Natural Childbirth
I came across this Consumer Report regarding overused procedures during childbirth...What to reject when you're expecting. Stats listed in this article are astounding: "The infant mortality rate in Canada is 25 percent lower than it is in the US; the Japanese rate, more than 60 percent lower. The number of premature and low-birth-weight babies is higher now than it was in the 1880s and 1990s." -ConsumerReports.org
I didn't choose to have Mia without medication to brag or to pretend that I was stronger than other women. I chose to have a natural birth because I was terrified of unnecessary interventions. Yes, it took me a long time to push Mia out and yes, I was in labor for 24 hours, but I would never change my labor experience. It was calm, peaceful and there was never a moment where things were "going wrong". Maybe things would have been the same had I taken the Pitocin the doctor wanted to give me to speed up my contractions but I wasn't willing to let a drug I didn't need possibly stress out my baby or make contractions too bearable for me to handle.
I know that hospitals are businesses and they need to get women in and out because babies are being born all the time, which in my opinion is why they are so eager to use drugs to speed up the process. I also respect and appreciate hospitals and choose to deliver in hospitals because I like knowing that if something went wrong with me or my baby, we would be taken care of. I'm so thankful that there are c-sections for emergency situations and drugs to induce labor if a problem arises, but for women that have normal, healthy pregnancies and labors, a lot of these interventions are not necessary.
I will not judge you if you chose drugs to help your labor and delivery. I may need to use drugs for one of my deliveries as well. I understand that everyone has a different experience and one woman cannot compare her labor to another. I just want women to be educated about the process and the drugs that will be administered. As I get ready to deliver my second baby, I pray that things will be uneventful and I will be able to have another unmedicated birth. I also hope that the nurses in doctors don't pressure me into an intervention unless it is truly necessary for the health of my baby.
Sorry to get all heavy but I'm only a couple weeks away from the big day and I honestly needed to come across an article like this to help confirm that I'm making the right decision to have another natural delivery, because let's be honest... labor hurts!
I didn't choose to have Mia without medication to brag or to pretend that I was stronger than other women. I chose to have a natural birth because I was terrified of unnecessary interventions. Yes, it took me a long time to push Mia out and yes, I was in labor for 24 hours, but I would never change my labor experience. It was calm, peaceful and there was never a moment where things were "going wrong". Maybe things would have been the same had I taken the Pitocin the doctor wanted to give me to speed up my contractions but I wasn't willing to let a drug I didn't need possibly stress out my baby or make contractions too bearable for me to handle.
I know that hospitals are businesses and they need to get women in and out because babies are being born all the time, which in my opinion is why they are so eager to use drugs to speed up the process. I also respect and appreciate hospitals and choose to deliver in hospitals because I like knowing that if something went wrong with me or my baby, we would be taken care of. I'm so thankful that there are c-sections for emergency situations and drugs to induce labor if a problem arises, but for women that have normal, healthy pregnancies and labors, a lot of these interventions are not necessary.
I will not judge you if you chose drugs to help your labor and delivery. I may need to use drugs for one of my deliveries as well. I understand that everyone has a different experience and one woman cannot compare her labor to another. I just want women to be educated about the process and the drugs that will be administered. As I get ready to deliver my second baby, I pray that things will be uneventful and I will be able to have another unmedicated birth. I also hope that the nurses in doctors don't pressure me into an intervention unless it is truly necessary for the health of my baby.
Sorry to get all heavy but I'm only a couple weeks away from the big day and I honestly needed to come across an article like this to help confirm that I'm making the right decision to have another natural delivery, because let's be honest... labor hurts!
Girl, you rock on! I did the same thing, midwife, birth center, loooooong labor, but with the classes Id taken it was so totally do-able and I don't even run marathons! :) God will give you another beautiful labor! But, like you said, Im thankful for intervention when needed since little Halebug came csection after all. :)
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