Exploring Choices: Epidural

Hey Tranquility Tribe! In the mama-to-be world, there’s always tons of focus on medication-free childbirth and avoiding an epidural at all costs. However, there are plenty of women who get an epidural and make the choice to do so from the start. Today, we’re going to explore some of the reasons that a woman may want to get an epidural - it’s as valid of a choice as the one some women make to avoid an epidural at all costs!

Fear

While childbirth is a natural part of life, it can still feel so unknown and simply be scary as heck! The pain of labor can be a huge cause of anxiety and the numbing of that pain can help relax a woman and calm those anxious thoughts.

Feeling in control

With the pain of birth, it can be nearly impossible to focus on anything besides either the grips of a contraction or bracing for the next one. This can leave some women with a feeling of loss of control over themselves, which can be even more anxiety-producing. With an epidural, some women may feel that they are the one in control of their body, not their uterus’ pain.

No desire to feel sensations

For some women, they simply have no desire to feel the sensations of childbirth - and that’s okay! We live in the age of modern medicine and the opportunity to numb pain is a huge advantage of that. Some view the pain of labor as empowering - for others, it’s something that they would really rather avoid if possible. Some want to bask in the experience of birth without the pain distracting them from it, while others consider the pain to be the center of the experience. It is really a matter of preference!

At the end of the day, it’s about choice. If you want that epidural from the second you enter that hospital parking lot, that is your choice and you shouldn’t let others shame you into thinking less of yourself for it! Inform yourself of the risks and benefits long before you begin labor, make an informed choice, and advocate for yourself and that choice when you enter that hospital room.

Don’t forget to join our private Facebook, The Tranquility Tribe Podcast, and follow us on Instagram at @tranquilitybyhehe!

"Welcome to the Tranquility Tribe"

Comments

Vagina Whispering: Everyone's Doing It

Meet The Vagina Whisperer [This is also an episode of Friday Free Talk on The Tranquility Tribe Podcast on iTunes. Listen here .] Hey Tranquility Tribe! I’m so excited to bring you this episode of the Tranquility Tribe podcast! Today, Hehe talked to Sara Reardon, also known as the Vagina Whisperer. As you may be able to guess from her nickname, Sara is an expert in all things vagina, which means that this episode is full of super essential and often understated topics! Who is the Vagina Whisperer? Sara Reardon is a physical therapist who currently practices in New Orleans. She specializes in men and women’s pelvic floor health, and she is passionate about speaking up when it comes to treatment and prevention of pelvic health issues. By bringing humor to the often sensitive topic of staying healthy “down there,” Sara helps to unpack countless vagina-related topics that many women have experience with but few are comfortable talking about. In addition t

Sexual Wellness with Rebecca Alvarez Part 1 of 2

Sexual Wellness Products with Rebecca Alvarez (Part 1 of 2 of our interview derived from The Birth Lounge Podcast Episode 130 ) You GUYS. I am SO excited to bring this interview to life here on the blog. Did you know that 98% of all feminine care products has at least 1 toxic ingredient? That's scary! Rebecca Alvarez earned her BA in Women’s Health & Sexuality from UC Berkeley and her MA in Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State and is the founder of The Bloomi. She is joining me to dive deep into what’s wrong with traditional sexual wellness products, how to spot harmful ingredients and false labeling, and what you need to know about long term effects of these issues in sexual wellness and women’s health! So Let's have Rebecca introduce herself! Rebecca : I consider myself a sexual wellness expert. I'm also an entrepreneur and my passion is bringing clean intimate care products to women and femmes. I'm sure we'll talk about why that's important and wha

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays?

Do Inductions Really Rise Around the Holidays? As long as I can remember in my doula career, I have been told, both seriously and sarcastically, that inductions rise around the holidays because doctors want to control the births they will have to deliver on..let’s say Thanksgiving day or Christmas Day. I have to be honest in that I never really paid much attention to it because our team typically takes off the end of the year! It has been an intentional decision in years past to not take births in the months of December and January. This provided us with the time to disconnect, visit family and friends, and wrap up one year + dive into the next with a solid foundation. As you well know, 2020 has changed so much of what we knew and, for us, this meant not having the space to disconnect without leaving birthing people vulnerable in a global crisis and not traveling for this holidays. With this, we decided to work straight through 2020 into the start of 2021. And in this moment, the enti

The Birth Lounge Blog

Search This Blog