Jami Corrects Some Falsehoods, Part II

Okay, meant to get back to this sooner, but here are a few more not-quite-true things I have heard at births, and one another doula recently heard and related to me. Your digestive system stops when your contractions start - that's why you can't have anything by mouth. Wow. Where to start on this one. 1. Your body can and does digest food while you are in labor. This is why women may poo while delivering, because their body has been processing whatever is in there. It's why they get hungry. Now, it IS true that plenty of laboring women puke at some point during labor, so it's wise to consider that when making food choices (such as: chicken soup = good, spicy loaded nachos = maybe not so much). 2. The reason most hospitals won't let you have anything by mouth is for the chance that you might have to have a cesarean section and if you do, it might be so bad that you have to be put under general anesthesia and you might in that circumstance vomit while under and you might in that case aspirate some of the vomit. Also, one nurse told me candidly "We don't want to worry about women throwing up, it's gross." The sad thing is your body is doing hard work and just like you wouldn't run a race without fueling properly, you shouldn't ignore the signals you are getting to feed yourself when you are doing that sort of work. You have to have an IV to give birth - you might need fluids. Oh yes. this came from a woman who has had children and was shocked to hear that some women don't want an IV in. I personally have no problem with hospital using a heparin lock if it means they feel better about it, but you know what - lots and lots and lots of women have had healthy babies without an IV attached to them. Turns out if you need fluids, you can actually correct that situation by drinking some water, juice or even Gatorade - actually most fluids will work. Your body can only get so far on its own and then you need Pitocin to finish it. This is the one I got secondhand, but had to mention it. Good grief people, really?? Do you think the billions of people born in this word before the invention of pitocin or in places where it's not available are imaginary? Sigh. I can't even go on for this one. And finally a qualified half-truth: Epidurals make the birth go faster. Well - they can. Or they can slow you down and even stop your labor. In the past 2 weeks, I've been to 2 births without epidurals. Both labors were less than 12 hours total and both pushed for less than 20 minutes. Healthy babies, healthy mamas. I was at a birth with an epidural (not mine) which lasted more than 12 hours after the epidural, which came more than 12 hours into the birth and there were several hours of pushing. I've seen women without epidurals push over an hour, I've seen women with epidurals push 20 minutes. Epidurals aren't bad or good. They are a tool and used properly can greatly improve a situation; misused can cause some problems. Might do some more another time, hope you feel better educated!