unassisited childbirth-what do you think?

OPECOILER

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What do you think about unassisted childbirth? I believe that it may be what's right for some mothers, and may not be for others. Yet some websites devoted to it have some statements like this that ring alarm bells in my head.

Drugs, machinery, and medical personnel are no match for a woman's own intellect and intuition. Birth is sexual and spiritual, magical and miraculous - but not when it's managed, controlled, and manipulated by the medical establishment.
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I found this on a site, yet can't remember the link at the moment.

What's your opinion on it?
 
Well obviously women have massively different experiences of childbirth so any site declaring what is correct for all women is just simply stupid.

In fact it is almost repellent when you think of all the women who have died in childbirth without medical assistance over the centuries.
 
It's how humans did it for millions of years, but the infant mortality rate was hellaciously high. Lots of things can go wrong with birth.
 
I had natural childbirth for my second that was only assisted by licensed, insured, non-woo midwives, but I was also around the corner from a very large hospital!

Too many things can go wrong, too many women and children have died or been injured to make a sweeping statement like this. I had to take an IV antibiotic to protect my child during the birth, is that a bad thing? Sheesh.

Give a woman options, that's what I say. SAFE options, though. This kind of advice is not a good thing! I had a bad experience in the hospital the first time I gave birth, I was damaged badly due to their negligence, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't go there to save my baby or myself. I don't know if I could have handled the pain during my first labor, and I think women should feel good about making the right choices for themselves. Period.

The statement you quoted is really offensive to me, can you tell? Yeah, let's get rid of prenatal care, too! That evil medicine discovered all kinds of things, like booze was terrible during pregnancy, but hey, what do they know, right?

What do you do if your baby isn't breathing? What do you do if you have a placental abruption? What do you do when you tear from backend to urethra? Sew it yourself?

GRRRRRR!
 
It's a safe bet that there are no livestock farmers connected to that site.

Intellect and intuition better than medical assistance? Beyond stupid.
 
By "unassisted", you're referring to natural birthing services outside of a hospital, correct?

Most midwives' services I know of in the area, seem to have facilities near hospitals or have working relationships with a hospital so that emergency help can arrive quickly for unusual circumstances. And I assume the people have some basic medical training.... nursing, or the like.

Or are you refering to a movement to encourage women to just forego assistance of any kind?
 
Unassisted childbirth is needlessly dangerous for the mother and child. The idea that modern medicine and the safety it provides is somehow unnatural and undesirable is just nonsense.
 
Sloe_Bohemian said:
By "unassisted", you're referring to natural birthing services outside of a hospital, correct?

Most midwives' services I know of in the area, seem to have facilities near hospitals or have working relationships with a hospital so that emergency help can arrive quickly for unusual circumstances. And I assume the people have some basic medical training.... nursing, or the like.

Or are you refering to a movement to encourage women to just forego assistance of any kind?
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Yeah, they do it completely on their own.

I respect women's right to give birth however they want to, but I can't understand not even having a midwife around.
 
Well that's just woo.

One might just as easily be discussing recovering from pneumonia without medical assistance. Or mending a broken leg.

I'm not trying to equate being pregnant to being diseased, but the physical trauma, stress and danger have similarities. Human beings have recovered from broken legs for millions of years without doctors.... but there's no rational reason to want to.
 
I think all this nonsense has been generated by this woman's website
An excerpt:
Laboring women do not need to be poked, prodded, and drugged. Instead, they need to be calmly encouraged, or simply left alone so their bodies may work unhindered.

Animals intuitively understand this concept. This is why they seek seclusion in labor. They "know" that when a birth is interfered with, the labor may stop or the baby may die. This is as true for domesticated animals as it is for animals in the wild. Purina's Handbook of Cat Care advises owners to pet the laboring cat

reassuringly and leave her on her own. She may stay in the box; on the other hand, don't be surprised if she doesn't. The best thing to do at this point is to do nothing. Keep quiet and do not attempt to help her - it's her problem. Mother nature usually takes over at this point and it is amazing to see how she goes about doing what comes naturally.
Unfortunately, this book is not on the required reading list in most medical schools! Doctors are taught to intervene in birth, and intervene they do.
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Is this a spoof site?
Give birth like cats?
 
"Animals intuitively understand this concept. This is why they seek seclusion in labor. They "know" that when a birth is interfered with, the labor may stop or the baby may die."

More likely animals that do not seek seclusion in labour are vulnerable to predators. Darwinism in action.


"Mother nature usually takes over at this point"

Undeniable, but undesirable. Lots of dead kittens are testament to that.
 
Ipecac said:
Unassisted childbirth is needlessly dangerous for the mother and child. The idea that modern medicine and the safety it provides is somehow unnatural and undesirable is just nonsense.
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Unnatural, yes.

So is eating your meat cooked, having a better than 50/50 chance of seeing your second birthday, and still having all your teeth at age 20.

Undesirable? Lemme know how many teeth you want me to pull out, and we'll talk.
 
OPECOILER said:
What do you think about unassisted childbirth? I believe that it may be what's right for some mothers, and may not be for others. Yet some websites devoted to it have some statements like this that ring alarm bells in my head.



I found this on a site, yet can't remember the link at the moment.

What's your opinion on it?
Click to expand...


I don't find birth to be "sexual, spiritual, magical or miraculous" at any point. And if I was a woman I think I'd feel 1000 times safer giving birth where "it's managed, controlled, and manipulated by the medical establishment" with proper "drugs, machinery and medical personnel" rather than by myself somewhere unsafe.
 
I like it. Women now are so much more inteligent and in touch with their needs that they will not die in childbirth like they used to very frequently.

Few women view pregnancy as a possible death sentance now, and they don't realize that it is a massive success of modern medicine to reach that level?
 
Pain is empowerment. Haemorrage is freedom.

Listen I'm a bloke and I don't need anaesthetic to take a dump.
Women are pussies.

(In case anyone on this board is dumb enough to take the above seriously. This is sarcasm.)

The quote in the OP is a load of dingo's kidneys. That said, we still lack a link and the thread starter has not returned to provide one, although it has only been a couple of hours since the OP was posted.
 
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