I think one of the most important moments in the film was that midwives did not pressure the women. Watching the film, in my opinion, made the audience more comfortable to the choice of having a home birth. The film emphasized the significance of having a midwife present during birth. Midwives allows the women to have power over her birth process, unlike doctors who only care about the money. Doctors charge the women at least 12K-13K for a normal birth with no complications and midwives only charge 4K.
When watching the film, the audience can tell that doctors always center themselves in the hospitals. The doctors are the ones who make the decision about whether or not the women should have an intervention and most of the time, the women do get an intervention. Most doctors give the women an intervention because if something goes wrong, then it is the doctor's fault and here goes the money problem. While the women is delivering a baby at the hospital, she is strapped down to the bed, metaphorically describing how the women does not have control over her choices and her own body. The film mentioned that the doctors just comes to deliver the baby and then leaves while the midwives continues to take care of the women.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Break HW
The only normal thing about the giraffe giving birth is that the calf’s legs were hanging out of the mother. Everything else, basically, was recreated to make the giraffe perceive it as a natural birth instead of a normal birth that happens in the fertility center. In the fertility center, there is another giraffe (other than the one giving birth) that acts like a “virtual midwife”. This way, the normal setting looks more natural because the midwife can snuggle up with the giraffe giving birth and encourage it so the giraffe giving birth does not feel separated. After the baby drops out followed by a whole bunch of liquids, the mother giraffe licks, paws, and nudges the baby to get it up. This kind of reminds me of humans spanking the baby to get them to cry or to get the mucus out of their throat. The video mentioned that it usually takes about half an hour for calves to stand up in the wild but the one in the video took less time. The calf in the video was born normally because it inherited the genes from the giraffe in the zoo that enables it to stand up in a short amount of time. Normal giraffe births involve sand being put into the stall instead of the sand being there in the first place.
The doctors in the Monty Python video used expensive machines just so that they can impress the administrator. It gives the administrator a false image of the doctors doing the right thing and it also gives us the wrong image. People listen to doctors because they are the experts and they take the lead when it comes to giving birth. But sometimes, what the doctors are doing may not be the best for the patients and what they are doing is just the easier way of doing it. The purpose of the ping machine is to let the mother know that her baby is still alive but even after the video, the machine still pinged. Even if the doctor say that the baby is alive or that using intervention techniques are easier, it may not be true. The doctors in the video did not use a scissor to cut the umbilical cord because scissors are harder to use and it takes a long time when it comes to cutting the umbilical cord. They only think for themselves and center themselves instead of the patient. After making sure that the operation would make them stand out to the administrator was when they realize that they were missing the patient. Then after getting the baby out, it is supposed to be the time when the mother and the baby meet but the mother did not get to hold the baby or even see if it was a boy or girl. At the end, everyone including the doctor just left the room and did not bother taking care of the women.
In the video with Ina May, she described normal birth as “finger rape”. In normal births, the doctors induce the birth and one way to do it is to use their finger and push the hole open. Ina May refers to the uterus as a sphincter and describes it as shy so when the women is uncomfortable, the “shy sphincter” closes during normal birth. On the other hand, this does not happen during natural birth because there are no strangers to make the women feel embarrassed. The zoo keepers in the video with the giraffe fix this problem by having a midwife at the fertility center so the giraffe does not feel uncomfortable. Doctors try to fix this problem with humans by using drugs like epidural and oxytocin to make the women and the uterus relax but it does not work.
Stacy Fine remembers her second birth with a “gold full moon” in a “soft humid night” (interview with Ina May). Based on her use of adjectives, it can be inferred that it was a pleasant experience more than a painful one. Fine remembered the “natural sounds” that night and she was “encouraged by midwives” to think of the contractions as rushes. I think midwives are a significant part to any birth. They are there for encouragement, support and they take care of the women and the baby before and after birth. Doctors insisted women to use drugs in normal births and would not allow the baby to be born without using drugs back in the 1900s. They think that it is safer for women to use intervention techniques but women and babies have been injured from the instruments that were used. Intervention techniques were meant to decrease the death rates but instead, they have been increasing them. During training, nurses never witnessed a natural birth so they think that interventions are necessary during birth but when really, natural births are shorter, easier and both the women and the baby are not harmed during natural births. Ina May also said that the labor releases hormones that help women feel less pain and help babies breathe better when they are born.
