Time magazine has done a sobering report on Amnesty International’s newly released study on American women dying in childbirth. What we so often think of as a specter of bygone days is actually on the rise here in the U.S. In fact, according to the study, the maternal death rate here has doubled since 1987. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country, and yet women in the U.S. are more likely to die from pregnancy related causes than women in 40 other countries.
And where does Amnesty place the blame? Poverty, lack of access to important care (like labor support), and…overuse of interventions driven by fear of litigation. Yup, that’s right. People on the crunchy fringe have been saying it for years, but finally some more big-named folks are saying it too.
wow that is alarming.I have had two life endangering pregnancies in one year time. Many people have never even heard of HELLP Syndrome
and yes, we seem really backwards with the care of our expecting mamas in this country.
Good link on that article.
Excellent article. Thanks for the link. I think a 32% C-section rate is just unbelievable. This is why I gave birth at home. It’s not that I think homebirth is inherently better. It’s that in the US, where I live, homebirth is better (for low-risk pregnancies) because hospital birth is so bad. If I lived in a country that had a better model of maternity care and the resultant better outcomes, I probably wouldn’t even have considered giving birth at home.
I read these reports a few days ago and I’ve been avoiding dealing with the emotions.
I’ve had a section followed by a planned home birth, followed by a section. I’m pretty sure that nearly every bad thing that happened to me and my babies was a result of medical intervention. We’re all fine now, but still.
I cannot believe that these folks are just now having the lightbulb moment. Clearly overuse of major abdominal surgery and anesthesia are a major cause of complications and the cascade of interventions that leads to the majority of cesarean sections just sickens me.
I would actually like to have a baby in a hospital without fear of being rushed and medicated and cut open. I’d like to not be administered so much anesthesia that my baby is born not breathing. Ugh! It is so frustrating because birth can be dangerous and it would be so nice to know that help is there IF needed but I am hesitant to avail myself of that help because then it automatically becomes needed.
blah.
I’m still incensed whenever I remember how I was pressured to induce, in the first hospital I went to, because, as I was told, “I can’t occupy a delivery room forever”.
I’m still thankful beyond measure I had the courage and good sense and faith to just gather my things and demand to be signed out of there.
I am so thankful to have been able to go to a different hospital, where I was attended exclusively by midwives and where my baby was born with no interventions.
Also thankful on the behalf of my sister-in-law, who naturally delivered a baby 4 months ago. The baby was breech, and everyone told her she “must” have a c-section but she refused.
I just can’t believe how we are manipulated into such a multitude of unnecessary interventions.
I read the article a couple of days ago, but… I have mixed feelings about it. I mean, I’ve read “Pushed” and Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Childbirth, and the state of maternity care in the US is truly deplorable. It’s kind of cool that AI has taken notice. But the article seems to be calling for even more control and authoritarian meddling, which IMO is how we got to this point to begin with.
Cord,
I think we’re on the same page. What I was excited about was the more mainstream recognition of the problem, NOT necessarily the brand of solutions.
I had exactly the opposite problem — my doctor pressured me into a VBAC, when I wanted an elective c-section. Fortunately, he relented, and I had the birth I wanted and me and my little girl (now 13! not so little!) were just fine. Doctors should listen to women — we usually know our bodies better than they do.
I really believe that women should educate other women on what is possible with birth and how rewarding a natural birth can be. I think so often we just assume we should always trust the doctor, when often they are just following what is normal procedure…normal procedure is not always the healthiest thing.
I am so thankful for the midwives I had with me at my births, even though they suggested inductions both times were willing to let me follow my instinct (my situation was on the brink of serious, but not so it was okay) and have two wonderful short natural labors and deliveries….both in hospitals, and both without intervention and the ability to walk around, and even soak in the tub.