Meghan Markle's Extravagant Pregnancy: From Acupuncture to Hypnopartum with Doula
This is how the Duchess of Sussex has prepared a natural birth and without anesthesia for the seventh person in the line of succession to the British monarchy
The telephoto lenses of the British paparazzi began to focus on Meghan Markle's waist the day after her wedding to Prince Harry, in May last year. The country's tabloids were waiting for the soon arrival of a baby, and began to follow the Duchess of Sussex with the intention of getting the exclusive of the year: a photo with the incipient tummy. The couple did not have to endure the pressure for too long, the pregnancy came early. The birth of the seventh person in the succession to the throne is scheduled for this month.
Since Kensington Palace announced the news of her pregnancy last October, everything Markle has done or said has been up for debate. But what has made the most headlines is her passion for holistic practices and alternative therapies, as well as her obsession with preparing for a natural birth without anesthesia. Their curious preparation has also sparked interest in having more control over how babies are born and in exercising the right to choose different options when giving birth. But the reality is that these decisions are often far from scientific evidence.
The Duchess of Sussex has visited a well-known London acupuncturist, Ross Barr, since the early stages of her pregnancy, with the intention of relaxing, improving her blood circulation and fighting the nausea of the first months. The placebo effect, or the 140 euros that each 45-minute session costs, may have made you feel some well-being, but the truth is that there is not enough scientific evidence to ensure that this therapy works. This is what emerges from a work by the Cochrane Collaboration, a prestigious international NGO for health promotion, which reviewed numerous scientific studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture.
Hypnopartum, go into a trance to forget the pain
At 21 weeks old, Meghan Markle appeared in public for the British Fashion Awards, a ceremony she attended to present an award to the designer of her wedding dress, Clare Waight Keller. The bustle that was brought with the belly, very marked thanks to a tight black dress drew attention. He wouldn't stop grabbing her, holding her, caressing her. Moving your hands without rest, placing the right hand on the lower part of the belly and the left the upper one, just below the chest. Twitter was on fire. And it is that when one talks about motherhood, and it is suggested that you are, or are going to be, a different mother, there is no truce. It is war. What was he implying? Was she the only mother in the world when millions of women have been through the same thing before her?
"Come on, we already know you're pregnant, you can stop holding your gut, it's not going to fall off" and "Why does she touch so much? As if the whole world doesn't already know she's pregnant, it's as if she still needs more attention than it already has "were some of the less cruel tweets. Shortly after it was learned that behind these caresses Meghan was practicing a relaxation method used in the hypnopartum classes she attended. The technique teaches future women in labor different relaxation methods to break the fear-anxiety-pain chain, and thus be able to face childbirth without any type of anesthesia. These movements are supposed to produce tranquility in the mother, releasing oxytocin that reaches the baby through the placenta and produces a feeling of well-being.
Charlotte Ashe teaches these techniques since the birth of her third child and confirms that, since the royals -Kate Middleton also practiced it- and other celebrities, such as the wife of soccer player Harry Kane, have announced their practice on social networks, the interest has grown significantly. "It is not only a method of relaxation during childbirth, it is a complete prenatal education, designed to release fears and rethink negative thoughts around the event. The idea is to give mothers and their partners confidence regarding the arrival of their baby, allow them to relax deeply and let their bodies give birth naturally, as they are designed to do, "explains Ashe.
Prince Harry also attends the classes, because they are the two who embark on the process of learning about the physiology of birth. "Couples learn self-hypnosis methods such as deep breathing, massage techniques, visualizations, and relaxation triggers that ensure that the mother's body and mind can relax deeply at the time of delivery." And what sets it apart from other childbirth classes, or yoga or Pilates? "Couples attend together and receive an incredibly detailed scientific and logical explanation of the birthing process. The elimination of fear of pain is fundamentally worked on, something absolutely key to a positive birth experience, since where there is fear there is also adrenaline, and the substance hinders the progress of labor. "
The fundamental idea is that if we eliminate fear, we will also eliminate tension and pain. "If a mother is calm, relaxed and confident, she will produce more oxytocin, which will allow her contractions to be more effective because this hormone stimulates and maintains the contraction of the smooth muscle of the uterus during labor, and will ensure that the baby receives a large amount of oxygenated blood through the placenta, so the baby will cope better with delivery, "says Ashe. It sounds ideal but this situation of what a perfect birth would be, or the expectations that the expectant mother has of what that means, do not always occur.
