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Nov. 14th, 2002 09:46 pm
'Ya picked a fine time to leave me Lucille.'
Some people compare 'natural' childbirth to getting dental work without anesthesia, something no sensible person would opt for. Me, I think epidurals are kinda like divorce. It can seem like a really good idea when you're going through a rough patch and sometimes it really is the right thing to do, but it's no cure-all. The reality turns out to be expensive and complicated, and when there are kids involved, it can cause as many problems as it solves. For one thing, those are some full-on narcotics they inject into your spinal column *squick*, there are side effects for mom and they cross the placenta quite handily. The baby gets about 70% of your dosage. I'm sorry, I just can't do this to my munchkin for no medical reason. I'm just not up for slipping a Mickey to someone without fully functional kidneys and liver. One may ask why doctors do epidurals if it holds some risk for the infant. They do it because women want it and are able to pay for it, and because it makes for a much more manageable patient, and because nobody can finger it for any lasting damage. If the drug issues weren't enough, I believe that my body and my baby would miss me. While my active assistance is obviously not necessary, it can be very helpful. Frankly, if it really feels painful vs. intense or deeply uncomfortable, something's not right. In most cases it just means the baby's lost the path of least resistance, but sometimes it can be a helpful clue that something serious is amiss. Changing position until it feels manageable again generally means you've done a good deed for all concerned. Me, I found it became really painful if I lay down. In a hospital, in less enlightened times, I might have been a really sorry puppy.
I'm no Amazon, I don't think childbirth feels like a day at the beach, but I feel I can still be a reasonable person and not trade it for being paralyzed from the diaphragm down, catheters in my bladder and spinal column, significantly increased odds of non-progressing labor and surgical birth (Oh boy, recovery from major abdominal surgery + new baby, there's a bonus pack) and increased odds of giving birth to a limp baby that will spend its first nights in a plastic box instead of in my arms and at my breast.
Some people compare 'natural' childbirth to getting dental work without anesthesia, something no sensible person would opt for. Me, I think epidurals are kinda like divorce. It can seem like a really good idea when you're going through a rough patch and sometimes it really is the right thing to do, but it's no cure-all. The reality turns out to be expensive and complicated, and when there are kids involved, it can cause as many problems as it solves. For one thing, those are some full-on narcotics they inject into your spinal column *squick*, there are side effects for mom and they cross the placenta quite handily. The baby gets about 70% of your dosage. I'm sorry, I just can't do this to my munchkin for no medical reason. I'm just not up for slipping a Mickey to someone without fully functional kidneys and liver. One may ask why doctors do epidurals if it holds some risk for the infant. They do it because women want it and are able to pay for it, and because it makes for a much more manageable patient, and because nobody can finger it for any lasting damage. If the drug issues weren't enough, I believe that my body and my baby would miss me. While my active assistance is obviously not necessary, it can be very helpful. Frankly, if it really feels painful vs. intense or deeply uncomfortable, something's not right. In most cases it just means the baby's lost the path of least resistance, but sometimes it can be a helpful clue that something serious is amiss. Changing position until it feels manageable again generally means you've done a good deed for all concerned. Me, I found it became really painful if I lay down. In a hospital, in less enlightened times, I might have been a really sorry puppy.
I'm no Amazon, I don't think childbirth feels like a day at the beach, but I feel I can still be a reasonable person and not trade it for being paralyzed from the diaphragm down, catheters in my bladder and spinal column, significantly increased odds of non-progressing labor and surgical birth (Oh boy, recovery from major abdominal surgery + new baby, there's a bonus pack) and increased odds of giving birth to a limp baby that will spend its first nights in a plastic box instead of in my arms and at my breast.
