why go natural? part 2

Did you read this post?

Well, I remembered something else; it's quite important.

I was worried about my baby.  I understand that many many children are born by c-section or pain killers and seem to be just fine, but I also knew that most c-section babies are a little slower on developing through the first year of life.  There doesn't seem to be as many long term effects, but I couldn't help but wonder about how many things we do not understand about all of this.  It is definitely not a perfect science; in my mind there isn't much that could actually be labeled as "perfect science".  Most "healthy" trends seem to later be practically condemned; an extreme example of that being tobacco. 

Cesarean sections save the lives of countless mothers and babies, but if we are both fine, why ruin a good thing?  I had the idea in my mind of a chick in an egg.  Most of us have helped to hatch eggs in preschool, and have all learned the importance of letting the chick come out itself.  If we attempt to pull the baby out, the chick will later die as it did not have the opportunity to break through on its own and thereby gain the necessary muscles to live.  Now, babies are not chicks.  And we have enough medical knowledge to be able to help that baby, whatever disadvantages it comes to the world with.

Nevertheless, I wanted to try to give my baby the best chance possible.  A cesarean felt like it should be the absolute last option.  Pain killers I was somewhat mixed on, though it worried me that there have been no studies done on how babies are effected by epidurals.  There is a window of time in which narcotics are considered "safe" during labor, outside of which many side effects have been found.  However, I came to the conclusion that I would do all that I could, and if I felt myself losing it, I would resort to drugs.  Otherwise, I would let the process happen that was meant to happen.

(I wish I had known about doulas.  I would have greatly liked an experienced person to give me a few more options before I made the choice to use a drug.  If you have not yet experienced it, let me tell you: birth is by far the most intense thing you will ever experience in your life.)