Why are some people so bothered by unmedicated birth?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can’t even do an unmedicated period.

Truth! No reason to do that either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it self righteous and frankly poorly informed to decline health care options we have now to make birth less painful. I’m sure that our ancestors who lacked access to pain relief would be horrified.

Lol, our ancestors would be horrified.

[Anonymous]

So many stories about near death experiences in the hospital convinced me to deliver my 2 kids at home. Quiet, low lights, low sound, no strangers. Painful, and beautiful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are usually self-righteous about it.

I had two unmedicated births and am not self-righteous about it. I also don’t volunteer this information unless asked. I feel judged for not having been induced or gotten an epidural, if anything.

+ 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had two pitocin inductions (preeclampsia both times) and so definitely needed an epidural both times as well. Almost impossible to do pitocin without epi. The epidural led to fluid intake both times for my kids that led to not meeting weight gain goals in first 24 hrs, extra hospital time, breastfeeding issues. Also I’ve since read that pitocin is a significant predictor of ADHD which my kids are at risk for already. So I see really valid reasons to attempt unmedicated and say more power to those who do. I am not sure people understand these factors when they say unmedicated people are just being sanctimonious.

Do you not understand what pitocin is?

I definitely do. However, I don’t think it’s common knowledge that pitocin at birth has such a strong connection to adhd diagnoses later. This is not usually discussed. If others were told this by their OB then feel free to share that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People are usually self-righteous about it.

I had two unmedicated births and am not self-righteous about it. I also don’t volunteer this information unless asked. I feel judged for not having been induced or gotten an epidural, if anything.

+ 1

I am asking this genuinely. When in your lives has anyone said something negative about you not having an epidural? Idiots on the DCUM anonymous forum doesn't count. I mean in real life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was induced with Cervadil but poorly monitored during my birth. I asked for an epidural but was denied (without checking me) even though I asked to be checked and was told to "give it time" and "it's going to get much worse." Apparently, I wasn't loud enough or agitated enough or something for anyone to take me seriously. I threw up all over myself and had broken capillaries all around my eyes, but my baby was born 20 minutes later. What was most traumatizing was that no one believed me or listened to me. I don't talk about this ever, but remember that not everyone chooses this when you're casually calling people self-involved or self-righteous or whatever.

But here you are, talking about it, unprompted. So there’s that.

On a thread about unmedicated births? Hardly "unprompted."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had two pitocin inductions (preeclampsia both times) and so definitely needed an epidural both times as well. Almost impossible to do pitocin without epi. The epidural led to fluid intake both times for my kids that led to not meeting weight gain goals in first 24 hrs, extra hospital time, breastfeeding issues. Also I’ve since read that pitocin is a significant predictor of ADHD which my kids are at risk for already. So I see really valid reasons to attempt unmedicated and say more power to those who do. I am not sure people understand these factors when they say unmedicated people are just being sanctimonious.

Do you not understand what pitocin is?

I definitely do. However, I don’t think it’s common knowledge that pitocin at birth has such a strong connection to adhd diagnoses later. This is not usually discussed. If others were told this by their OB then feel free to share that.

My first result on Google is a meta analysis from 2 years ago and says there is no association between the two, looking at multiple studies. So I’m not sure what outdated research you saw but, no.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8426101/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had two pitocin inductions (preeclampsia both times) and so definitely needed an epidural both times as well. Almost impossible to do pitocin without epi. The epidural led to fluid intake both times for my kids that led to not meeting weight gain goals in first 24 hrs, extra hospital time, breastfeeding issues. Also I’ve since read that pitocin is a significant predictor of ADHD which my kids are at risk for already. So I see really valid reasons to attempt unmedicated and say more power to those who do. I am not sure people understand these factors when they say unmedicated people are just being sanctimonious.

Do you not understand what pitocin is?

I definitely do. However, I don’t think it’s common knowledge that pitocin at birth has such a strong connection to adhd diagnoses later. This is not usually discussed. If others were told this by their OB then feel free to share that.

Interesting. I have two kids. First kid I did not receive any pitocin, second I did. First has adhd, second does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmm. I am bothered by this a little.

If you, a specific woman, have done the unmedicated path and it worked out well for you, power to you. I'm not gonna argue with you about your experience, different strokes for different folks. I'm happy you're happy.

My cringe is about this being one of a series of steps where society, and women themselves, set the bar incredibly high for mothers. Let's be honest - if men gave birth, they'd all get epidurals. Why on earth would they put themselves through such misery? For some absolutely minisule decrease in risk for the baby? Come on.

Yet women are so, so willing, eager even, to put themselves through the ringer for their kids in a way that's not proportional to the gains for their kids, and I don't think it's healthy. I think a lot of the women who are pregnant and committed to a natural birth are putting a lot of pressure on themselves, and are setting themselves us to feel like the failed in their first trial of motherhood. Take a look at the abstract of this paper: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6386786/. That makes me so, so sad.

