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Dear Jackie
This piece is not merely a "male
perspective"
I would title it something else so more midwives
and other birth attendants will read it.
The impact of fear on birth??
Denise
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2001 9:44
AM
Subject: Male's Perspective.
Hi all,
I have just had this
perspective on birth shared with me. It is to be placed on the Birthrites
website, but I thought I would share it with you all first. If any of you have
a male’s perspective on birth, or can nudge your partner into sharing his
thoughts/feelings re birth, I’d love to receive their/your stories. Please
don’t reproduce this one without the author’s permission. Take care all,
BB
Jackie Mawson.
========================
Male's Perspective
Needed on VBAC
From: Jackie Mawson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Dear Jackie
while this article is not specifically about VBAC the ideas
discussed may
help prevent unnecessary C's from having to be undergone.
If you have any
queries please don't hesitate to contact us.
Best wishes,
Rayner and
Sachi Garner
FAILURE TO PROGRESS
When we conceived a daughter in
1980 we both wanted to have as natural
birth as possible. We had read
Childbirth Without Fear by Dr. Grantly
Dick-Read and much of what he wrote
seemed very sound to us. So we
prepared as thoroughly as we could.
Sachi's grandmother had delivered two children by herself while
working
on a sugar plantation in Hawaii, so we had a precedent, and we
read
whatever we could find, particularly on other cultures practices
and
attitudes to birth. So we felt confident that we would be unlikely
to
need specialised intervention and care. We also spent a great deal
of
time throughout the pregnancy, ventilating our concerns and
anxieties
about birth and our relationship.
As this was Sachi's
first birth we decided to have a midwife although we
were tempted to go it
alone. We found a very competent, kind and
attentive midwife and we were
set. When Sachis's waters broke her
contractions came in very strong and
powerful and we both felt that it
was only a short time before she would
give birth. To our surprise as
soon as the midwife and two friends who were
going to give support
arrived, everything stopped! Sachi's contractions
ceased, and she had
lost her serene look and had become agitated and
restless. When I looked
at her closely I could see that she was breathing
rapidly, had dilated
pupils, and was starting to shiver. (Some of the
classic symptoms of the
flight or fight syndrome).
So I sent our
friends and the midwife out of the room to make tea, and
told them some
issues had come up which we needed to deal with. Not to
worry about any
noise that may be made. Then I encouraged Sachi to get
angry and she began
to beat on pillows, kicked out with her legs and
screamed with rage. As
soon as she stopped, as if on cue her
contractions restarted, and we called
the midwife and friends back in.
(As flight is not an option, the
mother will need to discharge the
Adrenaline with physical exertion. One of
the best ways to trigger rage
is to get the birthing mother to crouch on
the bed or floor on her hands
and knees, and start to roar like a lion from
a deep a place in her
belly as she can. For some reason this seems to
release hidden rage.
Then if she is encouraged to beat on pillows or a
mattress this will
discharge the adrenaline, and contractions will then
resume without
extreme pain.)
It was the most amazing, and moving
experience of my life to be there,
kneeling on the bed with cupped hands
ready to receive Fonda. Sachi was
squatting with our friends behind her
partly supporting her, relaxed and
in control, when Fonda's head emerged.
Fonda opened her eyes, (our only
light source were candles,) and I became
totally lost in those deep
brown eyes that seemed to be so full of old
wisdom and love. Then with a
slight wiggle the rest of her emerged and I
placed her lovingly on
Sachi's breast.
After the birth was over we
got to thinking, why was the flight or fight
reaction stimulated? Then we
realised that although the midwife was very
warm and loving we didn't
really know her. Unconsciously Sachi may have
felt a threat to her survival
and reacted accordingly. That in spite of
her preparations, classes in
prenatal yoga, relaxation classes and her
conscious knowledge of how kind
and loving her midwife was, her
primitive self had automatically reacted
and closed down.
All species are equipped with this flight or fight
mechanism in order to
get away or fight off any predator that interrupts,
or invades the
birthing environment. We obviously posses this same
primitive response
judging by the number of births which I have attended
where this same
phenomenon occurred, the reports that I have read, or heard
about
since our birth; of failure to progress, or a birthing mother
arriving
at a hospital only to find her contractions stopped and her
cervix
ceasing to dilate. On being sent home, contractions will often
restart
and sometimes birth will take place in the car or ambulance on the
way
back to the hospital.
I think that the power of this unconscious
mechanism has been
underestimated. Many parents that I have talked to have
been
disappointed and sometimes felt wanting, that in spite of all
their
preparations, Bradley and Lamaze classes, etc., their birth was
very
painful and distressing. That in many cases medical intervention
became
necessary because of the threat of foetal distress.
There are
cultures that only employ midwives who have been lived in
close proximity
with the birthing mother all her life or close relatives
who will not
arouse that unconscious reaction. In such cultures labour
often takes
minutes once the water bag has broken, and discomfort is
minimal. (I
suspect that if there are unexpressed antagonisms, and
hostilities present
between caregiver and birthing mother this may still
create tension, and
delay birth no matter how accustomed to each other
they may be.)
Dr.
Grantly Dick-Read writes: Fear is the natural protective emotion
without
which few of us would remain alive for many days. Its intensity
varies from
precaution and doubt to uncontrollable terror. Even mild
anxiety can make a
woman tense, thus causing the circular muscles to
resist the expulsive
muscles of the uterus. A tense woman has a tense
outlet to the uterus,
giving rise to the saying "Tense woman - tense
cervix." A tense cervix
means a long and painful labour in the majority
of cases, for the mother is
closing the door against the progress of her
baby from the
uterus.
For some time now I have been suggesting to physicians,
midwives, and
doulas, that greater awareness is directed at diagnosing the
arousal
syndrome and taking steps to help the birthing mother to discharge
the
adrenaline which is in her bloodstream, before using pharmaceuticals
to
mask the pain.
An alternative would be for private birthing
rooms to be equipped with a
video camera, and a two way wireless, and the
birth monitored by health
professionals in an adjoining room or central
viewing station. Part of
the prenatal caring would be to instruct the
mother to be and her
companion in the simple practice of an uncomplicated
birth. Without
comparative strangers present the flight or fight reaction
may not be
stimulated. If complications arise, qualified help is
immediately on
hand, and the safety and comfort of the two most important
people, the
mother and child, would be assured.
Rayner
Garner
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