Inductions

If a woman is trying to avoid an epidural and allows herself to be induced when there is no pending emergency she will find it nearly impossible. The way doctors induce is aggressive, it is so common to use the epidural with inductions that they don't take any thought for trying to keep the induction as close to a natural simulation as possible. I have known midwives to use pitocin this way with success at giving women a pretty natural experience without drugs, but women should not count on the prudent use of the drug. The standard induction makes the contractions harder and faster than a natural labor progression would be.

An induction stacks the deck against natural birth and one medical intervention inevitable leads to another and another. The induction makes the continuous EFM a necessity to safeguard the baby, which causes unmanageable pain and stress for the mother. The EFM is very physically uncomfortable because of the placement of the EFM around the abdomen a very sensitive area during labor, but it is even more upsetting to the labor process because it limits the mother's mobility so much so that the mother has no physical pain relief at her disposal. She can't really move very easily and usually ends up in bed on her back so the nurses can adjust the straps just right to get a good reading on the EFM, in order to prevent fetal distress. The constant interruptions to adjust the EFM straps disrupt the woman’s concentration and relaxation which is essential to the progress of natural birth.

Women who are induced are also seldom allowed to use the shower or birthing tub to get relief from the pain (except with some midwifes who provide continuous labor support and supervision). It is my opinion that if you are induced you will not likely be able to cope with labor naturally and will just feel like you failed in the end. What you need to know is that failure in natural birth is most often related to medical intervention and not the mother's ability. A women's best chance at having a natural drug free birth is for a women to go into labor naturally, be free from as many medical tools and interventions as absolutely possible, and have natural birth support from a wise woman who knows natural birth well, like a doula or midwife.