The environment you labor in and the interventions that you have during labor can not only affect your baby’s health, but can also affect your recovery time. Thinking about these early on and making a decision about what you would do in different scenarios can ensure that you understand the risks and benefits of different options. When you’re in the middle of a contraction, or in the whirl-wind of just walking into the hospital during labor, you don’t have the time, energy, or mental capacity to give each decision consideration and thoughtfully choose what is right for you.
These are three decisions that you will need to make during labor, their pros and cons, and how they can affect your newborn’s health and your recovery time as well.
1. IV Fluids during labor
Most hospitals place an IV with fluids as soon as you are admitted into Labor and Delivery. Those fluids are usually normal saline, but medication like Pitocin can also be put in through the IV.
This can affect your birth and recovery time:
- Having an IV placed will inhibit you from freely moving around during labor. Women who move are better able to listen to their body’s signals of what position is most comfortable and productive for labor. For example, mothers who squat or birth on hands and knees increase their pelvic opening through this position change, and allow their babies to be born easier.
- Medications can be added to the IV bag without the laboring mother noticing. Most notable is Pitocin, synthetic oxytocin, which causes stronger contractions. Pitocin should only be used after understanding the pros and cons of the medication.
- The excess fluid can cause swelling in your body, which is uncomfortable, and causes the kidneys to work to extract it. It’s not uncommon for a first time mother to be in labor 24 hours or longer, and with an IV running the whole time, that’s a lot of fluid!
- IV fluids are not shown to be more effective than allowing the mother to drink to thirst during labor. (source)
This can affect your baby:
- Babies also are receiving an excess amount of fluids during labor when the mother has an IV placed (source). After birth as they lose these fluids and return to normal, care providers can become alarmed because it looks like too much weight has been lost. Mothers can be pressured to supplement with formula due to this large drop in weight, and the breastfeeding relationship is less likely to be successful.
2. Your Environment Immediately After Birth
The baby has been born, is nice and pink and is crying. Everything’s all okay now, right?
Not so fast.
The environment after birth is important both for baby to latch on and start the nursing relationship, and for mom to deliver the placenta safely and prevent postpartum hemorrhage. Skin-to-skin contact promotes temperature regulation in the newborn (source), helps them regulate their breathing, and allows them to breastfeed. Early breastfeeding provides the newborn with colostrum for nutrition, antibodies, and it may even help with establishing good gut flora (source).
Oxytocin is produced during labor and after delivery by both the mom and baby. This hormone is responsible both for the letting down of milk and the clamping down of the uterus. When left undisturbed, with the lights and voices low, oxytocin levels are high in baby and mom for at least the first hour after birth. When disturbed by bright lights, and even the happy excitement of family and friends, adrenaline competes with oxytocin within the body, which lowers the oxytocin levels (source).
Keep the lights dim, diaper the baby if desired, or just let him be skin-to-skin with mom for at least the first hour, covered in a receiving blanket. Leave the hat off of baby to allow the natural bonding take place between the parents and the baby that involves smelling the baby’s head, stroking his hair, and giving him kisses and nuzzles. Any vitals needed can be taken while baby is resting on mom, but a pink baby who is alert and breastfeeding can usually have the newborn exam put off for an hour or two.
3. Internal exams during labor
Internal (vaginal) exams are just a part of giving birth, right?
Wrong.
I’ve had three children and have never had a vaginal exam during labor. (I’m busy when I’m in labor doing other things, like, you know, birthing the baby!)
This is good news! Nobody likes vaginal checks, and they really don’t tell us much (source). A woman who is dilated to 3 can easily stay at a 3 for hours longer, or can quickly dilate up to a 10 in the next few minutes. Vaginal exams introduce bacteria into the birth canal, can cause distress to the mother (see above about adrenaline and oxytocin not getting along), and can be discouraging to a woman who has been in labor for hours only to hear that she’s just now dilated to a 5.
With internal exams comes the risk of rupturing the membranes (source), which can cause the water to be broken before real labor has started, can cause cord prolapse with the prematurely breaking water, and increases the risk of needing a cesarean delivery.
Can I refuse vaginal exams? Yes, you can. It may be hospital policy, or your doctor’s standard procedure, but you are well within your rights to refuse vaginal exams that you do not wish to have (some women do want to be checked to see if labor is progressing, some women check themselves, and some women opt out all together).
