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Childbirth is the biggest dream of many women and can also be the nightmare of others for fear of pain. Painless childbirth is a dream for all women. Some even give up if they are biological mothers due to their fear of experiencing the famous pains of normal birth and also of cesarean section, in addition to clearly fearing anesthesia. But luckily resources with anesthesia have become more and more modern allowing normal delivery to become increasingly painless. What naturally makes several mothers accept this choice, even more because of the side effects would have decreased compared to the old days.
Mostly, for a painless delivery , what differentiates the anesthesia itself is the composition. Both are suitable for all types of delivery and to keep the mother alert, awake to see her baby as soon as he comes into the world. Both are used to remove pain sensitivity only from the waist down. Doctors apply anesthesia between the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebraethrough a very fine, almost imperceptible needle. Most needles are as thick as a hair! After pulsation, he will introduce the needle until it reaches the epidural space to inject the liquid. It does not affect nerves or the vertebra itself. Blockers do not let pain spasms reach the nerves or the electrical current that warns of pain in the brain. In cases of normal delivery, the woman can choose whether or not to receive anesthesia, just that she presents the desire to her doctor.
What is the Best Option for Painless Childbirth?
For different types of delivery, whether normal, cesarean, humanized or with procedures, the types of anesthesia are:
Epidural anesthesia : This anesthesia is used for all types of delivery with hospital intervention. Usually the doctor applies the epidural so that the woman has a painless delivery, or that she can withstand the pain of contractions and will know exactly the moment to apply force to expel the fetus.
The amount of anesthetic can help the woman to remain immobile or not. If a small amount of anesthetic is injected, the parturient can still move her legs or if more remains immobile from the waist down, the sensation is heavy. It is usually well accepted by parturients and passes its effects quickly, about an hour after the catheter is removed from anesthesia, the mother will be able to feel her legs again. It also provides low side effects after delivery.
Anesthesia during vaginal delivery may be optional. The parturient must express the desire not to receive.
Caesarean sections made with this type of anesthesia require higher doses. It is also in this type of medication that many women report feeling the movements made by doctors at the time of delivery, as it takes away the pain but not completely the sensitivity. The downside of this type of anesthesia is the time it takes to take effect. It may take about 10 to 20 minutes to achieve its expected effect.
Spinal Anesthesia: Spinal anesthesia or spinal anesthesia is the most used anesthesia in waist down procedures such as cesarean delivery. It is a type of nerve blocker and also a spinal cord that brings pain to the brain. It is applied in the same way as the epidural with the differential that the dose is unique and cannot be increased, only with a second application. In addition to being applied a little deeper than the epidural and its application begins immediately.
The sensation of the spinal effect is the sensation of something hot going down the legs and also a sensation of heaviness. The spinal cord really provides a painless delivery, as the woman will feel absolutely nothing from the waist down, not even the movements made by the doctors.
The cons of the spinal cord are the side effects that it provides and also the possibility of not catching on the first application. Many women may experience tremors and hives after passing the anesthesia that takes around 1:30 after the peak of pain block. It is also recommended that the parturient remains lying a few hours after the application of the anesthetic to avoid post-rachis headache that promises to be abolished with the evolution of the formulation and also of application.
Some procedures call for combined anesthesia. It is known as double block and both types of anesthesia are used. The spinal is applied while the epidural will be released gradually during the procedure in the same place where the spinal was applied. In more extreme cases of incompatibility with the two types of anesthesia, doctors should choose to deliver painlessly through general anesthesia . If a cesarean section has to be performed, the mother will not see the baby being born but it may be safer for both mother and child.
For a normal delivery without pain, many women opt for anesthesia in order to have more comfort to perform the expulsion procedure, but some prefer to face the pains face and courage. Remembering that anesthesia will not do any harm to the baby.
In case of doubts, it is advisable for the mother to seek an anesthesiologist to remove all doubts and see what the real risks are in her case, although analgesia is safe most of the time.
See also: Spinal Anesthesia
My name is Dr. Alexis Hart I am 38 years old, I am the mother of 3 beautiful children! Different ages, different phases 16 years, 12 years and 7 years. In love with motherhood since always, I found it difficult to make my dreams come true, and also some more after I was already a mother.
Since I imagined myself as a mother, in my thoughts everything seemed to be much easier and simpler than it really was, I expected to get pregnant as soon as I wished, but it wasn’t that simple. The first pregnancy was smooth, but my daughter’s birth was very troubled. Joana was born in 2002 with a weight of 2930kg and 45cm, from a very peaceful cesarean delivery but she had already been born with congenital pneumonia due to a broken bag not treated with antibiotics even before delivery.
