"Almost no one in the whole world has a natural birth."
ncjulia12
member
There are two obs in my practice- both are fine with my NB plans, but one of them is a little more...um, I guess you could say "skeptical."
My appointment this morning was this ob and we talked a little about my plans again and he again reminded me to have an open mind...
"Almost no one in the whole world has a natural birth. If you're in Peru, you might chew on coca leaves, in America, we usually like an more precise medicalized approach- the epidural."
I didn't know quite how to respond to this. (My first reaction was just to suppress a giggle.) I guess it's all in how you define a "natural birth" but from what I've seen/read, it seems like there's a lot more people around the world using midwives and traditional birthing methods than the US medical approach. I think chewing on leaves sounds pretty "natural" to me. (Just FYI- from what I have google- coca leaves are NOT cocaine- just what is used to make cocaine. Like grapes are used to make wine.)
I think I just said, "Hmm" and we moved on.
Anyway, I just wanted to share this memorable quote from my ob!
Re: "Almost no one in the whole world has a natural birth."
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Yep, I think you're right on this. I know it's not ideal, but it's what I've got. (I'd have to drive over an hour for a different ob or midwife and it just wouldn't work with my job right now.) The other ob is a much better fit (one of the nurses at the hospital said he had "missed his calling- he should have been a midwife.") The other ob is good family friend, so I'm hoping that even if he's not on call, he might check in on me during labor. (I know he's done this with others before.)
I dunno. On a planet with 7 billion people, most of whom live in 3rd world poverty, he's probably right.
That's what I've been wondering/googling about.... How do most people in 3rd world poverty labor? I would think that a lot of them still do what has been done for years/what is the cheapest- some version of mostly natural labor. Or are the millions of people in China and India all having hospital births with cheap medications? I'm actually curious now about the numbers/stats.
Hahahaha! Be sure to tell him to chew it when he's stressed out.
I was totally going to suggest that!
Well here in England most of women have a natural birth. Of those who have a vaginal delivery only around 25% have an epidural- and most birthing centres/hospitals are trying to reduce the number. Also midwifes are more standard than in the US.
I agree. Send this one in. You'll get a lot of laughs.
I also agree with tokenhoser that you may want to consider finding a practitioner who is more in line with your plans.
I'm in Scotland and it is the same here. I am high risk but still have midwives for most of my care and they will be there for delivery too. I do have 1 appointment with a doctor because of being high risk and the doctor will be near during delivery in case of a problem but it is still the midwives that are handling things. It seems like most women here have natural births.
That's what I'm thinking....I'm *pretty sure* overall, when you look at the whole world, natural birth (or at least a less-medicalized birth) is more way common than what is "normal" in the U.S. now.
Also, I found this interesting...
It's neat to hear from someone who actually chewed this leaves. Yep, sounds pretty natural to me.
Oh well. It was just a really funny statement to me. I definitely hear those of you who have concerns about this being my ob. Again, I realize it's not ideal- but he's had natural births before and I'll have my doula and HOPEFULLY, I'll have the other ob anyway come delivery day. I live in a really isolated area and this is my only choice without driving an hour to see another doctor or midwife.
Have you had a baby in England yet? Because my son was born there and while they don't encourage epidurals they sure as hell pushed gas and air on me, and my friends had the same experience. While it is midwifery led they do push g&a and pethidine (sp?)
I should add that when I got sick after trying g&a once they told me to 'fight through it' and that everyone gets sick and everyone needs g&a. This was more than one midwife.
here is an article: https://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34826186/ns/health-pregnancy/t/c-section-rates-around-globe-epidemic-levels/#.T00tU_Hy9ic
the article is dated (2010). apparently, India had one of the lowest rates of Asian countries at 18% and China had the highest at 46%
most of the latin american countries surveyed (i think there were 8?) were above 30%, consistent with the U.S., with some (Paraguay, Ecaudor?) being 40% or more.
African countries surveyed had about 9% c/s rate, and "many medical centers were ill-equipped to perform emergency surgeries, leading to increased deaths"
And y'all have lower fetal and maternal death rates...AND a lower SIDS rate. Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
I think this is a vast over-simplification.
OP, my husband used to chew coca leaves when he lived in Argentina. It's illegal to bring into the US, so you probably shouldn't try to send any to your OB.
the city in Argentina I am from is one of the few where it's legal to chew coca leaves....LOL, they taste disgusting and smell gross haha just thought I'd share
now onto something more relevant....that OB is an idiot, you can totally do this!
What kind of effect do they have on a laboring woman? I can't imagine them being all that helpful if they taste so awful!
THIS^^!!