The Truth About Labor and Childbirth
An Honest Look at Common Hospital Birth Experiences
Oct 5, 2009
After months of morning sickness, back pain, heart burn, stretching, swelling, and general discomfort, all a woman really wants is to get the baby out! Yet her second biggest fear, next to the well being of the baby, is the delivery process itself. First time mothers-to-be have absolutely no idea what to expect, even though they’ve spent months reading and worrying about it, and have maybe even taken a labor and delivery class.
Despite their best efforts to educate themselves on the subject, and numerous well-meaning pieces of advice from people who have been there, done that and got the t-shirt, (maybe they decided to forego the t-shirt), one can never really be prepared to give birth, because it truly is different for everyone.
Baby Birth
First of all, there’s the best case scenario birth. Meaning labor begins on its own, close to the expected due date, and the mother-to-be arrives at the hospital already well her way to having her baby. Delivery is completed in a few hours or less, with no complications. This is how most mothers-to-be hope their experience will play out.
Then there’s the possibility that labor will need to be induced because the mother-to-be has gone past her due date, and her baby isn’t in any hurry to make a world debut. In this scenario the mother-to-be is starting at square one in the hospital, so she should expect it to be a longer process.
Induced Labor
In the case of induced labor, the mother-to-be will have her water broken manually with a device that looks like a crochet-hook. The actual breaking of the water doesn’t hurt. After this procedure, she will pace the floors for a few hours, wearing a hospital shirt, an adult diaper and fish net underwear, while pulling a Pitocin-dripping IV.
At some point during her hospital hall marathon, the contractions will begin. She’ll simply stop, crunch over, breathe through them, and carry on. Eventually, she will be far enough into her contractions that she will be allowed to lie down. From there, the future mother will be asked which form of painkillers, if any, she would like to have administered (the epidural is highly recommended). Hopefully things will progress well from here. This scenario will probably take at least 12 hours to play out, although isn’t likely to seem that long.
Cesarean Births
Another possibility is that the mother-to-be will require the often dreaded c-section. Should she be aware that she will be delivering her baby via c-section prior to going to the hospital, she should consider herself lucky. It is far more disconcerting to go through the inducing process, labor for 14 hours and then end up in the operating room.
C-sections require little physical effort on the patient’s part, but the thought of being cut open can be terrifying for a lot of women. The mother-to-be won’t feel much of anything during the process, except for a little pressure prior to the actual delivery. However, she will experience some pain during the recovery process, for which her doctor can recommend or prescribe painkillers. The recovery period tends to be more painful and prolonged with subsequent c-sections.
The Birth Experience in a Nut Shell
There are infinite scenarios that could play out in the delivery room, no two women or birthing experiences are the same. A mother-to-be can not fully prepare herself for what lies ahead. However, two things are for certain… she will fall in love more quickly and completely than she could ever imagine, and she will forget the discomfort almost as fast.
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