Natural Childbirth: My Reasons Behind the Choice

One of the things everyone gets asked when they get pregnant is, "Are you getting an epidural?"  I knew before I got pregnant what I wanted to do for our children, but I wasn't as educated as I thought I was.  What did I pick?  You guessed it...all naturaaal.  So why am I willing to go through that craziness...???

My first reason might sound a little weird especially since the Lord came to save us.  But...I feel like if I were to get numbed, I would just be finding a modern form of medication to "skip" past the consequences that the Lord put in place for Eve eating the fruit.  I know, sometimes I can't even understand why I feel that way but I do.

On to scientific reasons.  Natural childbirth really is better for the mother and the baby.  An epidural can increase your chances of having a C-Section by up to 50%.  That is a huge increase, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I really don't want to go through that.  It is major surgery, and it really scares me...not to mention the longer recovery time.  It is proven that the more intervention you allow your doctor to have while you are laboring, the more consequences, therefore requiring even more intervention.

The next thing is somewhat debated.  Some say that medication during birth is completely harmless to the child.  Others have evidence that if something makes you numb and a little loopy, your baby comes out that way as well.  I would tend to agree with the latter.  However, trying to be neutral, my thoughts are that if there is a possibility for it to affect the child in a negative way, why chance it?

On top of those things (I could go into more detail for those that are interested) I always have in the back of my mind that the Lord made women to bear children.  The body knows what it is doing.  There are sooo many natural ways of taking away the pain and turning the child without intervention.  Certain positions are known to help with different circumstances.  Hydrotherapy can relieve up to 60% of the pain (WOW)!  Not to mention aromatherapy and relaxation techniques provided by a spouse (or doula). There are so many options that are much safer...I will take my chances with them, and suffer some pain to meet this wonderful miracle as healthy as possible.

Just my thoughts.  Let me know what you think!  By the way, if you want to know more about the natural option, let me know.  I will be happy to tell you about Family Beginnings.