Childbirth Options and Paradigms - Essay Example

CHILDBIRTH OPTIONS AND PARADIGMS Childbirth is the delivery of one or more babies from the mother’s womb. Childbirth could be claimed as the final stage of pregnancy or gestation because it is during this period that the mother delivers the baby/babies into this world after bearing and carrying the child in her womb for about nine months. During the olden times, when science, specifically medicine, were still not as advanced as what we have today, the only way to give birth was through vaginal delivery. Giving birth, in any form, is a very risky process, both to the baby and to the mother, but the greater risk is borne by the mother. There is a saying that says when a woman/mother gives birth, she is half-alive and half-dead because the risk that the mother will die during the process is very high. There are some cases where the mother/woman cannot deliver the child or is having extreme difficulty in delivering the child because the child’s size is so huge making childbirth almost impossible. So, just imagine the risk a mother during the earliest times has to bear just to borne a new life into this world. Because of the mentioned complications and difficulties in giving birth, mankind began to find ways to reduce the risks in giving birth as well as searched for alternatives in delivering babies. Right now, there are several ways to giving birth and the quest for better ways to perform this process still continues. Mothers/women have now options as to how they will deliver their babies but the most common method that is being used in practice is still the vaginal delivery. In vaginal delivery, the baby passes through the cervix and vagina of the mother. Some modifications in this method had been made to make delivery easier and more bearable. Vaginal delivery could be done in different positions: either in a lithotomy position, semi-sitting position or in a sitting position; squatting could also be an option; or the mother could also kneel on her hands and knees while delivering the baby. Hypnobirthing and waterbirth could also be done. Another form of childbirth that is gaining popularity nowadays is the caesarean section. During vaginal delivery different positions were being used because each position offers an advantage over the other positions and some positions are effective for some mothers but not for the others. The position that had been used since time immemorial, is the lithotomy or the mother-lying-on-back position. This is the traditional position because this has been the position that our ancestors had been adopting. This position gives the delivery attendant/s (either a doctor, a nurse, a midwife or just the husband or the mother of the one giving birth) more access to assist or facilitate the delivery of the baby. But in this position, labor pains and other pains associated with baby delivery can be more felt at the back, which is relatively a sensitive body part. Also, in this position, the mother has to push her baby against the force of gravity requiring her to push harder and longer. This is not the position preferred by women, if they are given the choice because they have no control over the delivery process. An improvement to the lithotomy position is the semi-sitting position where the mother is lying in a reclined manner. Though this position is claimed to be an improvement to the traditional position, there were no significant improvements in the facilitation of giving birth as well as there are no considerable decrease in the pains experienced by the mothers during labor/delivery. Another position that is being used is the sitting position. In this position, the mother sits with one of her knees bent while the other one is relaxed. This helps the uterus of the mother to drop forward, thus, improving the blood supply to the contracting muscles and easing pressure on the diaphragm. But in this position, the birth canal is not fully open, thus, delivering the baby is still relatively difficult because the mother still has to push hard to deliver the baby. A position that gains popularity among mothers as well as doctors is the squatting position. Some experts claim that this position is the most ideal for childbirth because squatting fully opens the birth canal and it follows the direction of gravity, thus, making pushing easier. There are still no discovered side effects of this position except that this position prevents attendants maximum access to help in the delivery of the baby. The last identified position for childbirth is the kneeling position. The mother kneels on her knees and hands. Pushing the baby out is relatively easier in this position because, like the squatting position, the direction of gravity is being followed. In this position also, back pains are considerably reduced. Another option that mothers may adopt in giving birth to their child is the hypnobirthing. This alternative uses concepts of psychology, specifically hypnosis, to reduce or even remove the pains experienced by mothers during delivery. This is actually a process where the mind of the mother is being conditioned through various steps or methods such as slow breathing methods and hypnosis. The proponents of this method believe in the power of the mind and that pain is just a matter of conditioning. Hypnotherapists teach their patients how to relax and they hypnotize the patients during the delivery of the baby or they even teach their patients to do self-hypnosis. This method doesn’t really remove away pain but the pain is being managed so that delivery is more easily facilitated. A childbirth method form that has attracted a lot of women/mothers