Speaker 1: Who baby, my baby. I need you, Oh hell, I
Speaker 1: need you. What to expect? As a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio, I'm your host Heidi Murkop and I'm a
Speaker 1: mom on a mission, a mission to help you know
Speaker 1: what to expect every step of the way. Of course,
Speaker 1: you've got big plans for your baby's arrival. You've got
Speaker 1: a nursery theme to pick out, cribs and strollers, and
Speaker 1: a car seat to choose, not to mention all those
Speaker 1: tency tiny outfits to fill baby's drawers with, that is,
Speaker 1: once you finally decide which dresser makes the cut. Well,
Speaker 1: what about your plans for birth plan? Maybe you already
Speaker 1: know exactly how you'd like your labor and delivery to go,
Speaker 1: down down to your music playlist and your preferred guest list.
Speaker 1: Maybe you're said, on some specifics, there's definitely an badureau
Speaker 1: with your name on it, but you're questioning others. Do
Speaker 1: I hire a doula, consider cord blood banking? What is
Speaker 1: cord blood banking? Maybe you're wondering whether there's another C
Speaker 1: section in your future, or whether you can and should
Speaker 1: give labor and vaginal birth a try this time. Or
Speaker 1: maybe you don't have a clue about where to start
Speaker 1: when it comes to your birthing options, or even which
Speaker 1: options will be open to you or won't be, depending
Speaker 1: on where you're giving birth and who's delivering your baby,
Speaker 1: as well as whether you'll be bringing any risk factors
Speaker 1: to your delivery. No matter where you stand on giving
Speaker 1: birth and whether you'd rather take it lying down or
Speaker 1: sitting down or on all fours, we've got you today.
Speaker 1: We're deep diving into all the different birthing options so
Speaker 1: you can pick and choose what's right for you, keeping
Speaker 1: in mind that even the best laid birth plan is
Speaker 1: just a plan, and that mother nature and your baby
Speaker 1: may have other plans. After all, you can never be
Speaker 1: exactly sure what to expect during labor and delivery, except
Speaker 1: for that beautiful baby of yours. I'm here with Emma. Hey, mom,
Speaker 1: Well I was at your birth, but you know, I
Speaker 1: honestly don't remember if you had birth plan, did you? Actually?
Speaker 1: I had a birth plan for both labor deliveries. My
Speaker 1: only birth plan was epidural. That was my only given.
Speaker 1: You wrote one word down on a piece of paper,
Speaker 1: one word down, and I was like done to doctors.
Speaker 1: I mean, besides the epidural, I did cord blood binking.
Speaker 1: I wanted delayed clamping, and you were a big part
Speaker 1: of that. I was like, I need her in the room,
Speaker 1: So epidural, cord blood delayed clamping. You. I guess baby daddy.
Speaker 1: I guess baby Daddy. And my first pregnancy, I wanted
Speaker 1: to have an extra stitch in my afterwards. So that
Speaker 1: was actually in your plan. In my head plan, I
Speaker 1: didn't write a baby book. I didn't do any of it.
Speaker 1: So honestly, like my birth plan could have been like
Speaker 1: a post it maybe somewhere around the house, but that
Speaker 1: would have done you a lot of good. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: went broke. I really didn't have a birth plan, I
Speaker 1: guess per se. Okay, so you just made all of
Speaker 1: that up. No, but my my epidural was my number
Speaker 1: one birth plan. I do recall that. So everything went
Speaker 1: according to plan in that you had an epidotal both times.
Speaker 1: You know what, my goal lift was very low, so
Speaker 1: of course I met it. I met my my goal.
Speaker 1: I reached my birthing bar. My birthing bar was low.
Speaker 1: No pun intended, isn't they were like really a birthing bar, Yes,
Speaker 1: there is, but not if you have an epidural. But
Speaker 1: going back to when I delivered you, we didn't have
Speaker 1: a birth plan. We showed up at the hospital and
Speaker 1: we were lucky to get the one birthing room because
Speaker 1: back then they were just starting to designed birthing rooms,
Speaker 1: and so there was one in the entire hospital, and
Speaker 1: we scored it. So we were super excited about that.
Speaker 1: That was probably the only thing I was super excited
Speaker 1: about because I did not I did not have an epidural.
