The conclusion?..." 'But what that tells us is that women whose
labor will ultimately fail are more likely to experience a level
of pain that will prompt them to call for an epidural, not that
the epidural itself causes labor failure,' says Steven Fogel, MD,
the study's lead author."

I'm sorry but I have a big problem with that statement.  I believe
that what leads women to call for an epidural is not merely pain
level, but percieved pain and coping skills.  I was so well educated
wrt birth and so well supported during my second labor that although I
was in intense pain, I knew I would be foolish to call for pain relief
of that type.  When I *did* seek something to take the edge off and a
drug I had no experience with was offered, I merely asked my doula
"what is the worst you have ever seen happen with Stadol?"  Took about
30 seconds after that to decide it was a bad idea.  For me.

My thoughts on why women ask for pain meds, specifically epidurals?
Lack of knowledge on the part of their husband (men aren't in labor
but they don't like to see their loved ones in pain- they seek a
solution), lack of appropriate labor support (face it- most L&D nurses
can't provide what a woman needs for every single contraction), lack
of knowledge about what is going to occur when the epidural is given
(staying in bed, feeling of helplessness) and labor induction.
Doulas can decrease the percieved pain, and I certainly learned that
from having a wonderful doula. (Hi Darcy- are you on Lactnet right
now?)  There also may be the unrealistic approach some women have
toward what the experience of birth is.  To my mind, it is a
psycosexual event of great magnitude in a woman's life.  It is not
merely a baby-obtaining chore.




==

Kate Hallberg, mom to Ursula (11-23-94) and Sage (4-13-97)
Palo Alto, California for a year- and loving it!
Home page- http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~kolina/



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