Medical practice. These women would severely harm themselves as they writhed in pain and this was considered humane to prevent harm from other more forceful restraints.
Until you've been through an extreme amount of pain, you can't fully comprehend what it's like to know what you'd be willing to go through just to make it stop, but you can imagine and sympathize. Pain killers and anesthetics weren't fully developed back then, there was almost no option that didn't come with the risk of harming the mother/baby or worse. I don't blame these women for not fully understanding what they were advocating for. To have your baby and not the pain/possible death to go with it, must have sounded like the best thing in the world. Even with all our advances, we still can't do that.
My wife has delivered 6 times, including twins. Anesthetisia on two of the 6. She prefers without. Can "feel it better." My conclusion is that childbirth is very painful, but according to my wife not as painful as breaking your knee (which she also has done). Despite this the pain is soon forgotten. It seems like psychological pain can be far more persistent.
That is her experience. Each is unique. My sister delivered back delivery twice and wished she had done C-section for both and hated that people harangued her into delivery.
Medical practice. These women would severely harm themselves as they writhed in pain and this was considered humane to prevent harm from other more forceful restraints.
Until you've been through an extreme amount of pain, you can't fully comprehend what it's like to know what you'd be willing to go through just to make it stop, but you can imagine and sympathize. Pain killers and anesthetics weren't fully developed back then, there was almost no option that didn't come with the risk of harming the mother/baby or worse. I don't blame these women for not fully understanding what they were advocating for. To have your baby and not the pain/possible death to go with it, must have sounded like the best thing in the world. Even with all our advances, we still can't do that.
My wife has delivered 6 times, including twins. Anesthetisia on two of the 6. She prefers without. Can "feel it better." My conclusion is that childbirth is very painful, but according to my wife not as painful as breaking your knee (which she also has done). Despite this the pain is soon forgotten. It seems like psychological pain can be far more persistent.
That is her experience. Each is unique. My sister delivered back delivery twice and wished she had done C-section for both and hated that people harangued her into delivery.
Grim article. I couldn't finish it.