Natural Birth and
Older Women
The press is already making a
splash about Meghan Markle’s decision to have natural birth. The fact that she
has ‘breezed through her pregnancy without any complications’ is no guarantee
there won’t be any birthing problems. Even if the Duchess of Sussex has a full
complement of medical experts (including a helicopter) on standby at Frogmore
Cottage, Windsor Castle, she has her age (thirty-seven) against her.
I’m a serious natural birth
promoter, but I have seen and spoken to too many women who have been bitterly
disappointed when natural birth went wrong. Women younger than 30 are more
likely to give birth naturally because their bones are strong, their joints and
the cartilage holding these together are subtle, their muscles are resilient
and they have the energy to endure hours of labour. In the same way that it takes months of
physical preparation to run a marathon, it takes at least three months of
special exercise to prepare birthing muscles for natural birth.
Of course, we also have to think
about the little passenger – Meghan’s baby. Her baby-bump hides enormous
behind-the-scenes preparations that her body has to do. Baby has to get into a
head-first position, and then through a series of ‘false-labour’ (or Braxton-Hicks
contractions), these will guide her baby’s head so that the smallest part fits
into the widest diameter of her pelvis. When this happens, the press will exclaim:
The Duchess has “dropped” – meaning that her baby-bump has changed shape, and
while it will be easier for Meghan to breathe, she will feel more pressure on
her bladder.
Once a baby’s head has dropped into
the pelvis, the little bumps in this bony ‘basin’ help to carefully rotate the
head. Contractions that push against baby’s bottom, will flex baby’s head so
that his/her chin rests against his/her chest, once again directing the
smallest diameter of the head towards the cervix (or mouth of the womb) in
preparation for ‘active’ labour to begin.
So many things have to be right for
natural birth to happen. Older women risk more chances of little issues becoming
big problems. My advice to readers who are hoping to have a natural birth are:
- Have your first baby between the age of 20 and 30
- Look after your bone health and joints by exercising at least 4 times a week for at least 45 minutes
- Go to ante-natal classes that offer special ante-natal exercises from 6 months
- Swim as often as you can
Genetics plays a big
role. If your mother and grandmothers were able to give natural birth, there is
a good chance that you will be able to too.
