A NATURAL DELIVERY IN ENGLAND
Martha Stratton talks about delivering her first baby in England by the Lamaze method, and how she prepared herself by reading and practicing exercises.
by MARTHA STRATTON
Atter living some time in Holland—where natural
childbirth is the accepted form of delivery—and after
preparing myself by reading and practicing the exercises in
THE NEW CHILDBIRTH by Erna Wright, our first child was born
last summer in England by the Lamaze method.
I feel I was well prepared by the six months of exercises I
had done and the weeks of breathing practice I had
undergone with the help of a local clinic's midwife. Still,
the labor was long and hard.
The delivery, however, was short and easy . . . with my
husband right there holding my left foot and propping my
head for most efficient breathing. I would have hated to
have been under anesthetic and missed the thrill of feeling
my baby slither out like a fish!
When my husband took a job in England for the period of
time in which we expected the baby, I looked for an English
doctor who would cooperate with natural childbirth. In
Hampshire County where we were living, however, it is
customary for first babies to be delivered in hospital and
only later babies to be delivered at home by a midwife,
usually with a doctor in attendance.
The doctor we settled on was not keen on the idea of
natural childbirth for a first baby; nor did he especially
want my husband in the delivery room. When he saw how
adamant we were, however, he agreed. With that out of the
way, the doctor and nursing staff (all trained midwives) of
the maternity division of the Royal Hampshire Hospital in
Winchester did everything they could to help us have the
baby the way we wanted.
I was in hospital for nine days as is customary in England
where (although I did not qualify) hospitalization is paid
for by National Health. The baby roomed in all day every
day and was out of my quarters only to be bathed or if he
made such a fuss at night that I couldn't sleep.
I think "rooming in" is wonderful and was happy to have had
the experience of getting to know my baby and really
learning how to care for him before we were on our own
together. They brought him in to nurse for the first time
when he was three hours old and—at this
writing—he is 8 months old and hasn't had a bottle
yet.