the american way of birth

[CalebsMama05]

i picked it up from the library today and have read about 10 pages and already i'm horrified. in fact i think i am still in the introduction! (i'm not sure tho cuz i tend to not pay attention to chapters lol)

it is so obviously the way that our capitalist society works. money is more important then everything. sad

I can't wait until ds goes to sleep so i can read some more. its kind of like when you pass up a gruesome accident on the interstate and you KNOW you don't want to see it because it could so easily be you but you can't help but try to see as much as you can just BECAUSE it could so easily be you.

[Max'sMama]

It's amazing how much of our society revolves around money. Just think of hospital birthing.... them more interventions, the more money. There is NO incentive to have less for the hospitals or the doctors. Statistics don't seem to make a difference to docs (not all but a large percentage).

[pageta]

I haven't read the book, but I would say money is more important in terms of getting sued than anything else. Doctors have to run all the tests that they can possibly think of in case they might miss something and then get sued over it. I think that's a good part of why things like ultrasounds and other tests that aren't conclusive have become routine.

My OB has one fee for a vaginal birth, one for a VBAC and one for a c-section. So whether or not I get an epidural isn't money in his pocket. It's because they have these global charges for insurance that it works that way. I think the hospital has to operate under similar global charges as well, but it's been a long time since I worked in patient billing so I don't know for sure.

[philomom]

Should be required reading for every pregnant mama.

[mama3peanuts]

Originally Posted by philomom

Should be required reading for every pregnant mama.

I dunno, that could lead to an increase in pregnancy induced hypertension . My blood boiled from cover to cover when i read that book

[sapphire_chan]

I think it should be required reading for anyone who tries talking a mama out of a homebirth because "hospitals are safer, and those interventions couldn't be bad because a doctor would never do anything unless it was medically necessary"

I think it should be counterindicated in case of pregnancy except in cases of extreme sheepdom.

It is *not* however, a good book for starting a discussion about UCing.

[orangebird]

I've been wanting to get this book. Any opinion on what edition? Were there many additions in the later edition or would an older one be the same thing (the older one can be found so much cheaper).

[Noelia430]

I just started reading this book as well and I'm disgusted. I think it's a good book for women to read, pregnant or not.

[georgia]

Originally Posted by Noelia430

I just started reading this book as well and I'm disgusted. I think it's a good book for women to read, pregnant or not.

ITA

[cottonwood]

It is *not* however, a good book for starting a discussion about UCing.

Why's that?

[gentlebirthmothr]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

I think it should be required reading for anyone who tries talking a mama out of a homebirth because "hospitals are safer, and those interventions couldn't be bad because a doctor would never do anything unless it was medically necessary"

I think it should be counterindicated in case of pregnancy except in cases of extreme sheepdom.

It is *not* however, a good book for starting a discussion about UCing.

sapphire_chan,

2nd that even though I didn't read that book. I read Naomi Wolf's Misconceptions a couple of years ago.

Think thats it.

Thank you.

[sapphire_chan]

It's not a good book to start discussions of UCing because the author's focus is on midwife-attended births verses physician attended births. One whole chapter is on the disparity in prenatal care between the poor and the rich with the implication being that it is vital to see a doctor or midwife for check ups.

The author is primarly writing the book as a feminist not as a birth-choice advocate, in fact it is only during her researchs for the book that she encounters the homebirthing movement. The reason the book is okay for midwife-using homebirthers is that the author shows her own gradual acceptance of homebirth---as it's done at the Farm. She is arguing for the necessity of women being supported by women rather than men--not for women being able to birth alone. In this book, the laboring mother is still very much in need of "professional help."

Now, while the entire book wouldn't be very helpful in convincing a doubting relative that women's bodies are designed to give birth and should not be interfered with, there are definitely a couple of chapters that could be pulled out for reading that do help that case.

[CalebsMama05]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

It's not a good book to start discussions of UCing because the author's focus is on midwife-attended births verses physician attended births. One whole chapter is on the disparity in prenatal care between the poor and the rich with the implication being that it is vital to see a doctor or midwife for check ups.

The author is primarly writing the book as a feminist not as a birth-choice advocate, in fact it is only during her researchs for the book that she encounters the homebirthing movement. The reason the book is okay for midwife-using homebirthers is that the author shows her own gradual acceptance of homebirth---as it's done at the Farm. She is arguing for the necessity of women being supported by women rather than men--not for women being able to birth alone. In this book, the laboring mother is still very much in need of "professional help."

Now, while the entire book wouldn't be very helpful in convincing a doubting relative that women's bodies are designed to give birth and should not be interfered with, there are definitely a couple of chapters that could be pulled out for reading that do help that case.

I was just thinking how disappointing that is. especially now with midwives being generally the same as dr's.

i think it would be good for women who have already decided on uc. the saddest part was when she described the malpractice insurance part of the whole scam. so sad and pathetic.

[sapphire_chan]

Come to think of it, it might be a good start for people who are okay with homebirth but don't like the idea of UC. The discussion could begin, "this is how I think you might view homebirth at the moment, could you read through it to see if I'm right?"

Then have them read Spiritual Midwifery, which presents a similar view, then point out that the author of Spiritual Midwifery is the lady interviewed in "The American Way of Birth" and how that would make the views similar.