Posted on 07/15/2009 12:04:10 AM PDT by myknowledge
WOMEN should embrace the full pain of childbirth to bond with their babies instead of resorting to anaesthetic drugs, a leading male midwife has said.
UK professor Dr Denis Walsh said the pain of labour should be considered a "rite of passage" and a "purposeful, useful thing".
The pain prepares women for the responsibilities of motherhood, he wrote in an international journal published yesterday.
Australian obstetricians responded by saying women need to be free to make their own decisions. "It is a woman's choice and I don't think we have any good evidence to show that you have to have pain to be a good mother," Melbourne obstetrician Dr Louise Kornman said.
While more women are relying on pain relief instead of opting for a natural birth, "there is a time and place" for epidurals, Associate Professor Hannah Dahlen of the Australian College of Midwives said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
did anyone else see the Steven Crowder video at Big Hollywood about Canadian healthcare?
I would be curious to know if said midwife has ever has a baby. In any event, why would one endure more pain than necessary in the medical context?
My then-husband flat-out told the doctors to give me pain meds.
The perfect pain med would know you out for the first 18 years of childhood.....I raised 5....
This “embrace the pain” message has been going around the South Pacific for a while now. At least 13 years. Some women swear by it.
Oh, no he didn’t!?
I think men should get circumcisions when they are men, with no anesthesia.......I’d like to perform on this “male midwife” first......
My wife delivered seven. The two were born at home, no pain medications. One born in a Russian hospital. None. One born in a Chinese hospital. None.
We had one daughter born with a severe, large water head, in an Air Force hospital, not suspected until she was all the way down the birth canal (no sonograms were done, 1979). A lot of cutting at that point, and yes, some pain meds . . . obviously.
My wife read the article, and tends to agree with the midwife.
The Australian physician who responded with “It’s the woman’s choice” is speaking as if someone is talking about forcing women to do or not do something. The midwife is expressing his view, not forcing anybody. That’s government’s job . . . oops.
*pfffft* Stuff it, Skippy.
I fell for this kind of b.s. back in the early 80’s when my (male) doctor insisted that it was healthiest for the baby and so I had all three of my son “naturally”. I embraced the pain all right...without a block/epidural, you feel everything through the entire labor. The only thing the pain ‘natural childbirth’ did was convince me to have fewer children.
At one point my wife chose to skip the pain meds not in order to “embrace the pain,” but because she believed that doing without would be better for the baby.
It really helps to be well prepared and to have a doula. And to have a great physician who is comfortable enough to be very flexible and go along, wherever possible, with how you want to do things.
My wife suffered through the entire pregnancy. The least she could have was an epidural during labor/delivery.
LOL. I can’t believe they published this guy’s name.
I did. I happen to agree with the midwife. However, to each their own with pain management, IMO.
Pain meds can affect the baby. So how do you decide what is necessary then?
I chose not to medicate my baby. It was worth it to me. I cannot gauge someone else's pain and insist that they do so as well.
I was all ready to embrace the pain, but then, due to several circumstances, it was time to do a c-section. So, for me, getting the epidural was the painful part. The anasthesiologist did several stabs, apparently missing the first two or three times, because he said something like “oops” and tried again. Not reassuring!
I did have a co-worker who really got a high from natural labor. I don’t know why she had her adrenalin or whatever it was kick in like that. She had around 3 kids, as I recall.
I think this male midwife should have his testicles wired up to a little device the pregnant woman can hold in her hand during the birthing process that has a button she can press which will deliver a good healthy zot to his nuts to better prepare him for his responsibilities. And the guy should embrace the pain in order to better empathize and bond with his patient, and be proud he was privileged to undergo this glorious rite of passage.
My mom had many babies - no medication, with midwife, with a drink of milk & black seed after giving birth. I don’t think she’d be against pain medication if it was an option. I don’t know what I will do when I have children, I have no preference for either epidurals or embracing the pain yet.
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