- Pregnancy
- Baby & Toddler
- Parents
- Getting Pregnant
- Baby Names
- Product Reviews
-
Registry
- Community
-
More
Want a personalized experience?
Download the free app
Natural Birth
Natural birth on the decline?
This may seem somewhat of a vent... and ok, it kind of is.
I'm just wondering, in a nutshell, WTH is happening to natural birth? I cannot even begin to count how many of my friends or other people I know of who, as soon as they are pregnant, schedule their induction or c-section. Not for any medical reason, but for their own convenience! And doctors even support and encourage this it seems! Has it ever occured to some of these women and doctors that maybe, just maybe, their baby isn't READY to be FORCED out of the womb?
I understand that there are perfectly legitimate reasons for induction and c-sections. It's not that I'm against them, I'm just against unecessary ones. If your baby is to large to deliver vaginally or your amniotic fluid is low, you have pre-e or many of the other dozens of reasons out there, go for it! I just wish that more women would trust their own bodies and babies and quit relying on medical technology to make everything easier for them. If you don't want labor pains, don't get pregnant! If you're going to be inconvenienced by your due date, don't get pregnant!
Another bummer... all the hospitals in my state seem to have eliminated birthing tubs. I had a water birth with my first and I think it contributed to my quick labor, delivery and ability to handle the contractions! I am so sad! There are also only 4 birth centers in the state, the nearest being 90 miles away from me... All the hospitals in my area have c-section rates, for low-risk births, at over 30%. I terrified of that number! Hopefully, my midwife isn't someone who supports that but I've only been able to see her once because she's always delivering a baby it seems! I hope that's a good sign though! 
Ok, I'm done...
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Natural birth on the decline?
I think the percentage of women who choose to go med-free is less than 20%, and I think it's been fairly stable for long time.
If women are "scheduling c/s and inductions" at their convenience, shouldn't the blame be placed on their providers for allowing it? But way to blame women! And also be judgy about someone's birth choice that might not be the same as yours!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
People say the *exact same thing* about home birth, going med-free, VBAC, etc. etc. etc.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
It sounds like we might live in the same state! There are two labor tubs - they don't allow water births - at the hospital where I'll be delivering, and I panicked at the thought that they might both be occupied when I go in. My midwife's response? "They're dusty. No one but us ever uses them."
It just seems like unless you take the time to educate yourself about your options, scheduling your induction or your c-section is just the way birth is done. I think there are great tools available when they're needed, and OBs should go to greater lengths to help women really know what is available to them. Then at least we'd all be making the best informed choice for ourselves.
Ditto pps. Our healthcare system is really screwed up and that affects birth practices. But don't blame mothers who make different choices than you. One of my good friends had an elective primary c/s and it was the right choice for her. I supported her 100%--just like she supported me when I was upset about my c/s and was planning my VBAC. Who am I to judge? Plenty of people would judge me for having a VBAC at home.
I do agree that elective deliveries should wait until 39 weeks. But that aside, if a mother wants to be induced or have a c/s and gives informed consent, that is her choice to make.
If you think its judgy, then "to each his own." I'm just stating an opinion that apparently, I'm not allowed to have on this website.
Of course you can have an opinion... but so can everyone else
No one was the least bit disrespectful to you. Calm down.
If we are just sharing opinions, I will never understand why one woman cares about how another woman gives birth?
You want to do it completely natural in a tub? Great!
If a woman wants to get induced? Okay then, her baby, her birth, her body, her experience.
Or do you need I know if she plans to BF or FF? Vax or not? Stay home or work?
Sorry but this topic really irks me.
Exactly!
OP, people are disagreeing with you because the bolded is, quite frankly, a bit insulting. You are making the assumption that anyone who chooses a different route for childbirth than you doesn't care about their baby as much or isn't as educated as you. Do you expect that posting this on a pregnancy/baby forum is not going to provoke a response? You are allowed to have any opinion you wish, but so are the people who reply to your posts.
