This film, “More Business of Being Born, Episode 3: Explore your Options: Doulas, Birth Centers, and C-Sections,” was a spinoff of a movie that was made. This documentary goes further in depth than the movie and allows women to acquire an enhanced understanding of child birth. There are numerous women throughout this episode sharing their real life experiences. Ricki Lake, the executive producer, stated, “We are not experts because we are not doctors or midwives even. We are not telling people what to do, we are simply showing.” That is exactly what they ensure during this film.
first watched, "The Business of Being Born" when it came out in 2008. It was prior to having children and I had just accepted my position as a Nurse Manager the year prior in Obstetrics in a Rural, Level 1 Facility. (Being Level 1 in Obstetrics means that we only care for low risk mothers and babies that are at least 35 weeks gestation.) I find it very interesting how my perspective has changed in the 9 years since its release. Although I am still pro, low-intervention birth, I feel like the enthusiasm I once had for natural birth with limited intervention has been hijacked by an increase in anxiety d/t the fear of medical liability. A couple of bad home-birth outcomes can do that to you. On the flip side, and to be fair, we don’t see all of the perfectly healthy and safe home-birth deliveries; because if everything went well, there would be no need to come to the hospital.
Does everybody think or feels the same about childbirth around the world? This question above is a question that has always been in my mind. Now that I got the opportunity of choosing a topic to do research. I decided to choose childbirth and culture. This research paper is going to talk about how different cultures and countries look a birth in an entirely different manner. Some look at birth as a battle and others as a struggle. And on some occasions, the pregnant mother could be known as unclean or in other places where the placenta is belief to be a guardian angel. These beliefs could be strange for us but for the culture in which this is being practiced is natural and a tradition. I am going to be introducing natural and c-section childbirth. And, the place of childbirth is going to be a topic in this essay. America is one country included in this research paper.
In this week’s response we are given the choice to choose to respond on the topic about a type of “non-traditional” childbirth (i.e. hospital) of our choice that we would want to know more about and “What we learn before we’re born” from TED talk by Annie Murphy Paul . This week I am choosing to respond to a type of “non-traditional” childbirth (i.e. hospital). The type of childbirth I chose to talk about is a water birth. As interesting as this topic may be and all of the possible childbirths there are this stood out for me because I believe that it is amazing that a child can be born in a little pool.
Therefore, often birth is not very “natural” in the United States, filled with the administration of many drugs to control pain and speed up labor and other interventions like C-sections. However, many women seek a birthing experience that is free or has limited intervention, does not include drugs as a form of pain management, and allows them to be in as much control as possible. I must ensure that I can provide comprehensive care to my patients and that they have access to all the possible approved approaches to managing pregnancy, such as acupuncture for pain management or chiropractic medicine to help with joint pain. In the current system, physicians often practice medicine that operates with the ideology that drugs are the sole method to treat pain and disease (Escape Fire). However, alternative medicine forms have been scientifically proven to be very useful methods of pain management and unfortunately their effectiveness has been limited to the system’s inability to assimilate services like acupuncture and chiropractic medicine into the current system (Escape Fire). There are also other services that I can provide that will help my patients as well, considering that in today’s system “high-cost, intensive medical intervention is rewarded over higher-value primary care, including preventative medicine and the management of chronic illnesses” (The Commonwealth
I believe expecting mothers need to seek guidance from their doctor on whether or not she should have a vaginal birth, or follow through with a "Elective" C-Section. I feel like women are so concerned about their rights, and though our female rights are important, I also feel that we need to seek guidance from those that are medically trained to see what they think is going to be best for the mother as well as the child. If the doctor feels that the mother and the child will be okay with proceeding with an "Elective" C-Section, I think it is so important (more important than the doctor's opinion) to seek our Heavenly Father's will. Our will might not always be His will, and it is important that we come before Him in all things in order for
Abby Epstein is a producer and director, famous for The Business Of Being Born, Until the Violence Stops, and Sweetening the Pill. The Business of Being Born is a documentary about giving birth at hospital versus giving birth a home by help of a midwife and a doula. A midwife is a person (generally a woman) prepared to help and support women in childbirth. A doula is a woman who is prepared to help another woman throughout childbirth and who may give a support, relief, and guidance to the family after the baby is born. Furthermore, this documentary analyzes the styles that the American health care system accesses childbirth. The usual way of United States, includes hospitals, drugs, and obstetricians, in the same time, birth in many other countries
Cesarean births have been on the rise over the last decade and are associated more with failed inductions than with medical necessity. C-sections are associated with more short and long term complications for mother and baby. By promoting a pregnant woman to opt out of inductions before 40-42 weeks and educating about vaginal birth after cesarean section, the United States can drop the number of cesarean sections performed.
