Quote:
Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
Soapbox moment follows:
Our midwife certified nurse practitioners were not stereotypically against drugs per se. They were, however, heavily against the epidural in favor of the injectable Demerol for pain control. The midwife party line is that when American women say "I want an epidural" they're really only saying "I want to control the pain" in the only way they know how (Americans are prone to self-prescription as much as self-diagnosis --- the same women who assiduously avoid caffeine and booze throughout pregnancy say "Epidural!" upon arrival without asking important questions about the effect on the fetus). Some moms are concerned that an epidural blocks a number of body responses that facilitate labor and delivery in addition to blocking pain, prolonging the labor and increasing the likelihood of caesarian delivery. Thus, moms who want to reduce the chances of a caesarian being necessary should (according to this theory) opt for narcotics in lieu of epidural.
The research we were shown indicates epidurals lower mom's blood pressure and reduce blood flow across the placenta, decreasing oxygen delivery to the baby during birth, and that epidural-assisted births are linked to listless newborns with higher instances of post-birth interventions such as antibiotics. Persons with an analytical bent might note that people inclined to get epidurals are probably not going to fight other medical interventions, so that correlation is not necessarily causation, but YMMNV.
If Demerol is administered during a contraction, very little of the narcotic is delivered across the placenta. This was our back-up plan. To date, this generation of Grinches has been delivered without any pharmalogical pain control. To her, at least.
Every woman is different / you should plan to have the birth you've always wanted / blah blah blah.
|
Bah. With my first, I went for the narcotics before the epidural, for all those reasons you mention. Minor pain relief for 20 minutes, got it again, same result. They were useless for me. The epidural allowed my body to relax instead of fighting the labor (me vs. Pitocin was a mean battle). Happily, no issues of slowing labor or anything like that - it allowed me to get control and manage the delivery (yes, both times the nurses told me to go ahead and practice pushing before the doctor got there - I told them I didn't think I would need to, but obliged. They freaked out when it was clear I was going to go ahead and deliver, so they made me stop, which I was able to do under the happy influence of the epi. I also had to stop again mid-delivery with the second due to cord wrapped a couple of times around baby's neck). Both kids full of fire, no listlessness issues. The whole problem with all of this is that you just don't know beforehand how you (and the baby) will react. I am very, very impressed with Mrs. Grinch's med-free birthing abilities!
