The Business of Being Born
There's a new documentary out called "The Business of Being Born." Even though Ricki Lake is one of the producers (what?) I still couldn't resist taking a look at the trailer. It's all about how birth in the United States is extremely medicalized and treated like a disease rather than a natural process. I'd like to know where all you bloggers and blog readers stand on the whole birthing thing. Are you all about the drugs and scheduled c-section, are you somewhere in the middle, are you all-natural in the hospital, or are you of the at-home-ruining-the-jacuzzi-tub genre? Let's hear it -- what do you think and why? I think I'm in the middle. I don't believe in the c-section for convenience, and I'm still in love with my epidural, but I think pitocin is to blame for the wreckage in the nether regions after two hours of pushing. Oh, and I know you medical folks are reading this so you should chime in, too.
P.S. I've got a great video of Charlie stuck in a folding chair and it will make you laugh really hard, but I'm not posting it until you comment.
12 comments:
I just want a baby. That's all...a healthy baby. I don't care how much pain I have to go through...I just want to be there in the end, holding a baby in my arms.
Great question! I agree, that Hollywood and a lot of other people are having C-Sections for convenience. I think a C-Section is only for a necessity not a choice. It is funny how we have started having babies for the right date versus when they "should" come out in God's eyes. I am all about as less pain as possible but I think God had a plan when he wanted babies to be in for 40 weeks! I am interested to see this movie.
That is a tough one. I think it is just such a personal issue. My sister in law does all natural birth on a ball or a stool. No medication and no shots for your baby. I had a C-section and I felt like it was necessary and my dr. agreed, but it is hard to say if those who weren't looking at loosing bladder control function at 30 might not think so. Is a C-Section an optional surgery, sure. Is it the same as like a nose job or a boob job? I think no. :) I wish it included a tummy tuck though!
I had a natural birth attended by a midwife at a birth center. I was extremely happy with my birth experience and plan to have future children the same way (unless some kind of medical reason would prevent me from doing so, of course). I loved being able to be an active participant in the process rather than a patient. I was able to walk around, change positions, spend time in a tub, eat, go to the bathroom whenever - pretty much do whatever I wanted. I didn't have to be hooked up to any machines - we used intermittent monitoring. Matt was also able to be very involved and even "caught" Drew himself. We were able to go home later the same day, which I know some people wouldn't want to do, but we loved being able to do so and the birth center provided excellent follow up care. We were extremely happy with the supportive and personal attention provided by the midwives throughout our prenatal care as well as the birth.
Anyway...it's not that I want to convince people to go natural - I certainly respect each woman's individual choice. But I like to let people know what a positive experience it was for me.
Thanks for the comments! I personally love the idea of natural birth. I had even thought about it for a little while. I just had too many other medical issues that could complicate things for me to pursue it with much conviction. I think it's definitely a personal choice and I would hope that parents make every effort to educate themselves on which is best for them. I do, however, question OBs who push c-sections and inductions to fit their work schedule. I was thankful to have an OB who saw birth as more of a natural process than something to be conquered. I'd love to hear from more of you -- keep the comments coming. I think it's great to hear each other's perspectives!
I'll chime in! I've done both. My first two I had naturally, without any drugs, but in the hospital. My first, it was just me, Gavin and the nurses. With my second, we hired a doula to join us in the process, which was a huge help for both of us. With my third one, we made a very difficult decision to have a c-section due to complications with my two previous births. I don't regret the decision we made with the third, but for this next one, I plan on finding a doula or midwife again and attempting a vbac. To me, there is just nothing more wonderful than fully experiencing every aspect of labor and birth. Plus, I found the c-section recovery much worse than the pains of natural labor!!
I am very interested in seeing this movie! Thanks for the info!
Anyone interested in an academic (and of course, feminist) perspective on these topics should read "Misconceptions" by Naomi Wolf and "For Her Own Good" by Barbara Ehrenreich. These books explore the history of how women's bodies have been exploited and abused by the masculine medical profession.
Thanks for starting this dialogue Amy. I wanted to go all natural for the birth of Scout. I was so shocked when I went in for my 37 week check up and found out that I would deliver that afternoon by C-Section. My blood pressure had been slowly climbing and had reached a concerning level. I have watched clips from the movie and it really made me sad that I did not advocate more for other, less invasive options. That day I felt like my body was not my own and that I had no say in how I wanted to experience the delivery of my child. There was no special moment of falling dreamily in love with her when she arrived, I just kept thinking, "I am going to throw up and I can't move my body to even hold her". I was so disconnected from all of it. I am not sure how to make a C-Section special- but I will say that I was safe (no strokes) and so was Scout.
Man, Maria. I'm so sad that you went through that. I haven't even seen pictures of Scout. She's old enough to be turning into a person already. You need to email me pictures! I want to know how y'all are doing!
Cat, thanks so much for posting those references. I think that's so outside our realm of thinking. I remember Gwen introducing me to the idea of male dominance in medicine that first semester and I was amazed. It's such an important perspective to explore!
When my delivering doc laughed at my notion of not having an episiotomy and then raced to throw stiches in and told the nurse to stop counting, I knew I was in trouble. I really think that if we would've taken more time to let my labor progress naturally I wouldn't now pee my pants every time I laugh hard! My water broke at home, we went to the hospital and right away they gave me pitocin and my epidural. I didn't even question it. I hadn't thought about the scenario of what would happen if my water broke before my contractions started. I just went with it. I don't think my body was ready when it was time to push, so I pushed for two hours and they finally used the vacuum to deliver Charlie (that sounds funny). His heartrate was crazy and I was about two seconds away from an emergency c-section. Then I had to watch as they worked on him for a few minutes to get him breathing right. It was a little crazy and if it wasn't for Andy and his poker face and medical knowledge I would have been terrified.
I had gestational diabetes so they would NOT let me go past my due date even though my blood sugars stayed fine the whole time and I had monthly ultrasounds that showed Emily was growing fine. I know they have to do that to keep something from happening but I would have been fine going a week past my due date . . . I know I would have. But they wouldn't let me and so my body wasn't ready to have a baby. I checked in on a Tuesday night and on Thursday morning there was still no baby : (
So I had to have a c-section. I wanted so badly to have Emily without a c-section but it wasn't meant to be. I'm all about an epidural but wanted to go as long as I could without one so that labor wouldn't slow down. Next time I'm sad to say if I have diabetes again I will just schedule a c-section because I don't want to go 36 hours and then have to have one anyway. I'm HOPING against all hope that I can just go into labor on my own!!!
Jennifer
I think it depends entirely on each situation. I had to have 2 c-sections. Would I have loved to have a vaginal delivery? Absolutely. Would I risk my babies life for it? No way. I do not belive in c-sections should be for convienince. That is major abdominal surgery with a longer recovery time and higher risk of infection and presurgical bleeding. I agree with Ashley though I would have loved a tummmy tuck with my last one :)
I also think that a healthy baby should be the goal. How you get your healthy baby is a personal decision. I had 2 c-sections. Not by choice, but the shape of my body wouldn't allow me to have my babies any other way. My 2 c-sections were completely different so I can't say it was the easier route. Both of my babies were healthy and beautiful so enduring 2 major surgeries was totally worth it. I do think that mothers that don't give birth in a hospital are taking a risk. You don't know what will happen in the birthing process and I wouldn't want to put my unborn child or myself in any danger. If you want to go all natural, that's awesome, but it should be in a hospital. It's better to be safe than sorry.
Show your movie already!
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