And it continues. Women with basically zero milk supply who see a lactation consultant multiple times a week for months, triple feed around the clock, endlessly researching and trying supplements, and doing everything humanly possible to give their kid breastmilk while completely exhausting themselves. I understand wanting to breastfeed (I did - successfully once, semi-successfully the second time) but these heroic efforts are over the top.

Women who give their babies and young toddlers open cups and clean up 30 spills a day because it's 0.1% better for your kid than a 360 degree cup, or even (gasp) an old fashioned sippy cup. Women who read every parenting book on the planet in an effort to do everything perfectly for their kids. Women who run themselves ragged to take three kids to two different travel sports teams each, plus Russian math, plus chess club, plus an instrument each, to give their kids every possible leg up, never mind that she has no time for a social life and hasn't had a full nights sleep in 8 years.

It's a pattern that I find troubling.

Bravo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was induced with Cervadil but poorly monitored during my birth. I asked for an epidural but was denied (without checking me) even though I asked to be checked and was told to "give it time" and "it's going to get much worse." Apparently, I wasn't loud enough or agitated enough or something for anyone to take me seriously. I threw up all over myself and had broken capillaries all around my eyes, but my baby was born 20 minutes later. What was most traumatizing was that no one believed me or listened to me. I don't talk about this ever, but remember that not everyone chooses this when you're casually calling people self-involved or self-righteous or whatever.

But here you are, talking about it, unprompted. So there’s that.

On a thread about unmedicated births? Hardly "unprompted."

Well the thread is about “why are people so irritated to hear about a woman having a natural birth?” and many responses said it’s not the natural birth it’s the fact that certain women talk about it unprompted and like they talk unprompted about running a marathon, or going to Harvard. And your response was to tell us your unmediated birth story. Don’t get me wrong, your birth experience sounds horrific and I’m sorry that no one listened to you at the hospital. But it’s a perfect, accidental example of someone sharing their unmediated birth story when nobody asked “tell me your birth story!” . This thread was definitely NOT “tell us how you gave birth”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had two pitocin inductions (preeclampsia both times) and so definitely needed an epidural both times as well. Almost impossible to do pitocin without epi. The epidural led to fluid intake both times for my kids that led to not meeting weight gain goals in first 24 hrs, extra hospital time, breastfeeding issues. Also I’ve since read that pitocin is a significant predictor of ADHD which my kids are at risk for already. So I see really valid reasons to attempt unmedicated and say more power to those who do. I am not sure people understand these factors when they say unmedicated people are just being sanctimonious.

Do you not understand what pitocin is?

I definitely do. However, I don’t think it’s common knowledge that pitocin at birth has such a strong connection to adhd diagnoses later. This is not usually discussed. If others were told this by their OB then feel free to share that.

Interesting. I have two kids. First kid I did not receive any pitocin, second I did. First has adhd, second does not.

It may be interesting, but it is not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was induced with Cervadil but poorly monitored during my birth. I asked for an epidural but was denied (without checking me) even though I asked to be checked and was told to "give it time" and "it's going to get much worse." Apparently, I wasn't loud enough or agitated enough or something for anyone to take me seriously. I threw up all over myself and had broken capillaries all around my eyes, but my baby was born 20 minutes later. What was most traumatizing was that no one believed me or listened to me. I don't talk about this ever, but remember that not everyone chooses this when you're casually calling people self-involved or self-righteous or whatever.

But here you are, talking about it, unprompted. So there’s that.

On a thread about unmedicated births? Hardly "unprompted."

Well the thread is about “why are people so irritated to hear about a woman having a natural birth?” and many responses said it’s not the natural birth it’s the fact that certain women talk about it unprompted and like they talk unprompted about running a marathon, or going to Harvard. And your response was to tell us your unmediated birth story. Don’t get me wrong, your birth experience sounds horrific and I’m sorry that no one listened to you at the hospital. But it’s a perfect, accidental example of someone sharing their unmediated birth story when nobody asked “tell me your birth story!” . This thread was definitely NOT “tell us how you gave birth”.

Unmediated = unmedicated, autocorrect sorry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had one unmedicated and the second medicated.

Much prefer medicated. Makes no sense why ppl glorify unmedicated when drugs just make it more pleasant and enjoyable overall.

There can be unpleasant side effects from the epidural. It’s not likely either choice is perfect. I had an epidural for 2 births and I didn’t like being immobile and stuck in the bed, and I didn’t like that my legs were still numb after the birth. It was a lot better than the pain, but I would rather be able to go without it (if I could withstand the pain).

+1
I love modern medicine, but (1) the thought of a needle near my spine irrationally creeped me out and (2) I HATED the idea of being stuck in bed. Being able to walk around in labor, labor in the shower, etc., was really helpful for me. I don't "glorify" unmedicated. But it was 100 percent the right choice for me. Other people have different preferences, circumstances, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God intended birth to be painful. He wants women to suffer. My fear is going against God could be seen as a sin. I’d rather suffer for 72 hours rather then all eternity.

How does it feel to be complicit in your own subjugation? You really think any truly loving divine being would want you to suffer and experience unnecessary pain?