Within the March problem of OBG Management, Dr. William Camann, director of obstetric anesthesiology at Brigham and Women's Medical center in Boston and a co-employee professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical College, co-wrote an editorial, "Mom-, Baby-, and Family-Centered Cesarean Delivery: IT'S POSSIBLE," where he explained a few of the choices which may have become available within the last year or two.
Shah then goes on to state how cesarean surgeries may be beneficial, or may not be beneficial to the mother, but are most likely unbeneficial to the newborn, unless there is a serious threat. Shah states, “ … that those born by cesarean were significantly more likely to develop chronic immune disorders.” of which he acquired from a Danish study from two million children born at full term. In contrast Dr.Shah states how many of his patients benefit from his surgeries, even though he stated previously how dangerous they were, and how he gets to save lives and bring new ones into the world. Finally, Shahs closing remarks are on how to fix the overuse of C-sections. Shah states how natural birth is the preferred way to go and that cesarean surgeries should be only for emergency use only and not for choice. In addition, Dr.Shah goes on to say how a perfect way to fix the overuse is to take the “British way” and to “...stay away from obstetricians altogether - at least until you need
“The moral duty to protect vulnerable populations is dogma in ethics and research principles. One would have to argue that the fetus is the utmost of vulnerable populations and yet there are circumstances in which the protection of the fetus is effaced in a maternal decision to refuse delivery by cesarean” (Deshpande, Oxford, 2012). In cases like these, respecting a patient’s autonomy is important. In order for the patient to maintain autonomy though, it is crucial for the medical team to help Maryam and Hossein fully understand the implications of not going through with the cesarean section. Our job as a healthcare provider is to maintain a level of beneficence for our patients; that is, we are to act in their best interest. However, acting in their best interest comes with many legalities as well. It is important to remember though, that what may be ethical is not always
After watching The Business of Being Born I was very shocked at the statistics stated throughout the link. One of the most shocking things from the link is that the United States is one of the less developed countries when it comes to childbirth and the health of the child. In Europe and Japan, midwives attend over seventy percent of the births, while in the United States, less than eight percent attend midwives. Maternity care in the United States is in crisis and midwives are trying to change the birthing process. Women in the United States are convinced that the vast majority of them do not know how to birth a child. One term that I thought was interesting was the term designer birth, which makes me directly think of women in New York City.
Watching this video was eye opening for me, this was the first time I have ever hear about this documentary and I wish I had known about this sooner. The video was very interesting and had very good information. The film "The Business of being born" made a lot of sense and it made me wonder if my C-section was even necessary, I had always thought that I was going to have a regular birth and my family expected the same thing. My grandmother had seven kids which include 2 pairs of twins and she had natural births for all their children and she had them in her house with the help of a local midwife, she always talked about how back them having kids was a normal thing and doctors weren't needed. But now most of the births are in hospitals and with the help of a whole medical team. Some of the things that were familiar to me was that women are deciding that having their babies at hospitals is the
As time has passed on, many women are beginning to become curious about the care of their own body and their unborn baby. Many women are strong and independent who want the option to take control of their own birthing experience. “The self-care movement began to emerge in the late 1960s as consumers sought to
I believed that cesarean section (C-section) is a more preferred way of giving birth by mother and physicians now a days due to medical advances. It is also the safest way for baby when done between 39-41 weeks of gestation. For the mother, it is more convenient to do C-section because they can control the time of delivery, more convenient, and less stress. It gives the mother a sense of control of the situation. The down side are: it is very expensive, higher risk of blood loss, risk for infections, and it needs more time to heal the wound. For physicians, C-section is more preferred because it prevents malpractice suits when something goes wrong during vaginal delivery. It also prevents the circulatory systems of the mother to mix with the