UK Midwife Says Epidurals Bad for Bonding
Wednesday, July 15, 2009 17:31[ad#250x250]According to one of the Britain’s most influential midwives, pain during labor and childbirth is a good thing, and more women should be experiencing it. In a quote in the Observer, Dr. Denis Walsh states:
Pain in labour is a purposeful, useful thing, which has quite a number of benefits, such as preparing a mother for the responsibility of nurturing a newborn baby.
Apparently, an epidural diminishes childbirth as a rite of passage.
Of course, Dr. Walsh is a man, and I’m not exactly sure what makes him an expert on the experience of labor pain.
The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG) published a statement on their website in response to Dr. Walsh’s comments. In part, it states:
Pain during childbirth is very subjective and differs from woman-to-woman. Women should therefore be supported in their birth choice and should not be made to feel that their experience of childbirth is diminished if they decide to have an epidural analgesia.
In reference to the statements about the impact of pain on infant bonding, RCOG says:
. . . a very painful and prolonged labour may also affect infant bonding. Women are thus advised to have direct skin-to-skin contact with their newborn immediately after birth, where possible, to encourage bonding and improve breastfeeding rates.
As a mom of three, I have to say, that not only does pain vary between women, it always varies between pregnancies. I spent a good part of my third pregnancy thinking I might not need an epidural because my first labor had been relatively pain free until close to the end. Then I woke up in active labor feeling like my insides were being torn apart. The ride to the hospital exhausted every coping mechanism I had, and I was soon shamelessly begging for pain relief of just about any kind.
Thankfully, I managed to bond with baby #3 just fine, despite my “shortcomings”. He was also alert, and able to nurse well, for what it’s worth. Needless to say, I am thankful for the pain control options that were available to me during his birth. What do you think?
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Cindy C. says:
July 15th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
I think he needs to be VERY careful what he says. I’d love to see the empirical evidence behind this. I have 4 children and four very different experiences. The pain was not as bad as most women describe with any of them…but I still asked for an epidural with the last one. She was my best nurser and we bonded fine. So we beat the odds, I guess. I think as natural as possible is good, but as soon as we conceive we have guilt…why add to it? Trust me, the kids will take care of that on their own as soon as they realize they can.
Kristie says:
July 15th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
I totally agree. There’s is always so much that moms second guess and worry about. We try to do most things as naturally as possible, but sometimes it doesn’t work out quite the way I plan. With our 1st, no one believed that I was even in labor. With our 3rd I couldn’t even stand up straight for long enough to walk to the car . . . The one in between doesn’t count. She was an emergency c-section 9 weeks early. Lot’s of extra guilt over that one!