One of the main reasons why I decided to start this blog was
to share my experiences with natural childbirth. I first want to say that I am not trying to toot my
own horn or make anyone feel that the birth of their baby was less than adequate. If you are a mom, you are a super
woman. Your body performed
miracles for your little one to be born into this world and you should be proud
of your amazing accomplishment!
My point for this post is to share my experiences, share
statistics that helped me to make the choice for a natural childbirth and
encourage others who are thinking about a natural childbirth.
First I want to define natural childbirth. When I speak about natural childbirth I
am referring to a drug free, intervention free birth.
To begin, I want to give encouragement to anyone thinking
about a natural childbirth. It is
the most rewarding decision you can make. When I first thought about a natural birth I had
a lot of questions.
I thought about the movies and media where women are
screaming and yelling due to the amount of pain. I thought about friends who recently gave birth and
everyone told me to request an epidural no later than 3 centimeters. My own mother told me to be sure to
review pain medications with my doctor prior to going into labor.
I never had the courage to tell people that I was trying for
a natural birth. Rather I kept my
mouth shut and only told a few friends and family members my plan. When I was brave and told people my
plan I was faced with a lot of questions that I really couldn’t answer, “Do you
really think you can give birth to a baby without any type of pain
medication?”, “Isn’t it unsafe to
labor at home?”, the questions were endless and nerve racking.
Misery loves company and thus there are too many horrifying
birth stories rather than positive and encouraging birth stories. I found that after I had given
birth to our daughter I didn’t want to share my positive experiences due to the
negative emotions expressed by others. I felt like I needed a torturous war story about a 30-hour
labor to fit in with the cool kids in town.
If you are considering a natural labor and it is your first
baby I highly recommend hiring a doula.
She will help you remain focused and calm two very important elements to
a natural birth. I
also recommend reading about other positive births and mentally preparing for
the birth. So much of giving
birth is mental. If you tell
yourself you can’t do it. You
won’t.
As many of you know I enjoy running. I thought of giving birth as a
marathon. It was going to be
painful but as long as my body and mind were prepared I could achieve my goal.
I want to give you a few statistics that helped me to make
the decision for a natural birth.
First C-sections are at an all time high in the United States. There are a few reasons for the
increase, the surge in lawsuits, and the convenience of scheduling your baby’s
birth and the increase in high-risk births.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention’s Center for Health Statistics one in every three babies born in the
United States is born by C- section.
This is over a 50% increase from the mid 90’s. The increase in C-section birth also comes with
risks to both mother and baby – possibly even leading the mother and/or baby
into intensive care.
An epidural comes with risks as well. The American Pregnancy Association
notes that “You may find that your epidural makes pushing more difficult and
additional interventions such as Pitocin, forceps, vacuum extraction or
cesarean may become necessary” http://www.americanpregnancy.org/labornbirth/epidural.html.
In addition you can also suffer from permanent nerve damage
or a spinal headache not to mention the risks to the baby “most studies suggest
some babies will have trouble "latching on" which can lead to
breastfeeding difficulties. Other studies suggest that the baby may experience
respiratory depression, fetal malpositioning; and an increase in fetal heart
rate variability, which may increase the need for forceps, vacuum, cesarean
deliveries and episiotomies.”
I don’t need to continue to scare you with statistics. There are risks to everything we do but
I decided if I could have some control over these risks I was going to at least
try for a natural birth.
So finally here is a brief telling of my daughter’s birth
story. If you want all the
details, call me and I will share.
I awoke feeling my first true contraction around 1 o’clock
in the morning the day my daughter was born. I had been feeling Braxton Hick’s contractions for a
few months prior and now laugh at the fact that I thought I was in labor
then. If you haven’t given birth
yet and wonder how contractions feel, just know that you will know when you are
truly in labor!
After a quick text to our doula I tried to go back to sleep
as per her advice only to find the contractions more intense and less bearable
when I laid down in bed. I found this
ironic since most women labor in bed when the get to the hospital.
Instead I listened to the birth mix I created and rocked in
our glider while Jason slept soundly (occasionally waking up to if it was time
to go to the hospital). When
the contractions became more intense I walked, swayed my hips back and forth
and counted down the contractions. Focusing on the contractions helped me to
stay focused on my goal and in control.
When Bobbie, our doula arrived at our house around 7am I
used the birth ball, watched GMA and felt an overwhelming sense of calm knowing
that she was in control of the situation. She reassured me that everything I was experiencing was
normal.
She also helped me to understand the stage of labor I was
experiencing by observing my body movements and actions (throwing up, timing of
contractions, the sound of my voice).
She never once did an internal exam but was able to know how far dilated
I was just by observing me.
Around 11 o’clock Bobbie and I decided it was time to go to
the hospital. After a 20-minute
drive Jason and I parked the car in the garage (no drop off needed, walking
only helped my progress), I walked into the hospital lobby (had a few
contractions and an offer for a wheelchair from a kind old man), and took the
elevator to the maternity ward (no time to check in at the ER).
Upon entering the maternity ward I was forced to lie down so
the baby could be monitored.
This was the only time that I considered any type of pain
medication. I was internally
checked for the first time (the most painful part of giving birth, no lie) and
told that I was 6 centimeters.
When a nurse came into the room asking, “could I offer you
an epidural?” I was so done and ready to accept her offer. The only thing that kept me
focused was our doula, declining the nurse and reminding her that I was
planning for a natural birth.
After about 15-20 minutes in triage hooked up to the monitor
I walked to the room where I would give birth. About 5 minutes after walking into the room my water
broke and I went from 6 to 10 centimeters immediately. I was then ready to push and at
12:34 pm our daughter Madeline was born.
So in conclusion, if you are thinking about a natural childbirth
do your research and mentally prepare.
You can do anything you set
your mind upon. Women have
been giving birth naturally for thousands of years. You can do it too!
I know I posted these before but here they are again. Below are the list of books and videos
that Bobbie shared with us that we found to be helpful:
Active Birth – Janet Balaskas
The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin (anything by
Ina May is terrific to read)
Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
ibirth – DVD
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