Educating yourself during pregnancy is important
It’s important to understand your choices well before you present to the L&D floor. You want to know what is and isn’t important to do during pregnancy, labor, and delivery. Reading about the pros and cons of different protocols and procedures well before you are in labor is imperative. When you’re in labor you won’t have time to thoroughly consider your options.
Need help advocating for yourself?
Doulas are wonderful advocates for the laboring woman. A doula can help remind you of your birth plan, can prompt you to ask questions of your care provider, and can help you achieve the birth you want – both in the hospital and at home. I strongly encourage families to interview local doulas while they are pregnant, and choose one that they feel comfortable with to help them during the birth.
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Please do not think I am glorifying hospitals or saying you are not correct but….
I had my babies in the early 90’s and what you said is the truth that I went through. With that being said….my DIL gave birth to my grandson this summer in the hospital and I don’t find that this happens as much in the hospitals as much as it used to….or maybe it was just the one she was in. My DIL did not have an IV until she wanted medication (personal choice), they didn’t check her vaginally except when she came in the first time and then again when she asked for medication. After the baby was born he was placed on her chest and not removed for over an hour (more like two) and they kicked out extended family (except my son who was deployed at the time and using FaceTime on an iPad). I do think that hospitals are changing as much as women are wanting that to be. I’m not an advocate of doctors or hospitals but recognize that changes are being made and are not the scary places they used to be when giving birth.
That’s wonderful! I had a family member who gave birth this summer, and they did something similar- they did the skin to skin contact for the first hour, which I was so happy about!
From talking to other friends who are doulas, though, many parents are not offered skin to skin contact, and don’t know to request it or that it’s superior to swaddling the baby. And they don’t know that they can refuse vaginal exams or the IV if they want to.
I appreciate your comment, it’s encouraging for moms to read what normal is at different hospitals. This post isn’t anti-hospital at all, many women want to birth in a hospital, and I want them to feel like they can still advocate for themselves in that setting.
It’s great that things might be changing, but I’ve worked in several different hospitals and I can tell you, it’s not like that everywhere. I’ve seen Nursery nurses hold babies for 12 hours in the nursery just because they were behind on baths and they say it’s because they’re watching the temperatures. C-section rates were high and breastfeeding was not encouraged. I don’t know if it’s the area I live in or what, but it was discouraging. I also know two women who died of Post-partum infection.
I’m an RN who gave birth at home.
I opened up the page interested to see what the contents of your book was but instead, I was surprised. I worked as an L/D RN for years before becoming an NP and CNM and in 38yrs I saw a lot! I worked with Suzanne Arms, a huge proponent in the 80’s for natural childbirths and I fully embraced all of it including getting women with high risk pregnancies as many choices and options possible in their births. I really do get it and what you’re trying to convey. However, nowadays (and believe me I’m not discounting what you’re saying) don’t you think the vaccine, circumcision and early discharge restrictions are issues that are just as pressing? I teach nursing students and I am back at the hospital where I attended births as a CNM 10 yrs ago. The hospital is all about those items you and others described above and are exclusively a breast feeding unit (no bottles or pacifiers are given to newborns). What worries me is the contradictions and exceptions for the rules on vaccines (pushing HepB on newborns right after birth, the flu shot and anything else they can further compromising the newborn’s weakened immune system right from birth. Boys are circumcised and given Tylenol (studies have proven the detrimental effects on their immature livers) along with local anesthesia. Add to this the enormous amounts of meds that women get postpartum (no one said there wasn’t pain in childbirth). I don’t want to forget to mention that the majority of women over use NSAID’s, Toradol and narcotics post partum which all go through the breast milk also affecting the baby. The final blow comes when a normal birth occurs and the parents want to go home early. Not so admonishing nurses say, and the parents are discharged and the baby is held against the parent’s request for 24hrs. Parents are told that they can go home but they can’t take their baby. I never saw any of this listed in your book but the over drugging and loss of parental rights scare me even more than anything. Its easy to refuse exams but what about those items that really have more of a long term impact on the health and welfare of the baby and family? I do agree with you on one aspect~women need to wake up and stand strong for themselves and their families and do more to prepare for the pain of childbirth, educate themselves on the ingredients (or even the lack of necessity of early vaccinations) and over drugging our children either directly or indirectly while breastfeeding. What I see now are future children harmed more than ever before. As a mother I am saddened and as a retired Nurse-Midwife I contemplated dusting off my birthing gloves to try and bring back all that we fought so hard to get women~empowerment and our birth rights. I hope you include these in your second edition, Cara and blessings to you and your family.
