The Business of being born...

ndecker78

My sis and I just watched this tonight - in between my 15mo nephew's singing toys - but was quite interesting.  Some of the history of birth in the US is not so pretty!

your .02?

Jessie0706

I watched it, too, and it helped me decide to attempt to go natural. Still planning on giving birth in a hospital, but want to try and deliver drug-free. I am, however, for drugs if it is medically necessary or I absolutely, under no circumstances, can take the pain. DH and I are also planning on taking Bradley classes, so hopefully that'll prepare us mentally for it. (As well as give us physical techniques to deal with the progression.)

As for the information it gave, it is pretty scary/disturbing how some OB/GYNs feel about natural childbirth and the effects some drugs have on the baby. I thought it was a good look into the natural/homebirth/midwivery side of things, as they stand in America.

firsttogo

I just saw it this weekend, and really it was interesting to me. I had to go in go it with the open mind that it was merely another way to view things. I thing the most important thing for birthing mothers today is to trust your Dr, and make sure you find one who knows and respects your values and priorities.

bandwife

I really enjoyed this documentary and hope to some day have a home birth (not this one - it's our first and DH is anxious). I'm seeing a midwife and we will start interviewing for a doula soon.

This film has been mentioned several times on the bump and I am always surprised by the number of women that have seen it and think it is midwifery propaganda. 

That said, I'm a real believer in every woman should maker her own choice on what kind of birth she wants. No judging on others birth plans.

TXSweetheart

I think this film is more a propaganda piece for midwifery than actual cinema.  Thanks to advances in modern medicine, and a shift in our social standards, women are getting pregnant at older ages, and women of all ages that previously would have been considered infertile are now able to conceive and bear children.  Because of this, the number of high risk pregnancies has skyrocketed in the past decade, so of course the number of c-sections and medical intervention is going to sky rocket as well.  I think having a midwife is fine, I think having the freedom to chose your ideal birthing experience is fine, but I think it wrongfully villainizes the medical community and necessary medical intervention.  Just my .02

   

mooeta

I think birthing practices and insurance companies have done a disservice to American women and force the institutionalized birth vs the natural birth.  I think it is disgusting.  I wish that a natural birth was an option for all women.  I know my insurance doesn't cover birthing centers, home births or any midwives in my local area.  It makes it a more natural birth financially unavailable to me.  While I will do my best to ensure as natural a birth as possible in a mainstream hospital I loathe the thought that that is my only safe option.

Kendall13

TXSweetheart:

I think this film is more a propaganda piece for midwifery than actual cinema.  Thanks to advances in modern medicine, and a shift in our social standards, women are getting pregnant at older ages, and women of all ages that previously would have been considered infertile are now able to conceive and bear children.  Because of this, the number of high risk pregnancies has skyrocketed in the past decade, so of course the number of c-sections and medical intervention is going to sky rocket as well.  I think having a midwife is fine, I think having the freedom to chose your ideal birthing experience is fine, but I think it wrongfully villainizes the medical community and necessary medical intervention.  Just my .02

   

I agree.

Not to mention that one of the reasons US has a high infant mortality rate is because we try to save babies that no other country would even attempt to save.  All of those stats are like comparing apples to oranges.

Oh, and to add to the high risk pregnancy debate... over 60% of our population is over weight and out of shape, both which increase your need for medical care while being pregnant.  Being over weight can lead to all kinds of health issues that would require a c/s or other medical interventions.

Everyone should have a choice.  Kudos to the women who watched the movie and feel inspired.  I would keep an open mind (especially if it's your first) since it's impossible to know how you will handle birth until you have gone through it.  Just don't make the mistake that a few other women have where they watch the movie and preach to everyone else about their choices. 

easjer05

I love the movie and think it points out a great deal about the problems in American maternity care.  I don't disagree that it is biased, but I disagree that it is midwifery propaganda or that it disregards necessary medical intervention - in fact, I think that was the point in including the director's premature c-section for IUGR, to highlight the fact that sometimes, despite all your plans and wishes, there simply is no alternative to medical intervention and when it's necessary, thank God it's there.

I don't think it is trying to sway women into homebirth, though many people are of that opinion, as much as point out that there are different options.  And also highlight that it's not just a crazy fringe movement of hippies on communes who hate all modern things - that intelligent, well-educated women are making these decisions to birth out of a hospital.

