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Originally Posted by HijabiAblazin
I think the judgment is none of people's business. HOWEVER, Allah created our bodies to give birth, and it is an unfortunate thing in American society (NOT in European societies) that childbirth has been so medicalized that it's anything but normal.
You are not going to get an "award" for having a vaginal, drug-free birth, but women who have less interventions have been shown to be happier and have a higher opinion of themselves after the birth than women who have more interventions. Why should women be humiliated? They should be rewarded with pleasant memories of one of the most significant moments of their lives. The arrival of one's child should be joyous.
If you talk to women who've had horrible, difficult births, caused mostly by unhelpful medical staff doing unnecessary interventions, you will find that, indeed, there is more to birth than everyone surviving. A woman who's been emotionally traumatized and had her rights over her body taken away from her, does not emerge as a proud mother in the same way that a woman whose natural responses are honored does. A woman who is put in an awkward position until forceps and vaccuums are used, and her private parts are cut and scarred, does not recover in the same way; often these women have months or years of pain, especially during intimate moments. Is that fair to her? Is it fair that the doctor's schedule is so often a factor in the baby's time of birth, rather than the time that the baby would be ready to come out?
I recommend the book "Born in the USA: How a broken maternity system must be fixed to put mothers and children first" by Marsden Wagner.
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I don't think I was glorifying excessive medical intervention. And, actually, I have had one medically difficult birth. So please don't talk down to me about it. I would still go the medical route, because you know what? I wasn't traumatized - I knew I had done what I could and emerged with a healthy baby.
Often women are traumatized because they absolutely refuse to let go of the ideal birth. (Yes, there are cases where birth is scheduled, but it many more populated areas of the U.S. it is not usually the case - many places they won't even induce you unless there is a danger to the baby if the pregnancy is prolonged). Unfortunately there sometimes comes a time during delivery when the sum total of both decisions made by patient and staff AND unforseen complications will result in NECESSARY medical interventions. And the alternative to those interventions is fetal death or oxygen deprivation, so tell me, what is the natural alternative?
Also, it's very easy for a layman to look at an isolated procedure without following the progress of the delivery and other factors and deem it "unecessary". As it is also easy to demonize the medical profession by attempting to make it contrary to Allah's plan. Sure, epidurals weren't sent directly from heaven but surely we were given knowledge and technology in order to use it within reason.
In the end it's all about making an informed choice, and being in sync with your doctor or midwife about what you plan to do during birth. My most traumatic birth related event actually had to do with an over-zealous lactation "specialist" who made more attempts to undermine my rights over my body and my mental sanity than any "medical" staff.