling them they don’t know how bad their own pain is.
Liar.
PTSD can be induced by labours that do not result in things going horribly wrong (as you put it).
PTSD can be, and has been, induced by uncomplicated unmedicated vaginal deliveries.
An epidural is LOW risk.
Risk of systemic toxicity 1/ 500 000
risk of death 1/ 1 000 000
risk of epidural hematoma 1/ 280 000
risk of meningitis 1/ 30 000
risk of spinal headache 1/ 100 – 1/200
risk of not working properly 5% with first placement
All above, part of my consent discussion.
Risk of stalling labor -if the effect exists it is small (20-60 min total). There is evidence that epidurals speed labour.
risk of causing csection – zilch
risk of requiring pitocin – not increased.
the total c section rate is 30%. The c section rate for FTM that present in spon labour is 10-15%. The c section rate for multips that present in spon labour is about 5%.
Any other lies you want to try to sneak past us?
Then why, pray tell, do they give mothers pitocin when they give them epidurals? If it is not needed.
If that is true about sections, then why are we on the BOTTOM HALF of the list in countries that have a low maternal mortality rate?
labour is more painful when it is dysfunctional. That means some women will need pitocin and epidurals. The association is not causation.
I have never seen automatic pitocin after placement of an epidural, and I place A LOT of epidurals. I see pitocin when it is indicated, not as a matter of routine.
If you are going to make the assumtpion that maternal mortality is somehow related to the c/s rate, you’d better have something to back that up with – you don’t grasp the concepts of association and causation.
In fact, the three top causes of maternal mortality worldwide are hemorrage, infection and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. In the US there is the added consideration of maternal heart disease due to inc age at conception, inc proportion of Af american women and lifestyle factors.
the three top causes of maternal mortality worldwide are hemorrage, infection and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy.
None of which are ruled out be appearing to be low risk and healthy.
Apart from prematurity, what are the three top causes of problems in the infant?
prematurity and birth defects account for something like 50%+ of neonatal deaths.
great points adequate mom and I suspect excellent doctor! It’s great that Sunshine, bless her heart, wants to educate about birth, on the internet, to us naive souls who haven’t heard the message, I am sure she means well and believes what she is saying. I read this last night and concur that as a labor nurse I have never used Pitocin without an indication and it is never routine, epidural or not. I wholeheartedly agree that women who don’t plan or even want an epidural are far more likely to get one because of a dysfunctional labor, and there lies the association. Often women are in so much pain with a dysfunctional labor that they won’t consent to Pitocin without an epidural. It’s the OB and labor nurses telling them a vaginal birth is still possible with Pitocin and an epidural.
LIES. They do NOT give mothers pitcoin at the same time as epis if it is not needed. I had an epidural and NO pitocin. What other lies are you going to lie about you lying liar who lies?
And what the HELL does c-section rate have to do with maternal mortality? Please do tell us what lies you’ve concocted to conflate those.
How about you go into one of the many mothering groups online and ask if the mothers received pitocin with their epidurals.
The section rate might have everything to do with it. Despite what people might want you to believe, it is major surgery that has the side effects of any other major abdominal surgery. A few mothers I knew had to be readmitted due to infections, one almost died from it. Sections need to be saved for serious medical emergencies. But it’s hard to draw the line between one that is happening naturally or one that is happening as a side effect to what the mother has been given.
Epidemiological data is obtained a bit more scientifically than going into “one of the many mothering groups online”, GDS. LOL
Maybe, but mothers will be the first to tell you that they were not told the risks or what they were given. You know how we love to share our own birth stories.
Or you could ask one of the many health care professionals here. There are plenty of them.
Novacaine is a drug that can kill you. You should let your teeth rot instead of having them filled.
Wrong, had a perfectly fine natural labor with my daughter and nothing went wrong….other than the pain was so horrid I literally have a lifetime chronic pain disorder from it….yeah.
“Why can’t we just accept that there are something things that we have to go through in order to get what we want?”
Well, because we no longer HAVE to go through the pain in order to get what we want (the baby). Unless you are saying that the end goal isn’t the baby? And you’re jumping through semantic hoops to justify your position.
Women did, for generations. Now they DON’T have to, and quite sensibly as far as I am concerned, many won’t. Trying to equate it with people who won’t tolerate mild everyday discomforts doesn’t wash.
I don’t like needles at the dentist, and if I think the pain will be brief and at a tolerable level, I don’t have one. Don’t feel the need to suffer through a root canal in the hope it won’t hurt.
Your right, they won’t simple because they aren’t being told about all of the risks carried with them. Not one nurse told the many mothers I know that there are serious side effects with this miraculous medication. The most major ones being stalled labor that results in a c-section and a slip by the person giving it, which can result in it going into your blood stream and killing you and the baby in minutes.
Yes, they are minute risks and many go without any of them. But knowing the risks would make many mothers hesitate before consenting.
I have had two epidurals and was told all of the potential risks beforehand on both occasions. Which was sort of redundant as it was also covered in our antenatal classes.
Point being, my anecdotal data is as effective in proving that all woman are giving informed consent about epidurals and chose to take them despite risks, as yours is that woman are not told the risks and wouldn’t have epidurals if they knew.
Your limited world view does not translate to what is best for every mother.
*women. I was sure I’d typed women, lol.
You know nothing.