Revisiting the Debate About Childbirth: To Use Drugs or Not?

In Marnell Jameson’s story on the use of pain-reducing drugs in childbirth (“Childbirth That’s Not So Labor-Intensive,” June 12), everyone quoted is concerned about the mother’s experience, but what about the child? The mothers like me who gave birth using the Lamaze method of “natural childbirth” in the 1970s did so not because we enjoy pain, but because we were convinced that a drug-free birth was better for our babies. How can a mother participate in the birthing process if she is numb from the waist down? Sure, labor and delivery can be painful, but it’s a wonderful feeling to actively push your baby out into the world. Also, don’t those powerful drugs affect the baby as well as the mother?

--BARBARA DE GROOT

Irvine

*

I am saddened and angered by the thought that Marnell Jameson’s article may discourage women who are wavering about their ability to do what women have always done. After having my first baby with a shot of Nubain and my next two naturally, I disagree with Ms. Hung. I am equally bonded to each of my children, but for myself, there is a prize for doing it naturally. It was the most empowering, difficult and rewarding experience of my life. Perhaps Dr. Kristine Lain, who hoped for a natural delivery, should consider that if 80% to 90% of her patients use pain relief in labor as she did, she needs to thoroughly research, encourage, and aid in the many natural ways to help laboring women cope with the pain and duration of childbirth. As for her wondering, “what ever possessed her” to hope for a medication-free delivery, many of us joyously understand.

--KARIN MUTH

Chino Hills

*

In your story on epidurals, you quoted Lorri Walker, a nurse midwife, as saying, “Women really want natural birth” and then describing her own natural births: “I’m proud of that accomplishment, about being a woman and being strong. It’s such a wonderful empowering experience.” First of all, not all women really want a natural birth. I took the classes but never had any expectation that I would go without medication. When my children were born (late ‘80s to early ‘90s), women seemed so concerned about natural childbirth that it seemed more important than the health of the baby, which, to me, is the most important thing. And I found it odd that my spouse and I were offered a six-week labor class at our hospital and a one-day course in basic baby care. That struck me as a priority that was seriously out of whack. I think it’s a good thing that women have more and better choices, but I get irritated when women proclaim their superiority over other women on the basis of their childbirth “experience” or their choice of whether to stay at home or work.

--ATARA STEIN

Chino