Why Are Women Choosing Natural Childbirth

Many women choose natural childbirth in order to participate fully in the birth of their baby and to have control over the birthing experience. By choosing natural childbirth, she will be using a minimum of routine interventions during labor and is expecting to be unmedicated throughout the birth.

Natural childbirth means that the birthing mother accepts that she will probably feel pain and discomfort as part of labor and birth. Positive aspects of natural childbirth include no loss of sensation. She will also remain alert during labor and birth.

 By choosing natural childbirth, you can move around freely and use whatever positions you find comfortable throughout labor. Many women feel a sense of empowerment or accomplishment after giving birth unmedicated. Even though they had pain, many choose to remain unmedicated for future births.

Most techniques advocated with natural childbirth are non-invasive. Partners and other family members will feel more involved as they help the mother cope and work through her contractions.

Childbirth classes teach techniques to help the mother attain a natural childbirth. These techniques may be practiced before labor begins. By practicing and understanding these techniques, some of the fear and anxiety she may be experiencing is lessened.

Unlike an epidural, these techniques do not remove the pain. They give you means to cope with it. If you still find that you cannot deal with the pain, an epidural or other pain relief can be given in the hospital if you are not too close to delivery.

Getting ready for natural childbirth helps a family prepare for their new baby. First, you develop your birth plan. This is a written plan for you and your caregivers that give them an idea of your wishes during labor and birth.

You can have a natural childbirth without drugs in a hospital, a birthing center or at home. Birthing centers are an option that is family-centered and is a compromise between a hospital and birthing at home. Hospitals are moving towards this design by calling their maternity wards birthing centers, and creating a more home-like environment. Relaxed visitation hours are often employed.

Achieving a natural childbirth can be easier when you use a midwife, a doula or other birth attendant. Midwives are familiar with comfort measures to help you cope with labor pain without resorting to drugs, and can provide a more personalized prenatal care routine than you can get from an obstetrician.

If you have an obstetrician, your labor care will be provided by the hospital nurses. Some nurses have studied natural techniques, but they are only available until their shift is over. You may get assigned a nurse on the next shift whose preferred method of labor management is to repeatedly offer an epidural.

Even if your heart is set on a natural childbirth, it is important to remain flexible. No one can predict how labor will flow, and sometimes interventions are truly needed.

Studies have proven that if a woman has continuous support, they are less likely to need pain medication for labor and delivery than if they are alone or feel unsupported. Partners can learn to do this in childbirth classes, and doulas can be hired to help. Unlike nurses, doulas don’t work by shifts… they are there for the duration of the birth.

Studies have also proven that mothers who prepare with certain types of pain management methods before labor are more likely to succeed in having the birth they want. Breathing, positioning, relaxation, hypnosis, acupuncture, massage and hydrotherapy are a few choices a woman may look at when deciding how to prepare for birth.

By: Carol Stack

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When a couple first learns about the possibility of having a doula present at their birth, questions often arise about the role of a doula, and the reasons why having a doula would be beneficial to them.

A doula is a trained professional with experience in many types of birth situations. Her role is varied depending on the needs of each mother, and can include prenatal education and preparation for various comfort measures during the labor. She also serves as an information source as the mother is making decisions about what type of birth she wants to have and what interventions she will accept. A doula is with the mother continuously throughout her labor, as opposed to the doctors and nurses who come and go and may be total strangers to her. She will give the mother emotional and physical support as needed, and has many suggestions to help in dealing with labor contractions. A doula’s role is not to replace the father, but to assist him and enable him to be the best supporter of his partner. A doula will also stay with the mother for a few hours after the birth, helping with initiating breastfeeding if needed, and making sure that the mother is comfortable. Postpartum visits are also included, which can include helping out with a few things at home, more informational support, and discussing and working through the details of the birth.

Studies have been done to determine the benefits of having a doula present with a mother throughout her labor. Listed below are some of the statistics from the studies:

• 50% reduction in the cesarean rate
• 25% shorter labor
• 60% reduction in epidural requests
• 40% reduction in oxytocin use
• 30% reduction in analgesia use
• 40% reduction in forceps delivery

These figures are taken from the book “Mothering the Mother, How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth” by Marshall H. Klaus, John H. Kennell, Phyllis H. Klaus.

Having a doula at your birth can be a wonderful experience for the whole family. Mothers report a higher satisfaction level with their births after having a doula, and the statistics show that risks of intervention are lower with a doula’s presence.

About the Author: Brenda Minica, CD (CBI) is a certified birth doula in San Antonio, TX.

 by: Suzanne Doyle-Ingram

 By the time my husband and I finally got pregnant the first time, I had done a lot of reading about birth options and we had already decided to have a midwife instead of a doctor. We believe that pregnancy is a healthy state of being, and unless something came up, a midwife was the best way to go for us. Besides, where we live, a midwife can deliver babies at hospitals, so I felt that was the safest way to go. (Although, now, I feel I could have had my babies at home… but that is a whole other article!).

When I was a few weeks pregnant I came across an article on doulas, but I had never heard of a doula so I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. A doula is a woman who supports women through childbirth. “Doula” is an ancient Greek word meaning “servant to women”. A doula provides a woman with continuous emotional support, aides in her physical comfort, and encourages the laboring woman. She also provides praise, reassurance, and explains what is going on during the labor. While some husbands and partners may feel that it’s their job to offer support to the laboring woman, and therefore initially feel that they would not want a doula, after the birth they are very pleased and relieved that they had one. A doula can help husbands and partners by suggesting ways they can help the laboring woman, and doulas actually assist the husband to feel like he is contributing.