Eh, OP said it was a bit of a vent and we all get there sometimes, so as long as she's keeping her pretty mild vents to a random internet board and not directed at friends/family IRL, then it's fine in my book.
As for the "decline" of natural birth...I'd say from 5+ years ago when I had my first to now it seems to be going up in my circle of friends, but I also might just have a pretty crunchy circle of friends also.
As a funny note...I do have one friend who was all "I can't take having another week of pregnancy, I'm going to be induced no matter what at 39 weeks! I didn't prepare for natural childbirth but that's what I'm doing with only the support of my DH (who wasn't prepped either)." Nobody in our group tried to tell her otherwise and all agreed with her that the end of pregnancy was tough. Her induction did not go as planned, her natural birth didn't happen and she was upset. Two years later when she was having her second and was super pro-natural birth and prepared a ton she was like, "why didn't you guys tell me to wait and that induction would lead to such a crappy birth experience?" We felt a little bad as a group of friends, but once that same girlfriend became a doula the next year, she too understood how you can't/shouldn't change someone's mind if they aren't asking for info.
...baby #3 is here...
Vent away...fair enough
That said--every woman does have the right to make her own decisions. I think that what irks me--and maybe this is part of what you're getting at--is that I don't feel that women are very well informed about the risks of interventions like early induction and c/s. OK, I don't just feel that way--studies have shown that even women who claim they want to be well-informed about delivery decisions are, in the majority, terribly underinformed. So that's something I blame both women and our healthcare system for--women, for just assuming their provider will have the time and insight to provide them with all the info they need instead of researching on their own, and our system for propigating a system in which providers end up treating patients as numbers instead of partners in their own health. (I am NOT saying every provider is like this--but the system does push a standard instead of customized care plans).
And even though I think you stated it in kinda an abrasive way...well, there is some truth to the statement that, if you don't want to encounter the difficulties of parenthood, don't become a parent. Choosing to avoid the pain of childbirth regardless of risks or dangers is only one teensy example of the "me first" parenting I see a LOT of people exhibiting these days. No--not every woman who wants a scheduled c/s or drugs during labor is a "me first" parent. Not at all.
Seriously, are we really back on the "non-natural birth mothers won't be as good parents" thing? Sorry but no. The way you give birth has nothing to do with what quality parent you will be.
And let's be real. The risks of an epidural or an induction or a c/s to the baby are not that big. They are probably comparable to the risks of VBAC, vaginal breech birth, vaginal delivery of a second twin or a macrosomic baby and, at least according to some studies, the risks of home birth. Are we going to start flaming those moms for being selfish too?
Doctors and midwives should be informing patients adequately about risk. That is part of their job.
I didn't say moms who don't go natural birth are going to be bad moms. I said that I've seen a lot of bad parenting that came from a "me first" mentality lately, and if your birth choice has nothing to do with baby and everything to do with "what I want" it's part of the same poor mindset. Honestly, natural-birth moms could go down this road, too, when their "dream birth" conflicts with a complication putting baby at risk!
Yes, practitioners *should* be informing women. The sad fact is, I've seen a lot of women sharing that they're not. It's only fair to say that we as women have a right and responsibility to inform ourselves.
Aaaahahaha. Welcome to the Bump! You can have as many opinions as you want, but if they are jerky ones, you will be called out on it. HTH!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
LULZ! How do you square those sentences with each other? Yikes.
Childbirth is a teeny-tiny part of being a mother - and I say this as someone who is incredibly gung-ho about the benefits of low-intervention, med-free birth. At a certain point, you just have to let go of what choices others make, and let them make it. How someone chooses to approach childbirth, breastfeeding, sleep training, etc. etc. etc. has little to do with how good or bad a parent they are.
I won't even go into your first paragraph, except to say that institutions have a sh!tton more power than individual women. I know a ton of women IRL (I am one of them), who did everything "right" the first time, and still ended up with a most likely preventable c-section.
Iris, it's been at least 2-3 months since I've seen a post like this on here - I figured we were making progress!
