I won't take the time to outline the various decisions that entrenched surgical and drugged birth as the norm in our hospitals. Let's just say that with one in three mothers having a C-section, and the level of drugs used during labor at an all time high, we are on a trajectory as a nation that has sent our society down a path towards an 80% C-section rate.
I am acquainted with fellow birth activists who believe that socializing birth is the only way to break the medical monopoly and open up the floodgates of freedom for families. These friends believe that taxpayer funding of birth will allow Midwives, Doulas, Nurse Practioners, and Nurse Midwives to step into the birthing arena that has been blocked by the OB's for generations in American obstetrics.
I have argued repeatedly on my blog that no one is advocating for families with this health care bill. Various special interests, like the pharmaceutical companies, have promised billions to help set it all up and implement it in our hospitals and clinics. I asked one mother at the Huffington Post if she believed that those dollars were going to be given to the government without any strings attached.
I said, "What we are about to get in America is a particularly noxious form of Facism — government controlled by corporations — at the expense of patient safety and wellness. You think medicine has been awful in America these past fifty years? Just wait until any and all doctor accountability is tossed out the window in so called 'tort reform' and unfettered assembly line birth truly gets going these next few years. The only option for mothers who desire 'normal and natural' will be homebirth."
With 61% of all hospitalizations tied to birth in some form or fashion, I'm going to take a leap and assume that the status quo will be entrenched with this new health care bill. And the ultimate question Mothers are going to have to ask themselves is this, "What is the healthiest way for me to welcome my child into the world?"
I'm not here to tell anyone what will be best for their child. Each mother and father has to decide for themselves what type of birth will provide the healthiest outcome. But with more and more studies linking poor baby outcomes to the overuse of drugs during pregnancy and labor, parents should take the time to really research options and pick the one that will help both the mother and the baby to have the best start together. For our family, that has translated into a near rejection of allopathic (drugs and surgery) childbirth.
Article comments
1 - Vanessa
I agree about childbirth and obamacare not being discussed enough. Even from birth advocates. Some are for the bill, but I worry about the impact on women's choices if they want an attendant.
2 - Jenny Hatch
Vanessa,
61% of all Hospitalizations are in some form or fashion tied to Childbirth. The money generated by Birth is "what keeps the lights on" at the hospital. So, when we federalize medicine we are literally Socializing Birth. Collectivist Birth is messy, rationed, focused on the greater good and does not have the time or resources to cater to the individual needs of Mothers and Babies.
I love Family Birth because it is solely focused on the individual needs of the Mother, Baby, and Family at large. When a mother births in her own space, she has the autonomy to have it be about her needs, her family, and her agenda and goals rather than someone or something outside of her home.
Taking personal responsibility for Childbirth will free families from the balkanized mess that is going to descend upon the American Family these next few decades.
Jenny Hatch