Common Intervention During Childbirth

During childbirth - in the United States and abroad - there are common interventions that are performed and that most laboring moms come to expect...most without question.

This is not bad, just normal.

From childhood, were you not told that "doctors know best?" Don't you have a need to trust the people to whom you turn to in our time of need?

Of course you do!

It would be very scary to think your trust misplaced.

During pregnancy and childbirth, you are especially vulnerable. It is crucial that you trust your care provider. For over 96% of American women, an OBGYN will be the birth attendant of choice during childbirth.

Not only must you trust your birth attendant but you must also trust that the interventions he/she recommends during pregnancy - and especially during childbirth - are necessary AND beneficial!

So you ask, are they?

Well...why don't you decide for yourself? We will just give you some facts...okay?

Common Interventions During Childbirth

As any woman ready to have a baby, you would like to trust that all recommended interventions during childbirth are necessary and beneficial to you as well as your unborn baby. However, research shows this may not be the case. You may be surprised to find out that most doctors perform the interventions they do for 3 main reasons - none of which involve you nor your baby:

1) They practice "defensive medicine" for fear of litigation.

2) Hospital procedures demand it - and a doctor's wishes do not supersede hospital procedures.

3) Convenience - for hospital and the doctor's.

So let's examine common childbirth interventions and their impact on your labor and birth:

The wearing of the gown and hospital ID

Shaving

The amount of people present and/or the strangers present during labor and birth

Vaginal exams

IV

EFM - electronic fetal monitor

IFM - internal fetal monitor

AROM - artificial rupture of membranes

Induction:

Gels

Pitocin

Cytotec

Food and water restriction

Movement restriction

Lithomy position - laying in bed

The use of stirrups

Episiotomy

Epidural

Other labor medications

C-section

Timed birth of the placenta

It would be ludicrous to think that interventions - no matter how small - have no impact on you. They do. This is the law of cause and effect...for every action there is a reaction....not always a good one.

Our best advice?

Research, ask questions...and then ask more questions and do more research, and at the end make up your mind with all the cards in hand. You are the consumer not a helpless patient...you have rights but sometimes you must be willing to stand up against the grain to see them enforced.

Happy birthing!