Epidurals Are For Tolerating the Hospital, Labor Is The Easy Part
By Danell Swim
March 10, 2008
I just gave birth to my second child. This time I had an epidural. Usually, it’s the other way around- the first kid is the long, hard labor. For my firstborn I was able to labor comfortably at home, in my ground floor apartment of a Brooklyn brownstone with the help of my husband, cat, and best friend (full disclosure, she is an RN specializing in women’s health). For 12 hours I used my hypnobirth techniques, got massaged and could position myself in compromising yet pain managing ways. I could pee on my own and be as loud as I wanted. I could eat! We could go to the Birthing Center at St Luke’s Roosevelt - a 40 minute drive-any time after 6 Centimeters, but why go early? I was so comfortable. I didn’t need drugs.Some people cringe at the thought of a pregnant woman drinking so much as a glass of wine or smoking a cigarette while pregnant yet don’t bat an eye-lash at the thought of pumping your body and your tiny baby with paralyzing drugs. And to whose benefit? Supposedly the mother’s but really it is for the doctors and the nurses. Less of a hassle. Quicker. More babies faster equals more money. Also, one intervention leads to another and that could lead to the big money of a C-section. I had read MisConceptions by Naomi Wolfe and Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born By Tina Cassidy. You should too. I was well on the natural/home birth movement band wagon even before The Business of Being Born but opted out of a home birth for logistical reasons. Additionally, why on earth would someone WANT to be injected with anything in their spine. The words “spine” and “injection” should never ever be anywhere near each other in the same sentence.
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