“Suck Up The Pain” Is Midwife Denis Walsh’s Mantra
Posted by: Carrie Wasterlain
Filed in:
news
11:10AM, Monday July 13th 2009
If you’re preggers and thinking of having an epidural, think again, says male midwife Dr. Denis Walsh. He claims the pain induced by labor is purposeful, necessary, and will prepare a mother “for the responsibility of nurturing a newborn baby.” Huh, dude?
Walsh says “[e]merging evidence [shows] that normal labor and birth primes the bonding areas of a mother’s brain better than caesarean or pain-free birth.” Hmm…I would love to know how screaming at the top of your lungs and forcing an eight-pounder out of your crotch will help you bond with your newborn.
Walsh proposes women abandon routine pain relief and use other tactics such as yoga and birthing pools to, “work with the pain,” instead of fighting against it. Perform downward dog while I’m contracting? I think not. As for birthing pools, it has been scientifically proven that giving birth in water can lead to severe medical problems for the baby. I think I’ll take the epidural, thank you very much.
Many doctors think Walsh’s comments are “absolute rubbish.” Sally Russel, co-founder of NetMums.com, said that “[w]hat he is promoting suggests to me that women who can’t go through normal birth for whatever reason find they are stigmatized and made to feel they have let themselves down because there’s such pressure to have a normal birth, and that’s very damaging.” Justin Clark, a senior obstetrician and gynecologist at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, agreed and said Walsh is “exaggerating the risks of epidurals.”
I’m not a doc, so I’m not sure what harms epidurals bring, but while presenting evidence to show that epidurals may be dangerous is one thing, claiming that child-birth pain will help you raise your kids is another. Until Walsh experiences the pain of child birth himself, I’m not sure he should be so opposed to epidurals.
As Dr. Maggie Blott, consultant obstetrician at University College London, said, “Do not under-estimate the pain of having a baby—it is a very, very intense and painful experience.” Can’t wait.
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Chebs
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 11:25 am: [report]
Yeah, think I’ll go with the opinions of doctors, and oh I don’t know WOMEN WHO HAVE GIVEN BIRTH to tell me how I should consider managing my pain during labor, thanks so much. Men, I’m sorry, I love mostly all of you, but labor pain is definitely one area where your opinions are null and void. -.-
jojo32
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 11:27 am: [report]
Even with an epidural I still felt some pain during child birth. There is no way I would voluntarily pass up the opportunity to have some of that pain masked. I really dont care if some people think it’s more ‘natural’. In my opinion, there aint nuthin natural about that much pain.
wonder_bread
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 11:27 am: [report]
why does it seem men are also giving their “opinions” for women’s issues when they have their own to worry about…. i’m kind of tired of hearing about men and what they think about something they will never experience. Or wear for that matter.. Thank you for your opinion but until you live it yourself ur suggestion are a waste.
belongsomewhere
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 11:29 am: [report]
I highly recommend the film The Business of Being Born, which explains the drawbacks of using an epidural in a much less condescending way than this guy… It’s actually a really wonderful film, if you can get past the creepiness of watching people give birth.
saramarie
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 11:39 am: [report]
my old stylist watched ‘the business of being born’ which apparently makes a similar claim - that the chemicals released during the pain of childbirth helps to create a stronger bond between mother and child. she originally opted for this method but wound up having to have a c-section anyway.
i would think the whole 9-months of carrying another human being would be just as much of a bonding experience than enduring the incredible pain of birthing the child, no?
GreenAura
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 12:01 pm: [report]
Well, I have yet to give birth, so I cannot speak about what is the “right” or “wrong” way to do it, BUT when my time comes, I would like to try and do it naturally. The health of my baby and myself come first, so if a c-section is necessary, so be it. But, personally I would like to have the experience of feeling everything (as of right now, talk to me when a watermelon is being pushed out of my vag). My mom and husbands mom both gave birth naturally for all their pregnancies, so I want to at least try.
Anniekins
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 12:12 pm: [report]
This is why I go to an all-female practice. I don’t take my car to a mechanic that doesn’t own a car…
I’m only 11 weeks along, but I fully plan on having an epidural. I already feel so much love for this baby, I’m pretty sure pain will not make me care about my baby more than I already do. Besides I’ve had a couple of friends who tried to go natural, only to beg for an epidural when it’s too late to get it.
_jsw_
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 12:21 pm: [report]
I think that men should also develop and pass kidney stones prior to having sex, so that the pain can help prepare them for fatherhood.
Actually, I completely agree with Walsh. Women should not be given epidurals. Instead, they should be allowed to hold Walsh’s testicles in one hand and use the other to twist his nipple. But only when they feel intense pain. That way, the mother and Walsh would be more able to welcome the baby into the world.
Chebs
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 12:26 pm: [report]
@Anniekins - Congrats on the pregnancy! I’m 18 weeks, also planning on an epidural. My mom managed to give birth to 4 kids naturally when my youngest sister and I both topped 10 lbs. My bf’s mother also gave birth to 5 kids naturally. I, on the other hand, am a huge wuss. Menstrual cramps can reduce me to a sobbing wreck, even with Midol, so why would I think I could handle birth with no help? No one thinks, “hm, I can’t lift a barbell, but maybe if I start with a car…”.
Miss M
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 12:32 pm: [report]
I agree with the above comments. Walsh’s advice is pretty rich coming from a guy who will never experience the pain of childbirth.
