The Gentle Birth

The gentle birth is support method that takes advantage of all the latest scientific support, without “medicalizing” childbirth by taking away its control from the pregnant woman. The information of the couple during pregnancy, the creation of a peaceful environment for labor and delivery, the free choice of the positions and ways to give birth, the respect for the newborn and for its contact with the mother are the main elements on which the whole method is based. Since the beginning of the pregnancy, from the first visit, we must speak of childbirth presenting all possible choices: in water, squatting, crawling, standing or painless with spinal anesthesia, each case must be dealt with clearly, even addressing the hypothesis of the operative delivery, if necessary, taking into account that postponing the explanations only involves the maintenance of a state of distress, which is already latent in every expectant mother. The talks should also focus on the broad discussion on the birth-out-of-hospital or in a maternity home or at home. Every medical aspect should be made abundantly clear, without leaving gaps of information, misunderstandings or obscure interpretations. The image of childbirth must encourage peace rather than fear: the care of the environment in which the labor and delivery take place is directed towards eliminating as much as possible the hospital and surgical aspect that characterizes the existing structures. Even a serene birth in the sickroom of a hospital is much better than one in a bare and “aggressive” delivery room, which often determines the typical sequence fear / stop of labour / drip (Intravenous therapy) / Caesarean section, with all the frustrations that follow in the postnatal period. The structure must be comfortable and offer every opportunity to assume different positions from the supine one, as well as the availability of a large bath for birth in water. The arrangement of the instruments must allow the right to participate to the labour in dim light, reducing unnecessary noise. The mother, after having carried out all clinical and laboratory exams in the prenatal period, can touch the child’s head during ejection, establishing immediate contact with the breast while the umbilical cord is still intact; the father, if he wishes, will have the possibility to cut it. Therefore breastfeeding is early and characterized by free times of latching. In the case of caesarean section, the scialytic light that is used in the operating room should be turned off at the moment of extraction of the fetus and is appropriate to use spinal anesthesia to ensure that the mother can watch the birth of the child, which can be brought to the breast even before the end of the intervention. This promotes, inter alia, the tone of the uterine musculature.
The father, when it is possible, should have the right to be present at all times. The assistance to spontaneous birth after cesarean (VBAC) is expected in the Gentle Birth, creating a perfect combination of technology and natural obstetrics. The staff, of course, must be experienced and must have knowledge of nontraditional pharmacology.