You'll know if a man truly understands you when you have his child!
I recently saw a report on Weibo that was absolutely infuriating!
A pregnant woman requested painless childbirth, but her husband strongly opposed it, fearing that anesthesia would have a negative impact on their son...
Do you remember in 2017, at the First Hospital of Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, a pregnant woman (Ma Rongrong) was in labor and became increasingly agitated due to pain. She repeatedly requested a cesarean section from her family and doctors, but these requests were refused. Ultimately, unable to bear the pain any longer, Ma Rongrong lost control and jumped from a building, dying despite attempts to resuscitate her…
What exactly is the pain of childbirth like? It can be so excruciating that people want to give up on life!
On the medical pain index, childbirth pain ranks second only to burn pain. To illustrate this, let me give you an analogy: a human can withstand 45 del (units) of pain. However, when a woman gives birth, she endures 57 del of pain, equivalent to breaking 20 bones. (Suddenly feeling inexplicable pain all over my body…)
Every minute and every second, women across China are giving birth and experiencing pain, and painless childbirth seems to have become a "life-saving elixir" for them.
Is painless childbirth really painless at all?
Let's see what the mothers who have experienced it have to say.
It turns out that painless childbirth is not completely painless; it is still painful!
What is painless childbirth?
What we commonly refer to as painless childbirth is actually called "labor analgesia" in medicine. It involves using various methods to minimize pain during childbirth, and it carries relatively low risks. Please don't have the misconception that "painless" means completely painless!
Anesthesia is initiated when regular uterine contractions occur and the cervix is dilated to 2 cm. It usually takes effect within minutes and continues until the cervix is fully dilated, after which the dosage is adjusted or discontinued. Anesthesia blocks the transmission of pain signals to the central nervous system, thus relieving the mother of pain. Although this method blocks the transmission of fine pain nerves, it does not affect the function of larger nerves, so the mother can still move her lower limbs freely and feel uterine contractions.
What is the current situation of painless childbirth in China?
Due to limited resources and time, I was unable to conduct a large-scale survey, so I had to rely on medical friends from all over the world to understand the current situation of painless childbirth.
Top-tier tertiary hospitals: China-Japan Friendship Hospital and Peking Union Medical College Hospital.
If you don't manage to secure an appointment with the international ward during early pregnancy, forget about getting an epidural in a regular ward, even within the medical system. A friend's husband was doing residency at a top-tier hospital in Beijing, and when she went to give birth at his hospital, she couldn't get an epidural either. Luckily, it was her second pregnancy, and the labor was short...
Furthermore, even if you're lucky enough to snag a spot, the cost can easily reach around 100,000 yuan. Shouldn't you, as an average wage earner, consider how your wallet will feel...?
A friend from Haikou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital in Hainan said that their hospital is not among the pilot hospitals designated by the National Health Commission for the promotion of painless childbirth.
In township hospitals in Northwest China, obstetrics and gynecology departments do not offer painless childbirth services, and people are unaware that this technique exists.
Why is painless childbirth so popular in obstetrics and gynecology hospitals, while it has no place in many comprehensive tertiary hospitals and county hospitals?
Why can't painless childbirth be implemented in China?
Despite the emergence of painless childbirth many years ago, its implementation remains fraught with difficulties and setbacks...
I think the dilemma of painless childbirth lies in three deficiencies:
1
There is a shortage of staff, and the work is exhausting.
Among all doctors, only anesthesiologists are called "anesthesiologists" and are not highly valued by hospitals. Furthermore, in many comprehensive tertiary hospitals, with numerous departments and a high volume of major surgeries, anesthesiologists are often reassigned to perform major surgeries, day and night. Both individual anesthesiologists and their departments prefer to perform major surgeries. This is because painless childbirth is "tiring," requiring continuous monitoring of the labor process by the anesthesiologist, and the labor process can last for 10 hours or more. While painless childbirth can indeed greatly alleviate the mother's pain, without it, the mother can still deliver naturally. The anesthesiologist's workload is high, the mother is often uncooperative due to pain, the delivery room is noisy, and the environment is unsanitary, with the pregnant woman's bad breath, the mother's excrement, urine, and vomit flying everywhere...
2
"Lack of awareness"
The so-called lack of understanding isn't limited to the families of expectant mothers who believe that childbirth pain is natural and justifiable for women. Even some doctors believe that painless childbirth interferes with the observation of the labor process. Society, families, and hospitals lack understanding and respect for the pain of childbirth. These misconceptions severely hinder the promotion of painless childbirth in my country.
3
"Lack of money"
Simply put, the market economy determines resource allocation. A wise person loves profit, but acquires it ethically. Without profit, who will pay for the milk powder and diapers for an infant? Without profit, who will pay for the living, raising, and funeral expenses of one's parents?
Doctors also need to support their families; doctors also need to deal with the mundane necessities of life.
The price of painless childbirth is relatively low nationwide. Of course, it can reach around 1,000 yuan in some areas, but even so, it's good if anesthesiologists actually receive about 10% of it.
Painless childbirth also carries risks.
In addition, while painless childbirth is generally considered safe, it does carry some risks:
1. Nerve injury, such as spinal cord injury or vertebral injury;
2. Infection may cause abscesses or hematomas in the patient's dura mater, leading to paralysis;
3. Total spinal anesthesia may cause cardiac and respiratory arrest in patients, endangering their lives;
4. Cauda equina syndrome: prolonged loss of sensory and motor function in the lower limbs, fecal incontinence, urethral sphincter paralysis, and other symptoms indicating sacral nerve involvement;
5. The effects of anesthetic drugs on nerve roots and the adverse consequences of failed punctures.
Doctors have one foot in the hospital and one foot in the court. So, this kind of thankless and arduous task naturally has no vitality.
Are there any solutions to change this problem?
Of course, we need to prioritize the training of anesthesiologists, increase the market price of painless childbirth, and improve the compensation of anesthesiologists. We need to retain talent through career development, we need to retain talent through emotional connection, but most importantly, we need to retain talent through competitive compensation.
While we cannot escape pain, we can say "no" to unbearable suffering!
We look forward to the day when painless childbirth becomes a common practice in ordinary households.
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