Speaker 1: I would be too, That's like, that's like gold. It
Speaker 1: was progress. It wasn't where we are now with hospitals.
Speaker 1: But yeah, after the pendulum swung from when my mom
Speaker 1: gave birth and everybody was under general anesthesia and then
Speaker 1: the pendulum swung back to all natural all the time,
Speaker 1: so I wasn't given the option of an epidural. I
Speaker 1: went in there attempting to breathe, but I couldn't remember
Speaker 1: any of the breathing exercises that we learned in class,
Speaker 1: so I just whimpered quietly into the pillow. That's here.
Speaker 1: But what trends have you noticed in terms of birthing options.
Speaker 1: A lot of my friends actually have had natural births
Speaker 1: and they cannot relate to my epidural story. One of
Speaker 1: my girlfriends was like singing while she pushed out her
Speaker 1: baby naturally. It was like, this a beautiful experience. My
Speaker 1: other girlfriend has had two natural births and then she
Speaker 1: couldn't have any more babies herself, so she had a surrogate.
Speaker 1: That's a trend. Dula's are a huge thing right now.
Speaker 1: I didn't have a dula. I kind of regret that
Speaker 1: you were maddula. Yes, but I think no matter how
Speaker 1: you go in there, I think it's a beautiful experience
Speaker 1: giving your giving life. So even if you end up
Speaker 1: have any C section, or you circcumb to the pressures
Speaker 1: and have an epidural like me, or you give birth
Speaker 1: naturally singing, I mean, it doesn't matter. As long as
Speaker 1: it gets done, it's still going to be a beautiful
Speaker 1: experience when we come back. I am answering the biggest
Speaker 1: questions you have about birth options and making a birth plan. Okay, mom,
Speaker 1: let's break down the biggest questions our listeners have when
Speaker 1: it comes to making birth choices. First things first, why
Speaker 1: make a birth plan in the first place. Well, listen,
Speaker 1: you definitely don't have to have a birth plan to
Speaker 1: give birth, and plenty of parents don't have one, and
Speaker 1: of course they still give birth. That said, even if
Speaker 1: you don't end up with an official document or even
Speaker 1: a post it, like you, it's a good idea to
Speaker 1: explore all your birthing options and have at least a
Speaker 1: general idea of how you'd like things to go in
Speaker 1: your best of all possible birth scenarios, and then you
Speaker 1: can talk over you know, what's essentially a wish list
Speaker 1: with your O B or your midwife and kind of
Speaker 1: use it as a springboard for conversation and discuss what's
Speaker 1: probably possible, what's possibly possible, what is impossible at all,
Speaker 1: based on hospital protocol and dr policy. So, for stance,
Speaker 1: if you're walking in expecting to have your delivery videotaped
Speaker 1: because that was in your birth plan, that can lead
Speaker 1: to disappointment if you walk in and you find out
Speaker 1: that the hospital of the doctor doesn't allow video. And
Speaker 1: you know, the same thing if you expect a birthing
Speaker 1: ball to be provided but then you find out it's
Speaker 1: a b y o B. You know, bring your own
Speaker 1: ball kind of hospital. So again it's used the plan
Speaker 1: as a springboard for conversation ahead of time. But definitely
Speaker 1: not as a spring it on your doctor urmand wife
Speaker 1: at the last minute kind of conversation at deliver. That's
Speaker 1: totally what I would have done. Where's my ball, right? Okay?
Speaker 1: I have some friends who gave birth at home bravo,
Speaker 1: and everything went well. I never considered any place by
Speaker 1: the hospital and what about birthing centers. So there has
Speaker 1: been an increased interest in home birth. It's kind of
Speaker 1: a backlash against that surge and c sections that we've had,
Speaker 1: many of them are preventable, and what some like to
Speaker 1: call the over medicalization of birth. And you know, I
Speaker 1: get it. I get it. Hospitals are considered places where
Speaker 1: people go when they're sick, they go for treatment, their
Speaker 1: places with all kinds of regulations and all kinds of policies.
