HW 44 - Comments on Other People's Projects

Leticia,

Your project gave an extremely emotional personal narrative. You showed a parallel between your experience with the United States medical care and the standard prenatal storeys. 

You used your personal voice which made it entertaining. You balanced the use of informal language and formal language to create a persuasive argument.

"(What!...he just a dam intern, I thought Dr. Tanner is my doctor. I was mad)."

This was later used as a connection to how the system goes about prenatal care. You used this project not only to critique the standard practices of birth care in our countries but to critique the standard practises of health care in general.

Although your personal narrative was persuasive and apt, it leaves me curious about finding personal narratives from pregnant women receiving prenatal care. 

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Abdullah,
You conducted a throw interview with a social worker for PATH.

It is evident that you actively inferred things while interviewing. This can prove to be a struggle when interviewing someone. you show this when you say, "(I wanted to tell him that taking a mother to a hospital when her water breaks is not the best thing to do but I digressed)"

One thing that may have added to your work would be referring to the pamphlets that Mr.C gave you.


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Amanda,
You artfully use statistical evidence to demonstrate the deferent needs they have. You discuss the available programs and assistance they can obtain.

This could at some point relate to any girl that I know. It is a serious issue that you address well.

although your writing was very informative, It would have been nice to hear a personal narrative from a pregnant teenager. Yet understand that is extremely difficult to find.

HW 42 - Pregnancy & birth culminating project

The facts of VBAC:
The C-Section Risks:


Cesarean sections are in general unnecessary. They themselves are risks so one thing I wanted to evaluate was the risks of vaginal birth after c-section compaired the risk of c-sections in general. "Cesarean section is a modest risk factor for ectopic pregnancy and an important risk factor for placental problems." (Hemminki) Ectopic pregnancy is when an embryo grows in the wrong area most often resulting in death of embryo. Placental problems include placenta prevue, and abrupt placentae. The risks continue to increase with more cesarian sections. So if all of these symptoms are possible then the argument that VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian) is a risk to the health of the mother is out ruled. This is because these symptoms sound more dangerous then cesarian sections.
"The overall maternal intra-operativecomplication rate was 14.8%." (Ham)

VBAC RISKS:

           The ratio of fulfilled VBAC plans compared to the uterine tare risk demonstrates that doctors must be putting unnecessary pressure on women to have another cesarean section. 60% of women who plan on having a VBAC deliver vaginally. The risk of complication is .9% respectively. This complication is uterine taring. What about the other 40.1%? So 40.1% of women in our country are denied the right to have a natural birth. 

IN CONCLUSION:
         There are negative results from both abstaining from VBAC and doing them. As demonstrated above, the risks are about even. I by no means am saying that VBACs are the only safe post cesarean section birth, but I am saying that doctors should inform their patients of the benefits of vaginal birth and the risks of cesarean sections. Doctors, understandably, simplify the situation for women. Before the 1980's it was once a C-section always a C-section. There are doctors who recommend vaginal birth after a csarian. But there is nothing in between. There are no doctors who point out the pros and cons of both options. I remember the younger midwife guest speaker saying that people should only tell pregnant women positive birth stories. By putting a sharp divide between the Homeopathic and holistic makes defending an opinion more valuable to medical professionals then the mother and baby's health.

Work cited:

Rubin, Rita. "Study backs natural birth after C-section." USA TODAY 6/29/2006, Print

"VBAC with Uterine Rupture - Our Story." sitearts (2000): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.sitearts.com/rupture/>.

"Vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC) rate." Northwastern Memorial Hospital (1010): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.nmh.org/nm/quality+vaginal+birth+after+cesarean+rate>. 

Evans, Joel. The whole pregnancy hand book. New York, NY: Gotham books, 2005. 484. Print.

Hemminki, Elina. "Long-term effects of cesarean sections: Ectopic pregnancies and placental problems." American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology (1995): n. pag. Web. 8 Apr 2011. <http://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(96)70608-7/abstract>.

"baby." google. Web. 8 Apr 2011. <http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_liz7p8LlbM1qengdjo1_400.jpg>.

HW 41 - Independent Research

research on VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarian).

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-06-29-vbac_x.htm

Rubin, Rita. "Study backs natural birth after C-section." USA TODAY 6/29/2006, Print

This article discusses a study done on women with previous C-sections. It ultimately concluded that women who had multiple cesarian sections were almost just as likely to have the commonly feared uterine tear or rupture. 

"I think most practitioners have with time shied away from offering VBAC to women with multiple prior cesareans because of a perceived risk of uterine rupture."

