“Natural” or “Drug-free” Birth?

This picture was taken an hour or so after Landon’s birth. I felt great and couldn’t wait to get discharged and get to know this little man! We took him home a few hours later.

To me, natural birth and drug-free birth meant the same, until I gave birth naturally — as nature designed it, without any drugs —and then found that when I told other moms about Landon’s delivery that many of them seemed to have all kinds of different ideas about what “natural” means. One woman I came across thought she had a natural birth because she didn’t have a C-section! Another mom proclaimed, “I gave birth naturally as well, but weren’t you glad when you got that epidural?”

It is so curious to me, when I tell women that I gave birth naturally they often don’t get that I didn’t have ANY drugs. When I talk to them about the experience in more detail, they often will proclaim,” Oh, you mean you didn’t have any drugs? No epidural, no pain killer?” The first few times I nodded confused, but now I have learned that I have to be more specific. So I have switched to saying that I had a “drug-free” birth, because no one can misinterpret what I mean by that. Is that what we have come to, that C-sections are so common that women think they had a natural childbirth when they were given the opportunity to give birth vaginally?

I am proud about giving birth to my child without the help of narcotics, proud that I trusted my body enough to believe it would know instinctively what to do, proud that I was able to take the “pain” without medical “interference,” as I like to call it (instead of medical “help”). It was very important to me that my son not enter this word drugged, and I prepared myself extensively during the pregnancy for that miraculous day. I attended many Bradley classes, ate a specific diet that is supposed to get your body ready for the birth (two eggs a day, for example), and exercised every day to get certain muscles into shape that I needed during Landon’s birth (it’s like a marathon, after all, and who happens to be in shape for a marathon on the fly?).

I wish women would do more research before giving birth, I believe they would realize that “natural” birth is definitely doable and the best for them and their baby. I am too much of a control freak, I wasn’t going to be one of those moms who thinks, “Oh, they’ll know what to do in the hospital,” and let the doctors make the decisions about how the birth is going to go (often ending in C-sections). This is my body and my child I am responsible for, I will not give that power to any doctor who is basically a stranger, unless in emergency situations. I figured Landon only enters the word once, and I better do everything in my power to make this the best and most natural experience for him as possible. After twelve weeks of Bradley classes, taught by my wonderful doula Sherry Rumsey in Los Angeles, I was so exited to get the show on the road, although I felt great close to my due date, energized and not at all in a hurry to give up Landon yet! I loved being pregnant (minus the first two months, ugh . . .). I had learned to think of contractions as just that, contractions that help to push the baby out, instead of “pain,” so I was never fearful of the birth or the discomfort.

I realize that all the exercising and preparing in the world doesn’t guarantee you that you have a drug-free/natural birth. Things can go wrong, every situation needs to be assessed accordingly, and sometimes a C-section is needed. I was prepared for the marathon, but I also know I am lucky that my birth experience was so amazing. I labored at home for about nine hours, and when Sherry came to our home, she was surprised how far along I was already, considering this was my first delivery. She could tell from my body language (I was already starting to grunt) that it was time to got to the hospital (“Don, you better get the car. Dagmar, this isn’t going to be a pleasant ride.”).

Thank goodness it was about one in the morning, if it would have been rush hour traffic on the freeway in Los Angeles, Landon would have been one of those babies on the news. I walked into the delivery unit telling them they have one minute to decide which room to give me after they could not make up their minds (did I mention I am also bossy?), and Landon was born about twenty minutes later. It would have been faster, but my doctor wasn’t there yet. “I want you to know I ran some red lights for you,” he told me later. I almost feel cheated — Landon’s birth was so fast. I had envisioned a longer, more spiritual experience where I would have time to really grasp all the things my body was doing to push out this little boy.

I never got that massage my husband had promised me, I never got that relaxing shower — all those things went out of the window. I did end up with an episiotomy, which I had insisted my doctor not perform (in my very detailed birth plan and in person when talking to him). But I could tell it was necessary and agreed to it and never lost another thought about it. Landon was born around 2 a.m., and by 7 a.m. we were out of there to bring him home — after I tried to doze on the cot and Don took a nap on my bed (“I can’t sleep on that cot”) while Landon slept after his first breast milk meal. I thought I had given birth naturally, but apparently I had given birth “drug free.”

Rocking, breathing, groaning, mouthing circles of distress, laughing, whistling, pounding, wavering, digging, pulling, pushing — labor is the most involuntary work we do. (Louise Erdrich)

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Tagged as: attachment parenting, birth, Bradley class, breast milk, breastfeeding, C-section, diet, drug-free, energy, exercise, health, Landon, natural, nursing in public, parenting