In class today, one of my students wanted to talk a little about epidural and wondering if she should have one. I did talk a little bit about it, and though I tried not to talk too long, I wanted to give her and the rest of my students some information they could think about.
First of all, what defines “natural” birth? It is different things to different people, and today can mean simply a vaginal birth. I will define it here as a normal, physiological birth using little or no medical intervention. Meaning, vaginal birth, no drugs…with a support team of partner, doula, midwife or doctor.
Almost 90% of American women birthing in hospitals today elect to receive the epidural pain relief offered there. The epidural is a way of administering drugs to the laboring woman to reduce or eliminate pain sensation. It is not always completely effective, and is not the only way to relive pain, but is one of the most popular ones. An anesthesiologist must administer this form of pain relief,and each one has his or her own special “cocktail”, or mixture of drugs to do this. When a woman decides to have an epidural, she is prepped by swabbing the back with antiseptic, and is told to bend forward. This gives the anesthesiologist more space between the vertebrae of the back with which to insert the large needle. He inserts this into the dura of the spine which is the sheath covering the nerves of the spinal column. Then a tube is threaded through the needle and is held in place with tape to continuously bathe the nerves of the spine with the pain reliving drugs.
Sounds pretty good right? No pain…but there are drawbacks. First of all, you are stuck in bed, as you are no longer mobile, or able to feel from the waist/chest down. So a host of other tubes and monitors are now employed by the hospital to counter your new found immobility. You must have an IV inserted into your arm to administer fluids, external monitors to keep track of the baby’s heartbeat, and a catheter to empty your bladder. Lying down is not the best way to help your baby move through the pelvis and out of the birth canal.
There are recommendations from the World Health Organization on the optimal support of natural physiological birth. One of them is to let labor start on its own…another is to allow freedom of movement throughout labor. Having an Epidural is not going to allow you this freedom of movement and can actually take away what can be a very positive and potentially trans formative experience. I will discuss this thought further as well as the Hormonal Blueprint of Labor and how the Epidural effects the body’s natural pain cycle. Please look for my next posts.
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