Speaker 1: Although the labor and delivery department is by far the
Speaker 1: happiest place in any hospital and it's certainly my happy place,
Speaker 1: especially in the time of COVID, that concern has been
Speaker 1: driving some moms away from hospital births and into home births,
Speaker 1: and particularly with more restrictions in hospitals due to COVID
Speaker 1: concerns like limits on who can be with a mom
Speaker 1: when she's in labor and delivery. For those who favor
Speaker 1: home birth, the biggest benefit is obvious. Home is where
Speaker 1: the heart is. It's cozy, it's familiar, it's comforting. You
Speaker 1: get to decide who's with you at the birth, you
Speaker 1: get to set the policies, and as long as everything
Speaker 1: goes according to plan, you get to do it your way.
Speaker 1: Start to finish labor in a tub, person a tub,
Speaker 1: eat and drink what you want, move around anywhere you
Speaker 1: want to, and welcome your baby into your arms at home.
Speaker 1: And that's a beautiful moment. And that's usually how it
Speaker 1: goes down in a planned home birth, especially if your
Speaker 1: pregnancy fits neatly into the low risk category, so no
Speaker 1: high blood pressure, no previous c section, babies not pre
Speaker 1: term or breach. But you know, even even a low
Speaker 1: risk birth doesn't always go according to plan, and complications
Speaker 1: can come up that suddenly require medical intervention, like an
Speaker 1: emergency c section, and that can put a baby and
Speaker 1: a mom who are at home and not in a
Speaker 1: hospital setting at risk. And it's because of those risks
Speaker 1: that ACOG. You know, American College of obichi Lands really
Speaker 1: does recommend very strongly against home birth and even during
Speaker 1: a pandemic, actually especially during a pandemic, since hospitals can
Speaker 1: take more of those safety precautions to protect you and
Speaker 1: your baby than you could take it home, and they
Speaker 1: do so. If you are even thinking about a home birth,
Speaker 1: first make sure that you fit that low risk profile,
Speaker 1: and also that you can find a certified nurse midwife
Speaker 1: who does home birth and is backed up by a
Speaker 1: consulting physician. And that alone isn't so easy because certified
Speaker 1: nurse midwise most of them do all of their deliveries
Speaker 1: in hospitals. Actually, you also need to make sure that
Speaker 1: transportation is going to be available in case you need
Speaker 1: a very fast ride to a hospital that's hopefully very
Speaker 1: very nearby, and especially during a pandemic when emergency response
Speaker 1: is stretched so thin, and maybe when you don't necessarily
Speaker 1: want to roll up to the hospital at the emergency
Speaker 1: department entrance instead of the labor and delivery department. Now
Speaker 1: a good compromise our accredited birth centers. If your low risk,
Speaker 1: you prefer to play it safer, since you'll get the
Speaker 1: low tech birth, you know, a more relaxed and comfortable
Speaker 1: environment than a hospital provides. You'll be delivered by a
Speaker 1: midwife in a tub if you want to, because hospitals,
Speaker 1: for the most part don't do some will, but most
Speaker 1: don't do water births. Although you can often labor in
Speaker 1: a tub in a hospital, what you're not going to
Speaker 1: get is an epidural if you end up wanting one
Speaker 1: or you end up needing one, and you'll still need
Speaker 1: to be transported if there was an emergency. But also
Speaker 1: you've got to remember that, depending on what's on your
Speaker 1: birth plan, you might be able to get everything you want,
Speaker 1: or at least most of what you're looking for in
Speaker 1: a hospital birth also, and that's especially true if you
Speaker 1: choose a midwife to deliver your baby. Plus you'll have
Speaker 1: the security of knowing that you've got your medical basis
Speaker 1: covered and your baby's medical basis covered just in case. Okay,
Speaker 1: but what exactly should a birth plan include? Well, it
Speaker 1: depends on you. If you're only going to have enough
Speaker 1: things to fit on a post it, well then that me.
