Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Why, I oughta...
One news story that's really got me riled up is this one where the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists intends to propose that doctors perform elective caesarian deliveries. In other words, if a woman doesn't feel like having a normal labour and vaginal delivery, or she's afraid of the pain or whatever, she can just ask the doctor to cut her open and haul the baby out of her through an incision.
Now, it seems as though this is already happening, and the new recommendation would just make it more widely-practised. The poster-girl for this choice is Posh Spice, of course, and in Canada? Argh! Rebecca Eckler! The most vapid, useless excuse for a woman we can find. Apparently, she was scared to have her baby the natural way, because it would be painful. Awww. Isn't that cute? Was she unaware of the fact that childbirth is painful when she got pregnant? Or perhaps she was unaware of the widespread use of epidurals to relieve pain. In any case, she'd rather have her womb sliced open with a scalpel -- 'cause that's just another day at the office, right?
I know that I am in the minority in advocating natural childbirth, ie. without drugs and with as little medical intervention as possible, but apart from my own opinion, every mother I know who had to have her child delivered by caesarian was saddened by that fact, not to mention sorry to have to recover from surgery while trying to handle a newborn baby. So besides being contrary to my own beliefs, this move seems contrary to logic and good sense.
So who benefits, apart from ninnies like Rebecca Eckler? The health-care system certainly doesn't need more beds taken up during the greater recovery time that a caesarian requires. Logic would seem to dictate a reduction in elective surgeries in an underfunded and overtaxed system.
It must be the obstetricians themselves who benefit. How? Well, the only thing I can figure is that a caesarian is a procedure that can be scheduled and has a proscribed duration. Thus it is easier to "manage" than regular labour, which is unpredictable and unscheduled.
It wouldn't be the end of the world, and eventually the pendulum would swing back to more natural childbirth, but it just seems like one more step away from nature, and I can't help feeling that that's not a good thing.
One news story that's really got me riled up is this one where the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists intends to propose that doctors perform elective caesarian deliveries. In other words, if a woman doesn't feel like having a normal labour and vaginal delivery, or she's afraid of the pain or whatever, she can just ask the doctor to cut her open and haul the baby out of her through an incision.
Now, it seems as though this is already happening, and the new recommendation would just make it more widely-practised. The poster-girl for this choice is Posh Spice, of course, and in Canada? Argh! Rebecca Eckler! The most vapid, useless excuse for a woman we can find. Apparently, she was scared to have her baby the natural way, because it would be painful. Awww. Isn't that cute? Was she unaware of the fact that childbirth is painful when she got pregnant? Or perhaps she was unaware of the widespread use of epidurals to relieve pain. In any case, she'd rather have her womb sliced open with a scalpel -- 'cause that's just another day at the office, right?
I know that I am in the minority in advocating natural childbirth, ie. without drugs and with as little medical intervention as possible, but apart from my own opinion, every mother I know who had to have her child delivered by caesarian was saddened by that fact, not to mention sorry to have to recover from surgery while trying to handle a newborn baby. So besides being contrary to my own beliefs, this move seems contrary to logic and good sense.
So who benefits, apart from ninnies like Rebecca Eckler? The health-care system certainly doesn't need more beds taken up during the greater recovery time that a caesarian requires. Logic would seem to dictate a reduction in elective surgeries in an underfunded and overtaxed system.
It must be the obstetricians themselves who benefit. How? Well, the only thing I can figure is that a caesarian is a procedure that can be scheduled and has a proscribed duration. Thus it is easier to "manage" than regular labour, which is unpredictable and unscheduled.
It wouldn't be the end of the world, and eventually the pendulum would swing back to more natural childbirth, but it just seems like one more step away from nature, and I can't help feeling that that's not a good thing.
# posted by becca : 7:31 AM
