Why Natural Birth?

by Cheryl DeLancey

My desire for a natural childbirth comes partially from my philosophy that being pregnant and birthing aren't medical events in most cases. In fact, in many countries with similar infant mortality rates as the US, there are far fewer medical interventions. This tells me that there's either something wrong with American women that makes us ill-adapted for childbearing, or we're doing an awful lot of unnecessary interventions. Plus, genetically speaking, women tend to follow their maternal line, which bodes very well for my ability to have a vaginal, unmedicated birth.

I'll summarize what I've learned from research studies and books on birthing. And keep in mind that this is for information, I'm not judging anyone's past, present, or future choices in these areas. I'm simply sharing what is playing a role in our decision to go for it naturally.

Anaesthesia - both IV and epidural anesthesia (opiate and narcotic types) do reach the baby and can lead to fetal distress, a need for oxygen or intubation at birth, and can impede the normal progression of the baby through the birth canal, affecting how the baby's head and shoulders present (they don't do the normal twist in some cases). Also, these drugs can slow labor and reduce the effectiveness of the mother's ability to push, which lead to greater rates of cesearean and forceps or vacuum delivery due to failure to progress. AND a lot of the drugs that MD's choose for laboring women are drugs that have warnings AGAINST use in pregnancy, breastfeeding, and childbirth (Nubain and Demerole are examples of drugs with this warning). So we're dedicated to avoiding the drugs because there's no such thing as a completely safe one and I want to embrace the experience of childbirth, no matter how much pain is involved - after all - it's pain with a purpose.

Episiotomies - can actually lead to women tearing clear through to the anus, which occurs almost never in women without episiotomies. Plus they lead to longer recovery times and rarely lead to getting a baby out any faster (which is a justification sometimes given for slicing and dicing the woman's perineum).

Also, interventions like pitocin induction and forceps/vacuum delivery and c-sections are often the tools of an impatient provider. Failure to progress is a subjective call which due to the natural variations in time from early labor to birth, is nearly impossible to diagnose as a problem, and thus is rarely a reason in itself to use intervention. Basically, unless the mother or baby are in distress, there is absolutely no medical reason to use any of these. I don't think that these tools are useless - some babies and mothers are saved by them. However, there is research suggesting that they're overused and that many practitioners jump the gun on using them when a less invasive option can resolve issues that typically lead to them. For example, fetal distress often resolves with a simple change of position, which can resolve the issue quicker and with less risk than a c-section.

So we're choosing to go with a natural approach, and our CNM is in agreement that natural interventions be tried prior to medical interventions, as long as there is ample time, should a complication arise. We've based that decision on the research and on the philosophy that in a low-risk situation, nature knows best.

I guess we'll all have to wait and see how it goes, but right now, we're all-systems-go on Natural Childbirth.