Have
you ever asked yourself these questions about childbirth?
Is
the epidural the only viable method of pain relief? Can a woman go through
childbirth without having to take analgesics and anesthetics? Is there any
way to relieve pain without the scary side effects and drowsiness that the
medications cause? What does the research say about non-medicated pain relief?
Sound
familiar?
If
you have asked yourself these questions or more, then this is the right
place for you!
It
is no secret that childbirth is a very painful experience, and women often
worry about the pain they will experience during childbirth. Fear, anxiety,
mental preparedness, fetal size and position, confidence, expereince, uterine
contractions, hunger, and fatigue all influence the perception of pain in
the laboring woman.
So
how do institutional birth settings control pain during childbirth? For
the most part, pain is controlled using pharmacological methods such as
systemic narcotics like Demorol and Nubain.(Walsh, Kleyboecker,
O'Brien, & Bristol, 2000, 77) Narcotics, however, readily
cross the placenta and can have adverse effects on the infant such as decreasing
the fetal heart rate and uterine activity. Narcotics also have adverse effects
on the mother such as vomiting, sedation, drowsiness, tachycardia, hypotension,
dry mouth, pruritis, and respiratory depression, all of which effect the
consciousness of the laboring woman. (Lowdermilk, Perry,
& Bobak, 2000, 473)
Another
method of pain relief that institutional birth settings employ is the ever
so popular epidural. The epidural is a catheter that is placed in the epidural
space of the vertebrae. An anesthetic agent or a narcotic is placed into
the epidural space via the epidural catheter. This provides the most effective
means of pain relief for the laboring woman; however, research has confirmed
that many complications can accompany epidurals, including emergency ceasarean
sections and long-term complications for the mother and infant.
These methods of pain relief do relieve pain and help comfort
the woman during childbirth. However, they are just too risky for some women.
Is there any other method of pain relief that can control pain?
We,
five nursing students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte,
asked the same question. Is there a viable non-pharmacological method of
pain relief that can decrease the pain of laboring women? This web site
is devoted to educating you, the pregnant population and your families,
about the methods of non-pharacological pain relief and the research that
acompanies it. Upon gathering information from nursing journals and web
sites, we have compiled some interesting informaton about music
therapy, massage
therapy, accupuncture
and accupressure, hydrotherapy,
and lamaze that can
give you and your family an alternative method of pain relief during labor
without the side effects that medications
cause. This information will hopefully enable you to have an enjoyable childbirth
with decreased pain to await the delivery of your precious gift, your child!