lamaze vs. bradley method

[pacmrc]

I am a first year rn and am going to also be a first time mom. I am wondering what everyones opinion is in regards to lamaze and the bradley method. I of course would like to have a natural child birth, but am not ruling out the idea of an epidural. what kind of experiences have any of the ob nurses seen w/ 1st times moms with either of these methods, what are your personal experiences? thanks!

[Altalorraine]

I find it sad that you would tell someone this. Everyone is different and percieves pain differently and is able to use the resources differently.

Since I agree with you, I can't really figure out what it is you think I'm telling her.

Preparing yourself and arming yourself with the tools you need to manage labor is important. Saying, "I'll wait and see" greatly decreases your chances of a successful natural birth and increases your vulnerability to institutional practices and pressures that have little to do with the health of mother and baby and everything to do with provider convenience.

Altalorraine

[midwife2b]

In my opinion, with this kind of attitude you're not going to end up with a natural birth. In this day and age, a natural birth happens as a result of a deliberate decision (or a precipitous delivery at home). Women often say, "I'll wait and see." but transition isn't the time to make that decision. A natural birth requires skills to manage labor. Bradley Method will give you those.

Altalorraine

Rather than paraphrase what she said, I'm going to just say "yeah that!"

Bradley techniques will help get through the tough times. I really wish we could incorporate Bradley/Lamaze?HypnoBirthing and BirthWorks so women and support persons would have lots of choices and strategies.

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

I will be honest here I have heard of these methods but never took classes on them or anything. I have had 5 children and its fixin to be 6, have had them with no pain relief and had to be induced with everyone (pit). The two things I use more than anything is a focal point and I learned after baby #1 that you must work with your contractions instead of working against them. I dont like epidurals because I cant stand the pressure they place on your back while putting them in ( I almost had one once) and right after birth (and I mean minutes ) I get up to shower. It all by individual choice and whats best for you and baby. Im one of these people that has her baby on her lunch break then heads back to the office...

[Almabella]

Check out www.hypnobabies.com

I used this method for the birth of my son and it was wonderful. Totally pain free (lots of pressure tho), unmedicated, natural birth in a hospital. Highly recommend it to everyone.

I'm currently pregnant and very interested in learning more about hypnosis during labor. Has anyone else used this method? Did you just study at home? Sorry, a little off topic from the original post, but related.

[tinyscrafts]

In my opinion, with this kind of attitude you're not going to end up with a natural birth. In this day and age, a natural birth happens as a result of a deliberate decision (or a precipitous delivery at home). Women often say, "I'll wait and see." but transition isn't the time to make that decision. A natural birth requires skills to manage labor. Bradley Method will give you those.

Altalorraine

I was exactly like this and I did it. It's a new experience and one i wasn't going to put myself "out there" as only doing it one way. just be cause she says that doesn't mean she doesn't really want a natural birth. It is a heck of alot easier to get it if you go where they "get" natural labor though.

I've had clients use hypnobabies, It was great. my only beef is that it tends to say labor is excruciating if you dont' use drugs or hypnosis. It kind of perpetuates that idea to the public which isn't very helpful/great

[lovemyjob]

Since I agree with you, I can't really figure out what it is you think I'm telling her.

Preparing yourself and arming yourself with the tools you need to manage labor is important. Saying, "I'll wait and see" greatly decreases your chances of a successful natural birth and increases your vulnerability to institutional practices and pressures that have little to do with the health of mother and baby and everything to do with provider convenience.

Altalorraine

I dont think we agree....

I felt like you were implying that if she ended up with an epidural, then she didnt prepare well enough or maybe didnt want it bad enough. I think she is going about this the right way, by preparing herself by learning about the different methods, taking some classes, but realizing that if she can not manage her pain, an epidural is always an option she can resort to and not feel guilty about the choice. Beyond that, I have seen women who were so focused on having the perfect natural experience, that it was hard to cope with an emergency section or any other variance from their birthplan. So going intp the birthing experience with an open mind and the focus on going home from the hospital with a healthy happy viable baby is much more ideal. AND, from a provider (if you included nursing) point of view, there is nothing worse than to have a pt acccuse you and everyone else of trying to keep them from their baby or trying to hurt them or their baby when all you are trying to do is keep their baby from having what is more appropriately called a "bad outcome."

I dont see an epidural as provider convenience, but three minutes saved when an emergency c/s is required for a HR in the 50's...quicker baby is out, less likelihood of asphyxia. Or even better, mom gts to see her baby in its first moments of life, opposed to being intubated. There are lots of reasons for having/not having an epidural, but to give the notion that healthcare providers would rather a pt have one for convenience is a little unnerving. It perpetuates the conspiracy theories of the mean doctor/ nurse who doesnt care about pt personal decisions...

