I asked 15 women the same question....Do you think its important to change the way childbirth is viewed and managed in the United States? Why or Why not? Looking for different views and opinions...
Here were the responses I did receive:
- Yes I think it's important to change the way it's viewed. Labor should be something a woman feels she is in control of and has a voice during. It shouldn't be something that happens to her that is managed by hospital staff while she lays about helpless. I am not against pain medicine during labor to help a woman stay in the driver's seat with her body if she needs it, but I think birthing classes should be mandatory for ANY kind of birth. The power of knowledge is amazing. I think many women feel powerless during labor simply because they have no idea what to expect other than pain.
- I do believe it is important to change the way we view childbirth. Childbirth is not something that needs to be "managed" it is a natural process and should be viewed as such. Women who are healthy and low risk can normally grow and push out their baby with minimum interventions. In our culture, we are always trying to improve on nature but there's not a need. Our bodies were designed to grow babies, give birth, and feed our young. The vast majority of women are able to do this and should be empowered and educated to believe in their bodies and themselves.
- The health benefits for a child that passes through the birth canal are endless (granted, some c-sections are necessary; I discredit the elective procedures): 1. Populates baby's gut w/flora/fauna. 2. Squeezes excess fluid out of lungs & jump starts respiration. 3. Helps improve circulation. 4. Helps gets mom's milk flowing; etc etc etc... One thing that we're seeing in the medical field, in older patients, is the correlation between small bowel obstructions in women who had c-sections. Scar tissue forms & strangulated bowels. Docs don't think about later-in-life complications... Having to have your bowels removed and placed on tube/IV feedings the rest if your life is hardly worth it. The U.S. would have a healthier population of people of all ages if we could start encouraging more natural/vaginal births...... And hand the doctors a pair of balls in med school... Those chickens can't handle the heat.
- Doctors should view it more natural and people should too. Women get so wrapped up in " I want the OB I've been seeing this whole time to "deliver" my baby! And there's too many inductions are pushed by mother and Doctor.
- Yes. There is too much fear associated with child birth in the US. Birthing is not meant to be a traumatic experience - it should be a memorable and joyous occasion of bringing new life into the world. There isn't enough support either of a woman's choice to birth how she wants to birth. If women had regular access (and not just researching, but Dr.'s giving ALL the options to the patient) of the different methods of natural child birth that teach techniques to relax through the pain, then maybe things would change. And not even just that, there's also the convenience factor of child birth. Women that are tired of being pregnant and want to induce; Doctors who don't want to have to show up at the hospital on their day off so they induce (uh, you chose the wrong profession if you don't want to be inconvenienced during your day, just sayin'); women choose elective c-sections so as not to interfere with their career - or worse - they're body. People just need to view child birth for what it is: the means to bring your precious child into the world in the safest way possible for YOU. Whatever way that may be, there is more than just ONE cookie cutter way.
- I can see both sides of the argument (as far as natural birth vs. modern medicine). I think that whatever it takes to bring in a health baby is most important. To get my daughter into the world, I would have died (and, maybe she would have, too) if not for modern medicine. At the same time, I really appreciate a natural birth - and would really like to try the experience of childbirth that way. Overall, I think it's important that people in society stop judging each other. People get too extreme (for me) -- whether it is scheduling a C-section for convenience (I'm not a big fan of that) or sharing too much information about the water-birth that took place in their home (TMI and stop making me feel guilty for not doing that). .... To each his (her!) own - just get that health baby here!
