Well, in my experience, my wife was slated in advance for a Cesarean birth for our second child. She was going to be drugged regardless. Toward the "moment" she was having extreme pain and had not slept in hours. Her regular Doctor who had cared for her up to this moment was not available, and her stand-in was taking care of my wife at the hospital.
My wife was exhausted and from my experience with her, it was going to be difficult for her in the extreme due to the pain level to wait another 12 hours until the Doctor decided she should have the Cesarean.
She was going to let her sit in agony for that duration despite the fact that she would receive pain medication at the end of 12 hours. The Doctor was not interested in my request for some pain relief for my wife.
I confronted the Doctor and asked her what reason is there for her to endure the 12 hours of pain to the point of physical exhaustion? Would it not pose a far greater risk to the child and her if she is placed under extreme duress and physical stress before she is cut open? Wouldn't it make sense that she gets as much rest as possible before she is sliced apart to "give birth"? "I need a reason" I asked the Doctor.
She ordered that my wife received a pain killer.
My wife was exceptionally grateful to me.
Now I need to state that my wife has had difficulty with child birth before. She got rear ended by a Corvette while she was carrying our firstborn. Too many things to name, we were only sustained by the grace of God, IMHO.
For all the difficulties she endured, I was going to see that she receives minimal relief. She's faced the "tests" and passed them as far as I'm concerned. I was truly concerned that lack of rest prior to another surgery would be harmful, so I pursued to avenue to her great relief, although she couldn't tell me how happy she was about it until later.
It was worth it, I assure you.
Finally, I truly feel that there is no real benefit in attaining this level of civilization if we can't utilize it's advantages for protection and relief that our fore bearers had no other choice but to endure. Eternity is filled with the despairing cries of mothers who sacrificed their lives to give birth to their children. I was not in the least compelled to risk that my wife might become to physically exhausted that we'd risk her joining them. Yes, it is PAIN. Blood pressure climbing so high it's dangerous, convulsions driven by agony and the hopelessness of being unable to escape from it. I felt it was absolutely Neanderthal to abandon my wife to such if I could possibly do anything to help.
But that's just me. Some people have an easier time with child birth than others. Not my wife. So I didn't feel compelled to see her endure more than she needed to.
That, I don't understand.
If a woman isn't dilated in 36 hours, why do they wait and what are they waiting for?
Wow...a man finally get's it. Your wife is lucky to have you and thanks for allowing me to feel okay about my choice to use pain killers.
You're a good man... and husband.