Why are men deciding how women give birth?
I'm wondering why are men who decide how women give birth. I'm an Italian mom (sorry x my English) and I had 2 homebirths. In Italy we have 40% of c-section (????!!!) and nobody seems to care about it. I can accept (not very much) that we need men in politics, arts, music, science, literature and sports. But who are they to decide women's position during labor, when women can push, eat and drink, move, talk and cry? Why should we ask them the permission to be ..... what we are: women?????
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by maha al musa on -
Well said Elisabetta..I agree 100%..and I cannot believe the c section rate in Italy..WOW!Maybe you could right an article for an Italian newspaper or womens magazine about this????
Pls look at my website that empowers women in birthing with the use of my ancient dance form - bellydance-
www.bellydanceforbirth.com
sending peace
maha -
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Permalink Reply by Elisabetta Malvagna on -
Dear Maha, as a journalist , and a mom of 2, I wrote a book about this, actually
and I just finished another one about HOMEBIRTH! (it will be published next April). Italian media like to talk and discuss about c-section pandemia, but in the meanwhile more and more women 'choose' cesarean section because they think it's safer than vaginal birth.... I think it's a political and economic problem (unfortunately in Italy politics and money decide everything...) . I'll look at yr website for sure. I was at an international conference in Copenhagen a few yrs ago and I assisted to a bellydance lesson by a widwife from Cuba: it was so exciting and moving.
Thanks and have a nice day! -
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Permalink Reply by Elisabetta Malvagna on
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wow! Compliments for yr site! I put a post about it on my blog (www.partoriresenzapaura.it).
All the best
Elisabetta -
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Permalink Reply by EmilyK on -
I understand where you're coming from. 40% is pretty drastic. In America we have The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), who tell us that an acceptable C-section rate is 10-15%. Of course, our actual rate is more like 30%, with some states and hospitals a little higher or a little lower. Do you have a recommended rate in Italy?
But on the subject of men in particular. I think that female obstetricians are just as guilty, if not more so in urging cesarean. I think it's less a matter of one gender forcing an agenda on another, and more a matter of a pregnant woman's right to do what she thinks is the safest for her child. -
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Permalink Reply by Elisabetta Malvagna on
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Dear Emily, in Italy there is not a recommended rate. The only data is from WHO (10-15%), but nobody cares about it. I agree with you: female obstetricians are as guilty, unfortunately. We need a real change! Women should be much stronger and trust their bodies and their children. Most Italian women don't think they have the right to a better childbirth, they ignore fisiology, and trust more obstetricians and science then themselves.
All the best -
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Permalink Reply by Eleia on -
I completely agree. I came to realize that since men have become involved with childbirth, it has veered more and more away from NATURAL after I read the book Pushed. If you haven't read that book, then I recommend that you do. It is amazing.
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Permalink Reply by Sara on -
I don't think that it's just the men that are pushing for the c-sections. I have heard of a lot of female OBs pushing just as hard for them. It's just more convenient for them. Dr Lisa (on the TV show The Doctors) has actually talked women out of birthing naturally with scare tactics on national television.
The recommended c-section rate by the World Health Organization (WHO) is the 10-15 percent that Emily states, NOT the ACOG.
As for the positions and what women are "allowed" or "not allowed" totally depends on the dr. I have been blessed to have a dr with my 4 births that let me tell him what position I needed to be in to birth, and with my new dr, I'm going to tell him too, not be told what position to be in. So far it seems he's on the same page as I in that regard, but I guess you never really know until you're there. I don't believe in asking for permission from my dr to do what's best for me and my baby anymore. I believe that we women know better than anyone what we need to do if we listen to our bodies and babies. -
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Permalink Reply by Elisabetta Malvagna on
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That's right Sara. The problem is that most women don't listen to their bodies, they prefer to leave doctors decide for them. They're not interested in c-section risks, it's absurd! When I was pregnant, I didn't want somebody decide for me, that's why I had 2 HBs. And I made the right thing! My daughter is 12 now, my son is 9, and since they were born I fight to inform other women about the power of natural childbirth. Only if you are informed you can choose the best for you and your baby.
All the best -
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Rice on -
Unfortunately it's all about money, politics, and convenience. Most Dr.'s really don't care what woman want. Most of them have a "God complex" and think they know what is right for our bodies and babies. Us woman that have had homebirths understand that when intervention is necessary then please save me and my unborn baby, otherwise let my body do what it is meant to do. But Dr. 's are now looking at birth as a medical problem rather than a natural process that happens to our bodies. We as a society have allowed our Dr.'s control over so much. It makes since to me why they have taken childbirth and made it what it is today. Cold, Sterile, and invasive. Just like every other thing that happens at the hospital. But if woman like us keep making our voices heard and preach it to the masses that don't know any better, I believe that change WILL happen!!! And I am SOOOO looking forward to that day when "natural childbirth" is just BIRTH!!!
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Permalink Reply by Elisabetta Malvagna on
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'God complex': I like it! And I do agree with U. I think men (and women too) are scared of a woman who's giving birth: it's too powerfool!!! So, they try to control it. And they do it very well! I'm not a doctor or a scientist, but a journalist and a mom. I'm trying to inform and change things, but it's very very hard! Maybe the day when natural childbirth is just BIRTH will come, one day.... I don't give up, anyway!
:) -
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Permalink Reply by Jody Milholland Hagensen on -
Definitely agree about the "god complex" and women doctors are no better. But it is a statment about the world we live in where women are still oppressed and ruled over by a male dominated system. As women, we can have influence in our circles of friends, families, co workers, communities. My first exposure to natural birth was attending the homebirth of my best friend. It changed me forever!
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Permalink Reply by Emily on -
Well ladies... I hate to say it but we as women handed over our trust in male doctors to decide what's best for us with the promise of less painful experiences. I'm currently reading Brought to Bed; The History of Childbirth from Colonial America to present. Throughout history birthing was a womans thing and the women took care of each other. Over time hysterical women thought that doctors (most of which were male) could improve mortality for mom's and baby's and decrease pain. At first the doctor's did home births but realized that the women's family and friends attending really called the shots at birth. They began teaching med students that their best course of action is to have women come to the hospital where visitors are limited and the doctor's could control the event. So here we are...
It's time for us to take back our power and band together and we can do that one birth at a time. :) -
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