Child Birthing Practices Throughout The United States

The Business of Being Born is a documentary that focuses on mothers who decide to go with Midwives instead of Obstetrician Gynecologist (OBGYN). This film focus on the stories of a few women explaining why they choose to go with a midwife verus a OBGYN.in the film each woman explains that using a midwife provided them with the chance to feel closer to their baby. One thing I learned from the film in the first day, is that the 1/3 of births in the United States are now cesarian section (C-Section). A C-Section is a surgical procedure that involves the women getting their children surgically removed. This procedure is proven to be safe but can cause the women to have a longer recovery time and less bonding with their children.

Caesarean delivery is the method by which a baby is born through an incision in the abdominal wall and uterus. Statistics show that 166,081 caesarean deliveries were carried out within NHS hospitals in England during 2013/2014, of which 50% were elective. This represents a 2.5% rise over the previous year, continuing the trend of increasing elective caesarean rates (Health & Social Care Information Centre, 2015). Indications for a caesarean section (CS) can include foetal distress, previous CS, breech presentation, abnormal progress during labour, etc. (Vacca, 2013).

This can place the baby in a breech or posterior position, which affects the ability to have a natural childbirth and can lead to a medical intervention such as a C-section.

The upright position which is mostly emphasized by most authors to be adapted by laboring women has more advantages to the woman, foetus, and labor. The women who adopted upright position during labour reported to experience less pain and felt more comfortable had short first and second stage of labour. The gravity when a woman adopts upright position facilitates the quicker progress of labour. Women who assumed upright position during delivery were reported to have lesser assisted vaginal deliveries or caesarean section, were less likely get ascending infections and it has good fetal outcome facilitated by good oxygen supply as the mother will be free from aortocaval compression (Mary Steen and Jo Anker, 2008; Munro & Macdonald, 2010)

The article details the results of an observational cohort study that took place in Italy on women at term pregnancy. The women included in the study were first time mothers with single cephalic fetuses admitted to the University of Padua between January and December of 2013. The purpose of the study was to observe the effects of recumbent birthing position, which is typically practiced in modern hospitals, with alternative positions in terms of type of delivery, labor process, neonatal wellbeing, and intrapartum fetal head rotation (Gizzo, Di Gangi, Noventa, Bacile, Zambon, & Nardelli, 2014). The alternative positions included in the study were either upright, squatting, sitting, or on all fours. The women in the study

New moms endure stress in attending to a newborn, but after such an intense labor it is crucial to make caring for themselves a priority. Mothers deliver their babies vaginally or through a Cesarean section, although similarities are present in caring for both, differences do arise. During childbirth they undergo excruciating circumstances no matter which form of delivery they experience. Vaginal birth is described as the “natural” from of delivery in which the baby enters the world through the vagina. A Cesarean section, also known as C-section, is defined as a surgical procedure to deliver the baby through an incision made on the abdomen. Incisions made during delivery are dependent on how the baby was born. Returning to normal after

In the United States, the most common birthing position is the lithotomy position, which allows the obstetrician to have a better vantage point of the perineal area should a complication occur during delivery. Often times, the preference of delivery position is placed on the obstetrician rather than the pregnant woman herself. The woman 's choice not being taken into consideration is one issue, however another important issue is that some birthing positions may increase the chance of sustaining perineal lacerations. A perineal

One of the most heavily performed surgeries on pregnant women is the caesarean section, also known as c-section, however many women are unaware of the complications, risks, and benefits to such an intense procedure. Most don’t even know that it is considered a major surgery. Many women are having caesarean sections in today’s society due to health risks to the mother and child and the mother’s personal choices, the number of surgeries performed yearly have been increasing steadily. We will explore this rising trend and see what the pros and cons are to this surgery and why it is occurring at a more rapid rate than ever before.

