The title of this entry has two different meanings. Giving birth and the BUSINESS that is childbirth. Brooke let me watch some of the stuff on her Netflix, so we have her to thank for this blog entry. I’ve been struggling lately, trying to find something I wanted to write about. Here’s something new.
So, as many of you know, I am not a fan of children. I have friends that have kids and some of them are the most ungrateful little monsters I have ever met. Some of them are the cutest little things, like little Darryl and Miss Jade. I love those kids. Anyway, that’s not really the point. The most terrifying thing about children is the birth. I’ve been all those show on the Discovery Channel and TLC about childbirth. They make it look like the most hideous process on the face of the earth. I’m serious and you know it is true. Why in the hell would I want to have a child if it’s going to be like that. All the screaming and crying. All the doctors, nurses, and IV’s. No thank you. Afterward those mothers are always like, “Omg it was the most beautiful I have ever experienced.” Yeah right.
I’m not trying to knock childbirth because it is definitely a miracle, but I watched a documentary today called The Business of Being Born. Ricki Lake was the executive producer, but they showed her 2nd birth, which she decided to have at home. They also showed the births of several other women. It seemed so much easier having an at home birth. There was some moaning and crying, but it was not NEARLY as painful as those hospital births.
The hospitals do not want you staying forever having your “natural birth.” Most of those doctors and nurses in the hospital have never seen a full NATURAL birth. How crazy is that? How the fuck do they know if your birth is really going badly or is unsafe if they do not know what a natural birth is like? Most of them probably do not know how long a natural birth can take. They are so busy giving pitocin and edidurals, they do not even know what is going on.
After watching this documentary, I have to say that an at home birth is the way to go. They showed how laying flat on your back and trying to PUSH a baby out (with your knees behind your head) is far more difficult than the way they do natural at home births. These women were in bathtubs or they are squatting in front of their beds. It was amazing how easily the baby just kind of slipped out.
This film has given me an entirely new outlook on childbirth. At home births cost about a fourth of what a hospital birth costs. And the midwives are trained and have all the tools they need in case something out of the ordinary happens. They don’t just show up with a towel and ask for a bowl of warm water. It was truly stunning. The best part was watching the mother hold her baby right after she literaly pulls the baby from her vagina. These women didn’t look nearly as worn out as the ones they show on those TLC shows. They are not super sweaty and screaming at the top of their lungs.
Did you know that pitocin and epidurals only make the birth more difficult and painful? Yeah…and I believe it too.
Anyway, it’s something to think about. I think childbirth has become another commercialized process. You rush to the hospital, push the baby out while you’re on all those expensive drugs they are definitely going to charge you for, and then you go home to all your pretty paint colors and expensive diapers. The hospital has made a ton of money off you and your newborn child in probably 10 hours, if that. Or they make you think you need a c-section because you’re not pushing the baby out fast enough. That is a whole different story, but they do touch on it in the film. That is MAJOR SURGERY and so many women have it because they are scared or too busy to have a child the natural way. Sometimes they have to have c-sections because the doctors tried to induce the labor and the baby wouldn’t come out. Stupid stupid stupid.
Hmmm….it’s something to think about. If I ever got pregnant and decided to have the baby I think i would try the natural route. It does not look easy, but it is so much more indigenous and relaxing than having 5 nurses and a doctor screaming at you to PUSH! Watch this film if you have time, it’s an eye opener.