Studies have shown that women supported by a doula during labor have:

50% reduction of cesarean rate

25% shorter labor

60% reduction in epidural requests

30% reduction in analgesia use

40% reduction in forceps delivery

From Mothering the Mother: How a Doula Can Help You Have a Shorter, Easier and Healthier Birth by Marshall H. Klaus (Perseus Press, 1993)

When I was about halfway through my pregnancy, we decided to interview some doulas and see if it would be right for us. We met with three doulas. The first one was Jan, who we ultimately picked. We liked her right away and I wanted to hire her on the spot, but my husband insisted that we meet the other doulas too because we might find someone we like even more. (How could that be possible?, I wondered.) Well, it turned out that the other two doulas were wonderful too, but our instincts told us to go with Jan. So we hired her.

We had to give her a deposit of $100 to confirm our commitment, and sign an agreement as well. How do I describe this fabulous woman? She is very tall and has a great presence. She is quiet, knowledgeable and thoughtful; she doesn’t speak a lot, but when she does it is carefully thought out. In other words, she is not ‘chatty’ but not shy either. She has an engaging smile, she is discrete, and she is strong. I felt like she could sweep me up in her arms and take care of me!

Jan came over several weeks before my due date to do some one-on-one prenatal training with both James and I. She is a lactation consultant as well so she helped by answering my questions about breastfeeding in addition to my questions about what to expect during labor.

I went into labor three days before my due date, on August 13, 2001. It was about midnight and I was just getting into bed when I felt (or heard?) a loud POP! And then another one. And warm liquid dribbling down my legs. My water had broken. Yay! This was finally happening.

The contractions started immediately and James rubbed my thigh while I rested on the bed. The contractions got closer and closer together and James called Jan at about 5:00am when they were about 5 minutes apart. They got really intense after that and by the time Jan arrived, I was vomiting in a bucket on my bed.

Jan threw down the birth ball she was carrying, flew across the bed, grabbed my hand, looked me straight in the eye with her face close to mine and said, ‘I want you to breathe like this.’ In an instant, she had me calmed down and breathing effectively. She was amazing. I went from being in a total panic to feeling like everything was going to be ok.

When my midwife arrived at 7:00am, she told me I was about 3 centimetres dilated. I was so disappointed! But Jan was my cheerleader, telling me that I was working so hard, and managing so well, and that my body was only going to give me what I could handle. She helped James help me by suggesting things he could do for me, and he felt taken care of by Jan as well.

It was only about an hour later that Jan noticed my breathing had changed and she called out to our midwife who was in another room doing paperwork. Our midwife didn’t think that I could have progressed that quickly but Jan stood her ground and said, ‘It really sounds like she is trying to push.’ So the midwife checked me again (doulas do not perform medical tasks) and I was about 7 cm dilated! This was going fast. Suddenly everybody sprung into action and started gathering up all the bags and things we needed for the hospital. If it wasn’t for Jan, I really don’t think we would have made it on time.

While James drove, Jan sat with me in the backseat holding my hand, talking to me, encouraging me and calming me. She was so amazing! After we got to the hospital, she never left my side. James had to go fill out the paperwork and park the car, but Jan was there beside me constantly.

I felt such complete trust in Jan that I had to hold her right hand a particular way through each contraction. It was quite funny! A contraction would start and I’d yell, “Hand! Hand!” and Jan would come running and grab my hand. I don’t know why, but it was only Jan’s hand that comforted me. It had to be Jan’s hand.

She also helped by taking me to the bathroom and getting me water to drink, a cold cloth for my forehead (without being asked), and waving tissues with aromatherapy oil on them around the room. I found that I couldn’t communicate what I wanted or needed, but Jan always seemed to know, thank goodness. She suggested different laboring positions and she helped during the delivery by suggesting positions for pushing, too. I only pushed one hour and then our beautiful Hana was born. (Hana means “flower” in Japanese). Jan stayed with me while I delivered the placenta (James was on the other side of the room with Hana) and helped me attempt to breastfeed right away. She stayed for about 4 hours after Hana was born and helped me take a shower and gave me lots of help with breastfeeding.

What more can I say about having a doula? She made my birth experience fantastic. I am one of those people who can honestly say that I enjoyed labor (twice!) and I want to do it again! When we found out we were pregnant for the second time, I could not imagine doing it without Jan. It was a much easier labor and birth, but I am still so grateful that Jan was there – she made it a great experience again. It is true that continuous support during labor has many, many benefits, and I am one of the “lucky” (or is it “well prepared” because I hired a doula?) women who was able to fully experience birth without drugs, or intervention. I had a healthy birth and a healthy baby. And a doula to help us through it all.

I wish you all the best during your labor and birth!

About The Author

Suzanne Doyle-Ingram is the mother of two daughters, Hana and Alexa, and married to her best friend James, who is a stay-at-home dad and educational game developer (and he makes a mean grilled chicken!). Suzanne is also the creator of http://www.pregnancy-leads-to-new-babies.com, an informative site for pregnant women and new moms, which provides information on pregnancy, labor, and how to take care of your new baby. As a family, Suzanne, James, and the girls enjoy kite flying, swimming at the beach, and visiting new restaurants. Visit her website at http://www.pregnancy-leads-to-new-babies.com for more of Suzanne’s articles.

This article was posted on September 09, 2005