in recent history, women in the united states have been taught to fear the birthing process. they have been advised to labor in the hospital for their own safety and for the safety of their child. they have been encouraged to take advantage of the many drugs available to them to numb the pain. and they have become increasingly comfortable with elective cesarean sections, a major surgery. also, insurance has been stepping in to control options and expenses for pregnant women.
have we forgotten? pregnancy is a gift. it is not a disease. it is not a condition. it is a beautiful, natural, transformative, age-old gift.
women had been giving birth successfully for more than a few years before obstetric surgeons. they used doulas and midwifes who were fully capable of meeting all of their basic needs before, during and after labor. traditional labor can offer exceptional joy, connection and usually an elated feeling of orgasm from the loads of oxytocin pumping through the woman's body. and of course, some intense pain is to be expected.
it's true, obstetric surgeons have been integral to helping many women and babies survive labor, and that is priceless, but most births don't require their level of intervention. furthermore, most interventions in obstetric practices do not have a sufficient history of long-term effects. already, many drugs and practices that were developed to facilitate labor have been discontinued because they were found to harm women and their babies. for example, women took scopolamine for almost 40 years which was found to cause twilight sleep; women screamed, scratched at doctors, tried to climb walls and spat at people. this drug took away memory, self-awareness and self-control so, as a result, women were tied to their beds, sometimes for days. also, pregnant women had systematic x-rays of their bellies until this practice was linked to cancer in babies. next, thalidomide was used, which caused babies to be born without arms and legs. then cytotec was given to induce labor in women; those with previous cesarean sections incurred ruptured uteruses and thus dead babies. the point is that obstetric interventions are being taken very lightly although they may cause serious, permanent damage to mothers and babies.
an ob/gyn and researcher, michel odent, depicts a metaphor comparing current obstetric practice to a traveler lost on the wrong path. once the traveler realizes that (s)he is lost, (s)he turns back, starts over and finds a different, previously trodden path. he implies that our society has gotten off the time-tested path, that we should start over and reconsider the midwife as our best option.
in the 1960's there was a resurgence of home births. today, more and more women are exercising their right to decide what kind of experience and treatment they would like during labor.
below is an excerpt from a friend's blog who is training to be a midwife in peru; she is sorting out some of the differences between pregnancy in a first world country versus a third world country.
As a pregnant woman who lives in a developed nation in the 21st century, I do not worry that I will not survive childbirth. I do not worry that my child will not survive her passage into this world or make it her first year. I enter into pregnancy and labor fraught with my own fears that are based on 21stcentury realities, likely that I will not be able to bear the pain of childbirth, that it will be too much for me. I have no reason to call into question the formal health system – my midwife’s or physician’s training, the quality of the hospital or birth center where I will deliver, the medical interventions that will be performed upon my body, or prompt access to necessary treatment, facilities or medication that will ensure the survival of me and my baby. I also do not question that I will be treated with respect and dignity, that I will have a voice and a role in my own labor, childbirth and newborn care. As a first world citizen, I also have implicit faith in my health system and the personnel caring for me. It is a privilege to feel safe in my pregnancy and upcoming childbirth, and to be able to concentrate on the celebration and joy of my new role as mother, my changing body, and the knowledge I am creating new life.
This is one of the true marvels of being a citizen of a developed, politically stable, and wealthy nation.
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