Unanswered Active Topics Forums Search

UserName:
Subject:	how do i help?
Body:	<div class="NTForums_Quote">Posted By Henci Goer on 09/03/2007 10:19 AM<br><P>I hear you, but I think it is all too easy to blame the victim. We live in a culture that gives women the subtle and not-so-subtle message that their bodies are incompetent to grow and birth their babies and that labor is an unendurably painful experience. Conventional obstetric management is one long effort to pull the rug out from under the feet of pregnant women. Every visit basically consists of a bunch of tests and measurements asking “Is there something wrong?” “No?” “Come back next month and we’ll do it all over again. The obstetrician's skills and interventions, they are told, are all that stands between their babies and the ravages of that incompetence, while an epidural will spare them the agonies of labor. Better yet, cesarean surgery is the no-muss, no-fuss, pain-free panacea for it all. Why should we be surprised when women have no confidence in themselves and are willing to swallow that message whole? <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></P> <P>You have to remember that things were much simpler back in the '60s and '70s. Birth educators and activists were bringing good news to women: "No, you don't have to be zonked out of your mind on narcotics if you don't want to be," and "Yes, you should be able to have a loved one with you in labor." Both of those messages were common sense ones easily understood by. But electronic fetal monitoring with the false promise of perfect babies and epidurals with the equally false promise of pain-free labor with no downside shifted the ground. Now we are bringing bad news: "No, all those interventions the doctor that you trust tells you guarantee a healthy baby (or, at least, the ob can't guarantee a healthy baby if you refuse them, which amounts to the same thing) do more harm than good," and "Yes, epidurals relieve pain effectively, which narcotics never did, but they carry a whole host of problems in their train." Why on earth would they believe us? It’s like criticizing your daughter’s awful boyfriend. A few teens might listen; most will just get mad at you.<o:p></o:p></P> <P>Add on to that that we are well into the second generation of high cesarean surgery rates. They seem normal to women today. Many of their mothers and aunts and cousins had them as have their sisters and friends. Small wonder that today's women aren't listening to us. But let's put the blame where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of the obstetricians who have successfully promoted a system of management that benefits them but is provably neither safe nor effective and is incredibly costly to boot. </P> <P>For more on this topic, I recommend Marsden Wagner’s book <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Born in the U.S.A.</I> and Jennifer Block’s book <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Pushed</I>. They are both great exposés<o:p></o:p></P> <P>-- Henci</P></div><br><br>
Show Replies:

ActiveForums 3.6