Labor and delivery curiosity!

[anyakitty.livejournal.com]

Okay, I have always been SO curious about the nitty gritty details of labor and delivery. I am fascinated by those shows that come on TLC sometimes depicting natural and home births. I don't ever plan on having children but I just simply must know:

1. Is it really as bad as it is in the movies? Do people really scream/go crazy from the pain? Can you compare contractions to menstrual cramps to give me an idea of how much worse they are?

2. This is the big one... do a lot of women tear? How does THAT feel? Do they stitch you up or do you have to just let it heal or does it just simply depend?

3. After you give birth vaginally, is your vagina really never the same ever again? Is this only a physical, inside thing but also a visual, outside thing?

Please, don't spare me any details, I want it all no matter how questionable. It's either this or asking my boyfriend's sister who is pregnant for the second time and I'd rather not, haha. Thanks in advance!

Comments

[lunalove06.livejournal.com]

I have yet to birth my own children, so I can’t speak to the personal experience side of things. But I’m an aspiring midwife and a doula in training, so I’ve been learning a lot about labor and birth over the last several months. That said, from the reading and research I’ve done, it is apparent that homebirth midwives have fewer incidents of tearing at births they attend than do doctors or other health care professionals in hospitals. Part of this is because homebirth midwives are specifically trained in how to prevent tearing (such as applying a warm compress to the perineum while the baby is crowning), and also because artificial induction in the hospital leads to stronger, faster contractions and labor, and thus also higher incidence of tearing. Also, the cutting of episiotomies is much more common in the hospital, which has been proven to lead to more severe tearing (rather than to prevent it, which was its original intention). While homebirth midwives tend to have lower incidence of tearing, they are trained in how to treat tears should they occur (stitches/suturing).

The homebirth videos I’ve seen look nothing like how birth is portrayed in the media – in fact, most midwives I’ve talked to are fairly concerned about how birth is portrayed in the media, because it is neither realistic nor helpful to women, often causing a lot of fear in pregnant women.

Two excellent books on the subject are Spiritual Midwifery and Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth, both by Ina May Gaskin (one of the premier midwives in the US). Also great are The Diary of a Midwife by Juliana van Olphen-Fehr and Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife by Peggy Vincent, both of which give birth stories written by midwives.

[shyshutterbug.livejournal.com]

Baby Catcher is amazing. I lost my copy during a multi-state move in 2006 and am still mourning the loss. (Of course, I could just go out and buy a new copy, but still...)

[hiriel1804.livejournal.com]

"most midwives I’ve talked to are fairly concerned about how birth is portrayed in the media"
This. Like I commented a bit further up, we saw a horrible birthing video in school, we were 14 or 15. The video is blamed for Norwegian women asking for c-sections they don't need, because it terrifies young teens that are really not ready to face childbirth. For heaven's sake, at that time, I couldn't get tampons into my vagina yet, of course a birthing video of the screaming kind would upset us...

[inmycrease.livejournal.com]

Just wondering... is there anything you can do during pregnancy to help prevent tearing later on? Like stretching/ oils or something?

Ps. I think that Midwifes/ Doulas have the most amazing jobs ever. To be able to help bring someone into the world and comfort the mother at the same time... just amazing.

[lunalove06.livejournal.com]

Yes! Massaging of the perineum can be done during pregnancy, by the woman or by a willing partner. This teaches the woman to respond to pressure in her vagina by relaxing the pelvic floor. Googling "perineal massage" comes up with several how-to guides. The book Pregnancy, Childbirth, and the Newborn by Penny Simkin also discusses it on p. 203-205.

Also, in Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, Ina May says "I've never seen a tear in a woman who was kissing her way through the pushing phase of labor or touching herself as her baby emerged." (p. 251) Ina May advocates kissing throughout labor if the woman and her partner feel comfortable doing so, because it helps to open up the vagina, as well as to release more oxytocin (a hormone that helps to reduce pain). Ina May and other midwives also say how it is helpful for women to gently touch their baby's head and/or their vagina as the baby is crowning - this helps the woman to know how hard to push in order not to tear, and also allows the woman to catch her baby if she wants to. Also, water birth is helpful in preventing tears b/c the water provides counter pressure against the stretching of the perineum by the baby's emerging head.