Childbirth is a natural process that does not require any kind of medical intervention, provided that the safety of the mother and the child are guaranteed. However, in many cases there is a excess intervention, as is the unnecessary recourse in numerous cases to the use of oxytocin to induce labor or to perform episiotomies.
With the aim that women receive less medicalized and instrumental care - and more humanized - in 2007 the Strategy for normal delivery care in the National Health System was approved in Spain, at the request of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, which allows women can decide the type of delivery you want to have, provided there are no risk factors. Thus, it includes a series of recommendations how to limit oxytocin, avoid rupture of the water bag and episiotomy, or banish routine actions such as perineal shaving and the administration of an enema to the pregnant woman.
THE 'NORMAL BIRTH CARE STRATEGY' ESTABLISHES MEASURES FOR LESS MEDICALIZED AND INSTRUMENTAL CARE
Although almost ten years have passed since the strategy was approved, much of the practices it promotes are not yet normalized. A 2012 report published by Health showed that only 15.5% of the centers followed all the recommendations of that Ministry to attend normal deliveries. However, given the growing demand of women and the favorable position of many health professionals, many hospitals do offer humanized birth plans, whether public or private.
The parents and the baby, the protagonists
However, some centers go further and, together with humanized or respected birth, promote what is known as natural birth. "We do the act of giving birth more natural, calm and intimate, and that the parents and the baby are the true protagonists. Of course, we guarantee maternal and fetal surveillance at all times and provide the care and help of professionals when necessary, ”he says. Cristina Pérez Villalta, midwife of the CIMA Barcelona Hospital.
His home-based program, inspired by the delivery homes of the British health system, simulates the close and reassuring environment from the dining room of a house so that the woman feels, precisely, as if she were giving birth in her own home. “Thanks to this program, you don't find visible technology, or white lights, or medication pumps. There is a sofa, a delivery chair, Pilates balls, as well as scarves that hang from the ceiling so that the woman can adopt the positions that help her most. You can play music, regulate lighting and bring your own clothes or personal items that facilitate labor, ”says Pérez Villalta.
WITHIN THE PROGRAM AT HOME, YOU DO NOT FIND VISIBLE TECHNOLOGY, OR WHITE LIGHTS, OR MEDICATION PUMPS
“The unit also has a pool of hot water: this has demonstrable benefits when it comes to relieving pain and water births allow a smoother transition in the arrival of the baby to the world, which passes from an aquatic environment - in the womb - to another that also it is". The woman remains at all times accompanied by a midwife and by her partner or the people she needs to have nearby.
Benefits of natural childbirth
When we ask Pérez Villalta about natural childbirth, this midwife emphasizes that not interfere, except complications, in the physiological process of bringing a new life to the world, It has clear benefits. “With no birth medication, complications are reduced since every drug and intervention has its risk percentage. In addition, the woman returns to the feeling of control and feels greatly satisfied, apart from the fact that her recovery is faster, ”he says. Natural childbirth also allows the couple to "play a more important role because their involvement is greater." As for the baby, "every intervention-free delivery is always much more flattering."
"THERE IS NO MEDICATION OF THE BIRTH, COMPLICATIONS ARE REDUCED AS EVERY DRUG AND INTERVENTION HAS ITS RISK PERCENTAGE"
Once the child is born, it avoid separation of mother and son, which improves the adaptation of the newborn to the new environment outside the womb. "If possible, you have to maintain skin-to-skin contact as long as needed. Routine postnatal care of the baby should be done afterwards," says the midwife of the CIMA Barcelona Hospital, who recalls that the protocols of the program As at home are indicated for those pregnancies that pass without complications and when the delivery is expected to take place, equally, without setbacks.
The main objective of the humanized birth plans developed by many hospitals is that every woman live the birth she wants, but without risks. For this, the first step is for the future mother to receive the adequate information to be able to choose freely, provided that their health or that of the baby is not compromised. Then, thanks to proposals such as the program offered by the CIMA Barcelona Hospital, you can have the most natural experience possible, allowing you to feel at home
Photos: iStock | Kati Molin
