I left a long comment on a libertarian blog that mentioned this and decided that I might as well just rant here since it’s my own space and all…

This labor thing is making me completely insane right now.

First off, natural childbirth is objectively better for most low risk women. Studies abound. http://childbirthconnection.com/ However, many feminists (and that Dr. Amy T. dope – crusader for the medicalization of childbirth) seem most upset that a person with a Y chromosome would dare utter such a thing. Well… so does that mean no male OBs? What about female OBs and midwives who haven’t had kids? What about OBs and midwives who had pain relief in childbirth? I mean limiting it to people who have actually had labor pain would kinda mess with the supply of labor support people.

Secondly, as a libertarian it drives me crazy, but regarding the medicalization of childbirth I have to cast my lot in with a lot of lefties. I certainly wish that health care costs were something that actually had cost signaling to the consumer him/herself, which would lead to far more homebirths/midwifery and therefore healthier mothers and babies, but it is not. So really the only thing that can currently be done is to try to convince women to see their OBs for the money-making procedure-machines they are, and switch themselves. Sadly, the fear surrounding childbirth in our culture makes it really hard to say anything without encountering women who have been brainwashed by their OBs to believe that if they hadn’t had an OB there they would have DIED. (almost never the case, and midwives have the skill to judge situations in which surgery is truly indicated at which point they bring in a surgeon)

I wish birth were something we prepared for, with Bradley or hypnobirthing or whatever classes, instead of something you give over completely to a doctor who makes 3 times as much money by performing a c-section.

And in case it really is something where you can’t talk about it unless you’ve done it – I had a 9 lb 1 oz baby with no epidural until 9cm, and a 10 lb 6 oz baby with no drugs at all. With the smaller one I had a 2nd degree tear that made recovery awful (seriously, it was almost a year before I felt ok again). With the big one I had no tearing and was back to completely normal 3 weeks after the birth. I have also had kidney stones which are way worse than childbirth, so the whole “childbirth is the worst pain you ever experience” is just plain wrong.

I am not anti-epidural if the woman is CHOOSING to have the epidural and not being pressured into it by doctors and nurses who want women lined up silently in the lithotomy position. Everyone’s pain is her own, so if you want pain relief, get it. But perhaps don’t dismiss the whole concept of natural childbirth just because someone with a Y chromosome brings it up.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 20th, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.