Speaker 1: That me. But they can be encyclopedic and people take
Speaker 1: them very very seriously, and they should if that's what
Speaker 1: they want absolutely everything spelled out in micro detail. They
Speaker 1: can also be super laid back, just a few key
Speaker 1: bullet points, but you need to put in what's important
Speaker 1: to you or what feels important to you now, understanding
Speaker 1: that things could change. So having a duela and your
Speaker 1: partner there plus other guests if they're allowed, being able
Speaker 1: to eat if you're hungry, going unmedicated, or signing up
Speaker 1: for the epidural, having a berthing bar or a berthing
Speaker 1: stool or a chair, using warm compresses and paraneal massage
Speaker 1: to help facilitate labor and delivery, and avoiding an episiotomy
Speaker 1: or a catheter or an ivy delayed chord clamping, chord
Speaker 1: blick election, having dad cut the cord, or even catching
Speaker 1: the baby. Now, the option of trying for v back,
Speaker 1: which is a vaginal birth after cesarean instead of opting
Speaker 1: for a scheduled repeat c section is something that's more
Speaker 1: available than ever, and lots of moms are having successful
Speaker 1: feedbacks or having a gentle c section. That's something that's
Speaker 1: new or newer. So for instance, the lights might be lower,
Speaker 1: soft music, a clear drape, and any monitors and equipment.
Speaker 1: It's going to be strategically placed on one side so
Speaker 1: that you'll be able to do skinned skin immediately after
Speaker 1: the baby arrives and even breastfeed right away as long
Speaker 1: as there's no emergency. And of course you can also
Speaker 1: add any special requests about the placenta, like seeing it
Speaker 1: or saving it. Okay for what, some moms end up
Speaker 1: popping it, so they haven't made into popping it as
Speaker 1: in a capsule. They have made into drops or into capsules,
Speaker 1: and that's called placental encapsulation. Yes, a lot of people
Speaker 1: I know have done that. People swear by it. So
Speaker 1: those who do it, they say that it improves your
Speaker 1: postpartum mood, and it boost your energy, and it helps
Speaker 1: with milks supply. And there's no scientific evidence that it
Speaker 1: does any of those though that definitely could be a
Speaker 1: placebo effect, but there is some concern about bacterial contamination.
Speaker 1: So it's a conversation to have with your provider ahead
Speaker 1: of time, you know, food for thought. And yes, some
Speaker 1: moms do eat it or bring it home to barry.
Speaker 1: I have actually seen that done a lot in Africa.
Speaker 1: In fact, in one African village we were in, moms
Speaker 1: weren't coming to the clinic and the clinic realized it
Speaker 1: was because they were afraid the placenta would be taken
Speaker 1: away from them so they wouldn't be able to bury it.
Speaker 1: Fun fact, after I gave birth to Sebastian, Lennox came
Speaker 1: in the room and he was like amazed by my
Speaker 1: placenta that was just sitting in a bucket and my
Speaker 1: o b let him put on gloves and touch it.
Speaker 1: It's an incredible organ. Okay, So one day you think
Speaker 1: moms need to be more flexible with their birth plan.
Speaker 1: Always you can engrave it in stone or even in sharpie.
Speaker 1: You know, flexibility is the most important feature of a
Speaker 1: good birth plan. And not just the flexibility that you
Speaker 1: need to twist yourself into those preferred pushing positions, but
Speaker 1: flexibility in your plan because remember, chances are good that
Speaker 1: everything's going to go according to plan. You know, if
Speaker 1: your plan is realistic and it was approved by your provider,
Speaker 1: but you cannot predict how your labor is going to
Speaker 1: progress or not progress, and whether you'll end up needing
Speaker 1: a procedure that you were hoping to void or you
Speaker 1: end up wanting one. Like let's say you were dead
Speaker 1: set against having an epidural and then somewhere around six
Speaker 1: centimeters you become dead set. I haven't one that can
Speaker 1: happen too. Yes, I know a lot of people that
Speaker 1: has happened too, and that's okay. It's not a bad thing. No,
Speaker 1: of course it's not. Of course, you can change your
Speaker 1: birth plan in the middle and you're still going to
Speaker 1: give birth, so exactly, and that's why flexibility is so key. Okay,
Speaker 1: So what about cord blood clamping, banking collection? What do
Speaker 1: we need to know about this? Because this is something
Speaker 1: that I did with both of my pregnancies, and I'm
Speaker 1: really glad I did, but I do remember doing delayed clamping.
Speaker 1: Is that part of it? Yes, you can actually do
Speaker 1: the delayed clamping plus the cord blood collection, so plamping
Speaker 1: is given. I mean, you're you're not going to bring
Speaker 1: your baby home with the cord in the placenta attached.