[Altalorraine]

I dont think we agree....

I felt like you were implying that if she ended up with an epidural, then she didnt prepare well enough or maybe didnt want it bad enough.

I think you are making a lot of assumptions about what I'm saying. I said nothing about strict adherence to birth plans or conspiracies. I'm not anti-epidural. If someone wants an epidural, more power to her!

My original post was not about epidurals at all; it was about natural birth, which is more than not getting an epidural.

What I'm saying is that a woman who doesn't really know what she wants and isn't prepared is more likely to be swayed by institutional practices and interventions under a time of great stress. Those institutional practices include continuous fetal monitoring which usually inhibits movement, pitocin augmentation, not feeding a laboring patient, and pressure to "get her delivered". These practices are not conspiracies, but they are very common, and they are disempowering. And they get in the way of natural birth.

A woman who is told time and again, "Take the epidural, you're going to need it!" "Why suffer, what's the point?" "It's only going to get worse." or "The anesthesiologist might be busy later." (things I hear from patients' friends/families and from staff every day) is not very likely to be able to "go natural" if she is not prepared with alternative pain management strategies.

A woman who doesn't prepare by eating well, exercising, and taking other steps to lower her risk of complications is more likely to need intervention. (How many women think in terms of building a really healthy placenta?)

Back to the original post- pacmrc wrote, "I of course would like to have a natural birth...." My response was trying to point out that a natural birth is not a vague wish. If you want it in this day and age, you need to prepare for it.

Altalorraine

[OB_or_NICU_hopeful]

Altalorraine ~ as a mom, I understand what you are saying & agree 100%.

The same thing happens with breastfeeding.

[Natkat, BSN, MSN, RN]

I would echo what the others say. Inform yourself as much as you can, but be open to more traditional medical intervention if things go awry. Also if you find you can't deal with the pain, ask for medication. I had childbirth education classes years ago, and I found most of it to be useless when it came right down to it. I was very grateful for the pain meds and I was angry that in the classes they sort of made me feel like I was a failure if I needed pain meds. When I got in transition I just plain didn't care. I was hurting and needed some relief. I'm not familiar with the Bradley method but I'm sure it won't hurt to learn as much as you can about it.

Best of luck with you and your birth experience.

[Sable's mom]

To answer the OP's question re: Bradley vs. LaMaze:

my first child was lamaze - it didn't work very well in transition

my second was bradley - it worked great for me

Now, 28 years later, I tell any patients/family/etc that asks to take as many classes as possible, or read books on each potential method and then choose which one seems most like your personality, BUT remember that no childbirth prep method is foolproof and the health of mom and baby is the priority.

[htrn]

I have to admit that when I know a patient is a 'Bradley' patient I immediately get a little defensive - even before meeting the patient. My hit, my fault, my problem - I know - and I am trying to educate myself more on this method to work on my problem with it.:chair:

That said - It never seems to fail that patients with very concrete ideas of how their labor and birth is going to go always have problems, Murphey's Law. They end up with the 6 inch umbilical cord, triple nuchal cord, placental abruption, etc... and we end up racing to the back for a crash c-section

Healthy Mom and Healthy Baby - THE MOST IMPORTANT OUTCOME, regardless of how you get there. I do not 'impose' interventions on my labor patients to try and show them whose boss, whose in control, etc... I really and truely want moms to have the type of labor and delivery that they want and I work really hard to make that happen for them. BUT, things happen - labor doesn't progress, mom develops a fever, baby starts acting up with decels.

Sorry, but that's just me. I truely hope you have a wonderful labor and delivery, but most of all, I hope you and your baby are safe and healthy.

[hospitalstaph]

I'm currently pregnant and very interested in learning more about hypnosis during labor. Has anyone else used this method? Did you just study at home? Sorry, a little off topic from the original post, but related.

I took a hypnobirth class with my last baby. I had a HORRIBLE instructor. She was 50+ and had never had children, but repeatedly scolded us for not practicing for 1-2 hours a day despite having other children to care for. She also made a lot of statements like "Hypno moms NEVER tear, Hypno moms feel no pain, Hypno moms never have Csecs" Quite honestly she was an idiot. One of the other students in the class bought some tapes from another hypobirth instructor and talked to her via email. She went on to have a wonderful birth without drugs.

BTW, I also had a drug free delivery but used my own method. (I spent all 22 hours repeating to myself "this will not kill you" and it worked like a charm:) By far my favorite birth and the longest too.

T