Horrified

So I just finished watching "The B.usiness of Being B.orn" on Net.flix. Um, wow. First of all, it was more horrifying than any story I have EVER heard about a home or birthing center birth. Secondly, I cannot believe how shitty American labor and delivery truly is! Its no wonder we're all terrified of giving birth!

I feel betrayed. I feel lied to. I feel like the culture of childbirth has used fear and scare tactics to get us to buy into their crap for the sake of making a buck and maintaining a sense of power. Hospitals give the impression that they're better equipped to handle childbirth because they have medical degrees, fancy equipment, and operating rooms. But it would seem that if a woman has a low-risk, normal pregnancy- all that crap shouldn't even be necessary!

This documentary opened my eyes to the many ways in which doctors/nurses trap women into these completely ridiculous and unnecessary labors by using the phrase, "its the best for the baby." Such bullshit! Its maddening to see that when women ask for explanations, elaborations, or options, they are treated like stupid ignorant morons. As if they couldn't possibly know what is best for them, their body, or their babies. When the heck did that happen? How did we get to a place where women have no say over what happens during childbirth? Seems to me like childbirth has become something that happens TO women, instead of something we are actively participating in. Women are taught not to trust their bodies and that is awful.

I am saddened by how dis-empowering Western medicine truly is. Practitioners have zero respect for the beauty and wonder of childbirth and completely underestimate a woman's ability to naturally do what her body was MADE to do. I highly doubt they had ep.idurals, pit.ocin, forceps, vacuums, etc in the early days of humanity. Yet somehow we managed to make it to the 20th century without going extinct. The movie said that in 1900, 95% of births were at home, yet in the present time- less that 1% of births are at home. What the crap?! What, exactly, has happened to make hospital births such a necessity?

This really hit home for me because my cousin is having a scheduled c-section in a month. Why is this happening? Because her first child ended up needing to be delivered by c-section. Not sure how that makes sense, but it makes my cousin feel more safe and comfortable to do it that way so I don't question her about it. And ultimately, her daughter only ended up being delivered that way because of exactly what they describe in the film: the labor was long, too long for the hospital's convenience. They gave her an epi.dural and pit.ocin but the epidural slowed labor so they added more pit.ocin. The long, strong contractions brought on by pitocin led to distress in the baby and soon she was in the OR. Its also worth noting that the hospital didn't monitor who came in and out of her room. So her mother-in-law (who treats her like CRAP and my cousin HATES) trapsed in with her son and a random co-worker and started nosing around. Meanwhile, my cousin is in labor and things aren't going well so she's already stressed out. Add the stress of people coming in and out as they please (while she's basically naked) and it just got crazy. It horrifies me that my dear cousin is electing to have what is ultimately major surgery, all because she's afraid her body won't work fast enough for the local maternity ward.

Everyone should watch this movie.