Anniekins
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 01:01 pm: [report]
@Chebs- Congrats to you as well. I look at it like this: the epidural doesn’t harm the baby, and if it makes it less painful for me, the overall process will be more pleasant (or less horrific). I wouldn’t do it if I thought it would hurt the baby.
Leese
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 01:41 pm: [report]
Epidurals are not the greatest thing ever. They were never meant to treat normal labor pain. Women in the Netherlands and in Japan don’t think of labor pain as negative and women rarely get epidural blocks there. Pain is a physiologically essential component of normal labor, as it is necessary for the homones to be released that progress labor. So when a women gets an epidural block, the hormones aren’t released and the labor goes slower, which increases the risk of a C-section and other dangerous interventions.
[/rant]
jojo32
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 01:53 pm: [report]
Hmmm…well in my case, my water broke but I still wasnt having contractions, so they gave me the drug that speeds up the labor before I ever got my epidural. 5 hours and one epidural later and my little girl was born, without c-section, without so much as needing the aide of forceps. Guess it’s lucky for me.
writergirl
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 01:55 pm: [report]
Well, I was in labor for 68 hours—and no it wasn’t slow because of the epidurals (yes plural) but because my body can’t do anything “normal”. I was just a slow, very slow, exceedingly slow, laborer.
If I had not gotten an epidural that finally worked (I had three) I would have been given an emergency c-section because I would have been too freaking exhausted after 68 hours of labor to push the baby out in the fifteen minutes I had before they DID the c-section because he was in severe distress.
I will say, they didn’t give me the final epidural until I was at 8 CM (and yes, my labor was that freaking slow where they did give it to me that late) and according to people I know, the worst pain is at transition or 8CM, and it doesn’t ever get any worse. From what I remember, that was pretty freaking bad. However, if I hadn’t been exhausted, I probably *could* have gone all the way without pain meds at that point.
Although, I don’t see how pain could make you bond with your child more. So that guy is talking out of his ass.
raqueleza
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 02:23 pm: [report]
I’m going to echo the other recommendations to check out “The Business of Being Born.” There’s a lot of good info in there about the politics of hospitals and how doctors keep to-be mothers uninformed.
I don’t think it’s right to dismiss Walsh’s comments just because he’s a dude—he’s not only doctor (and we know doctors are ALWAYS right, coughhack) but a midwife, which requires separate, specialized training to treat the mother as a person and not just a vadge with something lodged inside. If he were a she, we wouldn’t even be playing the gender card and taking him a lot more seriously. Furthermore, he’s presenting evidence to support his claim—not saying “quit being a little bitch and freestyle that #&@$%, cause I say so.”
We all know the medical industry (yes, industry) is a dank, dark place with lots of dirty secrets, and I admire Walsh for having the balls to SUGGEST something against convention (even if he’s far from being the first to suggest this).
eskim00ninja
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 02:34 pm: [report]
Why would anyone listen to this junk! HE has never given birth….or even experienced a period, or a hymen breaking or anything like that!!! HE is a midwife….not a doctor…not even a nurse. What a douche.
Taurwen
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 03:41 pm: [report]
I pass out when in extreme pain… and if I ever have a child, I’d rather be conscious when it’s delivered, I suspect that may help the bonding moment a little bit more.
Anniekins
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 05:23 pm: [report]
@ raqueleza- You’ve got a point. We shouldn’t discount what he’s saying because he’s a man. However, it is a hard pill to swallow when a man talks about a woman’s pain during labor. Similarly, I don’t imagine a man would appreciate a woman coaching him through the pain of getting hit in the balls.
raqueleza
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 06:04 pm: [report]
@Anniekins: I totally agree, but so many of the posters are concentrating on the fact that this suggestion is coming from a man’s mouth. There are so many doctors, midwifes, and doulas—male and female alike—that have been saying for years a drug-free, vaginal birth is healthiest for both mother and child (which is not to say, of course, that epidurals or c-sections are “unhealthy” or detrimental when needed/wanted).
Furthermore, he encourages the empowerment of women and the incredible process of giving birth, and being fully present and aware to the experience instead of it being dulled with artificial means—which I think anyone would agree with. Women have been giving birth for dillions of years without drugs. Personally, I really dig the idea of not viewing childbirth as yet another thing that should be done as quickly and painlessly as possible. However, I respect that some women just aren’t feelin the whole pain factor, and that’s cool too.
bumbler
wrote on July 13 2009 @ 08:02 pm: [report]
@Taurwen I’ll second that. Cramps from food poisoning are enough to make me black out and at times hallucinate. Not what I’d want to go through while bringing a baby into the world.
hereshestands
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 04:05 am: [report]
Well I am yet to have a bubba but that is like telling a woman to live through her periods without any pain killers. No thank you. Wouldn’t it be great if we could make them bleed from their penises just once.
Oh that was sexist. I love my bf but come on. And I would like an epidural as well.
BlueVibe
wrote on July 14 2009 @ 12:45 pm: [report]
The NYT published an article a few years ago on gender inequality in medical technology, which noted that if a device like a mammogram machine had been developed to scan for testicular cancer in men, it would never have seen the light of day. My mother and I laughed until we were in pain but it’s pretty much true.
Sorry, I don’t normally think or say stuff like this, but I don’t want a guy telling me what kind of pain is good for me.