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3rd Trimester
dcunningham2
member
Question if you're NOT planning natural birth
dcunningham2
member
My mom came with me to our Bradley class yesterday and a conversation we had afterwards got me thinking: why don't more mothers-to-be research their birthing options? If you choose to get pain medication, or have an induced birth or use other interventions, I see no problem with that. I believe that every pregnant woman has the right to make informed decisions with her partner and medical staff during labor and delivery. However from my personal experiences, it seems that only those who choose natural childbirth have actually researched the benefits/risks of L&D interventions/pain meds.
If you are using pain meds or other interventions, how did you make that decision?
Although that is not the choice I made, I just honestly don't understand women that go into labor/delivery without any preparation or research. But I'm also the type to always look up medical procedures if I or someone I know needs one.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Question if you're NOT planning natural birth
I had an epi last time and I was very happy with it. It made the birth a truly enjoyable, memorable experience for me. I look back on it with fondness and not horrible memories like some of my friends who went med free.
Good luck with whatever you decide!
I would hope everyone DOES research and make informed decisions about their impending L&D.
My plan was to wait and see if I could or wanted to go natural, and that I'd play it by ear. My goal was to have a safe delivery and healthy baby, and to enjoy it as much as possible.
At 6cm I decided that while the pain wasn't unbearable, I wouldn't ENJOY the rest of labor, and I wondered what the delivery would feel like without pain meds. So I opted for the epi, which I got at 8cm. It was fantastic, no catheterization, no numbness, no adverse reaction at all.
Hope to replicate that experience this time too.
Why I made the decision not to go all natural...
Why be in pain when I don't have to be? Going through the pains associated with labor won't make me a stronger woman or a better mom. I had a C-sec with #1, and obviously had to have a spinal for that, there were no complications, to horrid side effects ETC...I think people start researching and find these horror stories and obscure happenings associated with non natural births and take it way to much to heart, as if it happend ALL THE TIME. I trust doctors, I trust they know what they're doing, and I trust they aren't going to choose to do something or offer me a procedure that they don't believe is in mine and baby's best interest. I'm also having a VBAC this time, which requires close monitoring, and possibly alot of medical intervention.
I am very well-researched on L&D and pain meds and am opting to go with an epi. I think that going the natural route makes the focus on 1- getting thru the pain 2- going natural so I can say I went natural afterwards whereas getting an epi makes the focus on 1- the birth of the baby.
Also, I have seen so many women get so hung up on going au natural and if/when it doesn't happen they spend way too much time justifying it to others and to themselves.
*Side note- I have low platelets so may be forced to go au natural anyway, but assuming I can get an epi my reasoning is above.
I don't think there is a "right" decision to make. It's not like pain management is evil and I should feel horrible for using it, just like "going natural" isn't always as wonderful as people like to make it out to be. I'd prefer the most natural birth possible, but I'm not opposed to pain meds either.
I know the good and bad things about all the different pain management options, and I'll make the decision in the moment. I don't feel I can "plan" for something when I've never experienced it before. And since everyone's childbirth experience is so unique, I don't feel I can base my decision on other people's experiences, either.
Evelyn (3.24.10), Graham (5.30.13) & Miles (8.28.16)
To be honest, there seem to be VERY few resources out there that lay out the positives and negatives to different birthing options. Most of the books I have (which, to be fair, were given to me by my envious-of-natural-births SIL) ONLY lay out the argument for natural birth. I've had a very hard time finding information on the downsides and upsides to pain medications and interventions.
That said, I went to our hospital's birthing class and I was the ONLY woman (of the 15 there) who was even considering a natural birth.
So since then I've tried to do my research. As far as I can tell, there are a few downsides to epidurals, but primarily the issues arise with the administration of pitocin and other measures to speed up delivery. I've lucky that my mother had all of us VERY quickly so hopefully none of the movement restrictions or slowing caused by the epidural will have much of an effect on my birth. Then again, I'm aware that I may not have time to get an epidural.
Bottom line: My goal is to have a positive birthing experience. I don't want to EVER feel that the way I brought my child into the world was a failure, so I'm going to have a positive attitude and do whatever feels right at the time. I'm confident that I have done enough research and I trust that my doctor has a good balance of natural and intervention beliefs to have that positive experience.
It seems to me that the girls who decide to go all natural think they're the only ones who did research...which makes me laugh.
I'm intelligent and did my research. I will choose pain management through medicine if I feel I need to.
I think more women do research than people realize, even if that 'research' is just talking to their doctor, etc.
As far as choosing to use meds or not, many many things go into that decision. There is no right or wrong answer. Everyone has different 'tastes'...some want the 'full experience', some want to 'enjoy' labor and feel more in control when they aren't in pain, etc.
I chose pain meds with DD during labor, as I had been in labor for over 100 hours. I planned to go as long as I could. By the time I got the epi I was exhausted. The epidural was exactly what I needed and I loved it.
My reason for planning on an epi is simple: less pain. I've talked with my OB, with the midwife at the practice & the NP. In additions to talking with them, we've talked with the L&D nurse that heads up our birthing classes & we've talked to people we know that have had babies to get their opinions.
