Childbirth Class

We attended an awesome prepared childbirth class at the hospital last weekend. I always assumed that this class would be primarily review, and I planned to go for my husband’s benefit more than my own. I couldn’t have been more pleasantly surprised with the content. The class did have a great deal of review. My husband kept whispering that I should be taking notes, but I reminded him that the things that were being discussed were things I could recite anytime without notes, but I was so happy that he was engaged enough to be listening that way. So, we went through the obligatory informational part of the class, and got that out of the way, which is when I feel the real value came in.

I went into this class pretty scared of the idea of getting this baby out of my body. I had plans to get to the hospital when it was appropriate, manage through the pain until it seemed like an epidural would be welcome, and then get the epidural and chill through the rest. I knew pushing would be exhausting, but I didn’t really expect it to be terribly painful, and I was just hopeful that I could handle the whole process without a great deal of pain, trauma or fear.

The other idea that I had before I went into the class was that it would be extremely convenient to simply schedule an induction for the birth. This would allow me to give my family dates that they could come visit and I could schedule the time off work appropriately. I also wouldn’t have to worry about going into active labor at 1am or my doctor being unavailable at the time. Of course, there is always the chance that the baby would decide to come earlier than the induction, but I’ve always had the hunch that he would come late. My mom was 2+ weeks late with all three of us and my sister was induced about 12 days past her due date. My doctor won’t allow me to go more than 2 weeks late, but I figured I would just schedule the induction for about 2 days after my due date.

After an 8 hour class with a lovely doula/nurse/lactation consultant at the hospital, I have changed my mind completely on both of these items. Melissa gave us so much information about the benefits of allowing labor to begin on its own. I could write pages if I tried to go through it all, but it made so much sense to me. Here is an article that covers many of the items she discussed.

http://www.lamaze.org/ChildbirthEducators/ResourcesforEducators/CarePracticePapers/LaborBeginsOnItsOwn/tabid/487/Default.aspx

I am now very much dedicated to letting labor begin on its own. In fact, I will be disappointed if I must induce because I’m going so late, but not disappointed enough to put the baby at risk. My hope is that if we’re already 2 weeks late, then the baby won’t be too terribly unwilling to come out, like he might have been if we induced a week early.

The other thing I have really changed my mind on is the epidural. Now I’m not suggesting that I’ve committed myself to a drug-free birth. I wish I was brave enough to commit to that, but I’m not. What I am saying is that I am committed to trying to do this birth without an epidural, but if I need it at some point, I won’t beat myself up for “caving in”. I used to think inducing and epidurals gave me the largest amount of control that I could have in my birth experience, but after reading all this information, I feel just the opposite. Being hooked up to IV’s, monitors and catheters put me in a position where I am completely powerless to use my own body to help get this baby down and out. I’m totally at the mercy of the doctors and nurses. I still am very trusting of medical professionals and I’m not in any way trying to say that I would prefer to run the show rather than them, but the fact is, this is not a malfunction or a sickness in my body that needs to be treated. My body was designed to perform this function. I feel that giving my body the chance to actually participate in this without immediately stripping myself of all control makes sense for both me and for baby.

For this (still intimidating) process, my husband and I have enlisted the services of a doula. We feel that there is no downside to having her there and she can help us carry out our plans the way we want them and also provide me with a great deal of support.