Birthing Methods

PSY-225

1-7-2014

Methods of Birth Assessment

Bringing a child into the world is a long tiring process for an expectant mother to be. There are many different birthing methods. It is usually the mother’s personal choice as to how the child is birthed. However in some cases during labor another method may be used as an alternative. If a mother or her child seem to be in danger during birth then medical attention may be vital to insure a healthy delivery for both mother and child.

A natural birth is when a mother decides to give birth without medical intervention. Some women prefer to have the full experience of childbirth free from any drugs or medications. There are various reasons a mother may not want to expose their baby to the drugs and toxins that may be injected into her intravenously. Motherhood is a very memorable process that a mother may not wish to have dulled or hazy from pain killing drugs.

Medical childbirth is a birth that takes place in a hospital under the care of a medical professional. Medical birthing gives a mother piece of mind if anything should go wrong in her delivery, that she is already under a doctor’s care and should a problem arise it can be addressed. Babies as well as mother’s can be at risk during delivery such as breech babies or a sudden drop in the baby or mother’s heart rate or blood pressure can be fatal if not taken care of quickly. Also a doctor can help speed up the birthing process with a drug called Oxytocin or better known as Pitocin. Pitocin brings on or strengthens labor contractions during childbirth. It can also used to control bleeding after childbirth.

A cesarean section also referred to as a C-section is a procedure where a doctor cuts through the wall of a mother’s abdomen to deliver a baby. A C-section is necessary in many different labor situations such as if a baby is breech meaning the babies feet or buttocks are coming first as opposed to the head...