Reflections on Labour & Birth

With Benjamin's first birthday only days away, I have already be reminiscing about his birth day.  This afternoon I watched the documentary called "The Business of Being Born" from Executive Producer Ricki Lake.  It's brought up so many memories of the night Benjamin was born, right here at home, unplanned and wondrously!  Watching clips of labouring women and babies being born makes me wish I'd had my labour and especially the delivery recorded.  I know that might sound weird; it's not like I want to show it to everyone who visits me, it would be private, for me to watch later and remember the details.  I think I remember things pretty well about Benjamin's birth, but I am not clear on some of the timing of events and such, and it would be amazing to see it happen (I was a little preoccupied at the time!).

I am forever grateful to our friends (Amanda, Janice and Bobbie) who told us about their experiences with midwives (both in hospital and at home); leading my husband and I to choose midwifery care for our first baby.  I would consider midwifery care still  uncommon in our society, but I believe (and hope) it is becoming more 'normal' and accepted.

I had done lots of reading about labour and delivery while I was pregnant and become more and more concerned about the medical interventions that take place in a hospital.  It was very apparent from my research that once a labouring mother has one medical intervention, it is usually followed with more medical interventions (various drugs, episiotomy, epidural, c-section, etc.).  I had no idea of what to expect labour to be like, no woman does.  I also had no clue as to my level of pain tolerance (nothing can prepare a woman for the pain of labour and delivery).  But the more I read, it became something I wanted to "experience", not just tolerate. 

The History of Birthing in America
I found the history of birthing in our society very interesting.  Here is my summary of some of th things I read:

Up until 1900, about 99% of births were at home attended by a midwife.  By the 1930s it was down to about 50%.  Hospital births became a status symbol, as only the wealthy could afford it, so naturally, more people wanted it to climb the social ladder. By the 1950s it was the complete opposite: about 99% of births were happening in hospitals and being attended by doctors, midwives and home births were almost obsolete.

Doctors, who attended school to learn surgical practices, felt useless in the situation of normal, natural healthy births.  They needed to flex their professionally trained muscles and provide medical and surgical assistance to labouring women.  Enter the use of forceps, the episiotomy, various drugs, the epidural and of course the c-section.  All this in an effort to offer labouring women an escape from the natural; all this medical interference, opps, "intervention" to make things easier for the women...I mean the doctors!  Labouring while laying on your back is the worst position possible for a woman, it makes the pelvis smaller and the baby must move against gravity in order to come out.  But, this position allowed doctors the best and most comfortable vantage point to watch and assist deliveries.  Let's not forget the doctors' reserved tee time, or the dinner party the doctor doesn't want to miss; so any intervention to help speed up deliveries was also a bonus for women...I mean for the doctors!

There was the "Twilight Sleep" faze of birthing, a drug that was given to women that made them "sleep" through their labour and delivery; in actuality it made them entirely FORGET the experience (and also required that they be strapped to their hospital beds to restrain them from hurting themselves and medical staff during their hallucinations)!   Why are women not only willing but eager to take drugs they know so little about without researching the possible side effects to themselves and most importantly to their unborn baby?  Every drug out there for labouring women causes side effects; the medical field has just convinced us that the benefits far outweigh those potentially negative effects.  Women have been frightened into taking whatever they can to avoid the "unbearable" pain of labour and delivery.  But women have been delivering babies forever without these drugs!

With the introduction of the epidural, the c-section rates skyrocketed.  That's because the epidural slows the birthing process; it numbs a women's body to a point that she can't feel contractions, so her body doesn't know where and how to push naturally and this simple medical intervention of convenience (simply because women are frightened into thinking they can't cope with the pain of labour and delivery) results in requiring a more serious medical intervention: the surgical c-section.

The information goes on and on...if you're willing to look for it.

The more I read, the more I wanted to read.  Why are women not educated about this?  Why do women not seek out this knowledge for themselves to make informed decisions about their own labours and deliveries?    

Originally planning to deliver at the hospital with midwives, I am so thrilled and relieved that we ended up having a home birth.  My personal 'birthing plan' was to try to do it naturally, with no medical assistance...if at all possible.  That's was one positive of being at home, there was little to no option for drugs or other medical interventions, even if I would have accepted them in the throws of labour pain.  I can only imagine how easy it is to waver from your original desire to have a natural birth if there are medical professionals hovering around you repeatedly asking if you are sure you don't want pain killers...instead of encouraging you in your pursuit of a natural birth.

It was probably lucky for me that Benjamin came quickly.  I had read that labours can vary in length and intensity and that quick labours usually were much harder and stronger, but ended sooner...and that was the case for me.  Could I survive a 15, 25, or 35 hour labour without pain killers?  I have no idea, and hope I never do!  I have no idea how I made it through my intense 4.5hr labour, but I did, and I was so blessed to deliver naturally, in the comfort of my home, in my bed with my husband at my side and with the assistance of our skilled midwives.  I will forever treasure the fact that my baby was immediately placed in my arms and nursing at my breast so soon after delivery.  It was perfect.

Perfect.