Un-natural childbirth

[Mizmoon]

Do you think a woman can still be completely anesthetize before childbirth like back in the old days if she wants? Or do they make you do the natural, awake thing?

[JimmyJazz]

1. I know of no place that would allow you to be completely

anestetized any longer. But, they do give out pretty good drugs if you so desire. I had a planned c-section for my second child and I was still awake. It's not something you want to miss completely.

And, btw - I'm a total baby. Natural childbirth to me meant "without makeup." ;)

[AlCzervik]

2. i got no pain medication at all, they told me it "Was too late"

and it hurt, thankfully it went pretty quickly.

[JimmyJazz]

3. Ouch!

[AlCzervik]

7. yes, ouch is right!! They make me walk up and down the halls for

a good part of the night "Gravity will help you along" so i did and sure enough the contractions got more painful, they promised me i'd get some meds at around 8:00am so i do what they say and around 8:30 i start asking asking---"Can i please get something for the pain now?" "Oh you're too far dilated for that, that will only slow your labor down" Well lemme tell you i was pissed and you've been there so you know that when you're in labor and in pain you can tend to spout off some things that maybe you normally wouldn't say in polite company. "So you're telling me that i'm having this baby like it was the 1800's!! maybe you should just send me out into the field behind the building and i can just fucking drop it there!!!"

[JimmyJazz]

11. I have to laugh because that is something I would have said in your

situation. And, don't hate me, but I was never in labor :(

[Debbi801]

20. LOL. Sounds similar to something I told the doctor...

While I was in labor with my third. She told me to "just relax and breath." I told her to "fuck off, I am tired of breathing." :rofl:

[Squatch]

16. My wife and I arrived at the hospital 15 minutes before she delivered

Needless to say, she was a little late for both an epidural and episiotomy. She was only in labor for about 1 1/2 hours.

[LaraMN]

4. I'm not aware of doctors using general anesthesia

except in the case of some c-sections. There's a heck of alot of pain relief options, so maybe there isn't much demand for that? As far as whether they CAN or not- I don't know, but I'd be interested to. I tried researching the history of childbirth techniques once, and didn't find alot of good information, either.

[Shell Beau]

5. Would anyone really want to be totally out?

I think the pain medications they offer now probably help out a lot. Although, I have never experienced for myself.

[Fleshdancer]

6. They make you stay awake these days, but you don't have to feel much

I had natural childbirth and I didn't think it was really all that bad. The labor gave me back problems because my daughter was "sunny side up" but I took hypnosis classes which really helped.

I had my baby in Japan though and when it was time to push, the nurse started pushing down hard on my stomach during the contractions...THAT is what hurt. If the bitch would have let my body do it on its own, I would have been fine. I still get pissed off thinking about it. I was robbed of what should have been a very beautiful experience.

[LaraMN]

9. I had just one of my three med-free,

I really wanted to see what it would feel like and how my body would function if allowed to do it's own thing, with no intervention. It was a very cool experience.

[Fleshdancer]

12. If I have another kid, I'll do it natural again

And it will be at home with a midwife. Did you do a lot of mental preparation for your natural birth?

[LaraMN]

15. No- actually what really sealed the "doing it naturally" deal for me

was the Asshole resident who insinuated that I wasn't going to be able to do it, because I hadn't had lamaze and I wasn't "prepared" enough. It was my longest labor and I had a cracked tailbone, and when the nurse checked me and said I was at 8 and was past the point for meds, I said "GOOD!" The asshole had the nerve to come in during my transition phase and remark that I must "be having an easy labor, because I didn't seem to be that uncomfortable." :grr:

[Fleshdancer]

17. What an ASS!

You and I sound a lot alike...I would have responded the same way in that f*cked up situation. A broken tail bone too? DAMN, you're tough.

Stories like that are exactly the reason why I would do my next birth at home. During my labor I had one nurse pushing down on me during the contractions and another nurse holding my nose and mouth (because they didn't want me to breathe through the contraction) and slapping me on the face when I started screaming at the nurse who was pushing on me.

My husband (who rarely gets angry) started yelling at the nurses, the doctor threatens to throw my husband out of the room and I'm trying to hold my body at an upright angle during all of this because the assholes forced me to lay flat on my back. I received no meds for the stiches...the doctor yelled at me to stay still for that. I should have kicked him in the teeth while I had the chance.

I felt violated for weeks afterward. I've never been physically restrained or slapped before. The nurses deprived me of the little bit of physical control I had. This was 5 years ago and the anger is still there.

[LaraMN]

19. When I was pushing, the resident likened it to having an orgasm

in front of everyone. Or at least, he said that was what the experience was like, according to "some women." All I could say was "I don't think so!" I found out (before I delivered my third) that he was no longer employed at the hospital and that there had been numerous complaints about him. Your experience sounds HORRIBLE! I can't imagine NOT being enraged about it, still! The feeling violated-- I can relate to that to some degree. I had a midwife with my first, and I preferred that arrangement wholeheartedly, but we moved to an area that had no midwives by the time I had my next two kids. Your birth experience should be something you have as much control over as medically and logistically possible. Anything less, imho, is an unnecessary intrusion.

[MissMillie]

8. The epidural is very popular these days

back when I had my son, "natural" was all the rage, but it seems that these days, couples don't even try to go all natural--they plan on having the epidural.

[xmas74]

10. I had a c-section and I was in and out of

consciousness throughout it. You get to the point that you don't care after awhile. I saw my daughter and I wanted to go to sleep.

[Midlodemocrat]

13. With my youngest, the epidural didn't take.

And I was surprised at how little it hurt.

[davsand]

14. I had a spinal for my C section.

I was 8 hours into an induced labor and they determined I needed an emergency C section because the baby's heart rate was dropping.

I was awake for the C-section, but I was numb from the nipples down. I was also chock full of Morphine at that point too, so I really was pretty far out to lunch...

I was laying on the table with this massive belly sticking up in the air, nekkid from the boobs on down, singing "Comfortably Numb" to the anesthesia guy and the entire group of Docs and nurses. Kevsand came in and was much amused even tho he was petrified for me and the baby.



Laura

[dolo amber]

18. My two cents:

There is *NOTHING* natural about childbirth. Well, at least the being pregnant part (I had 2 c-sections so I wouldn't know from the actual birthing.) It's creepy and horrible. There is this thing crawling around inside your body, and if that's not *unnatural*, then I don't know what is. x(

That said, kids can be kinda swell. It's just the odious getting them here part that's incredibly disturbing. :D

[Shine]

21. How can birth be "UN-natural"? Regardless of whether meds are used

or not, in my humble opinion, ALL birth is natural.

That said, why would anyone WANT to be knocked out during childbirth, esp. if you didn't have to be?...i.e, C-section. I'm sorry, but I just don't get that. Maybe it's just me. Newsflash: Childbirth IS PAINFUL!

I had originally planned to go the full-on "natural route" (no meds) for the first kid, but the pain was so intense and my labor wasn't progressing, so I ended up having an epidural and thank goodness I did! In that case, "Better Living Through Chemistry" was certainly true. For my second, I did it with no meds at all b/c I knew how to work with the intense pain much better.

Women have been giving birth for millions of years. Our bodies have a natural wisdom and we need to remember to Trust it.

~Shine