"In Support of Baby's Choice"

Thanks to Marie Mongan, who found this excerpt taken from “Emergency Childbirth”, a manual written for Chicago’s fire and police departments, by Dr. Gregory White:

Note: Italicized text indicates a note or emphasis by Marie Mongan.

Perhaps the most important thing for the lay assistant to know is that labor and the delivery of a child are normal functions, which Nature always tends to complete successfully. Statistics show a loss of less than one mother in three-thousand, less than one baby in a hundred—and these statistics are for all deliveries, including those in large hospitals, and, therefore, include mothers who have been ill for years and premature babies too tiny to live. An attendant without medical training, called upon suddenly to assist at a birth, should have results at least as good, if not better, as those of the hospitals because he/she is usually dealing with the least complicated cases. Mothers who have been ill for some time are ordinarily hospitalized.

The women who deliver in taxicabs, ambulances, and police squad cars (or, unexpectedly at home) are usually those with short labors, and these are nearly always easy, normal deliveries. Since the babies in these circumstances are not suffering from the effect of anesthetics or pain-relieving drugs given to the mother, they rarely require resuscitation.

Generally speaking, mechanical assistance is rarely needed, but psychological or emotional support to the mother is almost always in order. This is usually given by means of a calm and confident manner and the frequent assurance that all is going well. Such moral support is given to the mother, not just because she is a fellow human being undergoing a trying experience—worthy as that reason is—but because calmness on her part and confidence in Nature, in herself, and in her attendant make it possible for her to do her part of the job better. Giving birth, at its best , is something a mother does, not merely something which happens to her (or is done to her).

Reassurance and moral support are actually the major contribution of the attendant in most cases. This point should be stressed. (Complications) must be considered here (in the manual) because they sometimes occur in emergency childbirths. But they are rare—very rare. In over 95 percent of the cases of emergency childbirth, the emergency attendant will be overwhelmed with gratitude and widely praised as a hero or heroine, he or she can smile within themselves at the knowledge that their simple tasks could have been performed by any bright eight year old.

On Birthing Phase of Labor
The Second stage is Easier: When the mouth of the womb is completely open, the baby begins to slide into the birth canal. The mother begins to feel heavy pressure on the rectum, as though she were about to have a large bowel movement.

The mother appears to be markedly indifferent to and withdrawn from what is going on around her, although she is not unconscious; she hears everything that is said. Usually, the mother is calmer and more purposeful during the second stage. She feels the progress. . .of the baby’s moving. . .and she becomes more satisfied that she is accomplishing something. (This is the amnesiac state that we refer to. She remains in a comfortable, quiet state and just gently breathes her baby down.)

At this point, the mother desires to help along by bearing down. . .and she should be allowed, but, not in the normal case, urged to do so. She should begin this work only when she feels she must, not because she or the attendant thinks it is a good idea.

While not painful, the feeling of tightness around the external genital, or vulva, can make her tend to hold back. . . .if she is intense with fears about the birth, she may become distressed at this time more by the fear of the imminent birth rather than by pain, which has actually decreased. The chief role of the attendant is to make the mother as comfortable as possible, physically and mentally. The latter is accomplished by his/her calm cheerfulness and by frequent encouraging words, such as, “Everything is fine;” “You’re doing a good job.”