How much do you know about painless childbirth?

How much do you know about painless childbirth?

Written by: Wang Dongya

Deputy Chief Physician, Anesthesiology Department, Baoding Second Hospital

The pain of childbirth, I believe many mothers who have experienced it have deeply experienced it, and I am afraid that they will never forget it in their lifetime. The pain is hard to describe in words. If pain is graded, childbirth should be a level 10 pain. With the development of medical technology, painless childbirth technology has become more and more mature, which has reduced the pain of childbirth for more and more female friends and brought good news. Regarding painless childbirth, I believe that many friends still don’t know much about it. Today, let us unveil its mystery together.

First, let's take a look at the process of natural childbirth. Natural childbirth is divided into three stages. The first stage is from regular uterine contractions to full cervical dilation. The second stage is from full cervical dilation to fetal delivery, which takes about 2 hours. The third stage is from fetal delivery to placental delivery, which takes about 30 minutes. As the labor progresses, the intervals between uterine contractions will become shorter and shorter, and the pain will last longer and longer. Labor pain can cause the mother to become nervous, anxious, fearful, uncooperative, eat less, and shout for a long time, which can lead to hyperventilation, respiratory alkalosis, left shift of the oxygen dissociation curve, tissue hypoxia, uterine atony, etc. Pain not only brings great pain to the mother, affects the progress of labor, but also increases the incidence of fetal distress. This shows how important painless childbirth is. October 11, 2004 was the first World Pain Relief Day, with the theme of freedom from pain is the basic right of patients. 1. What is painless childbirth?

Also known as labor analgesia, various methods are used to reduce or even eliminate the pain during labor, making it a natural labor without pain. The most commonly used technology now is the intraspinal block technology. The operation process is that the anesthesiologist inserts a needle into the bone gap of the lumbar spine of the parturient. A thin tube is inserted through this needle, and this tube reaches the epidural space. Through this thin tube, the anesthesiologist continuously provides the parturient with low-concentration anesthetics according to the delivery situation until the end of delivery.

2. Indications for painless delivery

After the parturient voluntarily applies for painless delivery, the obstetrician will assess that there are no obstetric contraindications, and the anesthesiologist will rule out various contraindications, such as coagulation disorders, thrombocytopenia, infection at the puncture site, lumbar deformity, etc. On this basis, if the parturient has regular uterine contractions and the cervix is ​​dilated to 2 to 3 cm, the delivery can be performed.

3. Will anesthesia affect the baby? Can I breastfeed?

I believe many people will worry about this issue, but I can tell you for sure that it won't. The dosage and concentration of the drugs used for epidural labor analgesia are very low, and the anesthetic drugs are directly injected into the spinal canal rather than intravenous drugs. The amount absorbed into the mother's body and then entering the fetus through the placenta is even smaller, so it will not affect the fetus. You can breastfeed after painless delivery because the amount of drugs secreted with breast milk is very small and has no effect on the baby.

4.Will painless childbirth prolong the labor process?

In fact, after analgesia, the delivery time of most women is shortened, the perineum is relaxed, they have enough rest, and the cooperation and coordination with the midwife are better, which is more conducive to delivery.

5. Are there any risks and side effects of painless childbirth?

All medicines and medical procedures have potential side effects, including:

Low blood pressure: The medication may lower your blood pressure, which could slow your baby's heart rate. To reduce this possibility, the anesthesiologist gives you intravenous fluids and has you lie on your side. You may also be given medication to maintain your blood pressure.

Back pain: Women may experience some soreness at the site of the epidural, but this pain should not last more than a few days, and there is no evidence that epidurals cause permanent back pain.

Headache: In rare cases, the needle may puncture the dura mater, which may cause a headache that can last for several days if not treated promptly. If this occurs, the anesthesiologist will follow up promptly.

Finally, I hope that more people will abandon their old ideas, learn about painless childbirth, choose painless childbirth, enjoy the joy of nurturing life, and becoming a mother for the first time.