is the water birth. This method is not yet fully accepted because of some negative effects it might bring both to the mother and the baby. Mothers who have experienced to give birth through this method claim that they prefer this method than any other method of delivery because of the gentleness and reduced pain that they have experienced during the delivery process. In this method, the mother is submerged in water, could be up to the waist of the mother. Some of the pains caused by childbirth are eased by water, thus, mothers experienced less pain and they are more relaxed during the process. Though mothers prefer this method of giving birth, it is not yet fully accepted because of the possible bad effects to the baby and the mother. In water birth, sometimes, the mother is already submerged in the water from the beginning of contractions to the point where the baby was already born. Lots of fluids come out of the mother’s body during the delivery process and these fluids are infectious. This may cause infections both to the mother and the baby. The mother may be affected because she is submerged in the water with infectious fluids for a long time while the baby may also get infections, considering that his/her immune system is still not yet fully developed. Foreign substance such as (and especially) harmful fluids can easily affect the baby and may cause the baby to have disease/illness. The most recent method of giving birth that has been put into practice is the Caesarean Section (CS). A caesarean section (or c-section) is a form of childbirth in which a surgical incision is made through a mother’s abdomen and uterus to deliver one or more babies (Wikipedia, the Free Enyclopedia, 2007). This method was usually adopted only during emergencies like if the life of the baby or the mother is at risk or if vaginal delivery poses great danger to the health of both or either of the baby or the mother. But nowadays, performance of this method can already be through request. Even without the mentioned danger in delivery, mothers can already opt to have a CS performed. This method now becomes a common practice because of the advancement of science and medicine. The innovativeness of doctors and those engaged in medicine has also brought the invention and experimentation on several types of caesarean section. Currently, six types of caesarean section are accepted. The first type is the classical caesarean section, which involves a midline longitudinal incision which allows a larger space to deliver the baby but involves more muscles to cut and therefore, more blood vessels and more blood loss. Women who have done this type of CS will have great difficulty to future vaginal delivery because of risk of rapture of the uterus this is why this type of CS is not already commonly in used. The second type of caesarean section is the lower uterine segment caesarean section, which involves a transverse cut in the lower segment of the uterus, or just above the bladder. In this method, there is less blood loss because the number of blood vessels cut during the process is relatively minimal/low. The cut made on the uterus is also easier to repair because of the narrower cut that has been made. It is this type of CS that is now commonly used in practice. The third type of caesarean section is the emergency caesarean section. This is a caesarean performed when there are already no labor pains. A crash caesarean section, on the other hand, is done when the mother cannot bear anymore the labor pains or some complications have occurred during the delivery which rendered the life or health of either the baby or the mother at risk. In this method, the original plan was to deliver the baby naturally but it is already almost impossible to deliver the baby naturally because of some complications. In a caesarean hysterectomy, the fifth type of CS, caesarean operation is followed by the removal of the uterus. This is done when complications, such as the placenta cannot be separated from the uterus or there is excessive bleeding, occur. The last type of caesarean section that has been identified is the repeat caesarean section. This is a caesarean section where the patient has already undergone caesarean on her previous childbirth and will again undergo another caesarean section. The doctor just performs the caesarean process through the old scar of the previous caesarean operation. Though caesarean section is done when the life of either the mother or child is at risk, statistics show that there is a higher mortality rate in women who had undergone CS than vaginal delivery because undergoing caesarean section entails exposing the mother to death three times more than when doing vaginal delivery. This just shows that though several methods of giving birth has already been invented/discovered, nothing still surpasses the traditional and primitive method of giving birth – the vaginal delivery. REFERENCES: Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (2007). Caesarean Section. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarean_section. Date Modified: 25 July 2007. Date Accessed: 27 July 2007. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. (2007). Childbirth. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Childbirth. Date Modified: 25 July 2007. Date Accessed: 27 July 2007. Waterbirth International. (2007). Waterbirth: Easier for moms… Better for Babies!. http://www.waterbirth.org/mc/page.do. Date Modified: 2007. Date Accessed: 27 July 2007. Parenthood.com (Helping Families Grow). (2007). How HypnoBirthing Works. http://www.parenthood.com/articles.html?article_id=3936. Date Accessed; 27 July 2007. Read More