A senior male midwife has said that the pain of childbirth has many benefits and that women who opt for painkilling epidurals miss out on these benefits.
Dr Denis Walsh, who is an associate professor in midwifery at Nottingham University, said pain often helped regulate childbirth and was a "rite of passage". He said the pain of childbirth helped strengthen a mother's bond with her baby, and prepared her for motherhood. Dr Walsh agreed that epidurals were useful in some cases but he said pain in labour was known to have positive physiological effects, such as helping to establish a rhythm to childbirth and it also triggered the release of endorphins which helped women to adjust to pain.
Epidurals can increase the risk that hormone treatment would be needed to boost contraction and that forceps would be needed. He warned that a culture had emerged where most hospitals effectively offered women epidurals on demand and said that the NHS should encourage alternative ways to deal with pain such as massage, yoga, hypnosis and birthing pools.
Dr Maggie Blott, consultant obstetrician at University College London, agreed that pain could help aid the physiology of labour, and that alternative ways to manage pain were available. She said:
"Do not under-estimate the pain of having a baby - it is a very, very intense and painful experience.... If it is happening hour after hour in a very prolonged labour it is very tiring and wears people down and I think epidurals are very useful in that situation."
Dr Blott also stressed that the use of forceps was a relatively simple procedure, which many women would clearly prefer to enduring pain over long periods.
Cathy Warwick, general secretary of the Royal College of Midwives, offered support for Dr.Blott:
"At the moment it is very easy for most women to ask for an epidural, and if they want one they definitely should get one....But what Denis is saying is that we want to make sure that women get other options, and that they do get really good support from midwives."
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