Speaker 1: So for the record, that is a thing, and it's
Speaker 1: called a lotus birth. You leave the cord and pla
Speaker 1: sent to attached to the baby until it falls off naturally,
Speaker 1: and it's really not medically recommended at all, so it's
Speaker 1: probably something you should not add to your birth plan.
Speaker 1: But delayed chord clamping for a few minutes to allow
Speaker 1: for a baby to soak up the most benefits possible
Speaker 1: from that blood rich chord before it's cut. Is something
Speaker 1: you should talk to your doctor or midwife about ahead
Speaker 1: of time. It's recommended by w h O, and it's
Speaker 1: done routinely and a lot of hospitals and by a
Speaker 1: lot of doctors in midwives. But absolutely talk this over
Speaker 1: ahead of time and specify what your wishes are about
Speaker 1: delaying cord blood clamping. Now ask for cord blood collection
Speaker 1: and banking. That is something you definitely cannot walk. I
Speaker 1: guess I should say wattle into the labor and delivery
Speaker 1: for and request at the last minute. You're gonna need
Speaker 1: to plan ahead, even if you don't have an official
Speaker 1: birth plan. So first of all, you might be wondering
Speaker 1: what exactly is in cord blood that makes it special
Speaker 1: enough to save, And in fact, there's a lot in
Speaker 1: that cord blood. It's packed with stem cells. These include
Speaker 1: cells with the incredible capacity to be turned into any
Speaker 1: other kind of blood and imane cell. So cord blood
Speaker 1: cells and you can also collect and store placental blood
Speaker 1: and tissue, which contain even more stem cells. Is already
Speaker 1: being used in the treatment of blood diseases like leukemia
Speaker 1: and sickle cell anemia. As well as some immune cell disorders,
Speaker 1: but there's way more potential in those cells, and researchers
Speaker 1: are looking into them as treatment for autism, cerebral policy,
Speaker 1: and many many other conditions. Right now, there are two
Speaker 1: kinds of banking, private which you have collected and stored
Speaker 1: at your own expense, but you have access to if
Speaker 1: your baby or someone else in your family ends up
Speaker 1: needing it, and public, which you don't pay for and
Speaker 1: you don't control. So once it's collected, it goes to
Speaker 1: a public bank, just like blood does for used by
Speaker 1: whoever ends up needing it. It's important to have this
Speaker 1: conversation with your doctor midwife really earlier because you're going
Speaker 1: to have to have all your core blood duties in
Speaker 1: a row by thirty four weeks the latest, and that
Speaker 1: includes signing up. My take on this, the A p
Speaker 1: S take on this, and a cogs cord. Blood is
Speaker 1: a terrible thing to waste, so instead of tossing it,
Speaker 1: which happens in the case of most chords, consider banking it.
Speaker 1: If costs is not an object, you can pank it privately,
Speaker 1: so you can think of it as insurance you're probably
Speaker 1: never gonna end up tapping into it, but it's there
Speaker 1: just in case. If costs is a concern and it
Speaker 1: is a pricey proposition, especially because you have yearly storage
Speaker 1: fees stacked on, definitely go for the public option. I
Speaker 1: mean someone, maybe even your own little one one day,
Speaker 1: might benefit from those cells, and the medical waste been
Speaker 1: definitely will not benefit from them. Also, siblings to write,
Speaker 1: potentially siblings. It's really an amazing thing. I'm really glad
Speaker 1: I did it. I'm really a fan of the public
Speaker 1: option just because you know, then it's accessible to everyone,
Speaker 1: and hopefully that would mean that more families would do
Speaker 1: it and we'd have more colored blood to to tap from.
Speaker 1: What childbirth classes should parents to be looking too? I mean,
Speaker 1: we didn't do it because I knew I want an
Speaker 1: epidural on that ship. Okay, so number one, you did,
Speaker 1: and every mom and dad should take a baby CPR class.
Speaker 1: That's super important no matter what you decided to do
Speaker 1: in childbirth. But you know, I always suggest taking childbirth
Speaker 1: education classes even if you're pretty positive that you have
Speaker 1: zero interest in breathing your way through labor and delivery.
