“When we as a society begin to value mothers as the givers and supporters of life, then we will see social
change in ways that matter.”
~ Ina May Gaskin, Midwife
I. was born via c-section. We had done everything “right” - we had taken 12 weeks of the Bradley Method, hired a doula, and received our pre-natal care with an independent Birth Center and midwife. I know intellectually that birth is unpredictable, but emotionally I felt like my wish of a water birth would come true.
My water broke in the dark morning of October 26, 2002. Our childbirth education classes paid off and I recognized meconium in the amniotic fluid. *PoP* There went my wish of a water birth! I knew we would be transferred to the hospital and interventions would be more than likely inevitable.
Out of 26 possible interventions, we ended up with 25. It was a rough day that ended in a c-section. The cord had been wrapped around her belly and she couldn’t descend into the birth canal despite our efforts. Of course, in the end, everyone reminded me that I had a healthy baby girl and that was what mattered. Certainly I was enthralled and in love with my baby, so why did I feel so devastated?
In The Business of Being Born, a documentary about the crisis of maternity care in our country, Ricki Lake shares her own desire to have both a healthy baby and a positive memory of the process. In the film, it is pointed out that American women have no concept of what “normal” birth is and that designer births are all the rage. A designer birth is one that allows the woman to opt out of natural birth (vaginal and/or non-medicated). Many designer births are scheduled c-sections with a tummy tuck included!
You may be surprised to know, as I was, that the practice of midwifery and home birth or birth center births have a lower mortality rate for both mothers and babies than hospital births with trained OB/GYN’s. In speaking to the average American woman, however, you would think the opposite were true. We are the second nation in the world to have the worst mortality rate of newborns. The medical community would like us to believe that it is because we serve more high-risk women. But the truth is that it is the maternal care we provide in this country that more women and babies die during labor. In 1900, 95% of babies were born at home with a midwife with few complications. By 1955 only 1% of babies were born at home. That percentage has remained 1% even today. Presently, interventions and complications that result in surgery are high.
Ina May Gaskin, midwife and founder of The Farm, shared that it wasn’t until baby no. 167 was delivered at The Farm that a c-section became medically necessary. Then, it wasn’t until baby no. 335 that another was needed. C-sections are not commonplace when natural labor and delivery occur.
Many women feel that their hospital provides them with the option of having natural birth. But hospitals are businesses and they need people in and out of beds within a limited time frame in order to make the most
money. The bottom line? Natural birth, for the most part, takes too long for the medical staff. Doctors use their power and the fear card with laboring women to get them to use interventions in order to speed up labor and get the baby out quickly. Laboring women in hospitals typically receive Pitocin, which makes contractions stronger and more frequent. This stress on both the mother and the baby increases the chances that the mom will receive an epidural too early in her labor and cause her contractions to slow. Once the contractions slow down again, the laboring mother is labeled “slow to progress.” Pitocin is increased and the baby may become distressed (more than likely!) which leads to the all-to-common c-section. One in three women in the US receives a c-section.
American women expect that labor will be traumatizing and they have a great deal of fear around giving birth which increases the odds that they will seek medical care through an OB/GYN. Unfortunately, OB’s are not trained for natural, normal birth. They are trained to perform interventions. American women are so thrilled to have medical treatment because our culture believes the process of labor isn’t important.
Pumping drugs into a laboring mother is affecting her and her baby negatively. The mother is no longer engaged in the process of labor - she can’t feel anything and everyone must rely on the fetal monitor to let them know when she should push.
Are the women of our country missing a rite of passage, an opportunity for self transformation by choosing designer births or by choosing an OB/GYN? Why wouldn’t women want to “hire” the most trained, experienced practitioner when it comes to prenatal, labor, and delivery care - a midwife.
Personally speaking, there’s nothing to compare delivering a baby without meds. There is pain, but in an atmosphere that is dim, quiet, peaceful, loving and patient, it is also amazing. I’m sad that I didn’t have a birth photographer for my deliveries. My births out-shined my wedding day for me and I don’t have it documented!
In the midst of transition a woman feels like she can’t do this - it’s impossible. Then by some miracle the baby crowns and slips into the world; she did do it! She can’t deny it - if she can do this…she can do anything!
I know, so many women are saying, “Ah, who cares. I don’t need to suffer and the baby is fine and everyone is doing it and there isn’t any visible consequence.” Come on ladies, don’t be too posh to push. There is a consequence.
With my first baby I remember being overwhelmed with the disappointment of having a c-section. My labor memories are not pretty - it was a medical situation. It couldn’t have been avoided. They placed I. in my arms and I looked down at her and felt scared and numb and tired but, of course, happy that she had arrived. Those first few months were so emotionally intense like they are for many new mothers. Looking back, I think I was struggling to bond with her, to feel what I was “supposed” to feel. Did the c-section contribute to my struggle?
Research proves that a woman releases a cocktail of maternal hormones when she delivers naturally. Strangely, monkeys who deliver babies by c-section neglect their newborns.
With my second baby I was determined to try natural birth again. I was fortunate to be associated from my first baby with a Birth Center that would deliver a V-BAC
(Vaginal Birth After Cesarean). My labor was short and my midwife, doula, and husband provided amazing support. I’ll never forget pushing my 10 lb 9 oz baby out and being able to reach down and pull him onto my chest myself. Labor and pushing was a painful experience, one I’ll never forget; but the euphoria of having done it and knowing that I was fully engaged, alert, and capable of it all has made me feel stronger and even surprises me about myself.
My connection with K., my second, was immediate, intense, and easy. Who’s to say if it is because he was born natural and I. was born with interventions that my bond and relationship with him has been easier - it could be because his temperament is different or because he was born second or because I wasn’t a first-time mom…etc. But it is food for thought.
I do think it’s important for every woman to decide how she wants to deliver her baby. I just hope you aren’t underestimating what you’re capable of by choosing the medical route and denying yourself the opportunity to tangibly experience an emotional and mental transformation that is one of the few rites of passage that exists for women to transition into motherhood.
