the unkindest cuts
Being pregnant, I’ve been reading as much as possible on the subject. The first book I picked up is an old standard: “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, which I actually read before I was pregnant and I haven’t picked it up since. I thought the book was kind of pedestrian in a way. It was like reading one of those “Idiot’s Guide to…” books. I find that the “Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy” is much more thorough and descriptive. It also covers a lot more and gives you great descriptions and pictures week by week. It has a great section on elective and non-elective cesarean as well. I wonder if some of the other books with omit this topic or quickly breeze through it because women don’t feel they need to know about this surgery. I guess we all assume we are most likely going to have a vaginal birth, which is not the case with an increasing number of women.
Every woman on my street who has given birth (this includes 8 women) have all had cesareans. I thought this was kind of strange. All of them but one went into labour and headed off to the hospital prepared for a vaginal birth. One of the women had placenta previa and had to have a scheduled c-section.
Before I got pregnant, I was obsessed with finding an OB/GYN that would consider doing an elective cesarean. Now, I feel that I want to do whatever is best for the baby. I don’t have my OB yet, so the other day at an appointment with my family doctor, I inquired about cesareans and vaginal birth.
According to my doctor, there are some OB’s that do elective c-sections but it is not recommended. It is considered major surgery and the recovery time is much longer than that of a vaginal birth. My next question was about one of my greatest fears: the episiotomy. My doctor told me that these are no longer done therapeutically and the rates of these have been going down in the past few years. Still, she emphasized, it is important that I convey my wishes to my OB AND to the doctor that will be present when I am going through labour that I do not want an unnecessary episiotomy.
If you are like me and are interested in the subject, I suggest you google ‘episiotomy’ and check out the new research coming out which basically says that in cases where they are not medically necessary (in other words, the baby is not in distress and you can take your time with the pushing) they cause more harm than good. You will also be sitting on an ice pack for some time, have burning pain when you pee, and have to hold your stitches when you shit for a few weeks after birth.
My doctor went on to explain that many births are rushed unnecessarily because the doctors and nurses are busy and would like the process done as quickly and efficiently as is possible.
I’ve heard a lot about this in some of the books I have been reading. While a hospital birth is, in my opinion, still the best and safest option, the whole process has undergone a very sterile and unnatural transition. The use of forceps, vacuum-assisted delivery and episiotomy are often times unnecessary ‘tools’ used during birth. It makes me kind of mad, no wait, really mad when I feel that I have to worry about what is going to be done to my body in the interest of saving time.
Already I feel like I am taking up too much time at my doctor’s appointments. That I am a nuisance in the diagnostic imaging department at the hospital because I ask so many questions when viewing my ultrasound. And when I think back to how poorly I was treated when I had an ultrasound with my first pregnancy, where a tiny, lifeless fetus floated on the screen and I was not told what was happening, and then left to gather my things and navigate my way out of there by myself without even so much as a kind word from a nurse, I get really, really mad.
So I picked up Naomi Wolf’s “Misconceptions”, a book about the “Truth, Lies and Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood”. The book is about the way women are treated when pregnant by the medical establishment and others, and how it negatively impacts our experience of pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. I was hoping to glean some clever insight and find that I could relate to the women in the book; but all I found was a whiny, white upper-middle-class woman, bent on militant feminist perceptions, who had no idea what a luxury it was for her to be able to complain about a process that millions and millions of women worldwide go through; the vast majority of them in dire poverty with little or no medical intervention.
It made me feel whiney too. I will ensure that I am not hurried or bullied by anyone along the way in my pregnancy, but I am going to count myself damn lucky that I live in Canada where I have health coverage and a clean, safe hospital in which to have my baby.
Food for thought though.
Every woman on my street who has given birth (this includes 8 women) have all had cesareans. I thought this was kind of strange. All of them but one went into labour and headed off to the hospital prepared for a vaginal birth. One of the women had placenta previa and had to have a scheduled c-section.
Before I got pregnant, I was obsessed with finding an OB/GYN that would consider doing an elective cesarean. Now, I feel that I want to do whatever is best for the baby. I don’t have my OB yet, so the other day at an appointment with my family doctor, I inquired about cesareans and vaginal birth.
