The Business of Being Born

[karrie]

I don't know if I've really brought it up here much before, but, I was scared to have my babies in a hospital. Once I found out that the hospital in the town where I was delivering had a 30% cesarean rate, alarms went off in my head. My first child was born in the hospital, but with a doula watching over, speaking loudly as my advocate for a natural birth. My second was a home birth, and was one of the most lovely experiences of my life.

For any woman planning on having children in north america, there's a neat looking new documentary out, exploring the change in status of birth from a natural process, to that of an illness needing medical intervention.

http://thebusinessofbeingborn.com/

 

[gerryh]

This film is about the u.s..... it doesn't nesasarily translate out to Canada.

 

[karrie]

A lot of it does. The treatment of pregnancy as an illness rather than a natural process is as rampant in many hospitals here as it is there.

The use of cesareans to help tidy up schedules (both for docs and moms), rather than because they're truly necessary, has become a widespread problem. I know enough nurses to hear the complaints about having to push labors along at every step of the way. Even during my prenatal course with my first, the health nurse stated that every birth in their hospital had a 9 in 10 chance of medical intervention of some form. 9 in 10. They had a 30% cesarean rate.

A lot of what they talk about in the trailer applies just as much here as it does there. We might be changing a bit quicker (the Stony Plain birthing center is a good example of change), but not by much.

 

[gerryh]

and alot doesn't..our hospitals aren't run by HMO's where the almighty dollar is the bottom line. We have had a "couple" of kids and my wife has had them all natural. No drugs, no pain killers, and all she had to do was say no.

 

[karrie]

There's still the constant interference though... she had to say no. She shouldn't have had to say no. They shouldn't be offering medical interventions unless they're necessary, or being requested. For a lot of women, if a doc says 'We should do.... ', the automatic response will be agreement, because why would a doc or nurse offer it if it wasn't needed?

I agree, the HMO money issues doesn't apply here, but boy, there's an awful lot that women aren't taught about birth. And an awful lot of fear that they ARE taught.

 

[talloola]

I encourage all expectant mothers to have their babies at home, 'if that is what they want', but the decision of 'how' you will deliver is made with your doctor, before you ever reach any hospital, and could change depending on how the labour progresses, one of my daughters had to have a immergency cessarian, as babies heartbeat suddenly started to slow with contractions, and it turned out that he had a very serious heart problem, and has since gone through open heart surgery, and has a heart which functions differently than normal, but 'he' doesn't, he is fine.

My first daughter was born in a catholic hospital, (I was young and dumb), and if it wasn't for my doctor, she would have been 'still' born, as the cord dropped between her head and
my pelvic area, (that hospital had no anesesthetist ,(sp?)on duty)to help her, no instrument for listening to tummy throughout labour, I walked around most of the night, till her head was in view, doctor arrived, no drugs at all,which was my choice, she was born, not breathing, he worked on her manually till she finally took her first breath. he said that if I had have taken any drugs at all, the labour would have been longer, and she would not have lived.
and all ended well, but he was very angry, and told me not to go to that hospital again, or he wouldn't assist me.
My daughters all had their babies in a hospital, and at no time did anyone feel it was like
an illness, as it was very natural, nice rooms, everyone around if they wanted, I even assisted with my first grandaughter, saw her being born, very exciting.