Additionally, there are health risks to you and your baby in a cesarean delivery. And most physicians now believe that a vaginal birth after cesarean is safe, and a preferred alternative to elective surgery. A baby's descent through the vagina can be thought of as a vigorous massage that prepares the baby for the world outside the womb. Birth by cesarean can be a more abrupt transition for a newborn, particularly if there was no or little labor preceding the operation. It is natural to be afraid of labor.
Horror stories abound and childbirth is a truly vulnerable transition.
But coping with the natural pain of labor as well as using pain medication available if needed can help you stay present through the labor in a way that can also feel very positive and empowered. Many things can influence your ability to cope with the birth, including associations to childbirth that have been learned, or even your own experience of being born. Michael Klein, M.D. chief of family practice at McGill University in Canada conducted a study that documents that without episiotomies, half of women deliver babies over intact perineums. The other 50 percent generally suffer minor tears which are easily repaired without damage to the perineum. However, when women have routine episiotomies, Dr. Klein has found they continue to tear into deeper vaginal tissue and result in more trauma to the vaginal area.