Hi! Thanks so much for your feedback :) – this was just a sample of three issues, I cover over 100 :)
You can see more about the book here: https://healthhomeandhappiness.com/the-empowered-mother
And you can see where we talked about circumcision earlier this week here: https://healthhomeandhappiness.com/2014/12/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-changing-uncircumcised-boys.html
Again, thanks for stopping by, I am so glad that you’re so passionate about empowering women!
Hello Cara:
Thanks for the response. I would like to use material from your book when teaching OB next semester. Its good for future medical personnel to see both sides of an issue (from patient side) to technical side. I would like to mail a check instead of paying online. What address do I send it to? Thanks, NHWCenter
That sounds wonderful Valeire. I’ll email you with my address, you did see that it’s an e-book and comes in PDF format, right?
I just bought your book and I am so excited to get started!!!!
I’m so glad! Thank you Kylee! Be sure to follow the directions in the email to be added to the Facebook group too :)
This is a great article. So many of us are ignorant about so many issues. I had my first 2 children in the hospital (not my choice) and then our 3rd was an unassisted one at home. It was the most joyous one – without IVs, vaginal checks and the perfect peaceful environment. I did experience more bleeding than normal, but nothing that resting and good food didn’t put me back up within 4 days. Our 4th baby was born at the hospital and just the fact that I didn’t have the IV with our 3rd made me beg the nurse to shut off the IV as soon as she was born. I only had the IV for 2 hours. When I arrived at the hospital I was pretty ready to deliver baby. I also had a funny exchange with the nurse in charge when my 4th was crowning (i was on my knees). I said to my husband “She (baby) is coming.” The nurse told him “I have to check her (vaginal exam) so I can call the doc.” So I told her “I don’t need the doctor. She is coming.” Within 5 minutes, the baby was coming out. I would love to have another baby… this time with a midwife or doula present. :) Keep up the good work inspiring other women to birth naturally. :)
Ive never heard of and am curious about this no vaginal exams idea. Do you just wait till you have a strong urge to push and then go with that instinct?
Yes! I kinda naturally try pushing with a contraction, and if it hurts I stop, if it doesn’t hurt, I keep going. And then there’s a baby. It sounds overly simplified, but if there aren’t complications, it really is pretty simple.
Can you think of any good reason to have an IV during labor and delivery? I can. No procedure or intervention would be performed without a patient’s consent. No one would ever put medication in an IV without consent. Contrary to the story you are telling the providers working in a hospital are not there with a plan to hurt people. The environment in which you labor and deliver is important. Requesting dim, quiet, limited visitors is all reasonable and you would be hard pressed to find providers insisting on a bright room full of loud people. You don’t want your cervix checked throughout labor? Fine. No big deal. Again, no one will force a procedure on a patient. If your desire to educate women is sincere, you should also explore why certain interventions like an IV or even a cervical exam might be recommended.
Debra, I am not sure why you are assuming that I have never looked into the reasons why IVs are used in hospitals. Policies vary from hospital to hospital, some insist on IVs, some on hep locks, some don’t mind if you labor and birth without an IV. I believe mothers should know that this is a choice, and not every hospital informs the mother of these choices.
Hospitals absolutely WILL put meds in your i.v. without your knowledge or consent. I had it happen right after my last baby was born. The nurse told me after and I wish I had been able to get over the shock of it in time to yell at her. The doctor was wanting to give me pitocin from the moment I met her (I went into labor on my doctor’s day off of course) which I flat out refused. So they waited until my baby was born and gave it to me then. Ridiculous.
The information presented concerning IVs essentially states that an IV is completely unnecessary and potentially harmful. You even site reasons such as unethically receiving medicine in an IV unknowingly or against patient’s wishes. I assume either you do not understand the reasons for an IV, the physiology of fluid balance, or you assume doctors are unethical people with a desire to perform unnecessary, harmful interventions with no benefit to mother or baby. You are not presenting the information in such a way that a woman makes an informed choice. You simply state an IV is unnecessary and/or harmful.
I wonder why there are studies that show that women often receive too much fluid when IVs are placed during labor?
I do not assume doctors are unethical people, just that they sometimes follow procedures that are not evidence based. It wasn’t long ago that nearly every doctor recommended people consume margerine rather than butter. That wasn’t malicious, it was just not evidence based. Now most doctors do not recommend consuming hydrogenated oils. I don’t need to blindly follow doctors to respect them.
First of all, I want to thank you for even posting my comments. That speaks very highly of you. I definitely want to continue our conversation. I am working now, but will get back to you in a little while.
