Pregnancy - Twilight Sleep and Painless Labor : Part 1

The Mother and Her Child
by William S. Sadler, M.D., Lena K. Sadler, M.D.

(Page 9 of 44)

In recent years much has appeared in both the popular magazines and the medical press concerning the so-called "twilight sleep" and other methods of producing "painless childbirth." Many of these popular articles in the lay press cannot be regarded in any other light than as being in bad taste and wholly unfortunate in their method and manner of presenting the subject; nevertheless, these writings have served to arouse such a general public interest in the subject of obstetric anesthetics, that we deem it advisable to devote two chapters to the brief and concise consideration of the subjects of pain and anesthetics in relation to the day of labor.

The Pain of Labor

First, let us briefly consider the question of pain in connection with childbirth. Many women - normal, natural, and healthy women - suffer but comparatively little in giving birth to an average-sized baby during an average and uncomplicated labor. Like the Indian squaw, they suffer a minimum of pain at childbirth - at least this is largely true after the birth of the first baby; and so there is little need of discussing any sort of anesthesia for this group of fortunate women; for at most, all that would ever be employed in the nature of an anesthetic in such cases, would be a trifle of chloroform to take the edge off the suffering at the height or conclusion of labor.

But the vast majority of American mothers do not belong to this fortunate and normal class of women who suffer so little during childbirth; they rather belong to that large and growing class of women who have dressed wrong; who have lived unhealthful and sometimes indolent lives; who are more or less physically and temperamentally unfitted to pass through the experiences of pregnancy and the trials of labor.

The average American woman shrinks from the thought and prospect of suffering pain; she is quite intolerant with the idea of undergoing even the few brief moments of physical suffering attendant upon childbirth. She refuses to contemplate the day of labor in any other light than that which insures her against all possible pain and other physical suffering.

And it is just this unnatural and abnormal fear of labor-pains - this unwomanly dread of the slightest degree of physical suffering - that has indirectly led up to so much discussion regarding the employment of "twilight sleep" and other forms of obstetric anesthesia.

While the authors recognize the great blessing of anesthesia to the woman in labor - and almost unfailingly make use of it in some form - nevertheless, we also recognize that it would be a fine form of mental discipline and mighty good moral gymnastics, if a great many self-centered and pampered women would "spunk right up" and face the ordeal of labor with natural courage and normal fortitude. It would be "the making of them," it would make new women out of them, it would start them out on the road to real living. At the same time we do not mean to advocate that women should suffer unnecessary pain in childbirth any more than we allow them to suffer in connection with surgery.

Preparation for Labor

While so much is being written about "twilight sleep" and "painless labor," it might be well to remind the American mother that much can be done to lessen the sufferings of the day of labor by one's method of living prior to the confinement.

We believe that child-bearing is a perfectly normal physical function for a healthy and normal woman - that it is even essential to her complete physical health, mental happiness, and moral well-being. Theoretically, child-bearing should to be but little more painful than the functioning of numerous other vital organs - stomach, heart, bladder, bowels, etc. - and, indeed, it is not in the case of certain savage tribes and other aboriginal people, such as our own North American Indian.

But we must face the facts. The average American woman does suffer at childbirth; and she suffers more than we are disposed to allow her, or more than she, as a general rule, is willing to suffer. So, while we discuss appropriate methods of lessening the pain of labor and the pangs of childbirth by the scientific use of anesthetics, let us also call attention to certain things which may aid in decreasing the amount of pain which may reasonably be expected to attend child bearing.

To assist in bringing about this preparation for decreased pain at childbirth, mothers should teach their daughters how to develop, strengthen, and preserve their physical, mental, and moral resistance. The young mother should be taught by both her mother and her physician how to dress, how to work, and how to eat. Every care should be given to the hygiene of pregnancy and labor.

The expectant mother should have plenty of fruits and fruit juices, and if not physically well endowed to give birth to a large babe, she should have her diet restricted in meat, bread and milk, as well as the cereals. Overeating during pregnancy should be carefully guarded against, as emphasized in an earlier chapter. Deformities of the pelvis, etc., should rule out a consideration of pregnancy.

While artificial painless childbirth by means of "twilight sleep" and other similar methods all have their place; nevertheless, these procedures should not lead to the neglect of those natural methods and preventive practices which aid in preparing the normal expectant mother for nature's relatively painless labor. When so much anesthesia has to be used in a normal labor, it cannot but strongly suggest that both patient and physician have neglected those common but efficient methods which contribute indirectly to lessening the pangs of child bearing.

About the Author

Dr. William S. Sadler M.D. was a well-known American psychiatrist and college teacher in the school of medicine at the University of Chicago. For over sixty years he practiced his profession in Chicago, thirty-three years being associated in practice with his wife, Dr Lena Kellogg Sadler. The doctors were pioneers in the research on the mysterious Urantia Papers.