Thoughts on Childbirth

So I started off this quarter thinking I'd be more petrified about child birth the more I learned about the process.  However, as I am learning more, I'm actually finding the exact opposite and my hypothetical birth plan has made a hypothetical 180.  Now that may be easy to say being that I am by no means close to the actual thing, but I think if the time comes I want to try to stick to my guns and here are my reasons why.

Epidurals
I use to be like, yes please.  Why would I want to be in pain if I didn't have to?  Truth is epidurals start a downward spiral to medical interventions.  When on an epidural, labor is prolonged and usually does not progress as well as it would naturally.  When labor isn't progressing to the doctor's convenience, pitocin is used which causes more intense contractions more often.  The pain issue is revisited and it is likely that your epidural dose gets increased.  This in turn slows progression so more pitocin is given and it becomes a vicious cycle.  While pitocin mimics oxytocin, the natural hormone of labor, it is not oxytocin and the maternal brain doesn't recognize it, making it harder to control pushing in Stage 2.  Uncontrolled pushing will lead to an increased risk for tears and episiotomies.

Cesarean Section

I am grateful that modern medicine has discovered a way to quickly remove a baby from the whom in emergency situations for if not, you might not be reading this blog.  However, elective cesarean for the convenience of setting a date and fear of pushing though the pain is ridiculous.  It is major surgery.  The recovery time is longer, the risk of infection drastically increases.  The list goes on.  It seems to be the only field where surgery is a readily accepted alternative even when evidence of best practice is lacking.  The US is the only country that will express through labor with elective c-sections when no complications exist.  There is no "time frame" that a baby needs to be delivered after the water breaks.  As long as the fluid is clear and odor free you can technically go as long as you need to.  It's like they want to get you through so they can get another person on the table or more likely, go home.  When looking at the rate of c-sections, they are highest around 4pm and 10pm, the I can make home for dinner and I don't want to be here all night times.

The body does miraculous things when pregnant.  The body mimics heart disease to compensate for extra blood volume, the thoracic cavity expands before major changes in fundal height, a mucus plug comes out of nowhere to form a barrier against ascending bacteria, and don't even get me started on the placenta.  How the maternal body just creates an organ out of nowhere baffles me still.  Sure there have been advances in medicine with regard to childbirth, but some of those advances have also lead to increased deformities and even death.  The thing is, it isn't until 10+ years down the road, when there is enough data available, that researchers can link the drug to the ailment and take it off the market.  I feel we sell our bodies short on the last step of pregnancy and we should allow it to work like the well oiled machine it is during labor and delivery.  However, if that is not your outlook I completely respect that and don't think any differently of you.  You may be thinking this is a rather opinionated post, but bottom line is childbirth is probably one of the most exhilarating experiences you will have and you should do what you think is right for you and your baby, uninfluenced by others.     

I find it interesting that Americans spend the most money on childbirth, yet we have some of the worst results compared to other developing countries.  It makes you wonder whose best interest is really at hand here because it doesn't sound like the mom's or the baby's.  In 1900 95% of births took place at home, by 1938 about half and since 1955 over 99% of births were taking place in hospitals.  Babies are a business just like everything else in a capitalist society.  Now I shall step off my soapbox...