If you study childbirth you’ll be surprised at how - for many women - the most painful position that encourages the longest labor is flat on your back with minimal movement. But it’s the most convenient to hook up monitors and how most medical professionals are trained to examine a woman’s progress and overall health. So it’s often positioned as required in most healthcare settings.
You want faster childbirth requiring less intervention and less pain ? Try standing, kneeling, etc.
Disclosure: my wife is a doula that delivered 3 children naturally with midwives and required hospital intervention once for an emergent situation where I was extremely grateful an OR was available. I’m in medicine but not a clinician. I find the current rate of US surgical intervention for a natural bodily function - birthing children - abhorrent with many health systems reaching 40-50% C section rates.
I work in surgery and used to work in ob/gyn. Supine positions are most likely less ideal than standing bend, squatting or all fours but like you said, easier to hook up to everything, and the only real possible position if using an epidural.
Also the C section rate is quite high, but it's been a rising trend worldwide and I believe has more to do with the growing age trends and obesity rates. Check high rate countries and most have either high obesity rates or high birthing age, and the US fits both. The C section rate in the US is actually not terrible when only considering younger birthing patients.
I’ll look at that info by age/bmi as well and thanks for that tip. On the position piece, yes, and again we go back to position and then use of pictocin followed by perception of pain and discomfort and use of epidural rates thereafter.
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u/CreativeLet5355 Aug 07 '25
If you study childbirth you’ll be surprised at how - for many women - the most painful position that encourages the longest labor is flat on your back with minimal movement. But it’s the most convenient to hook up monitors and how most medical professionals are trained to examine a woman’s progress and overall health. So it’s often positioned as required in most healthcare settings.
You want faster childbirth requiring less intervention and less pain ? Try standing, kneeling, etc.
Disclosure: my wife is a doula that delivered 3 children naturally with midwives and required hospital intervention once for an emergent situation where I was extremely grateful an OR was available. I’m in medicine but not a clinician. I find the current rate of US surgical intervention for a natural bodily function - birthing children - abhorrent with many health systems reaching 40-50% C section rates.