In the specialty of obstetrics, there is an ongoing major controversy about cesarean sections by maternal request (CSMR). In the case that there is no other medical indication for a cesarean section, mothers are requesting this procedure over a vaginal birth. More specifically the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecologists (ACOG, 2013) define it as “a primary prelabor cesarean delivery on maternal request in the absence of any maternal or fetal indications” (p. 905). Over the past decade, in the United States alone, there has been a 42% increase in elective primary cesarean sections (Shek & Dietz, 2013). Cesarean sections, alone, have reached it’s highest rates in the United States with

In the time of labour your birth may fail to progress and this may cause you to have an emergency c-section: Fetal distress for example if the baby is having breathing difficulties a c-section will be performed in order to get the baby out of the uterus as soon as possible. Placenta previa is when the placenta is partially or fully blocking the cervix opening not allowing the baby to pass through the vagina opening. Cesarean surgery will start with a incision in your abdomen, then cutting underlying body tissue till the doctor reaches your uterus. The doctor will reach in and pull out your baby, after Cesarean surgery you will be stitched up which will take 30-45 min and will delay immediate contact with you and your

A C-Section, or Cesarean Section, is a major surgery to deliver a baby who may suffer from complications or could be breech. They may also be done in response to the mother and the complications that she may have. It is done by cutting through the wall of the mother’s abdomen. It can be life threatening to the mother and the baby. It can raise the risk to the mother and could even complicate future pregnancies. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologist suggest offering the opportunity to pursue a VBAC. An evidence review in 2003 found that overall VBAC success rates were greater than fifty percent (Ebelle 1192-4). This study shows that the success rate of VBACs are improving each year.

Many people question which method is the best way to deliver a baby, hospital birth or homebirth? Considering the risk and interventions associated with both births that have plagued people’s minds for years. The increase rate of birth defects, including the physical and emotional damage contributed to the mother and the baby before and after pregnancy, have left people minds with a moot. Growing into a continuous debate, hospitals and professional providers have struggled to find an answer to the question which method is safer and will provide fewer risk and interventions. Nonetheless, this topic is relevant because of women wanting a safer birth method for their baby; and although some women can handle pain tolerance, others cannot, which

The lack of resources in maternity departments continues to make C-sections popular in Brazilian hospitals. The don’t have the medical equipment or enough beds to perform vaginal births (Brazil Introduces New Caesarean Birth Rules, 2015). The SUS do not allow women to schedule their delivery in advance, which makes finding a hospital to deliver a stressful situation. Expecting mothers with risky pregnancies can face challenges finding a secure bed, which unfortunately contributes to maternal mortality and morbidity. Women can die or experience negative impacts post-pregnancy (Diniz, S., & Chacham, A., 2004, p102). A Brazilian obstetrician told BBC, “the best way to guarantee yourself a bed in a good hospital is to book a caesarean” (Brazil Introduces New Caesarean Birth Rules, 2015).

At a point in history, Homebirths and Midwives were prevalent when delivering. However; the use of these two methods plateaued as many people were concerned with the health of the infants and the mothers. The ultimate goal of delivery is the safety and protection of both the mother and the child. For a time, and still to this day, women turned to hospitals to ensure that safety. However, as a new wave of feminism has empowered mothers to take control of the natural birthing process, more and more women are reverting back to the home birth method. Though homebirth goes smoothly for most mothers, there is always the potential for complications that many mothers are not prepared to handle.

Over the years birthing methods have changed a great deal. When technology wasn’t so advanced there was only one method of giving birth, vaginally non-medicated. However, in today’s society there are now more than one method of giving birth. In fact, there are three methods: Non-medicated vaginal delivery, medicated vaginal delivery and cesarean delivery, also known as c-section. In the cesarean delivery there is not much to prepare for before the operation, except maybe the procedure of the operation. A few things that will be discussed are: the process of cesarean delivery, reasons for this birthing method and a few reasons for why this birthing method is used. Also a question that many women have is whether or not they can vaginally