Speaker 1: And that's because a good class is going to teach
Speaker 1: you plenty more than natural childbirth techniques no matter how
Speaker 1: you end up delivering, including by C section or with
Speaker 1: an epidural. And plus, if the classes are offered through
Speaker 1: your hospital or your provider, then they're going to give
Speaker 1: you a much more accurate idea of what you're going
Speaker 1: to expect at your delivery. And there are tons of
Speaker 1: you know, different techniques to choose from. There's Lamas, there's Bradley.
Speaker 1: You can take any of them online or on zoom.
Speaker 1: But I actually happened. I never have done it myself,
Speaker 1: but I've heard such amazing things from moms. I'm a
Speaker 1: huge fan of hypno berthing, which it sounds very Vegas,
Speaker 1: but it's not like, you know, you go into a
Speaker 1: trance and bark like a dog or something, and yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just that you learn how to put yourself into
Speaker 1: a deep state of relaxation and itself hypnosis so that
Speaker 1: you can, at least to some extent, block out the pain.
Speaker 1: And for some moms it's incredibly effective. They can block
Speaker 1: out all the pain. For some it's just getting super relaxed.
Speaker 1: And it really it's something you can learn in class
Speaker 1: and then put to good use much later on when
Speaker 1: you have a newborn and you really need to find
Speaker 1: your your mom home when the baby's crying and you're
Speaker 1: on your third diaper blowout of the morning and the
Speaker 1: washing machine is on the blank You know that kind
Speaker 1: of day. We all have them. Okay, so Simon cuts
Speaker 1: Sebby's cord, but he didn't catch him. Is that something
Speaker 1: that dad's really do? They seem so slippery and gooey.
Speaker 1: Dad's cannon often do cut the cord, keeping in mind
Speaker 1: that a in case he's worried it doesn't hurt the
Speaker 1: mom or the baby to cut the cord. And be
Speaker 1: cords are way tougher to cut through than you'd think.
Speaker 1: And see if there's a complication, you know, he might
Speaker 1: get cut out of the deal entirely. But as far
Speaker 1: as dad actually catching the baby as the baby is born,
Speaker 1: it's done more at home birthts than in hospitals. But
Speaker 1: when it's done in a hospital it's called the three
Speaker 1: handed catch. It's more of a symbolic catch. So dad
Speaker 1: lends a helping gloved hand to the doctor. Midwives capable
Speaker 1: and trained to gloved hands. And it's nice too because
Speaker 1: you know, without adding too much responsibility, gets to participate
Speaker 1: in the birth. And yeah, babies are slippery. What about
Speaker 1: duelas And you know, honestly, I'm not sure I could
Speaker 1: have fit one in my room because I literally had
Speaker 1: everyone in there. But a lot of my friends have duelas,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people I've talked to you on
Speaker 1: social have had dulas are planning on having dula's. Dulas
Speaker 1: are amazing. Yeah, I am a huge Dula fan. And
Speaker 1: if I had my way, and hopefully one day I will,
Speaker 1: any mom who wanted a dulah would be provided a
Speaker 1: dulah and it would be covered by insurance. So moms
Speaker 1: who needed that support most like single moms or military moms,
Speaker 1: would definitely get it. And doula is a concept that
Speaker 1: dates back to the days of ancient Greece, but it
Speaker 1: has for sure made to come back. Dulah it's your
Speaker 1: designated support person. She and sometimes say there are few
Speaker 1: maale duelas out there, is by your side the entire
Speaker 1: time you're in labor, even before you head to the hospital.
Speaker 1: She does not take the place of your partner and
Speaker 1: your coach. She's more of a supportive supplement. She's there
Speaker 1: to give you soothing, massages to get you into more
Speaker 1: comfortable positions to comfort you, to cheer you on, and
Speaker 1: plus answer any questions you have when there's no doctor
Speaker 1: or nurse around, because often they're definitely not going to
Speaker 1: be in the room all the time like she is.
Speaker 1: And also advocate for you when you're too exhausted or
Speaker 1: you're too overwhelmed to speak up for yourself. And she's
Speaker 1: she's going to help guide you when it's time to push,
Speaker 1: and she's gonna help you get started on breastfeeding. And
Speaker 1: she can even stick around postpartum. There are postpartum tools,
Speaker 1: and that's when you're probably gonna need the support just
Speaker 1: as much, if not more. What a doula won't do
Speaker 1: is deliver your baby. She'll leave that to the medical professionals.