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
No, don't read the second post I wrote. Assume I'm saying "c-section equals bad parent" which is precisely what my final sentences were stating I was NOT saying. That is NOT what I said. I said making choices for YOURSELF and not your CHILD is poor parenting, and birth choices are only one tiny portion of that. And I later stated that it goes both ways, that women too focused on natural-only could be making "me-centric" choices. If your only concern regarding birth is you and not your child, that's a problem.
And what was your problem with my first paragraph? I'm not saying that YOU were not well-informed. I'm saying a LOT of women are choosing not to be well-informed, and that saddens me. You're right--institutions have a heck of a lot more power than women do, which is why educating ourselves is so important. I'm sure you knew your options (and I'm sorry you found yourself in the position of having a likely unnecessary C-section) but I've known too many women IRL who just plain didn't understand the process or their options--they assumed their doctor would just tell them. Guess what? They ended up feeling disappointed and out of control when it came to birthing their child. That makes me sad, and I wish it didn't happen.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I will never understand how people who advocate freedom of choice criticize others' choices.
Peppita and Hyaline (and a few other posters I have seen) just seem to perpetuate some of the misleading stereotypes of those who choose a more natural birth/way of living.
Just because I didn't make the same decisions as you, doesn't make my decision wrong. And I feel particularly insulted that my different choices can be considered "uninformed" or "uneducated".
Haha I know!
OK so was it me-first parenting when I chose a VBAC, which carries a small but significant increased risk of fetal death? I could have chosen a RCS which would have made my baby less likely to die, but I chose a VBAC because, well, I wanted one. As mothers we are allowed to put ourselves first sometimes. I'm sick of mothers being labeled as selfish because they take themselves into consideration. Why are we assuming that mothers who choose to be induced or have a c/s are not concerned with their babies?
It's all well and good to advocate research but not every woman has the desire or educational background to read and interpret medical studies. Some people choose to trust their provider and that's ok. The doctor or midwife is responsible for providing her with the information she needs to make an informed choice. They have a legal obligation to do so. Yet we still seem to be blaming the women. Natural birth advocates of all people should be able to see the bigger picture here.
As for the bolded, believe me, we're aware LOL
No, of course not. I am in NO WAY saying that. You clearly did your research and made an informed decision with your provider about what was right for you and your baby. I NEVER assumed that women who choose induction or c/s are not thinking about what's right for their babies. If you still think this after my posts, I am either being very unclear or you are reading what you want to read into them.
Yes, I agree that providers should be providing women with all the info they need--for some reason, this is not happening in a lot of cases. And I do blame providers who aren't giving enough info. True story--I just chatted with a friend who truly believed, from information her provider gave her (I am praying she misunderstood), that c-sections are *always* safer than vaginal birth (no, not VBAC, not pregnancies with complications--always). But saying "you *should* get the info from your doc" doesn't fix the problem when women *don't* get the info. Encouraging them to dig a little does. And I wholly disagree with you that not every woman has the education to research--it doesn't take education of any particular kind to look up a study and read it, and to assume it does robs women of their ability to do so and the agency that gives them in their decision-making. The information is out there for anyone, and even just reading the abstract gives you something to ask your doc about.
Look--you clearly want to have an argument with an enemy that doesn't exist here. I am not saying any birth choice is by its nature a selfish one. I'm saying that women have the capacity to be selfish in their decision making and that sadly includes birth decisions sometimes.
Then encourage them, but don't blame women when they don't want to do research themselves.
I did everything "right" the first time - hired a doula, found the MWs with the lowest c/s rate, read everything, wrote a birth plan, etc. I still found myself trapped at the hospital in early labor, was bullied into a cervical exam I did not want to have, and had a c/s that, had it my labor been handled better, probably could have been prevented. And I was one of the informed ones! Sometimes it just doesn't matter - institutional power is so great, that even the women who do know what's going still get screwed over.
But how does that affect you? Why do you care so much about how other women choose to approach their births?