No rush :) I don’t mind questions like these – I started out as a mom who wanted an epidural and all that modern medicine had to offer so I think I understand both sides pretty well.
Well, I have a few minutes after all. The study referenced above, “Excess weight loss in first-born breastfed newborns relates to maternal intrapartum fluid balance” is a study looking for contributing factors to newborns losing greater than 10% of their birth weight. There were only 2 variables that appeared to affect this their study. One was delayed lactogenesis and the other intrapartum fluid balance with super hydration (more than maintenance fluid). It does not report women receiving too much fluid. We can look at the benefits of that hydration in the newborn later on if you would like. Let’s first look at IV fluids as it pertains to fluid balance in the mother.
Hydration is important for proper brain and muscle function, two very important systems for delivering a baby! Usual, everyday fluid requirements calculates out to about 100-125mL/hr. That’s almost half a cup every hour. When you add in the work of labor on top of that and the enormous fluid shift that occurs at delivery the actual fluid need is much greater than 1/2 cup per hour. Very few women actually accomplish swallowing that much water in labor, not to mention the frequent nausea and vomiting that some experience during labor makes it even more difficult. Now, can most people tolerate labor and delivery slightly dehydrated? Sure. People often site the cause of postpartum swelling to excessive IV fluids, however, this represents a poor understanding of physiology. We store water intravascularly and extracellularly. Our intravascular volume is decreased by mild dehydration or even greater magnitude events like blood loss, the body secretes anti-diuretic hormone in an effort to hold onto water to keep blood pressure, etc. high enough to support brain, kidney, and muscle function. Adequate blood pressure and intravascular volume is essential for milk production as well. Dehydration will delay lactogenesis. If low blood pressure is severe it can even damage the pituitary gland causing Sheehan Syndrome preventing breast feeding altogether. Excess anti-diuretic hormone results in swelling or edema. So, as counter-intuitive as it may seem, mild dehydration will cause edema. So these are some findings to support evidence-based use of IV fluids in labor. Nevertheless, a patient may refuse IV fluids.
I do take offense to a stated reason for refusing an IV would be to avoid unwanted medications slipped in with a patient unaware. That is not a legitimate concern as it is not only unethical but illegal.
I would like to present a case for IV access, at the minimum, during labor and delivery. It is absolutely true that most deliveries occur without any complication at all. It’s that small number of deliveries that become complicated even in perfectly healthy women who have had glorious textbook pregnancies. Two things that make delivery complications so frustrating is that 1) they are unpredictable and 2) they can happen within minutes and have devastating outcomes. What about placental abruptions, cord prolapse and other cord accidents, uterine inversions or severe postpartum hemorrhages? Many people will argue that if something goes wrong it is at that time that IV access can be established. While that is true most of the time, it does take additional time. Even if it is seconds, how many additional seconds is it acceptable for your baby to go without oxygen? Most proponents of this approach have never tried to place an IV in a dehydrated scared person.
The other 2 items presented, quiet environment with immediate bonding and cervical exams, I take very little issue with. To each his own. There is definite evidence to support early bonding and a comfortable environment, which is defined differently for different people. There are definite times and places for cervical exams as well, but not routine checks every two hours just because.
Truthfully, the reason I was moved to say anything at all in response to your article is that there is an underlying attitude that physicians just do unnecessary things to people with no reason or evidence to support it. While there are many issues worthy of debate and discussion, the reasons behind interventions are not nonexistent or self-serving in nature. I do believe you sincerely want to help women. Otherwise I would not have said anything.
Personally, I did not feel the need for IV fluids during labor, of course a mother is welcome to request them if she feels she needs them. My first was a long labor, so I won’t go into detail with that, but with my second I woke up at 2:30 am in labor, and he was born by 5:30 am. With my 3rd, I made cinnamon rolls with my son while knowing I was in mild labor, continued to eat and drink normally until 3 pm, and then the baby was born at 5:30 pm. I prefer being able to labor on my own without an IV and I don’t believe that I had a chance to get dehydrated in either of those cases. If an emergency occurred, I don’t believe they do c-sections in the delivery room anyway, so we would still need to move to an operating room to section. Again, I don’t think that I was dehydrated enough to have it be difficult to place an IV in either case.
Women also can easily request an IV if they feel they need it. I monitor my babies for signs of dehydration if they’re sick, and if they were dehydrated I would happily bring them in for an IV. It’s the same thing in birth. Dehydration doesn’t just happen from one minute to the next and IVs really aren’t that complicated to place or even transfer for if a mother is planning a home birth.
