Having a baby should be a beautiful and happy time that is free of worry. Most new mothers describe the birthing process as exciting but difficult. After many months of waiting, they finally get to see the their child. Overshadowing much of the experience is the concern and worry over the baby's health. Additionally, if the potential trouble could have been avoided, the parent's guilt can last a lifetime.

The pain of labor has become accepted as part of the birthing process. Rarely does a new mother say how pleasant their labor was, at least if they did it naturally - without medication. Many new moms are afraid of natural child birth because they have been told it will be horrible with pain. New mothers are not always aware that every year newborns suffer side effects from the use of medications during birth, including epidurals. While not every child will have problems, there is a real and known risk.

"Epidural fever" is an infection that 30% of newborns will deal with. It is treated through antibiotics and isolation until the infection is gone. Low heart rate is another problem for both mother and baby when using epidurals. Because of this oxygen levels will decrease and in many cases doctors will decide to do an emergency c-section to rescue the baby. However this means more medication and more risks for the baby and mother. If the mother has problems with the epidural, most likely the baby will as well. If the baby continues being exposed to a stressed mother, often the doctor will again order a c- increasing the odds that your child will be exposed to medication side effects.

Low APGAR test scores can also be attributed to non-natural child birth. This test is administered one minute after birth and again at five minutes after. The APGAR evaluates the baby's breathing, coloring, activity, pulse and grimace. Epidurals can create false positive results in newborns mainly in the breathing category. Because of low or increased heart rates in the womb, the newborn is prone to abnormal respirations and pulse readings which can cause the doctors to worry. Under natural birthing conditions these abnormal readings would be cause for concern, however if the mother is using an epidural there is no way of knowing if there is truly something wrong or if it is a false alarm.

Many mothers who use epidurals who hear the low readings from the APGAR test, become anxious and panic causing even more stress to their bodies. Many women reported to birthingnatually.net, that they experience tremendous anxiety when hearing the low test scores until they hear the second higher reading. Mothers also reported that they felt more like a spectator when giving birth with epidurals instead of actually being in labor and birthing a baby.

Every woman has the right to choose which birthing method works best for them. However no method is completely safe. Even with natural child birth there are risks and problems. Everyday you are faced with risks, once you are a mother, the risks will only continue to come, few times will you have a choice, and it seems senseless to expose a fetus to medication side effects when the side effects of natural child birth are generally pain and discomfort.