What is happening in childbirth today? About one third or more of all babies born in developed countries are delivered by a surgical procedure. One third! What does that mean?
Does this mean that 1/3 of all babies or mothers would die or be injured without a surgical birth?
Does it mean women are too lazy or afraid of the natural occurring pain of contractions?
Does it mean Life today is so fast, requiring everyone to work hard that women don’t have time or energy to focus on preparing to give birth?
Does it mean doctors are running down the street with scalpel in hand looking for pregnant women to carve up?
Does it mean our modern society has changed so much that our human species can no longer give birth with a labor and vaginal birth?
Your guess might be the best
Let’s look at some numbers.
There are approximately 60,000 births in New Zealand each year. So 20,000 babies each year are born by a surgical procedure.
In the US where there are approximately 3,600,000 births/year that means 1,200,000 babies come into the world by a major surgical procedure.
In the UK close to 250,000 babies enter the same way. These statistics are understated!
Birth is definitely changing.
There is a real possibility within the next few years that birth will be considered so unsafe that half of all children are delivered through their mother’s belly and women have major abdominal surgery to give birth.
This Birthing Better with Birthing Better Method® is NOT giving a message that Cesarean delivery is wrong, it’s just interesting isn’t it?
Perhaps birth is unsafe. Worldwide an estimated 500,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth related problems. That seems high yet the female population in the world is 3,449,710,000. In reality a mere 500,000 women is a drop in the bucket.
War, disease and even auto accidents far exceed these numbers. In fact for a baby or mother to die during childbirth is in fact (compared to other reasons) is quite uncommon.
But the issue of whether birth is safe or unsafe does not boil down to statistics.
Society hasn’t even really defined the word ‘safe’. If any birth is ‘safe’ as long as the mother and baby is healthy then, at the moment,
Using a car analogy. That would mean that 1/3 of all drivers and passengers would be at risk of serious death or injury if they were not transported directly to their destination by other means. What would society’s response be?
Surely the response would get drivers to be more skilled. Hint: your Pink Kit is your skills manual so that you can decrease risk and increase safety to yourself and baby.
What is going on with childbirth? Is birth really that dangerous? This major issue is the basis for the debate between the medical community and those who advocate natural birth who believe birth is safe and the medical community is overly and unnecessarily precautious.
Putting a bottom line to the medical community … the medical community basically does consider birth to be risky and potentially dangerous. They are right. Pregnancy and birth is full of potential health problems for both the mother-to-be and her baby. This is absolutely accurate and the foundation for the growth of the modern maternity system. Birth prior to modern medicine was very risky and continues to be in countries where modern medical care is not available. Women do die due to pregnancy and childbirth at a much greater rate than they would at other periods of their life. However, babies don’t. The greatest risk to a baby is their first 5 years of life.
So, from a medical viewpoint, their care is based on real health concerns. The assessments, monitoring and procedures are put in place to try to reduce, prevent or eliminate high-level risks.
BIRTH STORY
Without access to medical care my baby and I would both have died. My pregnancy had been great. My husband and I had used Birthing Better resources to plan for our natural birth. We were pretty anti-medical really, believing birth was the most natural thing in the world.
We did everything we could do to have a safe birth. The week before my due date I started to get cramps and thought I’d go into labour early. Then I got a bloody show but within an hour I was soaking through a pad every 15 minutes and my belly was so tight.
I felt weird and dialed our emergency number. The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital. Apparently my placenta separated and I bled. Without immediate medical attention my baby and I would certainly have died.
Putting a bottom line to the natural birth and midwifery model of childbirth … the natural birth community considers birth to be innately safe. They are right. Birth is the only way humans reproduce themselves. If giving birth was the primary cause of death or injury to our species that would not be consistent with a species survival. There is no doubt that birth primarily is life giving for both mothers and babies. However, that does not mean that ‘problems’ do not occur however, most problems are neither life threatening nor causing serious issue.
So, from the natural birth and Midwifery Model of care letting pregnancy and birth take its natural course is safe. Coupled with access to good medical care that addresses more serious issues, the natural birth and midwives would like to see childbirth be treated as a natural physiological aspect of women’s life. They are right pregnancy and childbirth are just that … a very natural part of life and nothing we should unrealistically fear.
BIRTH STORY
My grandfather, father and sister are all doctors. My mother and two brothers are also health professionals so needless to say when I fell pregnant I had all the medical tests. I felt protected by the care but curiously because I had a great pregnancy I often felt the assessments and test were a bit over the top. I also noticed how nervous every one seemed about my pregnancy and birth as though there was a major problem right around the corner.
There is a term ‘helicopter parents’ and I felt that way about the care I got. It was like every little thing was either treated as though it was totally insignificant or a potential big problem.
Anyway, I went past my due date. My doctor wanted to do a non-stress test that was fine. A few days later then I had a stress test and the baby was fine. A few days later I had a biophysical profile and my baby was fine. That night I went into labour.
I got into hospital and my baby was fine. After 5 hours I was 4 cms dilated and the doctor suggested we augment the labour to move things along. Of course I agreed. Within 10 minutes of the augmentation they had lost my baby’s heart beat. They frantically stopped the IV and tried to get the baby to respond but there was no response. Then they discussed whether I should have an emergency c/s and could the baby be resuscitated successfully. They decided they couldn’t act that quickly to feel assured the baby had a chance.
I laboured another 7 hours and delivered a still born. Apparently my baby died of a real but infrequent allergic reaction to the drug they used and had what is called a third degree heart block.
In hindsight I do feel that the medical profession is much too quick.