Have you read the book "Pushed" or "Born in the U.S.A"? They are really great reads about just how effed the US maternity system is, and could be a real eye-opener for you.
DS2 - Oct 2010 (my VBAC baby!)
When I worked in L&D, we had patients who did not speak English, who did not have any prenatal care, who went to public schools so bad they lost their accreditation, who were homeless, incarcerated, addicted to drugs, mentally ill, who lived in neighborhoods that gave that city one of the highest crime rates in the entire U.S., who got shot in a driveby while standing on the street corner talking to friends. I had women who came in with zero childbirth education--I'm talking they didn't know what effacement meant or how many centimeters you dilate. So no, not every woman has the means to do effective research. They still deserve the same care as the woman who paid hundred of dollars for a Bradley class and watched BoBB and read every Ina May book and knows what "expectant management of third stage" means. We should be focusing on--promoting quality, evidence-based care for everyone. And we need to remember that when we talk about health care, not everyone going into the system is middle class and educated.
As nosoup said, advocating for patient empowerment is good. Blaming women for not being empowered is not good (and kinda nonsensical). Not everyone starts off with the same advantages.
Fair enough--there is a population of women I didn't consider when I said "anyone can research." I was considering more the women on this board than every woman in the US and worldwide, and for that I apologize. I think it's fair to say that the population starting at such a distinct disadvantage in terms to access to education is not the majority. It's also fair to say that much of the information available is free--I don't want to insinuate that every woman should outlay hundreds of dollars on classes and books (though for those of us who can, donating those books to the library might not be a bad idea...) I don't want to blame women for not being empowered at all--but I do want to acknowledge that by refusing any responsibility ourselves we relinquish the power of information. Most of us are in a position to empower ourselves through education. And I do believe that the more of us who are educating ourselves, the better the system will be because the more of us there will be advocating for quality care and evidence-based decision-making. Until then, I'm afraid that only those who demand that kind of care are going to get it--and that's 100% wrong for all the reasons you stated. Who's invested in fixing the problem if not women like us?
I'm a lurker, but I have to put my two cents in on this topic.
I agree, OP may have worded some things wrong, but I think all of us have some kind of knowledge (whether it's about birth, pharmaceuticals, subsidized food, whatever) that medical care in this country has turned into being about money.
What bothers me isn't that some women want a pain-free labor - it's that OB's in this country routinely encourage scheduled C-Sections and inductions because it's more convenient, less of a liability, and more in line with the mainstream education they've received. Doctors go deliberately against the world health organization's recommendations of what percent of babies are delivered by cesarean.
I have a friend in medical school who discussed this with me, and she (defending doctors) said "Well, medicine is a business. You have to give your patients what they want, or they won't come back to you." My response was "so, are you going to give out painkillers and anti-depressants because your customer wants them?? Think about how many people get addicted to pain killers!"
I don't really blame moms so much as I blame the systems. Where moms come in is that, unfortunately, they've been taught to fear birth (as well as other non-life threatening experiences, i.e. the chicken pox), and the media has portrayed birth as being an unattractive phenomenon (hello, Christina Aguilara quote!).
So yes, I agree with the OP's frustration. I don't think moms are at the center of blame, though ... and I DO think it's important to try to bring more humane practices into our health care system (birth is just one example). This is why we have a movement advocating natural birth - so that hopefully more moms will become impassioned about this and will demand more options from their health care providers. In turn, medical schools will start teaching doctors more information about natural birth (among other things).
That's just my two cents..
I'm interested that the day I put my needs ahead of my child's needs makes me a bad parent.
Awesome.
Elizabeth 5yrs old Jane 3yrs old
That said, I think the whole "if you don't want to feel labor pains, don't get pregnant" line in the OP is BS. There is nothing shameful about choosing an epidural and not wanting to feel pain. The absolute risks to the baby of having an epidural are small. It's a perfectly valid choice to make. Moreover, come on, does ANYONE, epidural or not, really have a baby without feeling ANY pain? Let's get off our high horses that we're somehow martyrs to our children because we decided to forego pain relief.