At 27 weeks of pregnancy, with a plan for a home birth, I am starting to hear other women’s horror stories about their birth experiences (please, people, I have my own leftover trauma from a fourth degree tear and an epidural that failed (that’s how I know I can labor and deliver without pain medication if given the opportunity!)) In the last two weeks, two women have mentioned how much the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) helped them recover emotionally from a cesarean. In addition to attending La Leche League meetings, the two women attended local ICAN support group meetings. …read more

Forty-six people responded to the poll: Which answer applies to the birth of your first child? The results:
I did not require pain medication: 35%
I had some pain medication (systemic narcotic): 11%
I had an epidural but no c-section: 20%
I had a spinal: 2%
I had a combined spinal/epidural: 4%
I had a cesarean section: 20%
I adopted: 2%
I am pregnant: 7%
Graphically:

Pie chart:

To see all prior poll results, click here.

Writing the post Epidurals May Interfere with Breastfeeding made me curious about others’ experience with pain management during labor. Please share your vote in the poll:
[edited to remove inactive poll; see poll results here]
If you missed any of the previous poll results, click here.

A research study by the University of Sydney concludes that epidurals “hamper breastfeeding” (BBC News). Several factors may be at play:
– an epidural can make the baby sleepy;
– women who get epidurals are more likely to end up with a cesarean section, and c-sections can make it more difficult for the nursing mother to pick up the baby and position the baby at the breast; and
– mothers who choose not to have pain relief may be more motivated to breastfeed.
The study doesn’t really report anything we didn’t already know. This simply tells me that women should consider planning …read more