Factors That Affect The Labour And Delivery Of A Woman

There were numerous powerful testimonies and striking findings noted throughout the and first two chapters of the book Birth Matters by Ina May Gaskin. As a health care provider, and therefore someone who is entrusted to care for individuals during their most private and sacred times, I found Gaskin’s statements regarding the environment and care surrounding birth experiences very impactful. According to Gaskin (2011), the “women’s perceptions about their bodies and their babies’ capabilities will be deeply influenced by the care they recieve around the time of birth” (p. 22). The statements made by Gaskin in Birth Matters not only ring true, but inspires one

Four years later, I got pregnant. I was nervous, scared and anxious. The doctor I saw said that I could have a VBAC(vaginal birth after c-section). I raided the library and read books on that subject. It was then I found out that the United States had the highest incidence of C-sections in the world. Research shows that epidurals increase the use of other interventions that themselves carry risks. These interventions include electronic fetal monitoring (which has shown to increase the likelihood of a cesarean without improving outcome), I. V oxytocin, and instrumental delivery. Epidurals also deprive women of a sense of mastery over labor. Goer, Henci. "Epidurals Myth Vs Reality." Childbirth Instructor Magazine Winter 1995: 17-22

When Sarah was out of the bed and standing her whole attitude changed, she was more comfortable and relaxed. Sarah went on to give birth on her hands and knees, there were no complications and the perineum was intact. The student felt that through the use of different positions, listening and observing, she had empowered Sarah to have a normal birth. The two specific topics the author will analyse are positions in labour and the role the midwife plays in facilitating choice.

According to Lowe (2017), “…across the United States, a woman presents every 3 minutes to an emergency department for opioid misuse or abuse” (p.657). With the significant increase in the misuse of opioids over the last thirty years in the US, it has become a serious public health concern. With the most dramatic rise in opioid use being of childbearing age women, it is a very important issue in maternal health care (Keough & Fantasia, 2017). It is imperative that nurses are informed and have efficient knowledge of the potential risks, effects, treatment, and prevention of opioid dependence during pregnancy.

According to the American Pregnancy organization “more than 50% of woman giving birth at hospitals use Epidural Anesthesia”. These women turn to epidural to relieve the pain of labor; however this decision poses many risks to both mother and child. An epidural is a type of regional anesthesia where pain medication is administered to the lumbar and sacral region of the back near clusters of nerves. The placement allows for nerve impulses to be blocked from the lower regions of the body resulting in decreased sensations. Although the epidural is known for taking pain away it could very well cause it too. Epidurals include the use of various narcotics and have side effects like hypotension, fever, fetal malposition, decreased fetal heart rate, respiratory depression, breastfeeding complications, an increased likelihood of operative vaginal delivery and cesarean and many more. These are the effects faced in result to a procedure that is not definite to work. In Fact “One in every 8 women” (OAA) will experience inadequate pain relief and must venture to other means of medication. Therefore, mothers should abstain from epidural anesthesia due to the risks it poses to themselves and to the fetus.

Based on the late 19th century short stories, The Yellow Wallpaper and The Awakening, the authors depicted childbirth as a traumatic and even torturous experience, which left women to cope with the physical and mental health effects alone. Effects such as these impeded the mothers’ abilities to be the ideal ‘mother-woman’ to their offspring because in the eyes of patriarchal society, they were only existent in the domestic sphere and their feelings and emotions were null and void thus defining them as too weak to take on the strenuous demands of society. The expectations were that they exert minimal energy using intellect and instead maintain a household suitable for the husband and children.

The idea of childbirth has been viewed in three peculiar ways: a social natural occurrence, as a passage to an early death, and in present times a medical procedure needed when having children. In the seventieth and eighteenth century childbirth was seen as a social celebration conducted by midwives, while in the nineteenth century fear of death arose due to an increase of maternal mortality rates. This time period also served as a transition time between the elimination of the midwife and the emergence of the physician. The transition was due to attitude changes and knowledge understanding. During the twentieth century, medical knowledge expanded and thus the idea of childbirth was medicalized into a medical procedure needed to have healthy children. Childbirth once seen as a natural phenomenon was now an event that needed medical attention by health facilitators at institutions of health. The ideas around childbirth developed based on the knowledge, cultural setting, mortality rates, and professionals available at the time. Based on these ideas it is easy to see how social and behavioral aspects influenced childbirth throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth, ninetieth and twentieth centuries. In addition, the communities’ views on childbirth were influenced by the development of public health infrastructure, public health policy advancement and how well public officials were able to disseminate information.

