2008 Volume 28 Issue 5 Pages 765-777
Over the past 10 years, I have experienced approximately 3,000 epidural births.
Obstetricians strive for ideal childbirth in all deliveries that they undertake, namely an extremely short delivery time, a smooth delivery from start to finish, minimal discomfort for the laboring mother, a healthy newborn, minimal postpartum bleeding, and a quick recovery after delivery.
As an obstetrician in private practice for 22 years using internal direct monitoring for delivery, I have arrived at the conclusion that the epidural birth is extremely effective in achieving an ideal delivery. I have been able to achieve a sympathetic agreement with the mother, whereby the pregnancy is safe, peaceful, and pleasant, and the mother says to me “If this is what delivery is all about, then I will come here to deliver again!”
The epidural birth is effective in keeping healthy, not distorting, the extreme beginning of childrearing.
Below, I state my points of caution as a private-practice obstetrician whose medical practice lacks significant manpower.
