Pregnant women denied epidurals 'to boost traditional births'

Daily Mail ^ | 02nd March 2009 | Julie Moult

[Lorianne]

Pregnant women are being denied epidurals during labour it has emerged. The strong anaesthetic which is injected directly into the spine, is a popular choice with mothers-to-be to help them cope with the extreme pain of childbirth.

And up to 60 per cent of first-time mums opt for an epidural in some regions.

But now new guidelines have categorised the procedure as unnatural in a bid to boost the number of women having traditional births.The aim is to reduce the number of women having epidurals or caesareans by up to 40%.

The recommendations are contained in a guidance document, Making Normal Birth a Reality, supported by the National Childbirth Trust with the backing of the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Many NHS Trusts have signed up to the guidelines. The report states that both mothers and doctors are too keen to resort to medical intervention in what is one of the most natural occurances on earth.

They say by rushing to administer an epidural or a conduct a caesarean they are creating other potential risks to mother and child.

One senior obstetrician condemned the implications of this policy as a ‘disgrace’ and raised concerns women would be branded abnormal.

[Lorianne]

Yikes! This ought to get the attention of women supporters of nationalized healthcare!

[Shadowstrike]

I know several relatives who had this happened when they were giving birth would say “that Doctors head is in just the right place for me to kick his brains out.”

[txroadkill]

Brave doctors, as the father of two children I know first hand how brave those doctors must have been to deny a pregnant woman anything, especially one that is in labor.

[Big_Monkey]

My sister-in-law had one of her kids in a public UK hospital. I’m told it was downright medieval. How medieval you ask? She and the baby still had blood on them when they went home - that night. Welcome to socialized medicine.

[DJ MacWoW]

I had epidurals with my first 2. Had natural with the third. Natural was MUCH better.

[armymarinemom]

No kidding. I have always wanted to see a study that compared post partum depression in women who had epidurals vs those who didn't.

[mombyprofession]

I had 5 pregnancies and no epidurals. It can be done. But to have the option taken away from me? I would not have liked that. At all.

[SkyDancer]

Just give me a pair of vise grips and when I’d hurt, he’d hurt where it counts .......

[USAFJeeper]

Just a thought, but subsequent children are a bit easier no? I know my wife said she wanted her epidural naturally, our twins could come out then!

Somehow I think telling her there would be no epidural would have been rather dangerous... (We did stop after the 2, 1 of each kind, we did our part!)

[Scotswife]

headaches are “natural” too, but we still take ibuprofen.

Methinks the UK is less concerned with natural childbirth as they are with the cost of the epidural.

This article should be blown up and posted in every ob/gyn office so american women know what’s coming.

[pnh102]

Thank God my kid was born in the USA. Had this stupid policy been in place she would have died during delivery. She decided to wrap her cord around her neck a couple of times and had the doctors not been able to discover the resulting lowered oxygen flow. We only found that out after the emergency C-Section.

But mommy and baby are doing fine now, thank God.

[Scotswife]

“I had epidurals with my first 2. Had natural with the third. Natural was MUCH better.”

I’ve had 8 - some natural, some with epi’s.

I prefer the epidural.

[HungarianGypsy]

A co-worker of mine said that she was semi-forced aka bullied into having an epidural she did not want. She still has back problems that she didn’t have before that.

[originalbuckeye]

No matter how they want to sugar coat it, I'm sure it was a matter of cost. My sister-in-law, in the UK, spent the night in the hall after the birth of her first child. There were no open beds and this was in the 70’s. Zero will have his nationalized health care but I won't bet on his surviving the experience. Americans are spoiled by having the best health care on the planet. Americans don't want to wait for anything but, with an NHS, they may wait a year or two for an elective surgery. No rush when the ‘Government (really the taxpayer)’ is paying.

[HungarianGypsy]

I have also have five babies and no epidurals. I tell women who have that they are braver than me, as the huge needle always scared me.

[DJ MacWoW]

Just a thought, but subsequent children are a bit easier no?

Not really. I was 21 and 25 for the first 2. I was 34 for my 3rd. For the first one, the epi wore off before we were done. For the 2nd, it made me vomit and have a crashing headache AND made the baby groggy. I had my 3rd naturally at 2:11 and was in the shower by 4. It was great. No side effects, just a baby. :-)

[pnh102]

I’ve had 8...

Wow...!

[DJ MacWoW]

I had a headache and threwup with an epi.

[originalbuckeye]

My son had his cord around his neck 3 times and around his chest twice. The nurses said they had never seen such a long umbilical cord....3 feet stretched out. They also told me that if we hadn’t been in a hospital we both would have not survived the experience. We DO NOT want an NHS here.

[spetznaz]

It's quite easy to know the stories that stem from the UK. The more absurd, twisted, limiting, or straight out insane a story gets, the more likely it came from the United 'Kingdom.'

As for epidural ...women should always have the option. Some may want to take the natural approach, others may want to have some relief against the pain. Taking away that option is plain insane.