The same day I read about surgeries being cancelled, I receive an article from Women’s eNews on the topic of Caesarean birth.
I am not a great proponent of sections, far too many are done unnecessarily and I think it is just another way women are taught to distrust their bodies and their abilities.
It is also interesting that there is space to do so many of these unnecessary surgeries yet cancer surgeries are being cancelled.
At 30 percent of all deliveries, the current national Caesarean-section rate in the United States is twice the 15 percent maximum rate recommended by the World Health Organization and three times the preferred rate cited by many researchers.
This article shows the despite the claims that C-sections are better for baby and cause no harm to moms, in fact the opposite is true.
C-section rates are increasing worldwide, with one in four newborns in Canada now being delivered via an incision in its mother’s belly, compared with 17% in the early 1990s.
But a new World Health Organization-led study involving more than 97,000 deliveries in Latin America found that hospitals with the highest rates of Caesareans had higher rates of maternal death and illness — including conditions requiring blood transfusions — and had higher numbers of babies who died or were admitted to intensive care for seven days or more after birth.
The results, published online by the journal The Lancet, “show how a medical intervention or treatment that is effective when applied to sick individuals in emergency situations can do more harm than good when applied to healthy populations.”
While the study involved Latin American hospitals, the researchers believe the findings would hold true “beyond the participating institutions.”
Major pieces of research released in 2006 showed that women who undergo cesareans versus women experiencing a vaginal birth have a higher risk of dying in childbirth, have a higher chance of suffering from potentially fatal placental problems in subsequent pregnancies, and their babies have a higher chance of being injured during surgery
Further from the eNews story;
“Some of my colleagues think it should be higher,” Flamm says. “I have heard some doctors say that all women should have babies by C-section, that vaginal births are archaic. Some docs have a C-section rate of 50 percent because they believe in their hearts it’s the best thing for their patients.”
Classic patriarchal statement about the frailty and defectiveness of the female body
Great article about that here
The patriarchy firmly believes that it’s much easier to convince women we are weak than it would be to convince men that they are. We must not let them. Women are strong, vital, vibrant and complex, and our bodies are made to withstand tremendous changes. The fact of our strength is a huge threat to men: beware their attempts to undermine it. Menstruation, pregnancy, breastfeeding, and menopause are not states of illness. They are further proof of our bodies’ tremendous creative potential.
I wonder what other natural processes this doctor finds archaic. Strange that it is archaic for the vagina to be used for birth but not procreation. Perhaps the good doctor has had surgery to fit himself with a colostomy bag the act of relieving ones self having become so 2005.
Surgical birth adds unnecessary cost to the health care budget as c-section patients have greater care needs, stay in hospital longer are more likely to return with subsequent problems, have babies who are more likely to require care, and are likely to be advised to have surgery for subsequent births.
Care by properly trained midwives, providing good positive prenatal care, and a patient centred birth has shown to greatly decrease the need for medical intrusions, speed up the labour process, and result in fewer injuries to babies.
Pregnancy and birth do carry risks both during and after, however, most births do not require medical interventions. It is time to stop treating doctors as superheros and birth as a made for TV drama.
Midwives say current popular culture does little to subdue the sense of danger and complication surrounding childbirth.
Cibelli, for instance, says “The Baby Story,” a program on the Learning Channel that shows labor and birth experiences, recorded several of her patients delivering their babies in the hospital, but none of them was shown.
“The filmmakers told us that mine were just too normal. What really sells is drama. They love the rushing down the hallway to save the baby’s life to do a C-section. Mine were quiet, with dimmed lights. The people filming thought they were wonderful, but they knew they were not going to sell because they were not sensational.”
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