Thinking About an Epidural?

I recently explored the lesser known risks of epidural analgesia on The Healthy Home Economist.

In this way, a natural birth is an opportunity for redefinition and reconnection to one’s most core self. It is the way women were intended to pass through the gates of motherhood, to the next chapter of their actualization...

If you buy the potential significance of these considerations, you may want to know what represents your greatest obstacle and impediment in achieving this life milestone. You may be surprised to learn that it is epidural analgesia. This discussion is meant to shine a light on elective epidurals – that, “Why not? Who wants to feel crazy intense pain?” choice that 2/3rds of women (and up to 90% in some hospitals) opt for every day. In my opinion, the epidural intervention is the most reprehensible of all – because of its largely dismissed risk profile, and because of its auspicious position in a cascade of interventions, unnecessary, ill-conceived, and rife with unintended consequences including death.

Read the full article here to discover the relevance of this medical intervention to mother and baby, and learn about alternative labor support options.