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home birth, child birth, epidural, caesarian
While watching “The Business of Being Born” film, I found myself feeling defensive of the medical establishment. Much of it was cast in a poor light, and yes, much of it rang true for me. But I don’t believe that obstetricians are all “Cesearean Samurais” anxious to rush women to the operating room.
Unfortunately, similar to the environmental movement, showing the worst problems or scariest issues in order to make a point and get attention on these incredibly important issues can be quite effective. Perhaps very balanced reporting of the issue would be too boring to garner worldwide attention. But the downside is that they (the makers of BOBB and extreme environmentalists) lose credibility; or it may have the opposite of the intended effect: such a one-sided view can make the viewer reject the premises all together, which is pointed out by Slate’s Dana Stevens in a recent review of the film.
Unfortunately, Stevens is so caught up in describing weaknesses of the film (admittedly, there are many), that she doesn’t explore the simple notion that there really might be an institutionalized, growing problem in hospitalized birth.
The increasing rate of c-sections is extremely alarming and well documented. Unfortunately, how your individual birth takes place is largely dependent on the practices of the hospital you are in. If the hospital gives 99% of women epidurals then you would be very naive to think that you’ll be able to “choose” not to get one if that’s what you desire. Or if the hospital has a 40% c-section rate, then realistically, you have a good chance of being pressured to get a c-section. Women in labor are very vulnerable and easily influenced. Do you think a hospital staff would rather a) sit and wait for your natural labor to slowly progress (24+ hour labor is very normal), or b) break your water, give you Pitocin (and then an epidural to deal with the increased pain from the harsher contractions caused by the Pitocin) to get things moving along?
Hospitals will rarely advertse the fact that:
- epidurals don’t always work
- there is sometimes breakthrough pain
- whatever drugs you are getting your baby is also getting
- sometimes it takes several attempts to get the needle in the right place
- you may feel pain in your spine for several months after the birth
- your lower half will be deadened and you may need assistance to get the baby out (by suction, episiotomy, forceps, etc.)
- you may not be able to walk for a brief time after you have the baby
- your labor could stall or temporarily shut down after getting the epidural, which may lead to a c-section.
Having opted for non-medicated birth, I won’t fault anyone for getting an epidural – as long as they fully understand the benefits and risks. That said, I must point out that doctors often make you wait until you are quite dilated before you can even get the epidural, which is good because an epidural can stall labor. But what most people don’t know is that when labor gets to be just about intolerable, you are so close to being finished and holding your baby in your arms! Another benefit of unmedicated birth is that once the baby is born, for the most part you are ready to eat a sandwich, put your clothes back on and hold your baby (and take a Motrin). Of course, every birth and birth experience is individual and unique- so maybe you will just feel like crap.
“Ultimately, the business of being born ain’t nobody’s business but our own.” is Steven’s conclusion, but I doubt that Stevens would draw the same conclusion if she had bothered to scratch the surface of the more complicated issue of hospitalized birth in the United States. Stevens might find comfort in hearing her doctor say something such as “I graduated first in my class at Johns Hopkins,” but most of these new doctors have never witnessed anything close to a non-medicated, non-intervention, vaginal birth–something pointed out in BOBB. Doctorsaren’t in the habit of sitting back and watching as nature takes its course. They are trained to do something. The idea that a woman is quite capable of delivering her child with minimum of intervention is lost. If the staff does not believe in you, it is very difficult to believe in yourself and your body while you’re delirious from labor.
And yes, of course, thank goodness we have the doctors and trained staff there waiting in the wings if something goes wrong. Then I would probably be thrilled to learn that my surgeon graduated top of her class at Johns Hopkins.
[Photo Credit: Paulo Netto]
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January 18th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
interesting, i think she’s never had a baby or been in a position to be “told” and “handled” when it comes to her life and health. i also agree that for someone who says the film makers didn’t do their research, she sure didn’t do hers! she’s pretty caught up in the fact that it’s white women who can afford homebirths who are having them, but a large majority of homebirth in this country takes place in rural areas where the omish live and in places like alabama where there is a strong history of “granny” midwives attending women who can’t afford the hospital and where the hospital is 200 miles away 1/2 way on a dirt road, and when they get there, they turn them away for having “outstanding debts” and these women have been being decommissioned and not allowed to practice leaving these pregnant women with no where to go. i am going to write a response too i think, i have a lot to say and i’m not sure if i can put that kind of time into it. but maybe. i’m not too concerned with the weakness of the film, i didn’t think there were that many, even the parts i was thinking oh that’s a little rough on the hospital, my friends who are nurses say, “no, it was right on, it’s actually like that”. she doesn’t even bother to mention things like the history of obstetrics that was shown, i thought that was really well done, i mean can you put thalidomide in a good light? i think most women in this county have no clue the guinea pigs we have been for the last 100 years. anyway i’d want to mention that. i’ll see what i can come up with. this dana woman is the kind of woman who is the worst kind, the kind that can’t see where we need a sisterhood of support!