"VBAC with Uterine Rupture - Our Story." sitearts (2000): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.sitearts.com/rupture/>.

This is a personal story of a woman who attempted a VBAC and harmed her child and ruptured her cervix all the way down to her vagina. 

"Vaginal birth after Cesarean (VBAC) rate." Northwastern Memorial Hospital (1010): n. pag. Web. 4 Apr 2011. <http://www.nmh.org/nm/quality+vaginal+birth+after+cesarean+rate>. 

This article discusses and defines a vbac. It talks about the rate of how many women participate in a vaginal birth who had previously had a cesarian section. The national average is 9.07.

HW 40 - Insights from Book - Part 3

"Hey Tina Cassidy thanks for writing Birth. Your idea that a natural process which women are capable of doing on their own has turned into a nightmarish industrial atrocity, persuaded me to think differently about hospital births."

Tina: 

"Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?"

"Well, in the last third of the book you focused on postpartum depression and the history of a fathers role in the birthing process, which have outstanding connections to the first 2/3rd of the book. More specifically, the historical aspect of men being aloud in the birth place. I found it interesting that since ancient times fathers did not participate in the birthing process.(p.32) These women had no option of the support of a father. So why is it that modern women find it easer to give birth with there husbands present. (p.198)

2. The placenta cocktail mentioned in page 219 most definitely caught my attention. With all due respect it made me want to barf. But then i thought about how most mammals do this. They just don't mix it with ice and V-8 juice."

Tina:

 "But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?"

"Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide narratives, historical analysis, journalistic analysis and policy analysis from the perspective of (doctors, mothers, fathers and more) for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, to add to your appendix. I loved having the information about maternal death but seeing more statistics may have been useful. For example, I would have liked to see statistics on infant mortality by nation, and breast feeding verses non-breast feeding infant health. But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about the women whose child was devoured by a rat in the primitive days of hospital births & causing me to think about the benefits of a home birth. In fact, I'm likely to visit a birthing ward and volunteer with new born babes as a result of your book. This will not only give me good experience but i will also use this as a way of learning more about the topic."

Tina:

 "Thanks! Talking to you give me hope about our future as a society!"

HW 38 - Insights from pregnancy & birth book - part 1

1) The book Birth by Tina Cassidy, is organized into nine chapters and an appendix with a list of about one hundred countries their maternal mortality rates. She discusses the negative aspects of typical birth in our country. The first few chapters focus on historical and evolutionary aspects of birth. It then, in chapter three, starts talking about the modern atrocities of birth.

2) The question Tina Cassidy answered is, How can I "figure out how to give birth in a way that is--simultaneously and consistently--safe, minimally painful, joyful, and close to nature's design?"
I like how she acknowledges that some sort of pain relief as a priority of many women. The movie we are watching does not do this. I think this is important because most american women expect pain relief as a part of a humane birth experience. Even if all evidence points to the contrary, it is important for the book to be relatable for women in our country.

3) The major insight the book tries to portray is that birth, a natural experience only for women, has been horridly taken over by male doctors. Tina Cassidy demonstrates a poor immigrant women named Mary Conner, being used as a guinea pig to test the new pain reducing techniques. As she was slipping in and out of consciousness the doctors were pre occupied and failed to notice that she had given birth. She also failed to notice until she regained conciseness and said she felt that she had delivered a stillborn. The doctor came to examine her.
"She stated she thought her child was born. I immediately examined and found the child beneath the hips of the mother, in a lifeless condition, and mutilated, apparently by rats. In the position ware the child was, life could have existed but a few moments." (p.55)

4) KEY POINTS:

Evolution Effecting birth:

One of the first points brought up in Birth is that human females have a smaller hip size to baby head size ratio then our monkey like ancestors. This ratio imbalance is caused by the two characteristics that make humans remarkably distinct from apes.The first being smaller hips due to the ability to stand upright. The second being huge baby heads to accommodate larger brains which make us more intelligent. These two traits are something people tend to be proud of. Why is it that we don't imbalance labor pains associated with this?

Creation of C-section: 

Something that most celebrates and rich women chose to do over natural birth, originally spread because people the catholic church valued the fetuses life more then the mothers. This was because the fetus was unbaptized and they believed if it died the baby would remain in purgatory for eternity. So it originated out of something that was expected to kill women.

Males role in birth:

Males have had a swaying role in the birthing process. Up until recently it was considered odd for men to join their partner in the birth process. I think it would be interesting to learn why men were all the sudden allowed to witness birth. This is discussed in a chapter that I have not gotten up to yet.