The medication bit isn’t about it being unauthorized, it’s that if a woman is in active labor she most likely isn’t going to really be weighing the pros and cons of anything. I have no idea what I was saying the hour before the baby was born, especially if I was asked a question during a contraction, but placing an IV would have gotten my attention enough for me to protest if it was something I didn’t want.
If you feel more comfortable with an IV, by all means, get an IV. I don’t, and I don’t believe the evidence shows that they’re necessary or even helpful in my case.
Also, this post isn’t just about doctors. The part about having a quiet birthing and after birth environment is to help empower mothers to say ‘no’ to every family member and friend who wants to be in attendance, if they don’t want them there. The cervical exams aren’t only about doctors and nurses, they’re about women understanding that their baby will come out and they will know when to push on their own. Since adrenaline competes with oxytocin, the more empowered and confident a mother is about her ability to birth her baby, the more effective her own hormones are going to be at progressing her labor for a safe delivery (which again, brings me back to saying to get an IV if you feel safest with an IV, fear does not lead to easy birthing).
Thank you for your comments. I am so thankful that your babies arrived safely and that you were able to experience many of the things you desired. You are coming from a place of personal experience, and that is extremely valuable. My personal experience has been quite different. My first baby was born in a hospital, unmedicated, intermittent monitoring, a saline-lock, and we did fine. The placenta was born on top of her (a late abruption), and I proceeded to hemorrhage and lose consciousness. But all ended well. My second delivery was half-way through my pregnancy. We had a massive placental abruption. I was unmedicated not by choice but because of the speed in which things happened. That was a painful experience for a multitude of reasons, obviously. Then there is my third pregnancy. That is one story that would take entirely too long to tell completely. I lived in the hospital with heavy bleeding and then ruptured membranes at 19 weeks. I had spent a total of 15 weeks in the hospital until my baby was born at 29 weeks. The delivery itself was very complicated and both of us are fortunate to have survived. This was quite a thing to process for the girl who grew up in a home where my mother taught The Bradley Method of childbirth. I fully embraced the idea that most interventions were unnecessary or even harmful at some level. I felt like I had failed miserably as a mother and as a woman to have had such a problem pregnancy and delivery with a million interventions…though I am alive to tell about it. Since that time I have had another miscarriage and two more living children. I am also a practicing OBGYN. There are reasons why I ask my patients to allow me to do some of the things I do. It is never requested out of convenience on my part or in an effort to make my patients uncomfortable. It is OK with me if a patient does not want IV fluids. I just want them to refuse them based on truth and not fiction. I am perfectly happy and want to see my patients moving around during labor. It does help the process. I am OK if patients do not want continuous fetal monitoring as long as they understand the limitations of intermittent monitoring. I do want women to know that they have the freedom to have or not have family or friends in the room. I want them to bring items from home that provide comfort. I want their birth experience to be what they want it to be. I do not interfere unless the need arises. The one item for which I will argue pretty hard is IV access at least. I live these scenarios every day of my life. A perfectly normal situation can turn into a life and death situation in a heartbeat. You are right that we do not do c-sections in an L&D room; however, we do treat hemorrhages in the L&D room. We do treat uterine inversions in the L&D room. Did you know the maternal death rate for a uterine inversion is 15%? Blood loss is immediate and unbelievable. Blood pressure drop is worsened by a vagal response to the uterus being wrong-side out. An IV immediately available is paramount to giving fluid, blood, and tocolytic drugs. We truly do not have time to fiddle-fart around trying to get an IV in. If we have a cord prolapse, or a baby with a heartrate in the 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s, we need to have that baby out in a couple of minutes. That is doable…unless there is no IV access. I have been the one with a patient’s baby whose heartrate dropped to nothing with four people trying to get an IV started and cannot because of the stress of the situation and the fluid status of the mother. I do not ever want to be in that position again, and I do not ever want another patient of mine to be in that situation. It is difficult for me to reconcile the dichotomy that occurs when patients have desires that differ from my recommendations yet I will still be held responsible for any adverse events. Because birth itself is beautiful, and most of the time occurs without a hiccup, people begin to “trust” it. But for those of us who participate in 1000s of births and see all of the things that *can* happen without warning and then walk with those families in the aftermath, the desire to be prepared for disaster is overwhelming. And that desire is born out of a deep compassion for women to live happily ever after, intact and with their babies; certainly not to rob them of a beautiful birth experience or to harm them. You mentioned that you do not have to blindly follow doctors and that is absolutely true. However, for the most part doctors do practice evidence-based medicine. And to that end most doctors are happy to share that evidence with their patients. I value those opportunities when patients allow me to share why I might recommend one thing or another. I value greatly when they share with me their concerns and desires. Almost always we find common ground.