The doctors in the Monty Python video used expensive machines just so that they can impress the administrator. It gives the administrator a false image of the doctors doing the right thing and it also gives us the wrong image. People listen to doctors because they are the experts and they take the lead when it comes to giving birth. But sometimes, what the doctors are doing may not be the best for the patients and what they are doing is just the easier way of doing it. The purpose of the ping machine is to let the mother know that her baby is still alive but even after the video, the machine still pinged. Even if the doctor say that the baby is alive or that using intervention techniques are easier, it may not be true. The doctors in the video did not use a scissor to cut the umbilical cord because scissors are harder to use and it takes a long time when it comes to cutting the umbilical cord. They only think for themselves and center themselves instead of the patient. After making sure that the operation would make them stand out to the administrator was when they realize that they were missing the patient. Then after getting the baby out, it is supposed to be the time when the mother and the baby meet but the mother did not get to hold the baby or even see if it was a boy or girl. At the end, everyone including the doctor just left the room and did not bother taking care of the women.
In the video with Ina May, she described normal birth as “finger rape”. In normal births, the doctors induce the birth and one way to do it is to use their finger and push the hole open. Ina May refers to the uterus as a sphincter and describes it as shy so when the women is uncomfortable, the “shy sphincter” closes during normal birth. On the other hand, this does not happen during natural birth because there are no strangers to make the women feel embarrassed. The zoo keepers in the video with the giraffe fix this problem by having a midwife at the fertility center so the giraffe does not feel uncomfortable. Doctors try to fix this problem with humans by using drugs like epidural and oxytocin to make the women and the uterus relax but it does not work.
Stacy Fine remembers her second birth with a “gold full moon” in a “soft humid night” (interview with Ina May). Based on her use of adjectives, it can be inferred that it was a pleasant experience more than a painful one. Fine remembered the “natural sounds” that night and she was “encouraged by midwives” to think of the contractions as rushes. I think midwives are a significant part to any birth. They are there for encouragement, support and they take care of the women and the baby before and after birth. Doctors insisted women to use drugs in normal births and would not allow the baby to be born without using drugs back in the 1900s. They think that it is safer for women to use intervention techniques but women and babies have been injured from the instruments that were used. Intervention techniques were meant to decrease the death rates but instead, they have been increasing them. During training, nurses never witnessed a natural birth so they think that interventions are necessary during birth but when really, natural births are shorter, easier and both the women and the baby are not harmed during natural births. Ina May also said that the labor releases hormones that help women feel less pain and help babies breathe better when they are born.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Natural versus Normal Childbirth
At first, I thought natural birth and normal birth was the same thing; just like the way of making a baby was natural and normal at the same time. This lecture made me understand natural and normal births at a larger scope because now I know that a lot of people have birth interventions. I thought that the use of birth intervention techniques always depended on whether or not the women wanted one but the truth is that doctors force them to have them (in a way). Normal births costs more because it involves medical professionals, steel instruments, and more advance technology.
Birth have been thought of as a painful process but birth doesn't have to be painful. So why do we think that all birth are painful? Maybe because the doctors created this specific procedure that involves more technical stuff and over time, it became the normal way to be born. This way, the doctors can make more money off of the technologies and the drugs used during the delivery. The doctors manipulate women to using the intervention techniques so women do not really have any control to whether they want to have interventions. In normal birth, the doctors are centered so they are viewed as the leader and they make the women use the intervention techniques through fear.