Disposal of afterbirth:

In many cultures women have been instructed to labor over hay in a barn. This practice includes, women of the southern USA and all over europe. This practice has only taken place by women who were poor. They do this out of disgust of the placenta.

5) The author offers statistical evidence to support ideas that require straightforward evidence. She also incorporates her personal experience to give examples of how she felt during birth. I would say that all and all she is good at balancing logical evidence and statistical evidence appropriately. Although sometimes she incorporates her personal opinion. 

HW 36 - Pregnancy & Birth Stories

Interview #1

One thing I initially noticed was that the first interviewee T was far more open about her opinions then all of the teen interviewees. I assume she has told this story many times so it may come easer to her then teenagers who do not fully know what their perspectives are.

I started the interview by saying:

How did pregnancy effect you physically and emotionally?

T: I was very sick the first three months. Every morning no matter what I threw up. I sometimes had to give my self an extra hour in the morning so I could throw up before I had to go to work. Emotionally I was just overwhelmed with joy and excitement. It was one of the happiest times of my life."

This demonstrates the battle of emotional joy and physical pain that occurs when during pregnancy and birth. This seems to be a trent in all of the interviewees's experiences.

Me: Did you encounter mood swings?

T: No. Not that anyone told me about. But I did have anxiety about being able to provide the best life possible for the child. 

What I think she meant by saying that was that she didn't think that she had hormonal mood swings yet she did have mood swings, or deep swaying thoughts, relating to her situation.

Me: DId anyone say anything to make you nervous?

T: Yes! The doctor recommended all of these books about what could possibly go wrong during pregnancy and that really caused me to be nervous. The books did not help me have a baby or be a mother. The books only helped me learn more about what will happen physically.

Me: Would you say you had a stressful pregnancy?

T: No just when my husband had to move to a different city because of work with out my husband for a few months. The only difficult part was being alone.

All of the women I interviewed said that part of the reason they chose to become pregnant was because of there husbands. It is evident that it is easier to rase a child with two parents and all of the women seemed to hate it the most when they felt alone.

Me:What is something you remember about giving birth?

The nurse and my husband miscounting when they were counting my breaths. He'd be saying 'one' while she was saying 'three'. 

Interview #2

R is a woman who has given birth three times. During the interview we didn't specify which birth we were discussing so it just was about her birth experience in general. I asked her how birth effected her physically and emotionally. She said "Physically it started with intense nausea. Then the nausea stooped and everything tasted weird. Emotionally I was really excited. I think I got a little crabby." Like the woman in the first interview she read books about the process of giving birth. She had a better experience with the books then M. She happily mentioned, "The Bradley method". After further research I found that the Bradley method is a company that teaches classes to soon to be parents. Then we discussed the actual act of birth. She said that she liked having a midwife. For one of her births she went to a hospital and she felt like she was being treated for a "disease". The conversation then led to what caused her desire to have kids. She said "love for the person I was with"

One thing I found interesting about R's interview was that she said that what sparked most of her desire to have children was the fact that she was with someone she loved. The other women I interviewed all said that they had wanted children for other reasons. I noticed that the most common story I encountered was that women went about 30 years without wanting children and then bam! They all the sudden wanted to have kids. I can only assume that R had her children at a younger age then the other women I interviewed so she would not have the same hormonal "flashes" of thoughts of being a mother.

hw 35

What are the psychological issues that can be caused by birth?

New mothers can get something called postpartum depression. From what I have heard, this can result in a mother feeling anxiety because she feels that she is an inadequate parent. I wonder if that feeling of inadequacy often comes from the expectations mothers instill in themselves from our society. That would make the feeling of inadequacy a cause of postpartum depression which would account for the increase in amount of women who are diagnosed with postpartum depression. After reading the list of symptoms of postpartum depression from webmd.com, I notice that all of the feeling towards a patients baby are feelings that someone gets when they are around anyone for extended periods of time. I am sure that there is a cretin amount of pressure that comes with being around your own child but that could all connect back to our social obligations to be perfect parents. A question I would like to answer over the course of the unit is how do social obligations effect our mental health when it comes to child birth?

Another aspect of birth I would like to look further into throughout the unit is statistics on infant mortality, birth trauma, and maternal death. I had a discussion with my mothers friend who is a midwife who claims that home births reduce the risk of infant and maternal mortality. I have yet to find statistics on this but I remain optimistic about the claim. Even though women have been able to do births on their own sense the beginning of man kind we seem to have a desire to be assisted. What causes this pressure to get as much assistance with an act that seems to come naturally? It is the desire to do what is best for your unborn child. So I stand inconclusive on wether home birth is healthier then hospital births but I intend on researching the topic.