Quote:
Originally Posted by ISUKappa
However, there is some merit for having a drug-free birth. Everything I've read, and the friends I've talked to who have had a natural childbirth, say their baby is more awake and alert right after delivery, responds to nursing right away better and the recovery was much less painful than if they had a previous medicated birth.
|
If you just have an epidural it doesn't affect the child because the drugs aren't in your bloodstream, but in your epidural space. It's a type of nerve block, and while I don't understand the biology myself well enough to explain it, I had two separate individuals, an anesthesiologist and a neonatologist, explain to me that it was different, didn't have an affect on the baby, and that women who refused epidurals for that reason were (in their opinions) dumb.