Personally, I found all that more informative than the articles you can find online because there's just so much info online these days that it all condradicts! for things like this, I'd rather get professional face-to-face info than online info.
For epi's, my hospital (as I'm sure all do these days) had it hooked up to a pump so you only get a small amount throughout the entire time. The medicine doesn't make it's way into the placenta/baby so there's little to no risk of the med's causing harm. Back in the 80's, they use to give a super high dose all at once, then it'd stop working & they'd give another high dose. They would repeat that until the baby was born & that's where they ran into problems with the epi's affecting the baby. Knowing all that plus some other things from the med pro's, DH & I feel very comfortable having an epi!
Wrangling babies since 2010
This. I want to stay away from Pitocin unless I'm going so far over term that it becomes dangerous. I'll have a low-dosage epidural if the pain becomes too intense. I've had some friends get high dosages to where they can't feel anything or move their legs, and friends that got the bare minimum just to take the edge off but could still feel everything.
I've been doing research through my whole pregnancy...both through reading, classes/videos, talking to my doc, and word of mouth. Including my best friend who is an MD (not an OB) and *vehemently* pro pain meds.
I like the idea of a med-free birth but haven't committed to it, primarily b/c I've had some risk factors that may make this extremely difficult or impossible. Although now things are looking good, and I'm considering a hiring a doula. I'm going to talk to my childbirthing class instructor this week and see what she thinks my options are this late in the game.
Either way, I think part of what may have caused your question is that researching pain relief options requires time either way, but if you commit to going all natural, it *does* require more research and effort during your pregnancy.
BIO
I think that because women decide to have meds they didn't automatically not do the research. Several research studies, in general not just with medications, tend to gear their reseach towards the goals of the people funding it. I was a labor and delivery nurse for 5 years before going into my current profession, and I have to say I felt really bad for the women who wanted to go "natural" and couldn't do it. They felt like failures b/c they asked for medication or needed a c-section and is was a traumatic situation for them. I assisted in hundreds of births and really saw none of the "major" side effects that several of the "studies" suggest for some of the medication options. I'm not saying they don't happen, b/c I'm sure they do...But people have to take into consideration what more than 1 midwife or 1 doctor says to be truly educated. And look at the date of the study, how many people/babies were involved, was it subjective?, was it over a long period of time? I could go on and on.
But it's a personal choice that should be made between you, S/O and medical staff. As for myself, I'm attempting a vbac but this little squirt wants to stay transverse so might not happen. But, I'm going to attempt to labor without meds until I feel I need them. I took bradley classes with my first baby and when I went into labor early and was stressed, I took the meds. It let me relax b/c I knew the outcome wouldn't be good. I didn't need to feel like a failure on top of everything else, although I did b/c of what I was "taught". This time, I'm taking a wait and see approach. I hope for natural but am not going to beat myself up b/c I decided to take them.
TTC since 6/2003. m/c 9/14/03 8 weeks, 5 chemical pregnancies, mmc 6/04 12 weeks, Michael born sleeping 5/25/05 at 22weeks always our angel, fought ovarian cancer and won, m/c 4/06 5.2 weeks and 7/07 6.6 weeks,Our Miracle baby girl born 4/8/10,mc 12/18/11 at 5.3 weeks, BFP 10/26/12 dating u/s on 11/8/12 showing a strong heartbeat!EDD July 4,2013. RCS on 6/27. Baby boy in NICU for 8 long and scary days before he was able to come home. We are now a happy family of 4
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VBACs do NOT require close monitoring! I am doing VBAC because my c/s experience was horrible! I am doing natural, with (hopefully) minimized pain, which is possible, through relaxation techniques, because allowing one intervention could start a whole slew of interventions and I would most likely end up in a c/s which is the last thing I want
I definitely worry about the whole "cascading intervention" think that can happen with epidurals. Although if you get one late enough, the risk of this is minimized.
Reasons I would get an epidural (if I decide to get one):
1. I need to get induced early, when my cervix is still closed (happened to two of my sisters due to hypertension in one and pre-E in the other). I'm probably not going to play the hero here and go through the pain of an all-pitocin labor.
2. A labor winds up being so long, and the pain so exhausting, that I decide it's better *for me* to use pain relief meds, so that I have the energy to push.
BIO
I think that it's easy to get the impression that people who are not going med free haven't done their research, but it's not necessarily because they haven't. Many of us who want to go med free are put in the position of having to explain to people why we want to do it, because an epi is the norm in our society and because everyone knows that having an epi can prevent pain, but not everyone knows of the potential risks. As a result, people who are questioned feel like they have to have a reason. "I'm going med-free because...", "I'm not worried about the pain because...", etc.
On the other hand, someone might be aware of the risks of an epi and decide they don't want to deal with the pain, or they know they would be unable to relax without an epi. That doesn't mean they didn't do any research into potential risks, but they're probably not being put in the position of having to explain themselves, so people don't go around saying "I want an epi because..."
So I think we're all used to hearing why someone is going med-free and not why someone isn't, but that doesn't mean they haven't done the research too.
I often wondered the same question myself. How/why do women choose to do pain meds?
