Health, Taken Seriously

There’s a great documentary that was just released about birth in America–The Business of Being Born. After having a birth with many medical interventions, Ricki Lake decided to have her second child at home. She hosts this documentary about birth. It is awesome! I loved it, especially the first 2/3 of it (the last part is a little random though). As someone who was offered an induction by her OB/GYN a full 10 days before my due date because my doctor was on call that night, I can definitely say that I agree that birth in America has become way too medicalized. Here are some great statistics and quotes from the movie:

• Midwives attend over 70% of births in Europe and Japan, but less than 8% in the U.S.
• “What the medical profession has done over the last 40-50 years is convince the vast majority of women that they don’t know how to give birth.”
• “Because obstetricians are socialized to search for pathologies, they often see pathology where it doesn’t exist. They find pathology because then they have something to do.” Robbie Davis-Floyd, Ph.D. of Medical Anthropology
• Everywhere else in the world, midwives attend normal births (while doctors attend births with complications). In highly developed countries where midwives attend 70-80% of births, they’re loosing fewer women and babies.
• The U.S. has the 2nd worst newborn death rate in the developed world and one of the highest maternal mortality rates among all industrialized nations.
• Delivering a baby while flat on your back is convenient for the doctor but incompatible with delivery. It makes the pelvis smaller and renders the abdominal muscles less functional.
• “Nothing compares to the privilege of giving life and the responsibility that comes with that. If we don’t have respect for that, where do we go from there?”
• “A woman doesn’t need to be rescued [from giving birth].”
• In 2005, 1 in 3 births in the U.S. were via cesarean-section.
• Since 1996, the C-section rate in the U.S. has increased 46%. It is now the most common surgical procedure for U.S. women.
• Why is the c-section rate so high? It is extremely doctor friendly. Instead of the average 12-hour labor, delivery takes 20 min. It also prevents litigation. “They can never fault you if you section them.”
• C-section rates are highest around 4 and 10pm, times when doctors are ready to get the baby out and go home.
• Hormones released during natural delivery are crucial to mother/baby bonding. If a monkey gives birth by c-section, she will not take care of her baby.

I delivered both my children without any pain medication, but in a hospital. It was an interesting mixture of natural and medical. I still had an IV, had my water broken at 8 cm, and had an episiotomy both times, but had no epidural or systemic pain medication, no induction, no pitocin. I obviously can’t compare this to a more medical birth (since I never had one!) but I will say that I agree that natural labor is one of the most empowering experiences a woman can have, a position taken by The Business of Being Born.   If you’re a woman in the U.S., you really need to see this documentary! It’s informative, moving, and entertaining all at once.