Why go without drugs?
Believe it or not, it will mean you ultimately
experience less pain overall. If you really find out about normal, healthy birth
and follow the guidelines in
Preparing for a Healthy Birth you'll find your
labour is much shorter, safer and even easier than it would otherwise have been.
Are drugs really such bad news?
They all have side-effects of some kind or other,
or affect the process of a woman’s labour and birth. Pethidine for example,
makes it less easy for a newborn baby to breastfeed successfully because he or
she is unable to suck as well at birth. Diamorphine—which is another name for
heroin—has the same effect and, like other opiates, can leave the mother (and
her baby) feeling drowsy for some time after the birth. Epidurals can make the
second stage of labour very difficult and also come with various risks, which
necessitate other interventions. Having blood pressure continuously monitored is
standard procedure after an epidural is administered; other drugs (e.g.
syntocinon or pitocin, which are artificial hormones) are also frequently
necessary because epidurals often slow down a woman’s labour. Even gas and
air—which women use without a second thought in the UK—carries risks. You can
find out about those in
Preparing for a Healthy Birth.
Aren’t most interventions necessary or
helpful?
This is perhaps the most shocking thing of all… Much, if not most, of current
practice (in hospitals and at home) is not what researchers recommend. Take a
few simple examples…
- Having electronic fetal monitoring on arrival at hospital has only one certain,
proven outcome: the caesarean rate increases
- Labouring in bed, or immobile (because the woman is connected up to a drip or a
monitor) means more pain and slower progress from the point of getting the baby
born
- Being moved from a labour ward to a delivery suite moments before the birth is
the very worst time to disturb a pregnant woman
- Lying on your back to give birth means going against gravity
- Taking the baby away to be ‘checked’, weighed and cleaned up directly after the
birth is also a very dangerous disturbance and can lead to fatal maternal
haemorrhage
- Interfering with mother-baby interaction moments after the birth can affect
long-term bonding
Isn’t it simply too painful to give birth
without pain relief?
If you’re not disturbed while you’re in labour, interesting things will start
happening… Your body will produce a powerful cocktail of hormones which will
help you to cope with the pain. These same hormones will also help you to feel
that you’re ‘going to another planet’. Women who experience a totally drug-free,
normal birth generally report having enjoyed the experience afterwards!
Won’t it mean I have to give birth at home?
No. You can have an entirely drug-free birth in hospital, with all the expertise
and technology available in case it’s needed.
Isn’t it just freaks and hippies who give
birth normally?
Not at all. In
Preparing for a Healthy Birth you’ll read about
engineers, teachers, financial analysts, doctors, midwives, writers and
psychotherapists who’ve given birth entirely naturally. These days, normal
birthers are usually people who’ve done a lot of research and discovered the
advantages of going without drugs or unnecessary interventions.
Won’t I have trouble finding a care
provider?
Things are changing… More and more, the short and long-term effects of drugs and
interventions are becoming known so you may not have trouble finding someone. In
any case, you can reassure anyone you approach that you are hoping to have their
full support, so that you can have the safest birth possible.
