Choices for Labour

Do we really have a choice about labour? I've read on the internet that you can choose not to be induced or choose whether to have pain killers or choose whether to have an episiotomy etc etc etc.

Then you read the accounts of real women who talk about having no choices. They get forced into c-sections and scared into agreeing to induction and convinced that constant monitoring is "necessary" for the safety of the baby.

Is there choice or merely the illusion of choice to keep the patients (us) calm and conforming?

I'm not saying c-sections or episiotomies etc are good or bad or otherwise, I'm just asking do we actually have a choice or not.

of course you have a choice, you can decline any treatment. but you arent often presented with all the info for an informed choice, or you aren't in a state to listen to it.

Or its phrased in a "if you don't your baby may die" kind of way.

best idea is get your support person well versed in whatyou want so they can advocate for you when you are not fully with it.

I agree you always have choices but like it was mentioned above there may be a very good reason if a certain choice is pushed more than others - for example a life and death situation.

My waters broke at 39 weeks and I was allowed to stay home for 12 hours (or until contractions were x min apart and x length). When I got to the hospital I was presented with a few choices - walk around to pass time, big spa bath tub, bed, couch... I was offered a lot of vagina checks which is something I will decline next time. I was offered pain relief a few times but think I took it at the right time.

I was also told that if I didn't start pushing effectively I would possibly need a csection - nothing like that to get your A into G haha!

In saying that. My plan was to go with the flow and decide while I was in labour what I wanted to happen etc. I had the best birth because it all went to plan. But as others said, when you are in labour, everyone deals with their pain differently and it can be hard to make clear/the right choices and you may do something you later regret.

Make sure you are reading NZ websites as the information on other countries websites won't always apply to us.
As the others have said, educate yourself before hand and make sure you're support person knows what you want in regards to certain situations, eg monitoring, episotomies, pain relief. Also, discuss everything you can think of with your midwife when you do your birth plan, make sure they know exactly what you want, you can change this when you're in labour but at least it's already written down before you go into labour and they know what you want.
Legally, you are required to make a choice and have all information pertaining to this relayed to you but unfortunately that does not happen which is why you need to educate yourself prior. In an emergency situation the doctors/midwives will do what needs to be done no matter what.
And in regards to monitoring, they do have machines that you can move around with and get into the bath with (at least thats what I got told at Wellington hospital).

i wouldn't expect my dh to make the decision for me, but I'd expect him to ask the right sorts of questions that I was unable to ask at the time.

High9, I was actually meaning they'll use the "your baby might die" card to make you agree even when you really don't need to, it would just be more convenient to them.

best advice i've got is read ina may gaskins guide to childbirth and get your hubby to read it too. its excellent

Do your research. I made a decision tree type of thing even though when I was doing my birth plan people told me not to plan for the things I didn't plan to have. I'm glad I did anyhow because it made things a lot better in some ways. So I said, no pain relief, but if it becomes necessary I'd prefer this option. No X, but if it becomes necessary please do it Y way etc.
I was facing induction, so I looked into the types available and advocated for a foley catheter (mechanical not chemical). I didn't end up needing one, but I was happy I read up on my options. IMO that's the main point of a birth plan anyhow, is to educate yourself on your options in different situations.
I also think because I did my planning and research I don't really harbour any unhappiness about my emergency c-section because I know that it was warranted given the circumstances.
If you don't necessarily trust your DH to keep a clear head you might look into hiring a doula (no idea where to find one, maybe someone else will have an idea) who can be there and emotionally uninvolved to stick up for what you want.

I think like the others say, educating yourself and your birth support person is really important.

I believe that in many cases hospitals and well meaning medical professionals cause unnecessary issues that can then escalate and that when you are pregnant you are vulnerable (you will be very nervous if someone suggests there is potential harm to your baby if you don't do as they recommend).

Is it true because I had c-sec last time I can't have a water birth next time? Anyone had a waterbirth after c-sec??

AzzaNZ
Thanks for that. So I can still try a waterbirth if I don't have any problem then! But the MW I saw yesterday (potential LMC) said you CAN'T have a waterbirth... well, I shouldn't choose her?? She has a great reputation tho.. hmm..

hey hun, having a baby for the first time is pretty daunting ay! first up id have to say- BREATHE! dont get too wound up about all these things, i know for me (and many others on here) you hear horror story after horror story about what went wrong etc, when chances are you may very well have a perfect birth :) do you have a midwife you trust? if not, get one you love and trust and can picture leading you through this journey into motherhood. By the time you get to the birth you and your MW should know each other enough through your visits etc with her that you will have discussed what you want and dont want, and she should go through with you all the options. you get a book for your records (well the MW will have one anyway that she writes all your info in each visit) and in that is a page where she should go through with you all the things like pain relief etc, this book will be there while you are in labour etc and it is for the MW and others to refer to. ask her about when she would suggest monitoring etc, and tell her you want an active birth, able to move around etc, whatever you want to do, and say that you dont want to be intervened with unless necessary. for me, i told my MW all of this, and she was amazing. i had a drug free waterbirth in hospital, i only had an internal check once early on to see if i was in labour (i was 4cm already) so went home, came back a few hours later and was checked again (7cm) before i got into the pool and that was it. she just checked bubs heart with the doppler (which can go under the water) every 15 mins or so i guess, and she left the room (was just in the next room with the door open)and came in when she could hear things amping up in the pool room and she knew from experience I needed her support and she coached me verbally through the rest- didnt touch me at all. she knew i didnt want to be offered drugs unless she REALLY thought i might need them, only offered gas once right near the end, but i declined and she didnt bring it up again..so you can have as natural a birth you want, if you and your MW trust each other and have a good relationship going, itll be fine :) i also know that as much as my MW wanted to give me the birth i wanted, if she had of said to get out of the pool because there was an emergency, then i would have listened straight away, i totally trusted her to do what was best for me and baby. also, as others have said, when in pain, you cant really reason with anyone lol, so i made sure DH knew in advance that his job was to be my advocate and speak up for me if he thought anyone was making me do something i didnt want to do. he didnt have to though, but was comforting for me to know i only had to focus on giving birth and hed take care of the rest. so good luck hun, as long as you and your MW are on the same page and you have another good support person- antenatal classes help take away lots of that first-time fear too. educating yourself and not reading scary websites about birth helps! lol. but really, arm yourself with reliable information and get to know the people who are to be there with you on the day, and im sure youll be just fine :)



Edited by _Soda_