The pros and cons of painless childbirth What is painless childbirth?

Many mothers are afraid of the moment of giving birth. Now there is the technology for painless childbirth, but many people still don’t know about it. So I will give you some basic knowledge about the pros and cons of painless childbirth. The specific choice still depends on the doctor’s guidance.

Benefits of painless childbirth:

First, it can reduce the pain of pregnant women and facilitate the smooth delivery. The effect of the drug lasts for about one and a half hours, or even longer, and after the pain is felt, the mother should continue to use the analgesic pump to control the analgesia, and repeat this process until the delivery is over;

Second, it is convenient. Since the concentration of anesthetics is very low, it hardly affects the motor function of pregnant women. Therefore, pregnant women can get out of bed and move around with the doctor's permission.

Third, protect pregnant women and fetuses. Data show that when the human body feels severe pain, it releases a substance called catecholamine, which has adverse effects on pregnant women and fetuses, and the blood and oxygen supply of newborns may be affected;

Disadvantages of painless childbirth:

Painless childbirth is not really painless. Epidural anesthesia is not really painless, it just relieves the pain. The medicine in it is useless for the pain caused by uterine contraction. The pain is still there. The reason why some people do not feel pain is closely related to their high pain threshold and the level of the anesthesiologist. The third disadvantage is that it is difficult for pregnant women to push, because under normal circumstances, pregnant women can push in which direction, how to push, and how much force to use according to the body's reaction. However, after being anesthetized, pregnant women cannot receive this feedback information and need to reduce the dosage. It takes 30 minutes to 1 hour for pregnant women to regain consciousness. After regaining consciousness, they will know which direction to push.

Current labor analgesia methods include two categories: non-drug analgesia and drug analgesia.

Non-drug analgesia includes psychological comfort, breathing method, water birth, etc. Its advantage is that it has no effect on the labor process and fetus, but the analgesic effect is poor; drug analgesia includes nitrous oxide inhalation, intramuscular injection of analgesics, intrathecal labor analgesia, etc.

Neuraxial labor analgesia is the most effective method of labor analgesia to date and is performed by experienced anesthesiologists.

After the anesthesiologist successfully punctures the lumbar intervertebral space, he injects a small amount of local anesthetic or opioid into the subarachnoid space and inserts a thin catheter into the epidural space. One end of the catheter is connected to an electronic analgesic pump, and the mother controls the medication according to the degree of pain (the anesthesiologist has set a limit per hour, so there is no need to worry about overdose). The analgesic pump can be used continuously until the end of delivery. During the whole process, the concentration of anesthetic is low, equivalent to 1/5 to 1/10 of that during cesarean section anesthesia. It is highly controllable and safe, and has almost no effect on the mother's movements. The mother is conscious and can actively cooperate and participate in the whole delivery process.

When administering labor analgesia and anesthesia to parturient women, the principle of not affecting the labor process and fetal safety must be considered. By strictly administering analgesics and not affecting the regular contraction of the uterus, the transmission of pain nerves during labor can be blocked, thereby achieving the purpose of avoiding or alleviating labor pain and minimizing labor pain, but retaining uterine contractions and mild pain.

For some mothers, painless childbirth does cause temporary discomfort such as shivering, low blood pressure, vomiting, etc., but these discomforts are not serious and will disappear naturally in a short time. They will not cause much impact on the mother's body and have no adverse consequences. Very few mothers will experience headaches, back pain, infection, cramps, drug allergies or incomplete anesthesia and pain relief.

There are several types of painless childbirth, but the most commonly used is epidural anesthesia. A very small number of people may experience back pain, headaches, or lower limb paresthesia, but the incidence is still very low. Theoretically, there is a possibility of more serious complications, such as low blood pressure, but the probability of occurrence is very low, and the doctor will definitely take effective measures to prevent it when the expectant mother chooses painless childbirth.

Painless childbirth is not truly painless, it just relatively reduces the pain during childbirth. There are also certain side effects. Expectant mothers should consult a professional doctor before choosing painless childbirth.

For a healthy woman of childbearing age and childbearing age who has a full-term pregnancy and normal prenatal examinations, natural childbirth should be seen as a natural outcome. It is a normal physiological process for human reproduction. A mother should believe that she and her fetus have the innate ability to complete this sacred mission. Cesarean section is only a last resort alternative method of childbirth, which is not good for both mother and child. Cesarean section is usually a remedial measure taken due to obstetric pathological conditions of the patient. It is an artificial and unnatural method of childbirth. For parturients, it increases the chances of intestinal adhesions, adnexitis, wound infection, and endometriosis; for newborns, due to the lack of squeezing of the vaginal wall and the lack of gradual adaptation to the external environment, the amniotic fluid is not completely eliminated, which is not good for the respiratory function of the newborn.