A study conducted from 1997 to 2006 shows an increase of Medicare patients receiving an epidural of one hundred and two percent per 100,000 people (Manchikanti). Epidurals allow the blockade of discomfort in a specific area with an injection of an anesthetic directly into the epidural space, located along the spinal column just below the spinal cord; however, the goal of this administration route is not to eliminate total lack of feeling but to provide the patient with relief from strain so they may continue their activities of daily living. Pain, the body’s number one defense mechanism, transmits signals through nerves to the final destination of the brain. By blocking irritated nerve signals with an epidural, the mind and body can relax. Narcotics, an alternative option for uneasiness, only last for a limited amount of time and require frequent administration, while epidurals possess a longer mechanism of action and only require a one-time injection. Therefore, it remains as the primary line of method of pain alleviation for labor. Epidurals provide effective pain relief for expectant mothers without causing harm to her or the newborn baby, which has, caused a dramatic increase in the popularity of epidurals over the past decade.

There are several people that cannot make up their mind. Things do not go as planned and spontaneous things just occur. During pregnancy, the mothers plan their birth plan and the procedure that they would like. Things just happen, and they need to change their plans. There are several debates on the best birth plan. With continuous debates on epidural and natural childbirth, it is difficult to see if one or the other has more benefits. Further investigation will reveal the facts and science along with experiences with epidural and natural childbirth. If there are less factors that cause harm using epidural than natural birth, then they will prefer epidural over natural birth.

This article, Natural Childbirth doesn’t have to be a painful delivery written by Janelle green emphasizes that woman’s body is designed to birth babies and so, natural childbirth must be considered as a natural event. Natural childbirth (NCB) means laboring and delivering using no medication at all, rather depending on non-drug pain relief, such as hydrotherapy (using water in a shower or tub), massaging, breathing, visualization, meditation, position changes, and hypnosis. Moreover, non-drug pain relief methods are efficient due to these techniques interfere the sensory pathways to the brain that communicate pain, and also, this reducing catecholamines; so, can help the labor more calm and manageable. Experiencing labor pain doesn’t mean

To collect information to answer my question, I searched Google Scholar, Google Scholar is a search tool that is made up of articles from scholarly resources. When searching I used the terms, “epidural”, “c-section”, and “labor to find my articles. I made specific that all articles should be published later than 1995, so that I got the most up to date articles and information. This gave me 54 results, in which I sorted through reading the abstract first. Through this process I deemed that 5 articles were likely to answer my question.

Providing continuous physical and emotional support during labour can reducing maternal fear, stress, and anxiety and protect physiological birth (Steen, 2012). Research shows that fear and anxiety during labour and birth can be detrimental to physiological birth. An environment that women feel unsafe in may stimulate a surge of neuro-hormones that can influence both fetal and maternal physiology, causing irregularity of contractions, fetal distress and subsequent medical inteverntions (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Conversly, maintaining an environment where women feel safe, protected and supported can facilitate favourable physiological performance (Fahy & Parratt, 2006). Midwives can do this by giving women one-on-one continuous support and placing her at the centre of care throughout childbirth (Steen, 2012). As observed in practice, by constantly reassuring the woman about her progress, her baby’s health and addressing any of her concerns, the midwife can provide a calm and relaxing environment that is conducive to the labouring woman (Buckley, 2015; Steen, 2012). The midwife worked with the woman, encouraging her throughout labour and birth by telling her that she was doing extremely well. The midwife also breathed in-tune with the woman while giving her a back massage, inducing a sense of comfort. The atmosphere was calm and this contributed to the woman garnering confidence in her ability to avoid medical pain relief. Downe (2008) noted that the positive impact of

These nonpharmacologic comfort measures work by providing distraction during uterine contraction. “According to the gate control theory of pain, only a limited number of sensations can travel along neural pathways at any one time, so when activities fill the pathway, pain is being inhibited”. (Leifer, 2012)

Childbirth is a beautiful thing. After the hours of labor, there is nothing more special than having the newly mother able to hold her child the minute after it’s born. It makes the pain that you had just experienced go away because all that matters in the world is that newborn child in your arms. During labor, every woman has her own experience but one common experience is the pain. According to Kitzinger (1978) “Labor pain can have negative or positive meaning, depending on whether the child is wanted, the interaction of the laboring woman with those attending her, her sense of ease or dis-ease in the environment provided for birth, her relationship with the father of her child and her attitude to her body throughout the reproductive

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the different forms of pain management used during childbirth.