How many of you have worried about the drugs you’re offered during childbirth and whether or not you should take them? Ami from My Mummy Spam is guest posting today with her thoughts on this topic and tells you…
Don’t be a Hero!
Gas and air, pethadene, epidural, water birth, tens machine, paracetamol, hypno birthing…
The list of pain relief options women can choose during labour is endless and individual to each woman and their wishes. So why do people still judge you when you use certain types of pain relief?
Bubba was born in September 2014. Due to a problem with my blood pressure, I was induced and it was reccomened that I should have an edipudural. At this point in my labour I had been contracting for over 7 hours and was stuck at 3 cm. I was willing to take anything and do whatever I could to get my baby here as soon and as safe as possible. When I tell people that I have had an epidural I am usually met with these responses:
”Oh no!! Did it feel like you actually gave birth?”
“What a shame. I bet you would have preferred to have gone natural”
“Oh I am really sorry!”
I would tell you exactly what I reply back to these comments but I don’t really want to swear on the lovely Alex’s blog 🙂 but I will say this;
Having an epidural was the best thing for me and do you know what? I would happily have one again!
I still gave birth but I did it without all of the pain and stress and agony that most women have to go through and I do not regret one second of it. I have a friend who said to me before I had bubba “if you go to the dentist and get your tooth pulled out you have your mouth numbed right? Why do more people not do the same when they have a baby?” and now I know just how right she is.
I feel no shame at all that I had an epidural but the comments I receive about it always leaves me asking myself why expectant mothers get pressured to ‘be a hero’ as such. Why can’t they just be left to decide what is right for them and their situations?
Some people have really high pain thresholds and some have really low, but why we should judge women’s birth experiences on how much pain they could withstand! So many women I know have said that epidurals would be their last resort and they could never give me a really straight answer as to why. I am sure it is because they don’t want to be judged for having one and ‘taking the easy way out” as some put it (and FYI it isn’t easy…we are still squishing a baby out of our hoohaa!!)
It’s the same with C-sections. The only reason I didn’t want one was because of the recovery time, not because I wanted to go natural. It’s all down to personal preference. If you do it with no pain relief HIGH FIVE mama as that isn’t an easy job but if you didn’t then that’s okay too and you still get a HIGH FIVE because you have given birth and that’s amazing!!
So ladies out there…
Don’t be a hero. There is no shame in doing what you need to do to get your little baby into your arms as safe and as happily as possible.
You just do you 🙂
Thank you so much to Ami for providing this article. She’s totally right. You shouldn’t try to be a ‘hero’ in childbirth. I didn’t have epidurals in either of my labours, but in the heat of the moment I did ask for them. Personally I’m glad I didn’t have one, but that is purely because it can prolong labour and I wanted it over asap! The pain is intense and I’m surprised that more mums don’t opt for stronger pain relief. I love what Ami’s friend said about the dentist – she’s totally right!
Just get those baby’s out safely mummys.
You can find Ami over on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Go give her a follow!
I’ve had 4 natural births, not buy choice though. I could have had pethidine but three members of family had a reaction and I’m not allowed an epidural due to a blood condition. I did suck the hell out if the has and air. In fairness I’ve a high pain threshold and I would never judge anyone for having any type of pain relief. There is no easy way out!!
Thanks so much for having me on your blog lovely lady 🙂