Birth have been thought of as a painful process but birth doesn't have to be painful. So why do we think that all birth are painful? Maybe because the doctors created this specific procedure that involves more technical stuff and over time, it became the normal way to be born. This way, the doctors can make more money off of the technologies and the drugs used during the delivery. The doctors manipulate women to using the intervention techniques so women do not really have any control to whether they want to have interventions. In normal birth, the doctors are centered so they are viewed as the leader and they make the women use the intervention techniques through fear.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Answers
1. What percentage of women have c-sections?
In 2006, 31.1%
2. How many women have died from having a c-section?
<.02%
3. When was c-sections invented?
Evidence date back to 1202
4. How much do c-sections cost?
Average of 12,544
5. What is the percentage of infant mortality?
.64%
6. How often does death of the mother or baby happens with anesthesia?
Not very often
7. Are there drugs to get pregnant?
Yes
8. What % of teenage women uses birth control?
64% of women from 15 to 44 in the US
9. Is it true that you can become sterile from birth control?
No
10. What % of women gets abortions?
About 2% of women from 15 to 44 per year
11. Does abortion endanger your chances of being impregnated later on in life?
Yes
12. What % of American babies is aborted annually?
26%
13. How many children are adopted per year in America?
120,000
14. What is the most common birth control?
Abstinence
15. What is the most effective birth control?
Abstinence
From researching questions about birth interventions, I think that women develop priorities in birth. If not many deaths happen with anesthesia, then why not have anesthesia so that it will not be as painful when giving birth? Because drugs affect the infant and the mother, the woman would rather suffer the pain than have her child come out abnormal or inflicting chronic damage to herself. But if the woman does not want any chronic damages inflicted on her child or herself, then why intake drugs to get pregnant? I think that the first thing most women want is to get pregnant so they are willing to risk the damages just to get pregnant. After getting pregnant, the baby's health becomes more important than the pain that women feels during birth. Getting pregnant does not always have to be a glorifying thing and it does not have to be the only glorifying thing to do in order to have a kid. For some people, birth can ruin their lives financially and maybe their reputation, too so there's this thing called birth control. Even if pregnancy do happen accidentally, women get an abortion. Abortion is sometimes thought of as unethical because it involves taking away a life, but it is also necessary when people are not able to support the kid. Other than giving birth, people can choose to adopt a child and to some people, it may not sound as exciting but it may be a better road to take than actually giving birth. Giving birth is not the only way to have kids.
In 2006, 31.1%
2. How many women have died from having a c-section?
<.02%
3. When was c-sections invented?
Evidence date back to 1202
4. How much do c-sections cost?
Average of 12,544
5. What is the percentage of infant mortality?
.64%
6. How often does death of the mother or baby happens with anesthesia?
Not very often
7. Are there drugs to get pregnant?
Yes
8. What % of teenage women uses birth control?
64% of women from 15 to 44 in the US
9. Is it true that you can become sterile from birth control?
No
10. What % of women gets abortions?
About 2% of women from 15 to 44 per year
11. Does abortion endanger your chances of being impregnated later on in life?
Yes
12. What % of American babies is aborted annually?
26%
13. How many children are adopted per year in America?
120,000
14. What is the most common birth control?
Abstinence
15. What is the most effective birth control?
Abstinence
From researching questions about birth interventions, I think that women develop priorities in birth. If not many deaths happen with anesthesia, then why not have anesthesia so that it will not be as painful when giving birth? Because drugs affect the infant and the mother, the woman would rather suffer the pain than have her child come out abnormal or inflicting chronic damage to herself. But if the woman does not want any chronic damages inflicted on her child or herself, then why intake drugs to get pregnant? I think that the first thing most women want is to get pregnant so they are willing to risk the damages just to get pregnant. After getting pregnant, the baby's health becomes more important than the pain that women feels during birth. Getting pregnant does not always have to be a glorifying thing and it does not have to be the only glorifying thing to do in order to have a kid. For some people, birth can ruin their lives financially and maybe their reputation, too so there's this thing called birth control. Even if pregnancy do happen accidentally, women get an abortion. Abortion is sometimes thought of as unethical because it involves taking away a life, but it is also necessary when people are not able to support the kid. Other than giving birth, people can choose to adopt a child and to some people, it may not sound as exciting but it may be a better road to take than actually giving birth. Giving birth is not the only way to have kids.