Speaker 1: And we are going to talk more about Dula's later
Speaker 1: on in the episode. My gosh, I want a duela
Speaker 1: in life just to like guide me through. Okay, now,
Speaker 1: can we speak my language here? Epidural? You know my
Speaker 1: opinion pro epidural, But what's your opinion here? I think
Speaker 1: you know this, but my opinion is it's your decision,
Speaker 1: a hud your decision, a thousand percent your decision, assuming
Speaker 1: there's no medical reason why you need to have an
Speaker 1: epidural or any other form of anesthesia. Your opinion is
Speaker 1: the only one that matters. Nobody else gets to vote.
Speaker 1: I know it's a hot button issue, and I don't
Speaker 1: want to push anyone's buttons out there because that is
Speaker 1: so not what we do here on what to expect
Speaker 1: right now, Mom, we don't. But I do firmly believe
Speaker 1: it's your body, your birth, and your choice. And epidurals
Speaker 1: are safe. You know, they're mostly effective. They don't sedate
Speaker 1: the baby. They don't slow down your labor, though they
Speaker 1: might possibly slow down when it comes to pushing, you
Speaker 1: might be pushing a little bit longer. But you can
Speaker 1: have one anytime you'd like during labor once you get
Speaker 1: to the hospital. Of course, you can't do that at home,
Speaker 1: and as soon as you can get an anthesiologist. But
Speaker 1: you know, you may have heard that how being an
Speaker 1: epidural increases your risk of a c section, but it doesn't.
Speaker 1: And what you won't be able to do if you
Speaker 1: have an epidural is have flexibility in your labor and
Speaker 1: delivery positions. Since you won't be mobile, you're not going
Speaker 1: to be able to walk around even if you have
Speaker 1: the so called walking epidural. You're gonna be hooked up
Speaker 1: to a monitor and an i V and probably a catheter,
Speaker 1: and so you'll have to stay mostly in bed. But
Speaker 1: the bottom line is, if you'd like your bottom line
Speaker 1: to be as pain free as possible during labor and delivery,
Speaker 1: you can feel good or even great about checking epidural
Speaker 1: please on your birth plan. I mean, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: you can feel just as good about checking unmedicated please
Speaker 1: if that's your labor and delivery bist case, that's the
Speaker 1: birth you've always dreamed of. And you can always change
Speaker 1: your mind in the moment if you decide you want
Speaker 1: an epidural, or you decide I don't need one, after all,
Speaker 1: everything's going pretty quickly. I can handle this either way.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing, though, Any labor and delivery that results
Speaker 1: in a healthy baby and a healthy mom is a success.
Speaker 1: That's whether it's medicated or unmedicated, vaginal or cesarean. And
Speaker 1: don't let anyone anyone tell you otherwise. Here's distressing less
Speaker 1: and enjoying those last weeks before babies arrival more. You
Speaker 1: can do this, Mama, And as we always say, Emma,
Speaker 1: if you can do it, anybody can do it right.
Speaker 1: You know that's really true because like, honestly, I think
Speaker 1: the bottom line is that you can't let anyone decide
Speaker 1: for you, not the Peanut Gallery, not even baby Daddy.
Speaker 1: If he's like no epidural, you say yes the pidarl
Speaker 1: you win and just have a beautiful labor and delivery.
Speaker 1: You got this right, absolutely, baby a baby belof I
Speaker 1: need you, Oh how I need you. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 1: Remember I'm always here for you. What to Expect is
Speaker 1: always here for you who are all in this together.
Speaker 1: For more on what you heard on today's episodes, visit
Speaker 1: what to Expect dot com slash podcast. You can also
Speaker 1: check out what to Expect when You're Expecting, What to
Speaker 1: Expect the First Year, and the What to Expect app.
Speaker 1: And we want to hear from you. Connect with us
Speaker 1: on our community message board or on our social media.
Speaker 1: You can find me at Heidi Murkoff and Emma at
Speaker 1: Emma Being w t E and of course at What
Speaker 1: to Expect. Baby Love is performed by Riley Biter. What
Speaker 1: to Expect is a production of I Heart Radio. From
Speaker 1: more shows from I Heart Radio, check out the I
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows. In my arms, what on shta A kneed? Kneeda,
Speaker 1: baby Love, Baby Low,