Freebirthing
So the other night, I had the Discovery Health channel on in the background while I was writing. I admit to sometimes being fascinated by shows like Medical Incredible and Mystery Diagnosis.
I was only half paying attention, but there was a show on about freebirthing, i.e. giving birth at home without any medical assistance. No doctor, no nurse, no doula, no midwife, nobody who's got training or experience delivering babies. (and before I continue with my thoughts on this I just have to say that the word "freebirthing" makes me want to lift up a lighter and yell "Freebirth!" like I'm at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert)
Now, I can understand the desire to deliver a child in a non-hospital setting. Hospitals are...well, hospitals. Not exactly a happy fun relaxing place, although a lot of maternity departments are trying to make things as cozy as they can nowadays. But still. The idea of giving birth at home has its appeal. And a lot of freebirth proponents view the childbirth process as intimate, even sexual, and an outgrowth of their marriage/relationship and therefore should only be shared with their partner. Some take it even further and think that the woman should give birth totally alone, as...I dunno. A feminist statement? Whatever. The rationale is that childbirth is a natural biological process and therefore not a medical emergency, therefore doesn't require medical intervention. And medical intervention interferes with the spirituality of the whole thing, blah blah blah.
I get all that. I really do.
But all this reminds me of nothing more than people who get lackadaisical (or even opposed) about vaccinations. Why should I vaccinate my kid against diptheria? Nobody gets diptheria anymore! Yeah, you know why? Because we vaccinate, genius.
So if some women are thinking it's totally safe to give birth at home, unassisted, because hey...nobody dies in childbirth anymore, right? Well, you know why? Because we have nurses and doctors and ways to make it safer. Ask a woman from 1820 if nobody dies in childbirth. As many as 15% of all deliveries in hospitals present complications that could be fatal to either mother or newborn. I don't like those odds very much, do you? But 15% of all deliveries do not result in death of anybody because there is medical intervention to save lives.
Plus...they talk sometimes like having a person with expertise (any kind of expertise) present at the birth is some newfangled notion unique and strange to the modern age. Uh, no. Since the beginning of time, births have been assisted! Before there were doctors, there were older female relatives who'd seen dozens of births. There were local healers, there were women who acquired experience about childbirth who came to assist. Assisted childbirth isn't a 20th century thing. I bet they were doing it in the caves. If you were a cavewoman in labor you went and got Gurg, the local woman who knew about these things and could also tell you which plant to grind up and eat if you had a headache.
And as for that whole "it's a natural part of biology in humans" thing, well...so's a heart attack. I'm still calling 911. If a woman is going through a process which presents a significant risk of death, I don't think it's so horrible to want people around who know about these things and can help if something goes wrong.
I sympathize with the sentiment, honestly. But another part of me shudders at the attitude of "science = bad" that seems to run like a throbbing vein of backwards thinking underneath so many things these days.
I was only half paying attention, but there was a show on about freebirthing, i.e. giving birth at home without any medical assistance. No doctor, no nurse, no doula, no midwife, nobody who's got training or experience delivering babies. (and before I continue with my thoughts on this I just have to say that the word "freebirthing" makes me want to lift up a lighter and yell "Freebirth!" like I'm at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert)
Now, I can understand the desire to deliver a child in a non-hospital setting. Hospitals are...well, hospitals. Not exactly a happy fun relaxing place, although a lot of maternity departments are trying to make things as cozy as they can nowadays. But still. The idea of giving birth at home has its appeal. And a lot of freebirth proponents view the childbirth process as intimate, even sexual, and an outgrowth of their marriage/relationship and therefore should only be shared with their partner. Some take it even further and think that the woman should give birth totally alone, as...I dunno. A feminist statement? Whatever. The rationale is that childbirth is a natural biological process and therefore not a medical emergency, therefore doesn't require medical intervention. And medical intervention interferes with the spirituality of the whole thing, blah blah blah.
I get all that. I really do.
But all this reminds me of nothing more than people who get lackadaisical (or even opposed) about vaccinations. Why should I vaccinate my kid against diptheria? Nobody gets diptheria anymore! Yeah, you know why? Because we vaccinate, genius.
So if some women are thinking it's totally safe to give birth at home, unassisted, because hey...nobody dies in childbirth anymore, right? Well, you know why? Because we have nurses and doctors and ways to make it safer. Ask a woman from 1820 if nobody dies in childbirth. As many as 15% of all deliveries in hospitals present complications that could be fatal to either mother or newborn. I don't like those odds very much, do you? But 15% of all deliveries do not result in death of anybody because there is medical intervention to save lives.
Plus...they talk sometimes like having a person with expertise (any kind of expertise) present at the birth is some newfangled notion unique and strange to the modern age. Uh, no. Since the beginning of time, births have been assisted! Before there were doctors, there were older female relatives who'd seen dozens of births. There were local healers, there were women who acquired experience about childbirth who came to assist. Assisted childbirth isn't a 20th century thing. I bet they were doing it in the caves. If you were a cavewoman in labor you went and got Gurg, the local woman who knew about these things and could also tell you which plant to grind up and eat if you had a headache.
And as for that whole "it's a natural part of biology in humans" thing, well...so's a heart attack. I'm still calling 911. If a woman is going through a process which presents a significant risk of death, I don't think it's so horrible to want people around who know about these things and can help if something goes wrong.
I sympathize with the sentiment, honestly. But another part of me shudders at the attitude of "science = bad" that seems to run like a throbbing vein of backwards thinking underneath so many things these days.