Some of you may be familiar with leading homebirth advocate Janet Fraser and her quest to ensure women can have babies at home with no medical personnel present (including a midwife).
You may have even seen quotes from Janet calling c-sections and episiotomies "birthrape" and insisting that "survivors are angry and we are starting to talk about it."What you may not know is Janet's baby suffered cardiac arrest during her cherished unassisted water birth and died on March 27th at her home in Australia.Apparently the possibility of "birthrape" was much more important to Janet than the safety of her child.
I am very sorry that the child died. I am angry at the mother, though.
When I was pregnant with my first child, I was constantly asked, "Are you going to have a natural birth?" A lot of people did not get it when I would answer, "No, my husband shall set chisel to my head and give a mighty whack, and the child shall spring forth, fully armored." After explaining the reference[1], I would say, "If by that do you mean will I ask for painkillers . . . hell, yes!"
Back during the Civil War, men were given a bullet to bite on while someone sawed off their leg. Medical science has advanced considerably since that time and we no longer perform major surgery on people while they are awake. That is a good thing. So why this notion that for a woman to take advantage of such advances during childbirth is not "natural?" My thought during both my pregnancies was that the goal is to have a healthy child. In my daughter's case, I had to have a c-section because the hospital would not have delivered her in a frank breech position[2]. When it came time for my son and I was given the choice of another c-section or to try a vaginal birth, my OB-GYN and I discussed risks and when we determined there would be less risk with another c-section, I opted for that.
And I don't feel any less the mother for it. Do what you will, but remember that in any childbirth, there are two patients.
[1] Do I really need to explain it here?
[2] Ankles behind ears, butt first - sort of a cannonball(!) into life.
6 comments:
RE: [2] Origin of the phrase "bass-akwards". Yes, you can tell Katie her uncle said that.
I had all of my children via c-section. My babies had BIG heads and I am... more petite. After carrying my first child for 10 months.. with no progression toward the birth canal, they decided to do the c-section. I was ready for the experience of "natural" childbirth, but when it was explained to me that it could kill both of us, I decided that the docs knew best. I was disappointed, but...
no episiotomy... no, ummm stretching...
It is good ;)
MiTX
Every woman has right to dream of having a baby. Tubal reversal allows a woman the ability to conceive naturally without any harm. Although tubal ligation is considered a permanent method of birth control, but at some later stage you think that you have done something wrong and you should not have done tubal ligation. But don’t worry, in approximately 90% of cases the procedure can be reversed.
We tried with my son to have a vaginal birth. But you know what? I handled labor...poorly.
No, scratch that, TERRIBLY. Including yelling at my husband. I threw something across the room, but it was only waded up paper, so I don't know if it really counts as a violent outburst or not (hubby was reading said sheet of paper rather than rubbing my back during contractions...so I think I was justified).
After receiving the blessed epidural, and not making any progress whatsoever with that and pitocin, we went for a c-section. I was a little nervous because you don't know what to expect (no amount of TLC's "A Baby Story can prepare you for the reality of being basically operated on while you're awake), but afterward it really wasn't that awful. The OBs "cleaned me out", so to speak, so I didn't have the typical bleeding and after the staples were removed I felt great.
I had some c-section like surgery back in 2004; because of that and the previous c-section delivery, we didn't even really consider a VBAC. And I'm totally fine with that.
More to the topic; women used to have babies at home without medical personnel because we didn't have the advances (technology, vehicles, roads, etc.) we have today. WHY IN THE WORLD would you subject yourself and your child to the dangers of not having access to medically trained people to help you both?
Why is your own sense of self-fulfillment or your political agenda more important than the child you're supposed to give life to and protect?
That women is negligent in the death of her baby. The bare minimum for a safe birth (for baby as well as mother) is a midwife or two present and attending the birth. That being said, as a paramedic, we get a lot of 911 calls from midwives who are in too deep and need us to get their two patients to a hospital for a safe delivery.
Where to begin?...
I think the trend toward "natural" (I'm using that term advisedly) childbirth is a mixed bag. You read, say, Laura Ingalls Wilder's brief account of her childbirth experiences shortly before 1900, and yeah: she was probably put out with ether for much of her labor. Which can hurt the baby, but they figured it was better than trying to do it awake. At least that's my understanding.
Of course, that was before epidurals, episiotomies, pitocin...
I think making use of medical advances is a very good thing...in balance. I know one woman who did a "natural" birth with a midwife at a birthing center adjacent to a hospital for her first, then did a home birth with a midwife for her second. (The first was uneventful and they live ten or fifteen minutes from a good hospital.) Though I'm not likely to choose either, those both seem like *reasonable* choices to me, though I admit I think the first is more prudent than the second.
On the other hand, a friend of a friend made what I think was a stunningly bad series of choices in order to avoid a C-section. (I won't get into the details here, but trust me, it was pretty egregiously foolish.)
The basic argument I hear from women like my first friend is that doctors do C-sections at the drop of a hat; that they schedule C-sections so they won't get a midnight call; and that C-sections are more dangerous than vaginal birth. I submit that it depends on the situation; and if I don't trust my doctor to make that call, perhaps I need to be looking for another doctor.
All things considered, I'd like to minimize the medical intervention in my life *as much as I can SAFELY do*. But if my doctor says it could kill me or the baby to go vaginal...it seems like a no-brainer to me.
And giving birth at home without even a midwife? Even I don't know anyone who's done that.
P.S. Pallas Athene :-)
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