Three Rivers Birth Services

My first introduction to nitrous oxide and oxygen — or “gas and air” — as an option for pain management in labor was reading about an American woman giving birth in the UK a few years ago.  She was surprised and happy that with this birth, she felt more in control of her labor experience, was able to move around, yet still had some pharmacological help with the pain of birth.  She still had pain, but she was able to get through it without an epidural – something she had felt impossible with the birth of her first child.

Gas and air is used often in many countries.  In the United States, gas and air has not become a standard of care for pain management for birth.  In fact, only two hospitals in the country use it for birth- one being the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle.  Yet recently, the American College of Nurse-Midwives is pushing for its more widespread use.

Consider the benefits of nitrous oxide pain management:

- It starts working very quickly, and can be started and stopped easily on a mother’s own will (by putting the gas mask to her face or taking it off).  She is in control of her own experience.

- It doesn’t slow labor as epidurals do.  It doesn’t increase risk of foreceps/vacuum extraction.

- It doesn’t require more monitoring and other interventions as epidurals do (blood pressure cuff, pulse, IV fluids, bladder catheter, more intensive monitoring, etc.)

- You can still move around to other positions for labor and pushing, and can still feel the urge to push.

You should know that it does make a mom a little light-headed, and like any drug, some of it does go to the baby, passing through it’s liver for processing, which can take a few days.  Read more about the nitrous oxide for birth here, then write your hospital/care provider and ask them to look into approving this method of pain management for birth.  Historically, it has been consumers who have changed the maternity care system in this country!

Sounds like our mothers and grandmothers were mistaken when they told us to take it easy during pregnancy: a new study shows that both mother and baby are not harmed when mom keeps exercising through to the end of pregnancy.  What’s more – there may be some benefit:

“Sedentary mothers of higher pre-gestational weight gave birth to heavier newborns. This relationship, however, was not observed in the group of women who exercised during pregnancy”, the researcher concludes. According to experts, babies with excessive weight (more than 4 kg) are more at risk of developing diabetes and certain types of cancer as adults, in addition to complications that may occur at birth.

Disclaimer: this may not be true for all mothers who may have different heath needs dependent on their unique condition.  Please check with your midwife or doctor before changing starting any exercise program.

Researchers have found for the first time that drinking more than 5 servings of sugar-sweetened cola a week prior to pregnancy appears to significantly elevate the risk of developing diabetes during pregnancy.

Link to study

What this tells me is good news for those of you not yet pregnant: you may have the opportunity, right now, to significantly lower your chances of gestational diabetes by watching what you eat, especially being careful to watch your intake of added sugars. Why care if you get gestational diabetes while you are pregnant? Women with gestational diabetes have a higher risk of bigger babies, induction of labor, cesarean birth and premature birth. More than that, if you’ve had gestational diabetes, you double your chances of developing regular diabetes later.  There is a statistical correlation that shows that your baby may also grow to develop diabetes or obesity later in life.

Of course, sugar intake isn’t the only thing to blame for GD, but it is one small way to try and lower our chances of disease in pregnancy.  And lowering our sugar intake is good for all kids of health reasons – for pregnancy and beyond!