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Labour pain

There was an interesting email in my in-box today from a woman who had started to read my article on “Pain in Labour”. This is what she wrote:

“Hi! I just read Robertson's article on pain in birth. I did not even want to finish it. It is discusting! I wonder if she had any children to suggest that we need pain in labour. Is she from the USA? Another born again Christian? When I had my child I was feeling like I was being cut to pieces for 9 hours! I have not had another child since then! Thank you very much Dr Robertson, you are a neo-nazi!”

Pretty strong words! My guess is that she is still suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and a lot of unresolved grief from the birth of her child. This is what I wrote back to her:

“Thanks for taking the time to give me some feedback on my article about labour pain. I am an Australian childbirth educator (did you check out any other parts of the website?) and have over 30 years of experience of working with women during labur and educating them in prenatal programs. I am certainly not a born again Christian!

I appreciate that you had a terrible time during labour and I know from the research, that many women who suffered terribly either delay future pregnancies for many years or decide never to try again. I also know that many suffer from post traumatic shock disorder, a condition that is rarely acknowledged in relation to birth.

Women are designed to give birth in a way they can manage and handle within themselves. Unfortunately, when the conditions they face are not right, their body naturally takes action to delay or prolong the labour until the conditions improve. This is often seen in the animal kingdom. Sometimes (rarely) there is a physical problem with the baby or the woman that makes labour difficult and a high degree of pain, in the absence of other trigger factors, is a signal that should not be ignored by caregivers. High levels of pain are certainly not normal and need effective remedies.

Perhaps you might consider reading the article again to reach the section where I talk about how birth can be managed to minimise the pain and promote the beneficial hormones that are released during labour.

I am sorry that you have such a difficult time giving birth, and can only hope that you understand that it is highly unlikely to have been a result of your actions, and much more likely to be a fault of the health care system, which failed to give you the nurturing and safety you needed to birth effectively without intervention.”

Labour is such an emotive issue and an event that a woman never forgets. I wish that all women had positive views about labour and that none were left with feelings like this mother’s – what a burden to carry for the rest of your life.

Posted by andrea at October 08, 2007 05:48 PM