Monday, February 9, 2009
C-sections and Infant-Mother Mortality
- What percentage of women have c-sections?
- How many women have died from having a c-section?
- Is a c-section more efficient than a normal birth?
- Why do women have c-sections?
- How long does it take to recover?
- When was c-sections invented?
- When did c-sections become standard?
- What are the different kinds of c-sections?
- What are the pros and cons of c-sections?
- What is the emotional/physical effect of c-sections on women and/or child?
- Which is preferred, c-section or normal birth and why?
- What is infant-mother mortality?
- What is the causes of infant-mother mortality?
- What is the percentage of infant-mother mortality?
- How can infant-mother mortality be prevented?
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Birth Stories
It was her second child and she did not want to get an epidural. Her due date was supposed to be on the 30th but her water broke three days earlier at 3:30am. She calls her mother to tell her that her baby was coming. Then she calls the doctor and the doctor told her and her husband to get to the hospital as they waited for her parents. She gets to the hospital and finds out that her nurse is her neighbor. She had to wait for the contractions so she got onto the birth ball. After a few contractions, she got off and back to bed. Her husband was there for comfort and taking pictures of the process. Then the pain kicks in, starting with the back so the nurse decided to see if making her stand would soothe the pain. She wants to start pushing and she wanted to get an epidural but she was glad that the nurse helped her cope with the pain. The doctor comes in at 8:00am and the want to push gets stronger. Forty minutes later, she is fully dilated and she starts pushing. In half an hour, the head comes out and the husband is happy and excited. The husband continues to comfort her as the doctor checked if the umbilical cord is around the baby's neck. She throws her head back as the baby comes out. She holds her baby and pushes once more to get the amniotic sac out.
Her husband was holding one of her legs as she started pushing. The doctor was a student so the midwife had to aid him while the nurse was standing next to her. She saw the baby's head as it comes out. The doctor gently pulls out the baby and hands it to her. She was surprised that the baby was not crying so, shockingly, the midwife slaps his behind three times, hard. Her husband's eyes bulged out as the baby started to scream. She yelled at the midwife as the midwife just laughed. The husband holds the scissors and cuts the umbilical cord. A nurse came into the room and started singing happy birthday to the baby. The husband took the baby and went to the nursery room as she pushes to get the amniotic sac out. Then, the husband comes back into the room but without the baby.
Her husband was holding her hand in the dark as he comforted her. He continues to tell her how much he loves her as the pain caused her to roll around. The doctor delivers the baby while she used a mirror to see how the baby gets delivered. Her husband never left her side... until the baby was born, of course.
She was glad to have the baby delivered and be over with the morning sickness, the heavy stomach and the weight. People had told her that walking around a lot would make her go into labor so that was what she did. The baby was supposed to come on Independence Day but nothing happened so she started to freak. She went walking with her friend as her husband kept asking if the baby was coming yet. At 11pm, she started feeling the pain so her mom went with her to the hospital but the doctor said that she was not ready yet. She started walking around the hospital and at 3am, the doctor told her to go home. Two days later at 5am, she woke up to the pain but did not want to go to the hospital just to get sent back home again. She walked up and down the stair for two hours and then went to the hospital with her husband because she could not stand the pain any longer. Her husband went to get some food because he knew he would not be eating for a long time. They got to the hospital and she could not walk straight. She waited for a while as the nurse tried to find a doctor and she screamed in pain; scaring the nurse in the process. Her aunt came and the atmosphere made both of them cry. The doctor finally came to see that she was not dilated enough but decided to deliver the baby because of the pain. It felt like she was dying in pain as the family stood around the room. The doctor broke her water and gave her an epidural but it did not help much. She had thought her husband left her but her husband went to the bathroom to take a shower. Her friend came to the hospital and calmed her down. She tried to give her water but the doctor said no water. The epidural wore off and the doctor came in with a medical student. She had mentioned that she did not want anyone there but she just let it go because of the pain. Her husband was not able to help her endure the pain so she had to take it out on her mom. At 2:30pm, the baby came out blueish/purplish and she freaked because no one had told her about it.
