My aunt, Susan, was in town last weekend and her and my mother recounted their tales of giving birth in hospitals in the 80's and it made me feel very lucky about my birth. Some of what they went through can only be described has horror stories. First of all both of them could only eat ice chips while they were in the hospital, for my mom it wasn't so bad because she had a quick 4 and a half hour labor, but my aunt was in the hospital laboring for well over a day, on only ice chips, she ended up with a C-section. For anyone who has been through labor, you know how much work it takes and how much energy and calories it requires. I lost my appetite somewhere in the middle of early labor, but I was able to drink water and juice and could not have made it had I been limited to ice chips.
They were also shaved and given enemas and IVs, their husbands had to wear hospital gowns and masks, and the lights were described as being bright. Contrast this to my birth where the lights were kept low, Brent was by my side wearing the same clothes he came in with, I wasn't even wearing a hospital gown, I had no need for an IV, so why give me one? And besides a noticeably smaller belly and a small sutcher where I tore naturally, my body was intact and everything was where it should be.
The enema makes my head itch. Yes, you poo during the pushing stage, it sounds horrible to be pooing in front of a room full of nurses, but it really isn't. When you are pushing any kind of modesty or shame you might have ever felt is the last thing on your mind and you barely notice. And you get so cleared out you don't poo for two days after! :)
I also had the wonderful experience of having my son immediately put on my chest, all tests and bathing were delayed a few hours, and I roomed in with him the entire time we were in the hospital. They offered to take him to the nursery, but I couldn't imagine having him away from me, in fact the one time he had to leave the room for a biliruben and hearing test I cried and told Brent to follow him. I had an immediate primal urge to protect him and watch over him. Actually it was hard to have him out of my sight for a good week.
But the fact is that we had a pretty unique experience in a hospital. HCMC is rated one of the best places to give birth in the nation. The C-section rate in their Nurse Midwife unit is around 12%, while nation-wide it is nearly 30%. I was never asked if I wanted an epidural or anything for the pain. I also hired a privet birth doula, which I highly recommend, I'm pretty sure I would have ended up with an epidural without her. There are some hospitals with a 95% epidural rate and some doctors with a 100% C-section rate. There are some hospitals that give IVs routinely and some that still limit what a laboring woman can eat.
Although I did consider a home birth, I am very happy with my choice to deliver with an exceptional nurse midwife team in a hospital. They even respected our choice to not have E-mycin put in his eyes and to postpone his Hep B shot. We were talked into the vitamin K shot, which I'm OK with, it was one thing we kept going back and forth on as far as routine procedures go. They also had some excellent lactation support, which I am still getting.
Most women, probably at least 75%, should be able to have a natural birth with little intervention, but so few have the support they need to achieve it. I was lucky because I didn't need an induction and had a baby that cooperated by putting his head down and his back forward, some of these things are out of our control sometimes, but I do believe that because I was given the support I needed; someone was there making me do things to keep my labor progressing and telling me that I was doing well; I was able to get through the hardest, most pain experience of my life.
Childbirth sucks, it's incredibly painful and you aren't sure how long it will take when it starts. It is unknown, especially the first time, but your pain has purpose; I was never scared during labor. Or I should say, I was never scared of the labor; there was a moment when I was scared of becoming a mother. But I don't believe I am better than any women who ended up with a needless induction or C-section, I simply had the right support and guidance and a respectful environment. I feel blessed and feel terrible for the women who end up with needless interventions because they were not allowed food or the freedom to move around or the dignity to work with their bodies and be told that they had the power within them to birth their child.
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