getting birthed
This afternoon Chris and I went to see a showing of the documentary I mentioned a little while ago, The Business of Being Born. It actually was a little better than I thought it would be. I knew it would be polemical and emotional, and it was those things--how could it not be? childbirth is a powerful, emotional experience. It was also informative, balanced, and moving.
The film opened with some shocking statistics: did you know, for instance, that of all countries in the western, developed world?
* the U.S. has the second worst infant mortality rate
* the U.S. has a 30% C-section rate (read 1 out of 3 women) compared to other western country's 5%
and
* and in other western countries 1/3 of births are homebirths, compared to the U.S.'s 1%
The film followed the pregnancies and births of a few women, included conversations with OBs, midwives, and midwifry celebs like Ina May Gaskin and Michel Odent, and incorporated a brief history of OB practice in America.
American women simply don't have good information about childbirth, and that is what the film really addresses. An intervention-free, natural childbirth is going to be safest for mother and baby in 90% of pregnancies. But the average American woman doesn't have the information of what she can do and is instead fed fear. For the remaining percent for whom intervention is necessary, the film has a beautiful, moving section that incorporates that, but the decision for intervention was a very well-informed decision. The film was about the need to have good information, and not to let insurance companies or doctors who are trained surgeons or the fear of litigation to get in the way of what millions of women having been doing for thousands of years.
Netflix will release the DVD on Feb. 26, and I highly recommend putting it on your queue. It was a beautiful film. (And a good pep rally for me as I'm feeling a bit down in the doldrums of mid-pregnancy.)
Comments
J - Thanks. I'll be putting t
J - Thanks. I'll be putting that on our Netflix list. Probably not for 13 yo boy watching? A few questions maybe you can answer: does the film give options for good pain relief, in home birth situations? Some moms view the pain of childbirth as part of the unique experience, but many truly DON'T WANT TO FEEL THAT PAIN AGAIN :)!! Just wondering. The stats weren't surprising to me; I've heard them before. The number of C-sections is alarming. I think American women assume that "emergency" C's just can't be anticipated or avoided. Do you think the Amer. childbirth "climate" is changing? And do you think that our insurance-company heavy medical world contributes to these stats? (Don't delve into all this unless you want to. I'm just curious.) BTW - Carolyn should be delivering #3 this week!! -- MK
*L* no, i probably wouldn't sh
*L* no, i probably wouldn't show it to my teenaged boy. It seems that one of the most popular things going for homebirths are water births. Everyone I know who has had a homebirth has had a waterbirth, and most (if not all) homebirths in the movie are waterbirths. It looks lovely to me. If someone simply, absolutely does not want to feel that pain again, go to the hospital and get an epidural. *shrug* Just be aware that it could start a cascade of interventions. For me, my water broke, several hours later (it took me awhile to realize that it had happened) I went to the hospital, they started me on pit right away b/c of the water, but I managed through without an epidural (thankfully in part to my crazy fast labor--5 hours to full dilation). I could EASILY see how I might have been at risk for a section if I had had an epidural, but since I didn't, the more expedient thing for them to do was vaccum him out. Do I actually want to experience labor pain again. NO WAY! Now that i know what it's like, I'm scared as heck. But I know I CAN do it--even with crazy pit contractions, and I think that puts me in a good state of mind. I think what gets fed to a lot of women is that...well, you can try, but we're not sure if you can. See how that's different?
YES. I believe the insurance companies are a major part of these stats.
all that said--I'm not going to be a major natural childbirth advocate. I think it's the best way, obviously. I care more about people having good information. Every woman is different and has different needs-- and she needs to make her own choices. But I think with better information and childbirth care, more women would choose natural. I think a lot do, actually, but b/c of the hospital situation aren't given that opportunity, and I think that's terrible.
Good point. There's a lot of p
Good point. There's a lot of pressure to panic, and have a C-section. Did the film mention the malpractice insurance pressure on the doctors? Does have factor in? I've heard that they can be found liable, if there was ANY other procedure they could have performed, and did not. (I'm thinking of broader medical cases.) I wonder if European docs have as much lawsuit pressure on them as we do here.
We've lost a handful of OB's i
We've lost a handful of OB's in our small town due to their inability to afford the malpractice insurance costs. The ones who remained here are struggling to stay.
We do however have a hypno-birthing expert/advocate and lots of midwives who started a birth circle group to educate women in the region. Many of my friends are involved in this and have had home water births.
I was one who had an emergency c-section that actually *was* a real emergency. They said Ethan was lucky to have made it. My OB to this day believes there were angels in the OR that night. (So that experience traumatized me into a conviction that the hospital is the place to be for me)
Oh I'm so glad you got to see
Oh I'm so glad you got to see it! I agree that many are uninformed about birth. I sincerely enjoyed my two natural births much more than my hospital birth with an epidural (and other interventions)... in spite of the pain! And honestly, the pain was less in many ways during my natural labors. Having freedom of movement and a more relaxed environment made a huge difference for me.
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