NATURAL DELIVERY IN HOSPITAL
(Page 2 of 5)
May/June 1971
By Sharon Maehl
By the way, you really don't need a doctor for emotional support. That's what your husband or partner is for. In a normal delivery the function of a doctor is to observe the progress of labor and to assist you if complications arise. Period.
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If you don't have access to a clinic, a private doctor will have to do. Try to find a doctor you like and one who won't hassle you to death. Make sure he's enthusiastic about natural deliveries: it could make things easier in the long run.
Then there's the hospital. Avoid hospitals that do not allow husbands into the labor and delivery rooms. It's your husband's baby too, and he belongs with you. Arm yourself for arguments on this point by reading Robert M. Bradley's book, Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth.
Find out if the hospital has private labor rooms. It can really be upsetting to hear some medicated woman groaning in the bed next to yours, and you need to concentrate on yourself while you're in labor. Additionally, they're sure to toss your husband out if you aren't the only "patient" in the room.
With your hospital selected, think about how you want to be treated when you enter in labor. The usual procedure is pretty fierce: after getting you into a gown, a nurse "preps" you (shaves your pubic hair), gives you an enema and prepares you for a pelvic examination. The "prep" and the enema are unnecessary, irritating, distracting and — in the case of the enema — quite painful to a woman in labor. Many hospitals have stopped giving one or both, proving the point. Anyway, you own your own body .
You have every right to refuse to submit to these procedures. A hospital cannot send you home for refusing. Such action is called abandonment and the hospital can be sued for it.
The pelvic exam is useful. It tells you how advanced your labor is and if it's progressing normally. After the examination your husband will join you in the labor room to time contractions and keep you company.
When you're ready to deliver, you'll be moved to the delivery room. Your husband will be given a cap and mask and will accompany you. If the staff balks at this point and tries to keep your husband out, refuse to go without him. This almost always works if you are both firm about it.
The anesthetist may try to talk you into some medication at this point. Refuse: the best part is yet to come.
When the baby's head is about to be born, the doctor may do an episiotomy (a small incision to make the delivery swifter and to avoid tears in the perineal muscle). Ask him not to do so unless it's really necessary: often — even with first babies — the head is delivered quite easily if the doctor knows enough to tell you how to breathe properly. Otherwise, the episiotomy is quite painless and sometimes necessary.
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