And sometimes not. Steve, our obstetrician and friend, allowed me to labor 20 hours with our firstborn, with four hours of pushing. This baby was a "left occiput posterior presentation," coming into the world head down, but facing the wrong way. The work was hard, and painful, made more so because somewhere along the line obstetricians lost the knowledge midwives had of the important role labor position plays in baby position. But his patience (and ours) paid off with the birth of a beautiful, healthy girl.
Blame it on doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, lawyers, or all of the above, that scenario would be unlikely today. Long labor and posterior presentation are each indicators for Caesarean section. I'm glad Steve had faith in the natural process.
Back then we had unmedicated deliveries, too, which I still believe is better for both babies and mothers. Recent findings (originally reported in Obstetrics and Gynecology, May 2005) show that epidural anesthesia, widely practiced and proclaimed as harmless, significantly increases the risk of posterior presentation and consequent Caesarean section.Excerpt: I've noted before some of the problems with epidural pain relief during childbirth, and my latest reading, Lise Eliot's What's Going on in There: How the Brain and Mind Develop in the First Five Years of Life confirms my worries. Here are a few of her...
Weblog: Lift Up Your Hearts!
Date: June 18, 2009, 9:18 am