A delivery without an epidural ... the normal thing in your country
In the United Kingdom, according to 2018 statistics from the public health system, 57% of deliveries were vaginal (11% required forceps), but 16% were emergency cesarean sections, that is, vaginal delivery was attempted but Complications arose that ended in a cesarean section for the well-being of the mother and the child. Another 14% were scheduled cesarean sections, either because it was already known in advance that the child was poorly positioned, because the baby had stopped growing, due to complications in the mother's health ...
The Duchess is right to prepare for contractions, because she is going to give birth in a country where she won't have to go to great lengths to have her option to give birth without anesthesia respected. Giving birth in pain is much more common in England than in Spain. "If it is a low-risk birth, natural birth is always promoted, mainly for two reasons. First, there are adverse effects for the mother; statistics say that you are 30% more likely to end up with an instrumentalized birth or of not moving forward and having to use synthetic oxytocin. But also because of a question of resources, since, after a normal vaginal delivery without complications, at 6 o'clock the mother and the child can go home. With epidurals, they have to spend a day in the hospital ", says Elena Pérez, a nurse at the Pediatric and Neonatal ICU at a London public hospital.
The truth is that the risks of epidurals are minimal (1 in 10,000 can give a severe headache and 1 in 100,000 of having irreversible damage when puncturing) and recent studies claim that it does not slow down labor as previously thought. "But during preparation classes in England the epidural is given as one more option for pain relief, it is not highlighted as anything new or better," explains the nurse. If the mother finally needs relief, they also do not go directly to the epidural, but instead offer her alternatives: bathtubs, pethidine or diamorphine, a very effective opiate, gas and air (the laughing gas or entonox, used by 80% of women in the country) and, finally, as a last option, the epidural. This is the reason why 60% of deliveries use anesthesia in the UK compared to 72% in Spain.
Why a doula instead of a midwife?
English law does not punish a woman who by her own decision decides to have her child at home alone and without assistance, last year in London they did 200, without help. But there is a penalty reserved for someone who is not a doctor or a midwife and helps that person to bring a child into the world, except in cases of emergency. For this reason, it also caused a stir when Meghan chose to hire a doula, a woman without official training, in charge of counseling, helping pregnant women and accompanying them during childbirth, as well as during the care of the newborn.
The figure is controversial and, both in Spain and in the United Kingdom, discouraged due to the risk involved in having one of these people without official qualifications direct and control the delivery. But it is striking in the UK because that role is already filled by midwives, the real ladies of childbirth. Known worldwide for their professionalism, they have specific training that can make recipes and that monitors the health of the mother and the child at all times.
"If a pregnancy is considered normal, low risk, since the mother does not have significant risk diseases, it will only be attended by midwives, and even the delivery and the postnatal period if there are no complications. There are patients who do not see a gynecologist throughout the period ", explains Elena Pérez.
Public but private healthcare ... and with the option of champagne
Another rule that the Duchess of Sussex seems to be breaking, according to the British press, is the choice of hospital. By tradition, because the children of William and Kate, and William and Harry were born there, it would be normal for her to give birth in the Lindo Wing, the private wing of St. Mary's public hospital, in London. There, in addition to the royals, all the children of families who can afford the basic package offered by the clinic are born: 24 hours of normal delivery for 6,900 euros, 8,600 in case of cesarean section, plus 1,800 for each additional night. Some packages include champagne and special menus for the couple.
This is what it costs to give birth by private healthcare, since no medical insurance covers childbirth as it is not considered a disease. The service is offered in public centers because in the country there are few that are 100% private where you can give birth. It seems that Markle wants to be closer to Windsor because during the dilation she wants to hold out as long as she can at home, and that is why she has opted for another social security hospital, but with an equally private wing: the NHS Frimley Park.
"Almost all hospitals have that option. The professionals who treat you are the same as the rest of the patients, the difference is that you can pay for the treatment you want. For example, you can choose a midwife for yourself (the ratio normally in a hospital it is 1 for every 8 people), a private room with a bathroom, since, normally, in English public health you share a room with at least four other women and, depending on the hospital, there is also the option of caseloading, which is personalized midwife care based on the patient's needs ", concludes Elena Pérez. That really is being close to town.
