Questions and answers

Compare this section with Yahoo Answers and Google Answers. Questions are all related to becoming pregnant, pregnancy, birth and babies.
Go to the Questions and answers index

Epidural Vs natural birthing
Added: 919 days ago.
Added by: lisab123
Section: General.
Status: This question is Closed. (Questions will be closed after 10 days.)


Ok my friend is having a baby and I asked her if she was having and epidural and she said no she wants to bond right away with her baby. I said what does that mean. She said that if you have an epidural that it takes away from the rush after you have the baby and you dont bond right away. I had an epidural and had a great bonding experience with my son. Does anyone know any truth to this. I thought it was kind of bold of her to say!!!!

---

jennymomof3 - 917 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I can only speak for myself on the matter but I believe if I didn't feel the pain then I wouldn't appreciate being a mother so much. I've had two natural births and going for the third, but everyone is different and if you don't want natural then that's on you. I believe that there is indeed a rush and a very emotional expierence when you feel the baby come out and it's intense.

tamm - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) hey! no one is on a high horse. what is not proven (unfounded) is that a mother who has a natural birth "bonds" with her baby better than someone who has had an epidural. can you measure the degree of bonding? let me get my bond-ometer and do a massive clinical trial. it's a subjective thing, you have all your lives to bond, and to say "i bonded better than you did" is insulting. that is all.

our1st.girl - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had one with 3 out of 4 of my births the one that I didn't get one with I was so angry after wards the Dr. just kept apologizing....because i had asked for one and they didn't get in there in time and then it was to late I said a few choice words and it really took me a while to calm down...personally I recommend any form of pain medication it didn't effect the bond with my baby's...every one is different and all our pain tolerance is different so do what you need to do.

LoveChild - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had a epidural with both of my babies and I was able to bond so I don't know what she is talking about! My experience was perfect & painfree....I was able to really enjoy everything to the fullest!!! :)

alexaliff - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had an epidural and if I am honest, I did not feel that rush of love that I was expecting after I had my baby. The actual labour was fantastic of course because I hardly felt any of it but I would do it naturally next time. I had a lot of problems with feeding him and post partum depression that I truely believe I may not have had if I let my body do what it is meant to do.

RobinG - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had an epi and 2 sections and bonded perfectly with all my babies!! I too would have been bothered by her comment. Moms who have epis bond just as well and naturally as those who dont ~ it is def wonderful fo those that have delivered natural but to suggest our bonding is or was less is inappropriate ~ if they really feel that way then keep that thought to themselves. JMHO

last.one.for.me - 918 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) See now all you ladies who had epidurals are getting on your high horse and defending the fact you had epidurals by putting down people that are choosing to go natural and making out that they're child birth snobs - which really isnt the case. I mean for Tamm to claim that people make 'unfounded' claims is just silly.. It's PROVEN that both mommy and baby are MUCH healthier, alert and happier and suffer less with baby blues and post-partum depression when they've had a straight forward, unmedicated birth... So, like I say - having experienced BOTH, my second baby was 1000000000% better experience.. It hurt a whole heap more though, it must be said haha. For me, your friend is right - whatever birth you'll have, you'll bond with your baby, BUT if all of your senses are dampened and impaired by pain medication, you most likely wont feel the intense rush, after you've just given birth when that magical chemical cocktail is released. I'm really not getting on my soapbox and preaching everyone should go natural though - when I have my third baby, it'll be a section and I'll be 'numbed' and drugged up and I'm ok with that, because I will bond.. I just know it won't be as soon as if I went natural and pain-med free..

nutnut - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) it doenst take away from bonding. my epidural didnt work on half my body, so does that mean i only bonded with the half i felt? its silly. you have to do what is best for you regardless.the epidural didnt make me feel high at all i was completly aware of everything that was going on. the codine they gave me after the baby was born for pain made me feel high, not the epidural. the drug they gave me prior to the epidural whatever it was made me feel loopy but it wore off even before i got the epidural. they just gave it to me to relax me. i told them i didnt like how i felt and didnt want anymore of it. drugs or no drugs youre going to bond with baby the same. youve already bonded with this child long before while carrying it for 9 months. its abosultly rubbish to say epidurals wont allow you to bond with baby lol. someone told your friend some really wrong information. i could understand if in the case of c sections where you have to be put under general for whatever the reason rather than have the epidural, where you wont see your baby right away after birth, but even then it wont destroy any bonding between you and the child. that bond was created long before the baby found their way out of the womb.

