Industrialized Childbirth

"Can it really be that one-third of women are unable to birth without high-level technological support?"

"The history of childbirth in America reflects a persistent trend of increased control by physicians and increased medicalization. Childbirth moves, first, out of the home, and now out of the vagina."

"Women can give birth at home unaided; at home with family or with trained assistance; in a birth center, either freestanding or hospital-based; in the hospital delivery room with trained assistance; or in the operating room where they are acted upon."

I read an article today that magically vanished off of a French website 5 minutes after I found it. It was about the industrialization of childbirth in America, and what a farce it is that hospitals claim that they give women autonomy in their childbirth options. I was just about to post it :( I guess someone didn't want people reading it...

A couple nights ago Trevor and I were talking about a mild pregnancy scare we'd had (not mostly by the presence of any action that generally leads to the production of babies as you might think, but mostly because it takes 5 months to get in to see a gynocologist--thus forcing me to run out of my hormone-balancing magic pills that prevent pregancy--AND THUS leading to my body freaking out and not functioning properly. Good insight into my ENTIRE LIFE as a "woman"). We were talking about what we'd actually do if we WERE pregnant (haha, that's another story too; why do we say "we are pregnant?"), and Trevor responded with his usual, "We would die." But I forced him to be serious--and it made me realize a couple things. I am terrified of being pregnant; I can't believe that I still have yet to fulfill the reason that HALF of my body exists. That isn't what I realized--what I realized was that it doesn't matter that I'm terrified. Thousands of years of women have birthed their babies, and we still have a sufficient population of women in the world :) And I also realized that I actually do believe strongly enough that natural childbirth should be safeguarded, that I can overcome my fears associated with it and do all that my mind is capable of to join the cause when I am pregnant. I haven't been able to put my finger on why I have been so intrigued by the whole "as natural as possible" idea, but I realized that it's sort of a spiritual idea to me. There's nothing else in the world, and nothing else in God's creation like the process and pain of childbirth--so why pass up the opportunity to experience God's strangest and greatest process? That's just my thought, anyway.

One part of the article mentioned that there are so many women in the world now who are mildly into keeping things natural--like women who buy cage-free eggs simply because it's something good but easy to do--who could really bolster the cause of more natural childbirth. That REALLY caught me off guard because I buy cage-free eggs! Wha? They're talking about me?! Our society is SO backwards. One half is conglomoratory and full of metal buildings, and factories and polution, and media and people who consume without thought but for their own comfort and ease. But the other half of our society today seems to be USING all those things to a different advantage. The media and advertising, the marketing for most modern businesses focuses on being green, being eco-friendly, being clean, being sufficient. It's almost TRENDY to grow your own food, buy cage-free, recycle, use reusable bags. Places like IKEA, Target, even Walmart have signs and posters up and products promoting recycling, and using less plastic, and using home-remedies, etc. I've noticed that these waves of change have effected some, but not all people. I bet some people barely notice any change in our society--or barely notice ways that they can be involved. I'll admit I'm on the brink myself. I'm not a crazed fanatic about the environment or our wasteful nature as humans--but I think there have been some great steps forward as a society lately that have changed some of the younger generation's perceptions about simple things to do to be less blind-consumers, while still confirming the notion that everyone can have their iPod and world wide web in their pocket 24/7. I think it's people like that--and even people like me--who can end up effecting the numbers of women who don't have elective surgery instead of childbirth. I hope that more natural childbirth can one day be added to the list of simple things people can do to save our society from it's industrial half.