Tonight I decided to watch my first documentary "Pregnant in America". The documentary started off by outlining a set of women who decided to have natural childbirth in their homes. It begins with a soft pitch about how they want it to be special and personal, and therefore they wanted to birth their baby in their home. It slowly slid into the negative aspects of hospitals and giving birth in an hospital. They interviewed people along the street to ask their opinions, and they were 75% towards giving birth in a hospital. The film quickly jumped into how women in America have been brain washed into thinking that hospital birth and drugs are the only way to have a baby. A slew of psychiatrists, doctors and sociologists were interviewed and agreed that having a baby in a hospital was a horrible decision. The opinions were that women were pressured into taking drugs and getting an epidural to numb the pain. The thought was that doctors scared women into getting an epidural and essentially planning the time the baby was born. Of course the film had to highlight the mistakes hospitals make and how the outcomes can be harmful for the mother and or the baby. The first part of the film makes you almost angry or irritated (if you had a baby in the hospital with drugs and felt good about it).
Women were discussing how in order to live up to being a true confident woman, you had to empower yourself to birth your baby naturally. The act of a natural birth with all the feelings and emotions made you a strong woman. All of the sudden (I sat back and looked down at my phone for a minute) and heard them say labor orgasms. I looked up to see women discussing how you can have an orgasm during birth and that it is very common. They interviewed teenage girls on the street, mothers, and single women. It somewhat disgusted me for a minute because we went from the beauty of birth and being strong woman to orgasms? (of course I wouldn't know since I had my baby in a hospital and had an epidural, so I am not a very strong woman and incapable of attesting to whether I had an orgasm).
87% of the women in Holland have at home natural births. Apparently it is the number one country in the world that supports women having children at home naturally. I find it ironic how we use the word naturally as if having a child with pain medication or in a hospital is considered unnatural? What is more natural than pushing a baby out of your body, hospital or not, drugs or not, still natural. C sections have risen from 7% in 1970 to 35%, which is attributed to apparently having your baby in a hospital and under the supervision of a doctor. I tend to disagree with this theory because I know many women who had to have a C section for many medical reasons, and then had to again with future children.
A strong undertone remains throughout the film on the greatness of midwives. They discuss how midwives preserve the sanctity of childbirth and all its beauty and wonder. They take out the fear of the birthing process and enable a woman to listen to her body and have a "natural" experience.
The subject of induction comes in and a doctor comments that it is the most unsafe, pharmaceutical pushed drug. It simply is used for convenience for the doctors and staffing of the hospital. They also comment that induction also causes more C-sections and problems with the infant when it is born. A women begins to go into the affects of pitosin and that no one knows the long term affects it has on women. The drug is discussed as being the worst choice a woman and doctor can make because it is putting their child at risk. This automatically takes us back to C-sections and how doctors are using them more and more for convenience. I personally have heard a lot on this topic, and I disagree with women "scheduling their births" because I do understand how it can be used for that reason. However, sometimes it is necessary to save a mother and or baby. The commentators say that a C-section robs a mother of the birth process, and connection with their baby. It is "ethically in-appropriate" and then the scroll runs down the screen with a list of all the problems that can occur from a c-section. It is in red and black and looks almost like a scare tactic to the viewer.
Something interesting....the state of Washington is almost 100% against V-backs and most insurance companies will not cover any of it. (V-back is a natural vaginal birth after having a c-section with your first baby). $20,000-$50,000 out of pocket for the couple if they decide to have a vaginal birth, and in Canada its $2,000. They opt to go to Canada to birth their child because of their disgust with the healthcare system.
The director then decides to attend and ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecology) conference for more answers. A doctor interviewed said that a doctor in the field tends to prefer c-sections because of time, and will sometimes cut corners and fail to check a woman for progress in order to have a c-section. The question arises, are women's lives and the birth of their children in the hands of the board of doctors and insurance companies? The act of a birthing a breach baby instead of a c-section is out of practice since a women is automatically sent to have a c-section if her baby is breached. A sudden undertone takes over the film by saying women are subjected to the choices given to them by their insurance company. What doctor they can see, where they can give birth, what is covered and how many days are covered.
At the risk of loosing people reading this, I am going to sum up my personal experience from watching this documentary. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and every woman can choose how to birth her child. I do believe in doctors and the medical system, and I do know that people are human and mistakes will be made. When they are made, they can be exploited and used as a scare tactic. I do believe insurance companies are ridiculous about certain costs and practices, but then again I am thankful to have insurance. I think C-sections are necessary in some cases, but I do believe many women try to "schedule" their birth, which is ridiculous. As much as the act of birthing a child is natural and beautiful, I think it is painful. A woman should be able to choose to utilize our technology and ask for drugs for pain. It would be a personal decision for each woman, but a woman should not be looked down upon for receiving it. Your a mom and you birthed a child regardless of pain meds, the place you were, or if you had to have a c-section.
I would never watch this documentary again, but I learned a lot from it and was able to see the various opinions on having a baby.
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