[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>
> Here is a question on my Child Psychology list serve from a student.
> Does anyone know why they wouldn't use a general anesthetic to make
> the ordeal less painful (psychologically as well as physically)?
> Thanks for any information anyone can provide!
> Kathleen Kleissler
On anesthesia, there is a trade-off between the pain reduction, and the
lessened awareness of contractions. You do not want all cessation of pain
because then labor will not work. Mom has to time the pushing with the
contractions. It is unlikely Mom will be denied all pain relief, however.
There are a variety of relatively new methods that lessen the pain, but take
the edge off the contractions.
> My friend's sister-in-law was due to have her baby this time next week,
> but yesterday she went for a checkup and found that the baby had no heart
> beat and that the baby was dead. She was told that she still had to go
> through with the whole labor
> process even know thhe baby was dead. Why didn't she just have a
> c-section that same day?
> Today she gave birth to the baby and they had to have a funeral and all
> for her.
> I thought that it seemed alittle weird for her to stil got through with
> all that. It was bad enogh already that she found out that the baby had
> died a week before she was going to be born.
C-sections are major surgery for the Mom. If the fetus is less than full
term, a vaginal delivery will be easier. A C-section increases the chances of
another in the future (though this is not as true now, as it used to be). On
the funeral, this is a personal matter. Some parents put alot into the
upcoming birth, and it is sometimes good to have a ceremony with friends,
family or church to help them past the crisis. Some parents will already have
the nursery all fixed up, clothes bought, gifts purchased, names picked out,
etcetera. The loss of the infant will coincide with physical changes Mom is
going through, making the idea of a funeral or some other form of social
support a good idea. There are technical medical references for some of these
questions, but I suspect this student isn't quite up to that level yet. Alot
of this stuff gets covered in introductory child birth classes, or infant loss
support groups.
--
* John W. Kulig, Department of Psychology ************************
* Plymouth State College Plymouth NH 03264 *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://oz.plymouth.edu/~kulig *
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* "Eat bread and salt and speak the truth" Russian proverb *
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