mommy-ofa-boy - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) okay this is my 1st pregnancy so not speaking from exp. but i am going all natural at a center... i think you should watch ricki lake business to being born. i dont think your friend said it the right way. in that documentary ricki lake explains how after a natural birth your body releases a natural chemical "cocktail" as she says that gives you like a natural high of bliss which helps the bond beween child and mom but it a good doc. you should check it out i will let you knoow in a month or so lol

tamm - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) LOL so it's like she is saying that your baby won't love you if you have an epidural. and i guess if you don't breastfeed your baby, that means your baby won't bond with you. seriously, some mommies get so carried away with the excitement of motherhood they don't even realize what they're saying, or that it might be insulting or totally unfounded. what does it matter-- in the end you just want a happy baby and the baby will bond with his mommy just fine if you love him and take care of him.

xolblondieox - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I could potentially understand this notion in the case of a c-section. However, not every c-section. For instance, I elected to have a general anesthesia for my cesarean, therefore I was completely unconscious for the birth of my twins. I met them about an hour later when I was awake and they were cleaned up and checked out by their doctors. I felt no instant bond to them whatsoever. Sad, but true. The bond kicked in three days later when I went home with them and realized that they were really mine - forever :o) Not being a part of my babies' birthing experience was probably to blame for this, though I'm not sure because I am just not an emotional person and never have been. Anyway, I could POSSIBLY believe this theory in a case like my own. Likewise, if you were really sky high then you just cannot focus, much less bond, and for some people epidurals completely knock them on their bums, give them withdrawl shakes, etc :-/

happyforest - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) maybe she was mixed up....the epidural doesnt make you feel loopy or out-of-it at all. now i can see how if you took other drugs it might affect your bonding ability if you were tired, or really high....

hay1230 - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had a natural birth with my daughter and I bonded with her wonderfully, but don't see how having an epidural would have changed that? Just brush it off, your giving birth to your child I think drugs or no drugs your going to bond either way!

last.one.for.me - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) Well I have had one of each - a medicated birth and an unmedicated birth. In my experience, I bonded INSTANTLY with my son whom I had the unmedicated birth - I think it's to do with being able to feel the release of adrenaline and endorphins as soon as the baby is delivered versus being drugged up and feeling groggy and numb from an epidural - I also had a raging headache from the epidural because some of my spinal fluid leaked out the spinal column, I just felt ROUGH with my first baby. My second baby I was an absolute 100% naturally induced high, almost euphoric.. I still bonded with my first baby, but not until after I left hospital and managed to get some good sleep and had a spinal patch (they inject your spinal column with your own blood so it clots and closes the hole that was leaking.. I was wide awake and just on top of the worl after I had my second child in April...

MelissaJoanne - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I went all-natural, which I'm happy about, but I wouldn't claim that I had a better bonding experience than other mamas because of it. It was lovely holding my babe when she came out, though at the time I mostly felt worn-out and hungry. :-p Maybe she meant because there were no drugs to pass to the baby, leaving the baby potentially more lethargic, possibly hindering breastfeeding? Hmmm - I googled it and found reference to a 2006 study, maybe that's what she's referencing? - http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2008/09/05/natural-birth-may-aid-in-infant-bonding/

cleebel - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I had an epi with two of my boys and I have no idea what shes talking about. It might have to do with a persons tolerance for certain meds, but I personally was just as emotional as when I didnt have an epi. Just for kicks check back with her about the epi after the labor and birth and see if she stuck to her guns.

kingsmommy - 919 days ago Rating: 0 (0 votes) I agree with you. I also had an epi with my son and he was immediately placed on my chest and we bonded wonderfully. In my opinion, the epidural has nothing to do with the bond between mother and child. It sounds a bit judgemental of her. I also have a friend that went all natural and she used to make comments about how she is a "Real Woman" because she didn't have any pain meds. I had to brush it off because if I told her what I really thought, it would have definitely ended a friendship.