Her husband was holding one of her legs as she started pushing. The doctor was a student so the midwife had to aid him while the nurse was standing next to her. She saw the baby's head as it comes out. The doctor gently pulls out the baby and hands it to her. She was surprised that the baby was not crying so, shockingly, the midwife slaps his behind three times, hard. Her husband's eyes bulged out as the baby started to scream. She yelled at the midwife as the midwife just laughed. The husband holds the scissors and cuts the umbilical cord. A nurse came into the room and started singing happy birthday to the baby. The husband took the baby and went to the nursery room as she pushes to get the amniotic sac out. Then, the husband comes back into the room but without the baby.
Her husband was holding her hand in the dark as he comforted her. He continues to tell her how much he loves her as the pain caused her to roll around. The doctor delivers the baby while she used a mirror to see how the baby gets delivered. Her husband never left her side... until the baby was born, of course.
She was glad to have the baby delivered and be over with the morning sickness, the heavy stomach and the weight. People had told her that walking around a lot would make her go into labor so that was what she did. The baby was supposed to come on Independence Day but nothing happened so she started to freak. She went walking with her friend as her husband kept asking if the baby was coming yet. At 11pm, she started feeling the pain so her mom went with her to the hospital but the doctor said that she was not ready yet. She started walking around the hospital and at 3am, the doctor told her to go home. Two days later at 5am, she woke up to the pain but did not want to go to the hospital just to get sent back home again. She walked up and down the stair for two hours and then went to the hospital with her husband because she could not stand the pain any longer. Her husband went to get some food because he knew he would not be eating for a long time. They got to the hospital and she could not walk straight. She waited for a while as the nurse tried to find a doctor and she screamed in pain; scaring the nurse in the process. Her aunt came and the atmosphere made both of them cry. The doctor finally came to see that she was not dilated enough but decided to deliver the baby because of the pain. It felt like she was dying in pain as the family stood around the room. The doctor broke her water and gave her an epidural but it did not help much. She had thought her husband left her but her husband went to the bathroom to take a shower. Her friend came to the hospital and calmed her down. She tried to give her water but the doctor said no water. The epidural wore off and the doctor came in with a medical student. She had mentioned that she did not want anyone there but she just let it go because of the pain. Her husband was not able to help her endure the pain so she had to take it out on her mom. At 2:30pm, the baby came out blueish/purplish and she freaked because no one had told her about it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Birth?
I think that having a child is a miracle that only should happen between two people who are in love. In my opinion, people should get married before having a child because the marriage shows at least some commitment in taking responsibility for the child. The child represents a connection and the love between these two people. The child has something from each of the parents (physically and biologically) and the parents can have the child for themselves. Although having a child is somewhat like a Right of Passage (or is it Rite of Passage?), I would not have one myself.
Another thought that comes to mind at the thought of birth is the pain women have to go through. That is one of the reasons why I will not have one of my own. If someone were to ask me to watch the baby get delivered, I would not be too happy about it. Not that I would not do it; it really depends on the situation and maybe who is asking me to go. It is a nice thing to see someone give life to another but I also think that the process is digusting and disturbing (the screaming due to the pain).
Another thought that comes to mind at the thought of birth is the pain women have to go through. That is one of the reasons why I will not have one of my own. If someone were to ask me to watch the baby get delivered, I would not be too happy about it. Not that I would not do it; it really depends on the situation and maybe who is asking me to go. It is a nice thing to see someone give life to another but I also think that the process is digusting and disturbing (the screaming due to the pain).
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