You think about their name, prepare the bedroom and leave everything ready to run to the clinic. You do not talk about anything else, but there are still issues left to be resolved…and they are important. Will my child be born by natural birth or by c-section? Keep in mind that most of the time you will not be able to choose. However, it is very important to know the differences.
In general, natural birth is the process that ends pregnancy and it culminates with the birth of the baby. It begins with the famous contractions, that increase in intensity and frequency. The cervix dilates enough to give birth.
The c-section, instead, is a surgical intervention that facilitates the birth of the baby when natural birth is not the best option.
Some differences
In a natural birth, the mother’s body prepares for the birth. It is purely biological question. To take care of your health and that of your baby, you have to control some issues such as the rhythm of the contractions, but surgery is not needed.
On the other hand, a c-section is not conventional and is used for reasons such as: there was no adequate dilation, the baby was not in the correct position or that there were losses of amniotic fluid.
Pain in childbirth
In natural childbirth, a type of anesthesia is applied to alleviate the pain of the contractions, but allows the mother to push. Relaxation and breathing are very useful. In a c-section, on the other hand, the anesthesia calms all of the pain, but causes a total loss of sensitivity from the waist down so the mother cannot push.
Recovery
In natural childbirth, the recovery can last from one to two weeks, while it takes from one to two months to recover from a c-section, since the wound must heal.
Then, what do I do?
The experts recommend natural birth versus c-section because it strengthens the relationship between the mother and child. It is a more participatory delivery, leads to a faster recovery and no surgery is performed. But above all, trust the professional who is looking after the health of you and your baby. One more push and you have it with you!
*Content validated by the medical team of mediQuo.
