Natural Childbirth

What is a natural childbirth?

Childbirth is a beautiful and memorable experience, but it’s common to feel anxious about the anticipated pain of labor and delivery. Many women get epidurals to alleviate labor pains, but the option for natural, medication-free vaginal childbirth is becoming more popular.

Natural childbirth may include working with your partner or a professional birth assistant (Doula) to manage your labor pains with massage, hypnosis, or other relaxation techniques instead of epidurals. We can safely monitor your baby using intermittent monitoring or continuous monitoring using the Monica (TM) system using bluetooth technology to allow you the freedom to move around.

Hiring a doula also helps to keep you focused, minimize discomfort and help promote a vaginal birth.

No matter what birth experience you envision, Dr. Quezada listens attentively to your concerns and discusses your best options for labor and delivery.

What are the advantages of a natural childbirth?

Natural childbirth doesn’t involve medications or medical procedures that may require you to remain attached to monitoring devices throughout labor and delivery. The absence of medical intervention offers several benefits for your delivery experience, such as:

Reduced risk of harm to you or your baby from invasive medical procedures
More control over your birth experience
No loss of sensation or alertness
Freedom to change positions or move around during labor
Reduced need for medications to assist your contractions
Reduced need for bladder catheterization, vacuum extraction, or forceps delivery

What are the disadvantages of natural childbirth?

If you decide to pursue natural childbirth, it’s essential to prepare for the pain of labor and delivery. Dr. Morales helps you develop a birth plan to cope with the physical demands of childbirth, but it’s possible to experience a prolonged or complicated labor.

Though natural childbirth reduces many risks, it introduces several others, such as:

Increased pain
Tears in the perineum
Hemorrhoids
Urinary incontinence
Pelvic trauma
Bowel issues

What are the risks of an epidural?

Although it’s rare to experience severe side effects from an epidural, several risks associated with this procedure do exist, including:

Headaches
Back pain
Fever
Persistent bleeding at the puncture site
Difficulty breathing
Drop in blood pressure, which can slow the baby’s heart rate

To learn more about your options for natural childbirth and whether it’s right for you, call the office of Kelly Morales, OB/GYN, or book an appointment online today.