I’m sorry you had so many complications about your birth, it must be scary to you to remember. You and I are going to have to agree to disagree about the IV being necessary in labor. From your example with prolapse, it seems that you would also make the argument that laboring women should birth in an OR so she doesn’t have to be moved. If we encountered a prolapse, we planned to have the mom go face down, butt up, and have the midwife keep pressure off the cord while calling for a transport (either from home or from the delivery room). In addition, prolapse most often comes from the water breaking early, and most early water breaking is due to membrane stripping or the water being broken to try to speed up or start labor.
With blood loss, yes, starting fluids faster is helpful, but birthing women can lose quite a bit of blood before she is affected. Our blood volume increases during pregnancy to help with this, and the blood doesn’t just pour out, it’s coming from a wound (the uterus, where the placenta detaches for the most part). Again, we’re not arguing about having the mother’s type of blood on hand during birth, if it was really necessary, we’d stock L&D with typed blood.
I don’t follow the ‘trust birth’ movement. I understand that complicates are a rare, but real part of birthing that need to be considered, and every mom needs to make her own decisions.
It’s ok. Definitely will have to agree to disagree. I have personally lived through each if the scenarios I listed more than once. I think until folks are placed in that position it is easy to give recommendations about all kinds of things without first-hand understanding of all of the factors at play.
Thanks for this conversation. As a mum with a 5 year old and 4 month old, both emergency Caesarian Sections, I appreciate Debra’s comments. My family are VIP’s in my life, we are advocates of living as naturally as possible, using food as medicine, steering clear of many interventions (my children are unvaccinated and have rarely needed to see a doctor, and when they do, she is an Integrative practitioner). We also live in Australia where perhaps the approach to childbirth may be different to other countries. As much as I would love to have had home births with little assistance, both of my births were complicated. My 4 month old son had the umbilical chord wrapped around his neck twice. I went into labour with him while picking up my daughter from kindergarten, went home, made dinner, bathed her and then 3 hours later thought that perhaps I better check with the hospital about whether I am truly in labour because the pain was minimal (pain with my daughter was excruciating for the get go). Although my pregnancy and labour were uneventful with my 2nd child, I could tell that for some reason, he was not able to get down in position after 5 hours he was still about 4 cm too high up, we made a decision to do a c-section without any pressure from the OB, and was so glad I did after we discovered why he couldn’t get into position. I believe it’s imperative that women need to know they have choices and must be vocal about these (I asked for my IV to come off after day 1 post labour after questioning whether it was really needed etc), however it is important to present a balanced view when reporting recommendations of any type. Most of the medical media reports are sooo biased and very misleading (example: the debate in support of vaccinations, or as the case we recently had in Australia where a toddler died and his death connected to drinking raw milk ( I am yet to read a coroner’s report as to cause of death) however the Aussie media has appallingly presented half truths and now raw milk will have a ‘bittering’ agent added to it so no one can consume it). My point is, to really empower women or people, a balanced view must be taken and Debra’s comments have merit and should be taken into consideration. Sometimes all of this finger pointing, conspiracy reporting ‘people are out to do you harm’ type reporting can enslave rather than empower a person. I found your article common sense, although I would shudder to think of unauthorised medication being put through an IV without consent and if this is true, you may need to reference it somehow or provide an example. Apologies that my comments are so long..it’s 5am here and I’ve just been just been up for the 3rd time feeding my son :-)
I agree, I think that so much of what people are pounded over the head with is that ‘we must save your baby from your body! Childbirth without lots of intervention kills babies’ that I’m presenting the other side. If someone wants the pro-intervention approach there are dozens of websites that provide it.
As discussed above, it’s more that medication is added with a brief statement that it is being added, and active labor isn’t a time to be researching studies to see if you are comfortable with it or not. Though procedures without consent aren’t completely unheard of, there are babies who have gotten the hep B vax or even circumcised without parental consent when the parents wanted them to be unvaccinated for hepB as a newborn and intact.
One of my children got a bunch of x-rays at a dental office that I didn’t want her to have, I didn’t realize they would take them without asking me first. Now I’m up front – no x-rays unless I approve each individual one, and I also go back into the office with them, and remind everyone of no x-rays at each visit.