I guess I half-expected that my epiphany about the birthing industry was late coming, and that most other woman already knew all this before I did. After all, there are so many books, studies, and articles advocating natural childbirth (or at least childbirth free from systematic interventions) that I assumed everyone else was already hip to this.
And during my last pregnancy two summers ago, the women in my July 06 Ivillage Expecting Club all seemed much better informed than I did. I don't remember there being a large number of "scheduled" births. Perhaps I just didn't notice, but it felt to me like I was one of the few women who insisted on evicting my kid before he was ready – and even I waited until 41 weeks.
That's not the case in the May 08 Ivillage Expecting Club though. The question on that board is more a matter of WHEN you'll be induced/sectioned, not IF you will be. And when mommies come back from their inductions/sections, none of them have anything really bad to say about it. Even those who ended up with a ceserean because of an induction somehow believe that their ceserean was one of the "necessary" ones. Perhaps they're shell-shocked. Or actually believe that the baby's "heart decels" had nothing to do with the Pitocin they were on. Or maybe they just don't know any better. I've seen stories on this board of women being induced as early as weeks before their due date. Now, as much as I don't trust my doctor to keep Pitocin away from me, I KNOW he would not advocate evicting a baby before the due date. He specifically said to me last week that he had a collegue who sectioned a woman at 39 wks (at her request) and the baby was born with severely underdeveloped lungs. Baby had to stay in the NICU for four weeks. Lotta good the impatience did that woman. He thought her and her doctor were both idiots.
Now, I realize my bad induction/ceserean experience is not how every woman ends up feeling about it. The inductions that are successful are the ones that probably didn't even need to be performed anyway because a successful induction means the baby was just about to come out on his/her own anyway. But I'm informed now enough to feel like these women who are "scheduling" their births are just asking for trouble. I mean, do you really think that "well, my family will be in town then" is a good enough reason to do something so unnatural to your body? I mean, I can certainly understand induction POST-dates and/or if the baby is in some sort of actual distress…. but to choose induction or a section out of convenience? Who ever said having a baby was convenient? Is a uterine scar convenient? Or even worth it?
This pregnancy my aging grandparents wanted to schedule a trip for the baby's arrival. My grandmother (who had 5 children and should know better) kept calling me to ask me "when" the baby was coming – as if I'm actually supposed to know. Now, to save them some $$ on plane fare, I'm sure I could have "scheduled" Jules's arrival to fit their schedule, but since that does seem like one of the more ludicrous things a person could do, I chose against that. I also know that I could get an extra 2 weeks of paid maternity leave if I just went ahead and had another c-section, and despite us desperately needing the money, there is No WAY I would put a price on my baby's birth like that. Two more weeks of pay is not worth another scar on my uterus.
So, I'm not sure if I just didn't notice these things happening in my last EC, or if things have really gotten worse over the last couple of years, but I'm just realing from this. The audacity of doctors to think that a woman's uterus has some sort of on/off switch — the audacity of some women to think that they should fit a birth into their schedule — and the shear sadness of these attitudes and practices becoming "normal" is all enough to make me very sad.
I'm not sure why I get so emotionally invested in the choices of other people, but perhaps it's because I believe that these "choices" are setting a standard that is grossly contradictory to what is healthy and normal. Or maybe I'm just a judgmental asshole. Either way….. Idon'tlikeit.
Wow Michele, it looks like we have a lot in common. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has noticed how much different things seem even in just the past two years. Or maybe we're more aware of it now.
It really upsets me when I see so many women on those boards get excited when their doctor "schedules" their birth. I just want to say "don't you know what you're getting you and your baby into? or don't you care?!?"
It is very hard to watch, so I try to stay away, but sometimes I go back to see how many of those "inductions" turned into c-sections --- and SO MANY DO. It's so sad.
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