Unless you have just started following my ramblings, you probably know that I'm just a little bit "crunchy" and follow some of the more natural parenting practices such as natural childbirth, cloth diapering, extended breastfeeding, babywearing, and co-sleeping. I'm perfectly fine with my friends who don't, and while I love this way doing things for me, I'm less interested in convincing people that I'm right than I am in simply presenting information so that other mothers can have more choices.
I had two very "medicalized" births and one (so far, this next one is on the same track as well) natural childbirth with midwifery care throughout. Hands down my health both physical and emotional, and my recovery were miles ahead in my last birth. I desired natural birth with my first two but due to lack of knowledge and lack of a supportive medical staff, things just didn't go that way.
This past fall I was able to attend a screening of a very important film called "The Business of Being Born" and while I thought I was becoming more informed about birth practices, the information presented was shocking to me.
I honestly feel that anyone who has given birth or will give birth here in the USA needs to have this information. Again, not to convince you that "we" are right and "they" are wrong, but simply so that you can understand the choices that you have, but are not given or informed about.
A disclaimer: this is a very real documentary, about birth. so yes, there is lots of skin--all in the context of labor and birthing, but skin nonetheless. It also contains some unedited remarks of women in labor, and not everyone giving birth necessarily watches their language.
Another thing, the movie is focusing on the "business" behind current birthing practices and protocols, and compares them to what childbirth can be like. This is presented in the context of homebirthing for the simple reason that the midwife they followed happens to be a homebirth midwife in NYC. Don't get the impression that they are advocating only homebirth, that is simply the dimension that gets the most time. It is possible to have a natural birthing experience in a hospital, however the film points out very clearly that the system is totally stacked against that happening.
A few of the more important points that the film addresses are:
-the snowball effect of medical interventions. A hospital is a business, patients in, patients out, that is where the money comes from. Thus patients are put on a timeline... well, birth doesn't aways follow a timeline. Thus begins the cycle of interventions. First a little pitocin to augment labor (usually needed because women are laboring on their backs, tied to too many monitors), then of course once the pitocin is started, the pain becomes unmanageable without medication, this relaxes you, but also slows labor again, so, more pitocin is needed. This cycle repeats. Finally, the baby is being squeezed by these unnaturally strong, unrelenting contractions and starts to have its blood supply compromised, its heart rate drops, and it goes into distress. Mom is then rushed into an emergency C-section due to fetal distress, and everyone is so happy that the baby was saved because of the section... many times, without the initial interventions to augment labor, this would never have happened. The incidence of unplanned c-sections following the introduction of labor augmenting drugs is undeniable, but this is not often disclosed to moms in labor.
-the importance of the chemical effects of the hormones released during labor and birth. Briefly, oxytocin and other brain hormones linked to feelings of love, nurturing and even addiction are released during labor and delivery. These hormones are lost when replaced by synthetic versions (for instance, pitocin instead of oxytocin). In nature the simple story is that if these hormones are missing during birth, the mother animal rejects the baby. For instance, if a monkey is given a c-section, it will ignore the baby and let it die. Now obviously no one is saying that a human mother can't overcome this and love and bond with their baby despite this! However, the medical history of birthing in the USA over the past 80 years is fraught with mistakes that we didn't find out until after the fact. Think of routine pevic exrays, thalidomide, and cytotec induced uterine rupture. Will the study of mother-child relationships in the next generations show that our messing with these natural hormones was a huge mistake?
- Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies are all equally complicit in misleading both one another and the birthing women in the USA. We are the second leading developed nation when it comes to maternal mortality.... first if you count only the largest nations. One interesting note that I found out in the panel discussion that followed the screening I attended (it's not in the film) is that if all the numbers were out in the open, our numbers would be even higher. For example, in the UK, any mother who dies within a year of giving birth is automatically listed as a maternal mortality, pending investigation for the real cause. In contrast, here in the USA, an obvious maternal mortality may be listed as sepsis or hemorrhage instead, thus skewing the numbers.
Ok, before I simply post the entire film, let me again say that despite my disclaimers, I do think that the information in this film is vital for women who have or will give birth. The good news is that although this film was originally only released through private screenings, then for rent on netflix, it is now available in it's entirety online, for free.
http://quicksilverscreen.com/watch?video=45525
I urge you to find 1.5 hours to watch this important film.
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6 comments:
I think this is really great that you shared this info. God knows, I tried to be knowledgeable and educated while still in the pre-conception planning stages of parenting. But I sure wish I had known a lot of this back then. I am one of the statistics. As a result, I ended up with C/S my first birth, total jerk of a doctor when I was laboring for a VBAC the second time around..thus a 2nd C/S, and of course at that point...my next two births weren't even choices. It's one of the biggest REGRETS of my entire life. If I had the ability to go back and make anything different in my life, that would probably be it.
