Factors That Affect The Labour And Delivery Of A Woman

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

Especially, since the delivery went smoothly and the baby reached full term, rendering care to both mother and child, I thought, seemed simple enough task. And, for the purpose of providing these patient care, I do not even need to critically think. Relying mainly on my understanding of the nursing process. However, this week’s clinical changed that. In the same way, this clinical rotation further enhanced my understanding of the theoretical knowledge and its practical application. The very process that guides me in fulfilling my role as a caregiver is somewhat complimented or enhanced by an instinct that came in naturally. Being able to hold and comfort that newborn while administering medication to alleviate the mother’s pain to facilitate that mother-child bond, is one of the most rewarding experience in this nursing specialty. Nursing is physically exhausting and emotionally draining, but at the end of the day, what I was able to accomplish during that long, boring, and uneventful day at the maternity floor is the reason why I chose to be in this profession. Indeed, some might think little things will not matter, but I know that I have done the best patient care and most of all it came to me almost

Healthcare providers, like midwifes, want the best outcome for their patients, but because some healthcare providers are more educated on the current hospital practices, they believe that pain medication is the only way to have a minimally painful labor and birth. According to Gaskin (2011), “Mainstream US culture teaches people that pregnancy and birth are illnesses for which hospital treatment is necessary. This cultural conditioning shapes people’s thinking about labor and birth in ways that few question” (p. 51). People do not realize that there could be multiple healthy ways to deliver a baby. In the hospital this semester, I have noticed that one of the major interventions that was pushed on or recommended to women were epidurals. Almost every patient that I saw on the labor and delivery unit had an epidural or had a plan to get an epidural. In post conference, one of the other students told about one of the patients that they encountered. This very young soon-to-be mom did not want any pain medications. According to the student, the nurses, doctor, and anesthesiologist were very adamant upon her getting an epidural because it would relieve her pain and help progress her labor. Even though this patient would reject it each time it was asked, they still continued to ask. This constant

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.

Expectant mothers should educate themselves more about natural birth. This is because there are many consequences and high risk associated with drug intake to release pain and caesarean delivery. This is because if more women are aware about the facts involved with using these medications, they will correctly choose what is best for their own bodies and the health of their babies.

It is unfair to the newborn to reap consequences because the mother decided to receive a pain free delivery. Epidurals take 2.7 hours to leave an adult body but it takes over 8 hours for a newborn. Some babies still had the epidural medication within their bloodstream up to 30 hours later. If an epidural causes immobility within in the women, then it causes the same for the baby. It causes the baby to become lethargic, decrease its heart rate, and poor latching after birth. No mother wants their baby to suffer. Doctor fail to tell women how a medicated assist birth can cause more complication than assistants. The epidural causes labor to decrease which causes an increased risk for the doctor to have to use delivery instruments. The use of delivery instruments such as birthing vacuum or forceps increase the chance of injuring the baby. Short term bruising, facial injuries, and displacement of skull bones have occurred with the use of the delivery instruments. This can simply be avoided by women having non-medicated births. Not everyone would

Giving birth in the hospital has become so normal in our lives that we can’t see any other alternative when thinking about childbirth. Due to the medicalization of childbirth, risks and fears of health complications can be addressed. However, it has led to women not truly being in control of their labor and delivery experience. Although the medical practice comes in handy when there is an emergency, the medicalization of childbirth has created a social reality that simply state that women are not in control of their own labor and delivery. The outcomes of the medicalization of childbirth have good influences on the health of the baby, but a negative effect on the women’s agency power and empowerment.

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.

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