Anesthetics And Drugs During Childbirth

Until the mid-nineteenth century, childbirth was a completely natural experience, in which women would endure the tiresome pain of labor without the use of anesthetics or drugs to get her through birth (Hyde & DeLamater 2014). The use of anesthetics and drugs during childbirth was a controversial topic then and even to this day, with women outweighing the short-term and long-term costs and benefits of the drugs on themselves and on their children. While natural childbirth is still an option chosen by some, there are now many options to reduce the pain of labor and to ease the tension of the mother through anesthetics and drugs such as tranquilizers, narcotics, regional, local, and general anesthetics, and natural methods to control pain and
Some short-term effects on the mother may include dizziness, nausea and vomiting, and even sedation where the woman may fall asleep from the drug (American Pregnancy Association 2015). Some other side-effects include respiratory issues that can limit oxygen flow throughout the body and a decrease in gastric motility, which is usually lowered in woman who are going through labor to begin with (American Pregnancy Association 2015). Due to these respiratory effects on the mother, opiates may also have negative respiratory and breastfeeding effects for a short time after birth on the baby in which another drug may need to be given to the mother to counteract the effects of opiates (American Pregnancy Association
The anesthesia is administered through injection into the cervix and is especially helpful in relieving pain from cervical dilation because it is given during the first stage of labor and can also be administered frequently (Levine 2012). In rare cases due to the need for the mother to be conscious in delivering her baby, general anesthesia may be used, although it poses a dangerous threat to the health of the mother and her baby. General anesthesia is administered to the mother through both intravenous fluid and also through inhaling the drug, such as nitrous oxide (Levine 2012). The drugs work very fast and are effective especially in the case that there is an emergency cesarean section or breech birth because they put the woman completely out of pain, usually causing the woman to be put to sleep (Levine 2012). Although general anesthesia completely puts the mother out of pain, it can have very harmful effects on her and her baby. The doctor may have trouble or be unable to put in a breathing tube and in the event of aspiration, the drug can be very toxic and cause brain damage (Levine 2012). Small doses and precautions should take place because the drug may also affect the baby by causing respiratory depression (Levine