I remember when my water bag broke; it was August 12, 1992, and the time was 12:15am.I was very excited that I would see my new baby on her due date. I did what the child birthing book recommended. I woke my husband up and told him to call the hospital. In the meantime I decided to take a shower. I was pretty calm because I didn't have any contractions. I wore my best maternity outfit and was spruced up compared to my husband. I even put on some perfume. You see, we had just gone to bed at 11:30 that night. My husband looked a little worse for wear. We got to the hospital and then were led into the maternity room. The room looked a little dingy with its yellow light and peeling paint. The hospital bed was small and narrow. I got scared, …show more content…
I recall tugging at my nether lands, and a swoop of hands into my womb. The doctors got the baby and she let out a cry that sounded triumphant. They showed me the baby and it seemed like they whisked her away too quickly. There is a fog around the edges of that memory. The doctors said that my baby was doing fine. My body started to shake and wouldn't stop. I was wheeled into recovery and then all was dark. I didn't bond with my baby until the next morning- seven hours later. She was beautiful but I felt very unfulfilled.
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
I prepared myself mentally, physically and spiritually for the birth of my second child. I decided to become a better consumer by educating myself with all the child birthing techniques that were
Giving birth should be a beautiful experience even though delivery can be terrifying and discomfort. Even though women have the decision to choose between having a natural childbirth or get an epidural majority of women give birth at a hospital get an epidural. Make sure when you base your decision on what’s best for your infant and not base off anyone influencing you. What constitutes a “Natural childbirth”? A natural childbirth is when a woman gives birth without any medication. You can choose between having a mid-wife and having an at home birth or you can give birth at the hospital without any medication either way is consider giving natural childbirth. According to Kristeen, an epidural is drugs called local anesthetics, such as bupivacaine, chloroprocaine, or liocaine it numbs the abdomen or pelvic region during labor. An epidural is given when the women is about 4 or 5 centimeters dilated (Cherney, par.2-6). In order to get an epidural you have to get a shot in your spine (lower back). In 1909, the first caudal anaesthesia was given for labor pains by a German obstetrical, Walter Stoeckel, and he study 141 cases of healthy laboring women with epidurals. In 1931, the first catheter was used in an epidural. By the 1940s, epidural were being used sporadically for labor but did not gain true momentum until the 1970s. This was in large part due to the fact that other
In the past, in the United States the majority of women delivered at home with no anesthetics; women might have received assistance through a family doctor, including midwife care (Thomas, 2011). A radical change happened by the 1960s, when hospital childbirths had become the norm, the pain of the experience was reduced by epidural anesthesia controlled by a physician. Pregnant women received education on breastfeeding and other topics during their medical visits (Thomas, 2011).
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.
I was 33 years old on November 9th, 2000. My family was made of myself, my husband, Doug, my daughter, Haley, and our dog, Josie. Haley was only 2 years and 9 months old at the time of the birth of her new baby brother, but I wasn’t quite sure how she would handle not having all of the attention. I could tell something was off from the moment I woke up that day. To start, Haley wouldn’t stop crying from the moment she woke up. As for me, I was feeling sick, and was having a few contractions here and there. I was packing my things for the hospital because I was scheduled to have a C-section November 10th. Afternoon came and my condition was getting worse and worse, things got so bad that Doug and I decided we should go to the hospital. I was mortified because I just needed the baby to wait a couple more hours. I could not have this baby come out of the birth canal, my
I did not feel any pain at all, nor could I move my body anymore. It felt more like I was numb from neck to feet; I guess I had epidural all over my body. Due to this numbness, whenever I had tried to push I did not know if I was actually doing it. Somehow, after thirty more minutes of labor, I pushed as hard as I could and they finally were able to see the baby’s head. All of a sudden, this little baby girl was out in this new world, I figured the doctor had done some maneuvers to unwrap the umbilical cord, because I had just become a new mother.
In this week’s response we are given the choice to choose to respond on the topic about a type of “non-traditional” childbirth (i.e. hospital) of our choice that we would want to know more about and “What we learn before we’re born” from TED talk by Annie Murphy Paul . This week I am choosing to respond to a type of “non-traditional” childbirth (i.e. hospital). The type of childbirth I chose to talk about is a water birth. As interesting as this topic may be and all of the possible childbirths there are this stood out for me because I believe that it is amazing that a child can be born in a little pool.
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.
Thanks for sharing your story. I know that epidural has become increasingly common for childbirth and has been an ideal tool for many doctors to offer patients with relief from the pains of labor and delivery; however, I was disappointed to those doctors or nurses who kept questioning you about this option although you did not want it at first. Your experience truly shows how physicians gave over medical control to this procedure rather than view it as a part of natural birth; but yet I guess it really depends on the nature of the cases, every woman and every labor are different. Probably, if I were in your situation, I would do the same thing too, especially if the baby had a fever and still inside of me, as a mother, like you, I would definitely
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.
An argument for the case of minimal medicalized intervention during birth can be made in terms of low-risk pregnancies and reserving medical interventions for high-risk deliveries and emergency situations. The purpose of this paper is to ensure that members of the childbearing community, including healthcare professionals, are familiar with alternative interventions to cesarean section and thoroughly consider the risks and benefits of said interventions so that natural child-birthing methods can be promoted in low-risk situations.
On January 3rd, 2008 a very cold winter day my water bag broke as I grab my bags and get ready to head to the hospital with so many mixed emotions happy,scared, sad and overwhelmed as we arrive at Cypress hospital in Houston,Tx at 9:30 am they quickly give us a room in the labor and delivery as we wait for our son to enter the world hours pass by and still nothing no baby almost 10 hours of waiting for our son his heart rate was dropping Dr.Castillo came in to inform us that I was needing an emergency c-section to get the baby out as soon as possible as we prepare to go into surgery a nurse walk in to give me anaesthesia and procedures that will happen during surgery I'm filled with so much nerves of the unknown praying my son comes out fine
First, I got ready then finished packing mine and Bentley's bags. I made sure I had everything for the hospital, then mom and I left the house. We went to room number 1209 and I put my gown on and filled out some papers. About 6:00 a.m the nurses came in to put the iv in my arm for penticilin. A little later my boyfriend and his aunt showed up. We prayed for everything to be ok and talked to each other. Dr. Citty came in around 7:30 to break my water. After they cleaned everything up I changed my gown and laid back down to try and go back to sleep. My granny and my sisters showed up around 8:30.
Natural birth is not having the most common drug an “epidural” in your back before you are giving birth. Epidural birth is when you get a shot put in your back before you go into labor to reduce the pain of contractions and pressure of your baby. You will be numbed from the waist and down.
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
Central Idea: Pain management is an important aspect of childbirth that women need to educate themselves on so they can make an informed decision when choosing which method they will use.