Tee Hee

I see on Our Bodies Our Blog that the American College of Nurse Midwives has released a position statement in support of nitrous oxide as an option for women in labor.

Rachel, the post's author, heroically refrains from making a horrible joke about how labor pain is no laughing matter. I am apparently not so strong.

The statement says that nitrous oxide is commonly used in other countries and offers a number of benefits to women, including safety, effectiveness, and ease of administration and discontinuation.

In general, having a variety of options available for pain relief sounds good to me, so I'll throw my massive armies of clout behind the proposal.

Laughing gas for the laboring masses!
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"To the Internet!"

I see on ScienceRoll (original story in the Sun) that the husband of a pregnant woman who went into labor did a Google search on his mobile device and helped deliver the baby based on tips from wikiHow. Now that's using technology to answer an immediate need.

The ScienceRoll post argues that this man should have called a health professional (dialing 911 or the UK equivalent) instead of doing a web search. I'm all for ready access to health information, but I do see that point: the internet is great, but presumably a live person would have been more helpful if there had been any complications.

Fortunately there were none, and the mother and baby were fine.

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Expanding the Vocabulary

For those MeSH-users among us, Rachel at Women's Health News proposes that we suggest the addition of 'doula' to the vocabulary. (See a definition of doula at DONA International.)

A doula is not necessarily trained as a nurse or a midwife, and does not serve the same purpose while attending labor and birth, so it makes sense to have a specific term for this role, if there's enough literature on the topic. I get 114 results for a keyword search, so there's not a huge body of incompletely defined work out there, but it could also be an idea that's still gaining strength and will be of more interest to researchers as time goes on.

The concept is at least a called by a straightforward and easily searchable keyword, unlike some other ideas one might try to find, but as good MeSH-users, we always like to take advantage of a controlled vocabulary when one is available.

Do it, MeSH! Bring us doula!

You too can suggest this or other terms, using this handy form. I assure you, it's a thrill. I feel all engaged in the process now.

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Update 8/13/09: I am informed from NLM that "More suggestions doesn't affect what is done," so if you're going to use the form, pick an exciting new term to suggest rather than this one.

Apparently there is not strength in numbers in this particular issue. Now we know! One idea could be all it takes!

Birth in Ones Normal Habitat

I appreciated Navelgazing Midwife's review of a show on "Freebirthing" (unassisted childbirth) from the Discovery Health channel.

I'm interested in and sympathetic to the appeal of unconventional birth choices--I know several people who were born at home without professional assistance--but I definitely think it's important to be highly educated about the risks.

The review in this post turns a sharp, unromantic (rather bracingly sardonic, in fact) eye on freebirthing, at least as it is portrayed in the show, and the author's perspective as a midwife, presumably more sympathetic to the idea than many people would be, makes her thoughts especially interesting.

I think childbirth can be a subject on which heated opinions are easy to hold and defend. 

On the one hand, come on! People give birth without medical attention all the time, and clearly they usually survive, since the human race hasn't died out yet.

On the other hand, yeah, they usually survive, but in a not-insignificant number of cases they don't. Why take a chance on being one of the unusual ones who doesn't?

I love the middle ground, so I'm just going to say that it seems like it's probably a good idea to have a skilled attendant of some kind, wherever you are, and that backup medical care is a nice bonus.