Something I did find interesting was this. At our last birth class, which is through the hospital, the first thing we did was the instructor split up the partners and the mothers. There were numbers on both sides of the room ranging from 1-10. 1=no meds and 10=give me everything. Out of the 15 women there, there was the one person standing under the 1, one at 4 and 7 and the rest at 10. For the rest of the class the instructor taught about the side effects, risks, etc, of different pain meds. The women in that room were quite surprised at all the side effects, risks that came with having pain meds whether it was an epidural or just a 'take the edge off' medication. I'm not saying that everyone doesn't do their research, but the women in that class did not. I was surprised that our hospital even gave side effects and risks as the nurses on the OB/Maternity floor in our hospital are very pro-medication births.
I just think all women need to know the effects and risks of each medication (because you normally have more than one choice) before making a decision. Talk to women who have given birth med free and with meds, talk to your doctor, talk to the nurses on the OB floor and find out if they have experience or have been trained to work with natural inspired moms. At our hospital, the nurses have not and do not work well with those that want to go natural. If that's the case, then you probably want a super support team and probably a doula as well.
I think you're making some rather sweeping presumptions by assuming someone who chooses an epidural or other pain med isn't educated about her decision.
There were a lot of factors that played into my decision to have an epi with my first when I had planned to go without. Every labor experience is different.
I agonized over the decsion. I was 100% going to go med free for the longest time. I did TONS of research. Trust me, I have an issue over-researching things. I have now decided to use pain meds for various reasons.
I am, however, tired of having to justify it and have people assume I did not do my research. Trust me. I did.
Why does L&D have to be a painful experience? My mom went natural with my sister and me. She said that it wasn't that bad except when she had to deliver the placenta with me (and that was because she had placenta abruptia (sp?)) For me personally, I plan on going natural using hypnobirthing because it fits my life philosophy and uses the same coping strategies I use on a daily basis (relaxation, positive thinking, ect.) For others, medication is a much better way to go because it fits their needs. Whether it's going natural or using medication, one is not better or worse than the other. It really just depends on what fits your needs.
I have sort of the same feeling. Some of these responses are people who said, " I have read the pros/cons of getting an epi, and I am ok with that and i will get an epi" ---cool. But some people's responses are just, "why should I be in pain?" To me this doesn't sound like a response from someone who has done any research. Some of the research on birth should have brought up that there are many ways to have a pain-free, or reduced pain labor.
Has anyone read that laboring on your back actually reduces the space in your pelvis, creating pain as LO descends. That staying upright and letting gravity do the work shortens labor and intensity of a contraction b/c your body doesn't have to work as hard? (and many others)
Now, my goal is for an au natural birth, not b/c I am a granola lovin' hippy out in the forest, but b/c as a trained chemist, I found the science behind what happens during labor to be quite compelling and logical. why not do what I can to lessen my own personal discomfort and make it easier for LO to make his way out? Sure, if anything comes up, bring me the drugs and western medicine, because I have faith in that science as well. And as a baby of an emergency c/s, I completely understand that childbirth has a mind of its own, and we will all just have to go with the flow.
whatever happens will happen for me. aunatural/induction/c/s - whatever. I just don't see the point in making it harder than it needs to be
I think most women know the general options, possible complications and side effects of said general options (those being natural with breathing/hypnotherapty etc, epi, mild pain meds, induction or c-section... generally speaking of course).
Some people don't handle pain management well, and some people do. Some don't care and just want to feel/experience it all - others just want to be able to focus and not be in pain. Neither way is really more educated or 'right'.
My epi lasted from 7cm to 9cm before wearing off completely and my OB wouldn't give me another shot. I was pissed, and due to horrible back labor have a very blah view about my first birthing experience. I had a 2 hour 'rest period' in a 12 hour labor and that's not how I wanted to experience it. Granted, obviously it wasn't all up to me, she wanted me to 'feel everything' to push. This time I'm going to push back and tell her I'll feel as much as *I* am comfortable feeling, but feeling everything and being able to walk right after labor is not something I'm interested at all in doing again.
Its not being asked that bothers me. I don't mind sharing. Its the assumption that I probably didn't do any research and just came up with this decision willy nilly that grates on me.
It's such a personal decision, and yes, I do think that it is important to research your options.
I also think it is extremely important to keep an open mind going into labor, because things can change. Your attitude may change. The baby may not decide to cooperate with what you had in mind.
Coming from the medical field myself, I have always felt comfortable with the anesthesia/ pain control route. However, I would like to try to hold out for awhile and do things naturally - i.e walking, birthing ball, etc. But I've never had a child before, so I don't know how I will react until I'm in the moment.
I do see a lot of women say " You shouldn't blindly trust your OB". While I do agree with that to a certain extent, I think it is also important to take their recommendations under heavy consideration. Part of childbirth research for me was also researching my OB, and his views and opinions regarding the labor and delivery experience. I trust him 100%, and I feel that we both have the same philosophy.
When the time comes, I will feel very comfortable with whatever decision I make. I have a great OB, a great hospital, and an attitude that I can and will roll with the punches.
True, but if you require constant monitoring for heartrate decels while contracting, as I was, you are very limited in positions.