To The Contrary podcast on unattended homebirth can be found here -
The discussion about Unattended birth starts around 19 minutes in.
Have a bottle of Motherwort close by. If it weren't so sad, it would be funny.
To the Contrary
Tuesday, October 23, 2007at 6:26 PM
Labels: homebirth in the media, political
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7 comments:
The ignorance expressed was astounding. Its sad that women can so easily discount other women making their own choices..and to call them selfish and dangerous. If the one gal truly wants to be knocked out for her birth..then go for it..but to discount anyone else views is just arrogant on her part.
I wish someone had mentioned why women died in the hospital in the 1800's-- doctors!!!!
Yup, that conversation wasn't going anywhere. Discounting others' experience must be a denial mechanism. Same thing happened to me recently. I posted my home birth story #2 (nice relaxed solo night labor, hands-off mw arriving 45 mins before birth) many readers thought I just 'forgot' about the pain and anguish; some even accused me of fibbing. The general consensus became "yeah, 'cause REAL birth is hellish, I should know it, mine was!"
I think if the UC - or homebirth movement in general - wants to get ANYONE to listen, they best quit talking about women's empowerment and start talking about the safety of the baby.
Listening from outside my own skin, it sounds incredibly selfish to think of a woman wanting "an experience" - a romantic one, nevertheless - and while *in* my skin, I get it, trying to explain that is nearly impossible.
I encourage those who have to confront conflict regarding their homebirths (of whatever sort) to discuss it from a HEALTH and SAFETY standpoint. Speaking about your own *anything* doesn't fly anymore... not even your own safety. I've listened to enough people say that women should strap themselves down and be sliced open happily if it were for the betterment of the baby. It really is such a common belief now when the topic of homebirth selfishness comes up - time to take a new tact!
As far as the radio program, the women were typical women. Not stupid. Not anything out of the ordinary. They just haven't been exposed to homebirth at all. (Were two of the women docs? I couldn't tell.) Their ignorance (and I mean that in the dictionary definition) could be remedied by some education. I don't suspect they will be bowled over and want to be UCers or anything, but some basic homebirth information might not be a bad idea if someone felt led to educate them.
My take on it. Thanks for letting us know how to find it.
I just heard the podcast, and it broke my heart.... I wrote pbs this email:
"I think your panel of women who spoke about the free-birth topic on this podcast link: (http://www-tc.pbs.org/ttc/rss/media/ttc_101907.mp3) need to REALLY educate themselves before casting judgement against those who choose to go "against the grain', we choose not to conform to the traumatic & most times dangerous procedures that the hospital sees fit to impose on all mothers, low risk or not, and impede the natural process of birth to fit their time clock, which in turn puts both baby and mother in danger. Did you know that America and its wonderful technilogically advanced medical establishment, we somehow rank among the top 3 in the WORLD for infant mortality?! Look it up, it's true! 3rd world countries do better than us, because they birth in the safety of their own home! We are not selfish mothers because we choose to freebirth, just smart, we choose to retake control of our femininity, womanhood, birth and motherhood and choose to trust our bodies to give birth to our babies the way it is supposed to. The women on your panel who called mothers like me Selfish, and accuse us of endangering our children with our choice to freebirth is COMPLETELY UNFOUNDED AND TOTALLY OFFENSIVE! I would like to see PBS find a woman to speak on behalf of freebirthers who IS informed and educated on the subject. Women who have never heard of freebirth or unassisted birth and hear this podcast would not get a fair and balanced and unbiased idea of what freebirth is. If you want to knock the subject, please knock it with science and research (both happen to back up the safety of homebirths) not just with these "opinions" of these women who have their own issues, who also happen to be very mainstream and extremely uneducated about the safety of freebirth.
Sincerely,
Concerned Mother, Jamie"
Aren't we all so "selfish" when we don't want to be cut and starapped, defiled and ignored, degraded and injured?
Observant Midwife, I have to disagree with the idea of *not* talking about the birth EXPERIENCE. Because even if noone gets it, it is real, and it shouldnt be discounted just to stay within the medi-speak model *they* all seem more comfortable with.
Birth is a private, sensual, family affair. I worry that if we hide all of our "romanticism" and instead replace it with stats and facts, then the conclusion might be that hospital birth and homebirth are on an equal quality level for the baby, which I wholeheardtedly disagree with.
There is too much research about our first human experiences to make me want to imply that the only diff is that it is much lovlier for Mom. It is much lovlier and safer and better for the baby, and part of that is directly BECAUSE it is much lovlier for Mom.
Navelgazing midwife: wow, you are right. We just don't get to define the discourse. I am *so* up for the challenge: we can and should learn to speak our truth in a way that the 'other side' can hear. WE all know it's two sides of the same coin. Housefairy: it will NEVER follow that a hospital birth is equal. Let's turn this debate around. Let hospitals try to prove they are on par with home birth! (And I don't mean those phoney hotel room type LDRs.) LET THEM compete with our unhindered births. LET THEM scramble to get more babies who are born after gently paced physiological labors, safely navigating the passage, helped and welcomed by aware, vigorous and euphoric mothers, undrugged, with full placental transfusion, touched only by family, exposed only to friendly germs, warmed skin to skin, breastfeeding right away, blissfully bonding, etc.
As for those UC mortality stats we'll never have. I wonder if Barb is implying that UC is indefensible in terms of the babies' safety? Anyone? Most of what I can say in defense of home birth still deals in what Jennifer Block calls "the currency of risk".
"Speaking about your own *anything* doesn't fly anymore... not even your own safety. I've listened to enough people say that women should strap themselves down and be sliced open happily if it were for the betterment of the baby. It really is such a common belief now when the topic of homebirth selfishness comes up - time to take a new tact!"
But, isn't this somehow giving validity to the "selfish mother" myth? By keeping quiet about our own needs/happiness/safety, aren't we, once again, allowing ourselves to be put in the background, made invisible (which, we all know, is bad for mothers AND babies)?
I totally agree that MORE should be said about the safety of homebirth (mostly, that the lies should be corrected promptly and assertively), but I think to ignore the experience (maybe especially the PHYSIOLOGY attached to that experience -- thus the affects of experience on safety) might just be down playing ourselves even further. If the goal is to get the UC or homebirth message out there, this might be okay and might even help. But if the goal is about a larger feminist message based on our right to not be abused, I think that we need to keep saying it over and over again, whether they can understand it or not. Eventually, if enough women say, "You don't deserve to hurt me, even if you use that excuse!" then, I think, at least it will be in people's heads. If we don't say it, they'll never understand.
And when they say "selfish mother" to us, then we should come back with the facts. Mainly the fact that MOTHERS LOVE THEIR BABIES and it is a very rare mother, indeed, who would not lay her life down for the wellbeing of her child.
The "selfish mother" myth disturbs me in ways I can't even explain, and I feel like if we want to combat the abuse women endure surrounding birth, we have to do so in the larger context, putting moms back where they belong: on the side of their children, not against them. We have to say, "I want this because it's better for me and my baby. It's better for me because it's better for my baby, and it's better for my baby because it's better for me. Me and baby, we're on the same team, y'see!"
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