I'm always so jealous of those who have these beautiful non-intervention hosp or homebirths.
BEST OF "LUCK" to you, in your upcoming delivery! :)
I will plan to watch this movie, though I can't promise that I won't be an emotional mess for doing so.
Tara, you probably will be emotional while watching it, it's very powerful, but not because it's out to vilify women who have had sections. They were very careful to show appreciation for good medical care when it is needed.
This is one area where I stray from my fellow crunchy sisters...sometimes you get the impression that they think that ALL medical intervention is wrong. I totally disagree with this. I lived in Central America for a year and saw firsthand what a lack of good well-woman care, and good care in childbirth can result in.
You know what I find shocking is that in such a ultra-feminist society as we live in, this is the one place where so many women are still "victimized". I use that term carefully, because I do feel that it is overused, but honestly, I hear story after story from my peers about how they were essentially forced into things during childbirth, not for the good of mother or baby, but for the convenience of the medical staff. To me, that does equal being a victim of something, whether it is carelessness, ignorance, or actual malignant purposes, I'm not sure.
With my second birth, Jessica, they convinced me that we had to induce because I was a week over and they said my amniotic fluid was low. They never even got to the pitocin stage...they used cytotech and I was thrown into heavy labor within 30 minutes. From start to finish less than three hours and that was with the last 30 minutes when I was wanting(and NEEDING) to push, not being allowed to because, surprise, surprise, her heart rate was decelling so much from being squeezed with no relief. At one point they were standing there with terbitulane (sp?) ready to halt conractions and drag me to the OR, but she stabilized in time. They finally used a vaccum to get her to crown. She had breathing trouble the first few days and sounded like a little snorting piggy, they said it was because her nasal passages and airways were squashed during labor.
Well, what do you know... once it was all said and done, I overheard the nurse who was filling out the paperwork ask the OB what dosage of cytotech they used. She said, "You used X amount,right?" to which the OB replied, "No, I wasn't messing around, I used XX (double that amount)instead." Ok, so for THEIR convenience, because they "didn't want to mess around" my baby was put into distress, I went from 0-10 in approx 2 hours, and had to have a vaccum assist?
outrageous and unacceptable!
I am not about natural birth beacause I somehow feel that the pain makes me a martyr and I will get a gold star at the end. I am about natural birth because God made my body and unless something goes wrong, it works just fine!
The recovery from my third birth was like night and day compared to my first (awful, 20+ hours, every intervention, many different pain meds up to and including the epidural) and even my second.
My mother has stories of being put to bed, no support allowed (fathers never came in back then, but even her mom who was an RN wasn't allowed), and laboring alone in a hospital room until it was time to have the baby. When she talks about it, it literally makes me cry. My MIL told me recently that when she delivered my husband, they strapped her to the bed with leather straps, against her outcries, saying that it was for her own safety. That brings chills to me.
My birth story with Joy is beautiful, maybe I'll dig it up and post it sometime. The stories from the first two, not so great, although I did get a beautiful healthy baby out of the deal, so I'm all good. One thing I do know though, I had a hard time nursing the first two, with Joey I did have bonafide medical problems, with Jessi I think it was a lack of confidence. I nursed them both, Joey for 8 months, Jessi for 13 months, but supplimenting with formula the whole time. After Joy, I felt like I could fly. I had SO much more confidence in the fact that my body could in fact function the way it was supposed to, and had no supply issues. I truly feel that my problems with Jessi were psychological, not physical.
Anyway, I'd love to hear your thoughts when you are finished watching.
LOL Most of my family and friends think "crunchy" is a sugary cereal!!! They think I am just weird... :-) Thanks for posting this, unfortantly I missed the viewing of it locally and I have really wanted to see it.
Thanks!!
Misty
I applaud you for posting this information. I do believe women should have more education and more choices when it comes to bringing their child into this world. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do believe that women in the UK do have more control and choices over how they deliver. When I use to do In Home Health Care in the states, I would pass the time watching Birth and Delivery programs on tv. Even though I've never wanted to have children myself I always found the whole process fascinating. I remember thinking that the doctors and medicine intervene way too much and too often. It seemed it was never left to nature. I watch the same programs over here and see more often cases where the mother has a midwife at home and they have pool biths...etc.
Anita,
Yes, you are correct. Many women in the UK birth at home with midwives, and contrary to it being considered dangerous or against the law (as it is in a number of US states) it is part of the national health system and done this way on purpose. --Because it is proven to be save, effective, and efficient.
Uh oh!, th elink I have posted is probably not working at this time. Quick silver screen is having a legal problem due to some bootlegged films that have been loaded onto the site.
Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.
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