According to my doctor, there are some OB’s that do elective c-sections but it is not recommended. It is considered major surgery and the recovery time is much longer than that of a vaginal birth. My next question was about one of my greatest fears: the episiotomy. My doctor told me that these are no longer done therapeutically and the rates of these have been going down in the past few years. Still, she emphasized, it is important that I convey my wishes to my OB AND to the doctor that will be present when I am going through labour that I do not want an unnecessary episiotomy.
If you are like me and are interested in the subject, I suggest you google ‘episiotomy’ and check out the new research coming out which basically says that in cases where they are not medically necessary (in other words, the baby is not in distress and you can take your time with the pushing) they cause more harm than good. You will also be sitting on an ice pack for some time, have burning pain when you pee, and have to hold your stitches when you shit for a few weeks after birth.
My doctor went on to explain that many births are rushed unnecessarily because the doctors and nurses are busy and would like the process done as quickly and efficiently as is possible.
I’ve heard a lot about this in some of the books I have been reading. While a hospital birth is, in my opinion, still the best and safest option, the whole process has undergone a very sterile and unnatural transition. The use of forceps, vacuum-assisted delivery and episiotomy are often times unnecessary ‘tools’ used during birth. It makes me kind of mad, no wait, really mad when I feel that I have to worry about what is going to be done to my body in the interest of saving time.
Already I feel like I am taking up too much time at my doctor’s appointments. That I am a nuisance in the diagnostic imaging department at the hospital because I ask so many questions when viewing my ultrasound. And when I think back to how poorly I was treated when I had an ultrasound with my first pregnancy, where a tiny, lifeless fetus floated on the screen and I was not told what was happening, and then left to gather my things and navigate my way out of there by myself without even so much as a kind word from a nurse, I get really, really mad.
So I picked up Naomi Wolf’s “Misconceptions”, a book about the “Truth, Lies and Unexpected on the Journey to Motherhood”. The book is about the way women are treated when pregnant by the medical establishment and others, and how it negatively impacts our experience of pregnancy, birth and early motherhood. I was hoping to glean some clever insight and find that I could relate to the women in the book; but all I found was a whiny, white upper-middle-class woman, bent on militant feminist perceptions, who had no idea what a luxury it was for her to be able to complain about a process that millions and millions of women worldwide go through; the vast majority of them in dire poverty with little or no medical intervention.
It made me feel whiney too. I will ensure that I am not hurried or bullied by anyone along the way in my pregnancy, but I am going to count myself damn lucky that I live in Canada where I have health coverage and a clean, safe hospital in which to have my baby.
Food for thought though.
posted by vegan mum at 11:49 AM
2 Comments:
You know, you might enjoy this blog, written by a labor and delivery nurse. This entry in particular talks about how birthing actually happens in the hospital environment.
About episiotimies... I've had 3 babies, only had 1 epi -- and that's because the baby was in distress and had to be delivered immediately. And yeah, recovery from the epi is about as bad as you'd imagine.
Alright, I MUST give you my two cents. Now, I can't speak for how things are done in Canada but I am sure that it isn't much different than births in US hospitals.
The first myth I want to dispell is that hospitals are clean and safe. Both are false. Particularly the clean part. Hospitals are full of germs, especially germs that are resistant to antibiotics. While most hospitals are safe, they can not guarantee safety.
Yes, there are doctors and nurses who want to follow a strict labor curve for every patient despite the fact that we know every women's labor is different (just like their bodies). Hospital birth can be very impersonal for some women looking for that homey, warm and fuzzy birth.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find episiotomies done routinely anymore. A majority of women will have a natural tear, but the size will be much smaller in most cases. Stitches are still required of most of these tears.
C-section is a major abdominal surgery. Many people seem to over look this because the end product is a baby. But c-section is highly invasive, has higher risks for mom and baby, and requires a longer recovery time. I would personally run from any OB/GYN who does elective sections for the heck of it because it tells me that they do not value the true worth and capability of a woman's body. Besides, they probably also like that planned c-sections because it allows them to have a nicer schedule.
I am sorry to hear your terrible experience around your miscarriage. But trust me, there are good nurses, doctors, and midwives out there. It might take a while to find them, but those who perservere will.
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