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Originally Posted by mountainsun
Kittyhead - YOU CAN DO IT!!!!
And once again, you CAN do it. Really, it is what our bodies were created to do  |
If you are informed, you are empowered. Even if you end up having drugs for whatever reason, you will know beforehand what the drug is, what is the effects, the secondary effects, what it does on your baby, etc.... so you can choose which drug you'd rather not have at all for exemple. Hospital staff tend to belittle the mother giving birth. My mother is a nurse and when she was working on a maternity unit, the OB told the woman: "Well, now, do you want to have pain or do you want to have no pain?" What do you think the woman will reply? The woman is in a position of vulnerability when she enters the hospital, this is why as pp said, have an advocate with you, a doula......
I could talk for hours about this topic because my mother is herself a big activist and I was surrounded by that since childhood. There is so much to say..... when you begin to look at the hospital procedure and ask questions, it bothers the doctors.... why do they have women be lying on their back during childbirth? it's the worst position! they never did that before the 19th century.... it was enforced so that the doctor has a better "view".... and OB have a training that prepares them to do an intervention (epi, cut, whatever). They don't learn at school to be discreet, to let the woman be in privacy in a nice room, to let her have a massage, scream if she needs to, walk if she feels like it, eat and drink because the body needs energy to give birth, etc....
I have an excellent reference by a US midwife:
Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper, R. N.
It says a lot about the myths that have been created around childbirth.
Women rock! Their bodies were designed to give birth. When you feel empowered by a birth, you are less likely to suffer from PPD.
And have a look at the stats!
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We are living in the age of technology. Ever since we succeeded in going to the moon, we have believed that technology can do everything to solve all of our problems. So it should come as no surprise that doctors and hospitals are using more and more technology on pregnant and birthing women. Has it solved all the problems that can arise during birth? Hardly. Let's look at the recent track record.
Has the recent increasing use of technology during pregnancy and birth resulted in fewer damaged or dead babies? In the United States there has been no decrease in the past 30 years in the number of babies with cerebral palsy. The biggest killer of newborn babies is a birth weight that is too low, but the number of too-small babies born has not decreased the past 20 years. The number of babies who die while still in the womb has not decreased in more than a decade. While the past 10 years has seen a slight drop in the number of babies who die during their first week after birth, the scientific data suggest an increase in the number of babies who survive the first week but have permanent brain damage.
Is the increasing use of technology saving the lives of more pregnant and birthing women? In the United States the scientific data show no decrease during the past 10 years in the number of women who die around the time of birth (maternal mortality). In fact, recent data suggest a frightening increase in the number of women dying during pregnancy and birth in the United States. So it may be that the increase in the use of birth technologies is not only not saving more women's lives but it is also killing more women. This possibility has a reasonable scientific explanation: cesarean section and epidural anesthesia have both been used more and more in this country and we know that both cesarean section and epidural block can result in death.
We should not be surprised with the recent poor track record of high-tech birth. For many decades in the middle of the 20th century the number of babies dying around the time of birth was decreasing. This was due not to medical advances but mainly to such social advances as less severe poverty, better nutrition and better housing. Most important, the decrease in mortality was due to family planning, resulting in fewer women with many pregnancies and births. Medical care also was responsible for some of the decreasing mortality of babies, not because of high-tech interventions but because of basic medical advances, such as the discovery of antibiotics and the ability to give safe blood transfusions. There has never been any scientific evidence that high-tech interventions such as the routine use of electronic fetal monitoring during labor decrease the mortality rate of babies.
What this means is that putting yourself in the hands of a high-tech doctor and a high-tech hospital does not guarantee you the safest birth. You must yourself take responsibility for your own birth, including the decision to have technology used on you and your baby.
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from
http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articl...ogyinbirth.asp
And have a look at what the hormones are for! If you have artificial chemical oxytocin, it won't reach your brain as the natural one does. You won't get the relaxation effect of it, + it helps the uterus to deliver the placenta, ++++ etc...... If you have an intervention, you are less likely to nurse the baby right after he/she enters the world.... but nursing helps the uterus to push the placenta out + delivers relaxation hormones too.
And you have endorphins like people who run long distances to make you feel better when there's pain.
Our bodies have been created with all we need! Hospitals are great when needed, but sadly they tend to forget "first do not harm"....
Sorry for being so long.... imagine it would be worse if English was my mother-tongue language
I just wanted to add that I have a private midwife and it costs me a lot but my husband and I have decided what the priorities are for us. We have no car, no big stroller, no big house, we didn't have a big marriage, etc..... but we made a choice because the birth of our baby means more than anything material. The costs is 2 months of salary for me (whereas in France, if you go to the hospital, it costs you NOTHING). But I'd rather have my baby in a country that allows private midwives to help for homebirths. I'll never have my baby in a French hospital and I don't recommend them at all.
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YES, birth can be done without drugs! I thought I was the biggest wimp before giving birth! Here is a link to my birth story. YOU CAN DO IT!!!
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