Ask any mother how she can describe childbirth and the answers will be as varied as each woman labours differently.
It can be as dramatic, protracted and painful as it can be magical and trans-formative many mums will happily admit to having enjoyed their labours.
But while our bodies are geared to helping us through childbirth – even before that first contraction when our hormones soften the ligaments in the pelvis – the impact, both physical and mental, can be huge.
Factor in a reluctance to often talk openly about what actually happens during during and after birth – and no wonder many mums-to-be have developed very specific concerns.
These are the reasons that brings fear in childbirth
1. Episiotomy/surgical cut
It’s done in an emergency to quicken the birth.Healing times vary in women. The deeper the tear or cut, the longer it may take to heal.
2. Difficulty enjoying sex after childbirth
Owing to the effects of an episiotomy / vaginal tearing, many women understandably are concerned their sex lives will change.
New mums should speak to their obstetrician, midwife in the six weeks after childbirth if they are experiencing problems in this area.
3. Stillbirth
Stillbirth is when a baby dies 24 weeks or more into the pregnancy, but before birth. Eleven babies are stillborn every day in the UK.
4. Accidental bowel / bladder movement during birth
It is a completely normal thing to do when pushing out a baby, that whatever is in front of the babies head will need to come out first.
This is simple normal physiology. Should it happen, it wouldn’t bother the birth attendants one bit.”
5. A C-section
Falling in to two categories (elective and emergency),the UK rate has risen to about 25 per cent in recent years.
According to the NHS, in most cases, it takes longer to recover from a caesarean section than it does after a vaginal delivery.
You should update your midwife if you suffer from symptoms such as severe pain, leaking urine, excessive vaginal bleeding, swelling or pain in your calf.
Babies born still inside the amniotic sac are more common during caesareans
6. Meconium
Meconium is a soft greenish black sticky substance that sits in the baby’s gut.It is there from about 16 weeks’ gestation and is made up of matter the foetus has swallowed and generated in the intestine during pregnancy.
Nothing can be done about it being present ,but do inform your midwife about any concerns.
If the foetus becomes distressed in labour it will open its bowels and pass meconium which will stain the normally clear or straw coloured liquor (amniotic fluid) green or black.
7. Cord around the baby’s neck
High percentage of babies have their cords loosely looped about their bodies somewhere.However, in some instances, it can tighten and cause the baby distress.
If this is not possible, the cord may be clamped and cut to allow delivery of the rest of the baby.However, this is increasingly not recommended because touching the cord may interfere with its function.
The umbilical chord can stretched or get compressed, leading to brief drops in fetal heart rate
8. Giving birth prematurely
Understandably, pre-term births are cause of anxiety for expectant mums.A pre-term birth, one that happens before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy, is the leading cause of newborn deaths and the second leading cause of deaths in children under five.
9. Pain
A lot has been said recently about how we address pain in childbirth – or if it should even be addressed at all.But one thing every expectant mum should do is be surrounded by people whom she trusts, no matter how she chooses to give birth.