Pregnant women worry. They worry whether the baby is healthy; they worry if they’re eating right and avoiding everything that could possibly be harmful to the new life growing within. They also worry ...

Leader photographer was present for the 1978 birth of Madelon Meda Wheeler, whose mother went without sedation.

A doula is a trained professional who provides continuous physical, emotional, and informational support to a mother before, during, and shortly after childbirth. Unlike midwives or obstetricians, ...

We are usually suspicious of pain-mongers. Think of the flinching reaction bringing up a "cutter" ensures. Sure, we are in awe of the guy who cut off his own arm to free himself from being trapped ...

The Lancet Editorial on childbirth offered an essential critique of the false dichotomy between overmedicalisation and the natural birth ideology, drawing attention to the global disempowerment of ...

Either you’re all for a natural birth or you think that women who go that route are crazy. Really, why would any woman want to go through that much pain when they don’t have to? Well, I was one such ...

Pain management during childbirth has evolved dramatically over the centuries, from herbal remedies to modern epidurals. But what if one of the most effective natural pain relievers has been growing ...

The Japanese capital is rolling out subsidies for epidurals in a country where cost is a barrier and women are often encouraged to endure the pain of delivery.

Yesterday during my 36-week pregnancy appointment, my doctor started to perform the standard late-pregnancy cervical exam, but she couldn’t finish it because I began to scream from the unbearable pain ...

An epidural is a type of regional anaesthesia commonly used during labour to relieve pain. It involves placing a small ...