Have you decided how you want to deliver or give birth to your child? Pregnancy is an exciting journey. Your hormones all over the place, and they have you on an emotional roller coaster leaving you exhausted from all the hustle and bustle of life. As a result, pregnant women can easily forget to pick a birthing method.
Giving birth should be a beautiful experience. It is good to have it planned out way in advance and discussed with our doctor to avoid surprises. If you are one of those mums that hasn’t mapped your delivery journey, it is not too late. Here are your options.
Natural Birth
As the name suggests, did you know that this is the most common type of birthing method as it is all natural? Well now you know. Nevertheless, a natural birth requires the mother to labour so as to push out the baby. In this process, the baby is brought into the world through the mother’s birth canal.
Going through labor is an arduous task. Sometimes the child may need a little push coming out. In this case, doctors use vacuum delivery assistance whereby a plastic cup is placed on the child head by suction and the doctor gently pulls the child through the birth canal.
Why opt for a natural birth?
Women who undergo vaginal births are able to avoid major surgery and its associated risks. What this means, is that a new mum is able to be up and about sooner, as they do not risk having wound infections, severe bleeding, anesthesia effects and long lasting pain. Additionally, giving birth naturally allows you to hold and breast feed your baby sooner than a mother who opts for a different birth method.
Secondly, birthing naturally allows the main rhythm of things to flow. You’ll walk into that hospital ward, and labor until the baby says yes to this world. With a natural birth, there is low risk of causing harm to the baby compared to the C- section which might cause injuries.
Being a natural process, the recovery period is shorter as opposed to a surgical procedure which may require you to take more time healing.
Another advantage of a natural birth is that the mother feels more in touch with the procedure as it allows them to have full control of the process.
There are also some advantages for the baby too. A vaginal birth allows the child to have earlier contact with the mother. The child is also able to breastfeed earlier than a child born through CS.
Disadvantages of a vaginal birth
The most dreaded thing about natural child birth is the pain. Giving birth naturally means that you experience all the motions that come with the process. The labor, the pushing and the pain! There is simply no escape. If you want to have a natural child birth, it is important that you are psychologically prepared for all that you are about to experience.
With a natural child birth there is no telling how long you are going to be in the delivery room. You have to labor through it all meaning; you will be exhausted physically, mentally and emotionally.
Prolonged labor puts you at risk of heightened blood loss. The natural birthing process is not controlled. There are no drugs administered, and as long as the process is ongoing there is a risk of increased blood loss especially if there are any complications.
If the baby is big in size and the mother has a taxing labor, there is a possibility that the child can get injured during the birthing process.
Cesarean (C-section)
A cesarean section is a surgical procedure performed if a vaginal delivery is not possible. During this procedure, the baby is delivered through surgical incisions made in the abdomen and the uterus.
Cases where a C-section is performed are mainly high-risk cases like if at one point through ultrasound doctors determine that the umbilical cord is around the child’s neck.
Nowadays, mothers also have planned C sections. Usually this is when your doctor finds a good reason for you to have one, but it is not necessarily out of an emergency. The most common reasons of a planned CS are if your child’s head or body is too big to pass through the pelvis to void emergency CS. Secondly if you are expecting multiples, a vaginal birth will probably be a risky affair. It is better to be safer than sorry.
A traverse lie or a breech presentation in the third trimester may also lead to a planned CS. If your doctor determines that the baby cannot be turned through abdominal manipulation, you may need a CS.
In the above situations, you and your doctor can decide on scheduling a planned C Section instead of taking the risk of a vaginal birth.
Advantages of a C Section
The procedure is mainly painless as anesthesia is administered.
Planned C Section lowers the risk of birth such as oxygen deprivation, shoulder injuries and other fractures.
Disadvantages
You never know what could go wrong during the CS procedure. You can develop a blood clot which could be life threatening!
Recovering from surgery is not a walk in the park. You will have to deal with dueling pain before total healing which may take several months. A woman who goes through a C Section will have a longer stay at the hospital compared to one who has a vaginal birth.
Caesarean births are expensive and the cost that the insurance covers may even go lower with the second and third pregnancy.
Babies born through a C Section are more likely to develop breathing problems at birth compared to those born out of normal delivery.
If a new mum to be gives birth through CS for the first time, chances are that you have to go through the same procedure for future pregnancies.
Don’t make a decision based on what everyone else is doing. Share your concerns with your doctor before deciding on your best option!