Edited for being needlessly ranty and potentially argumentative when I'm not inclined to argue.

greycoral

Home birth is for low risk pregnancies, so these women who are having babies at much older ages, etc, they do not fall into that low risk category. There are so many more c-sections now because of malpractice issues and interventions.  Doctors (and insurance companies, for that matter) don't want bad things to happen, and c-sections are usually the best way to prevent complications. Are they unnecessary? A lot of the times, they are. I read a blog, written by an RN in a hospital in Chicago, he's a labor/delivery nurse, and some of the stuff he writes about is unbelievable.  One of the doctors at the hospital there has a 70% c-section rate.  She doesn't specialize in high risk pregnancies or anything either.  She just convinces her patients that it's what is best for the baby, when in fact, they're not necessary at all.

There is documented proof, not only from these documentaries, that shows that c-section rates are at least 50% higher M-F, rather than on the weekends.  There are so many women being induced, and if things don't move fast enough, or the baby gets in distress, they have to do a c section. 

I had already wanted a home birth by the time I saw that movie, and I didn't even realize the craziness that goes on in some hospitals.  I've done SO much research in this past year, before we even got pregnant, to educate myself on the risks of a hospital birth vs. a home birth, and felt that a home birth was the right choice for me.  I'm low risk, and hopefully will remain that way, and a hospital is just overkill. OB/GYN's are surgeons, a regular old, uncomplicated vaginal delivery must be pretty boring.  The fact too, that most doctors rarely SEE natural births in the hospital is disturbing. I'd much rather be in the hands of a midwife who sees that stuff all the time and knows how to react, rather than just numbing you down with pain meds, or operating on you, because that's what they're trained to do.

ToledoDeux

TXSweetheart:

Because of this, the number of high risk pregnancies has skyrocketed in the past decade, so of course the number of c-sections and medical intervention is going to sky rocket as well.   

 

Kendall13:

Oh, and to add to the high risk pregnancy debate... over 60% of our population is over weight and out of shape, both which increase your need for medical care while being pregnant.  Being over weight can lead to all kinds of health issues that would require a c/s or other medical interventions.

These factors have already been accounted for when examining the c-section rise in the U.S.  C-sections are increasing among ALL groups of laboring women, including low-risk ones.  In addition, the overall increase in c-sections is greater than the increase in high-risk delivery factors (including obesity).

There is obviously something else going on here.  I don't see how anyone can deny that it's the fear of lawsuits, policy decisions of insurance companies, and - yes - plain old convenience of OBs that is largely behind the staggering rate of unnecessary c-sections in the U.S.

sspyles

All documentaries are made to prove a specific point (regardless of what the creators may state). I believe that with this documentary, as well as all others, you must take it as just another piece of information and make sure you've studied that opposite as well.

That being said, I do believe all women should have the right to their own birth plan, and I hate that insurance companies do not always cover every choice a woman would necessarily like to have. However, I can't say I blame them. Home births or births without a doctor present can be very dangerous if anything should go wrong. Insurance companies cannot afford to risk this when law suits are out of control in the US.

easjer05

sspyles:

All documentaries are made to prove a specific point (regardless of what the creators may state). I believe that with this documentary, as well as all others, you must take it as just another piece of information and make sure you've studied that opposite as well.

That being said, I do believe all women should have the right to their own birth plan, and I hate that insurance companies do not always cover every choice a woman would necessarily like to have. However, I can't say I blame them. Home births or births without a doctor present can be very dangerous if anything should go wrong. Insurance companies cannot afford to risk this when law suits are out of control in the US.

Not to be argumentative, but that is simply not true.  Midwives, at least in my state are required to be especially educated, trained, and licensed.  My mw is a CNM, meaning she has a BSN and a master's degree specifically in midwifery.  She is also extremely experienced in normal births and recognizing when birth is not proceeding normally and handling emergencies or transferring care with enough warning to take care of mother and baby.

Home births, if done properly - by which I mean attended by a qualified person who brings the appropriate equipment for a low-risk woman, and are within a safe transport distance - is no more dangerous than birth in a birth center.  Which is not any more dangerous than birthing in a hospital, provided the appropriate measures are taken.

In fact, studies have shown that outcomes are the same or better as hospital births, all things being equal.