Throughout time, history has provided us a map of what structured the establishments of fads today. One establishment that keeps growing within our society are the creations of perfecting pregnancy and birth. But how can one perfect a thing that is so complex and never the same. How can you plan for the almost unplannable. Tools. Tools used during pregnancies explored the experimental side of doctors trying to create their own perfect attempt at what a perfect birth possibly could be. And as time shows, they still haven't found one.
From the horrid treatment of women back in the 19th century to the comparison of the 21st century and how women are somewhat still treated similarly of course with many exceptions. Like in the movie, "Business of Being Born" there was not much of historical time periods being named, but some of the methods the doctors used on women, heavily drugging and giving little then less information or option of birth strategies can easily been seen in what Cassidy, an advocate for woman and maternal mortality expresses to the public. Cassidy's book, "Birth" is important to further deepen the atrocities of how hospitals and doctors toss women into a "black hole system" that traps them into having no opinion or choice of birth they would like. The establishment of fads from one generation to the next under the light of doctors practically experimenting possible and still very dangerous methods of creating the "perfect birth" to this day is still demonstrated in hospitals such as, the drugs that supposedly accelerate or ease the challenge of birth. And to the growing popularity of C-sections now, presumed as the new fad of this generation so women could hold on to their "appeal" to their significant others and on other hand not actually realizing the possible and threatening danger there is to it.
One issue I believe that woman choose to go to hospitals for their pregnancies is because it is universally known to happen in centers where doctors can assist if anything goes wrong. We have been set to imagine that when a woman is in labor, she can rely on a doctors professional help to aid in making sure that she will be fine. But this is where information like this falls short. In a convoluted system, its not easy to spot the actual dangers there are when a doctor is performing their practice on their patients, and its usually without the patience consent. The establishments of doctors performing their profession began in the mid 1900's where "[...Women] were beginning to believe they should have the more educated physician there, just in case. Doctors generally didn't like having all these women watching them work and questioning practices."(139) The women of that time and still to this day see that a person with more of an education rather than experience should be held on a level of higher standard because it is a profession that is held under a lens of creating safety in case the horrible is to happen. But what if what the doctor is leading you into in consequence is life threatening. Like the growing popularity in C-sections to this day which is called the fastest and quickest route for delivering a child. But there is so much more to it because nothing is really that simple."[A Cesarean Section]...has become such a routine operation that nearly one out of every three babies in developed countries arrives by cesarean section...Cesareans have become so commonplace that we refer to the discreet six-inch scar as a bikini cut."(103) An ideal birth today would be a C-section because it creates a sense of "efficient-ness" but what woman do not know is that this kind of procedure can alter either their next pregnancy or the functions of the organs that are cut/torn in the area of where the C-section took place. This is one of the developing fads in the U.S and in other developed countries because doctors can perform this experimenting with what can be easily done.
From the horrid treatment of women back in the 19th century to the comparison of the 21st century and how women are somewhat still treated similarly of course with many exceptions. Like in the movie, "Business of Being Born" there was not much of historical time periods being named, but some of the methods the doctors used on women, heavily drugging and giving little then less information or option of birth strategies can easily been seen in what Cassidy, an advocate for woman and maternal mortality expresses to the public. Cassidy's book, "Birth" is important to further deepen the atrocities of how hospitals and doctors toss women into a "black hole system" that traps them into having no opinion or choice of birth they would like. The establishment of fads from one generation to the next under the light of doctors practically experimenting possible and still very dangerous methods of creating the "perfect birth" to this day is still demonstrated in hospitals such as, the drugs that supposedly accelerate or ease the challenge of birth. And to the growing popularity of C-sections now, presumed as the new fad of this generation so women could hold on to their "appeal" to their significant others and on other hand not actually realizing the possible and threatening danger there is to it.
One issue I believe that woman choose to go to hospitals for their pregnancies is because it is universally known to happen in centers where doctors can assist if anything goes wrong. We have been set to imagine that when a woman is in labor, she can rely on a doctors professional help to aid in making sure that she will be fine. But this is where information like this falls short. In a convoluted system, its not easy to spot the actual dangers there are when a doctor is performing their practice on their patients, and its usually without the patience consent. The establishments of doctors performing their profession began in the mid 1900's where "[...Women] were beginning to believe they should have the more educated physician there, just in case. Doctors generally didn't like having all these women watching them work and questioning practices."(139) The women of that time and still to this day see that a person with more of an education rather than experience should be held on a level of higher standard because it is a profession that is held under a lens of creating safety in case the horrible is to happen. But what if what the doctor is leading you into in consequence is life threatening. Like the growing popularity in C-sections to this day which is called the fastest and quickest route for delivering a child. But there is so much more to it because nothing is really that simple."[A Cesarean Section]...has become such a routine operation that nearly one out of every three babies in developed countries arrives by cesarean section...Cesareans have become so commonplace that we refer to the discreet six-inch scar as a bikini cut."(103) An ideal birth today would be a C-section because it creates a sense of "efficient-ness" but what woman do not know is that this kind of procedure can alter either their next pregnancy or the functions of the organs that are cut/torn in the area of where the C-section took place. This is one of the developing fads in the U.S and in other developed countries because doctors can perform this experimenting with what can be easily done.
Even though this may be true in dominant practices, there are other options presented in Birth/Pregnancy such as using a midwife which is of the most controversial topics of birth. And like growing fads, midwives in this time are also growing in popularity. Since."...Maternal morality rates were increasing sharply, especially in urban areas. Disease and more meddlesome practices were introducing new troubles in childbirth...Government and charities sprang into action...but death rates continued to rise...in New York City [it] had risen to alarming levels...4.5 percent of women who delivered in hospitals died after what should of been a normal delivery, compared to the 1.6 percent who delivered at home with a midwife. And at least half of those deaths were preventable."(246) If women were aware of these death rates and this kind of data was publicly shared more often, some of the dominant practices that are popular today, would cease to happen and other developments under the structure of Birth/Pregnancy would arise. For midwives, the need for more experienced individuals that have preformed deliveries instead of the book-reading educated ones who have not performed deliveries would present a more safe and lifting experience to the woman. But this is not the precise case and because the popular dominant practices are still widely known and accepted without realizing, furthermore the more popular fads such as the growing use of C-sections, the more woman will be trapped in a system that provides little then less information, giving you less options of choice.
Christian
ReplyDeleteIn your project you basically summarized the problem with the growing "fads" in america regarding pregnancy and birth. I really liked your comparison of how women are treated similarly horrible in the 21st century compared to the 19th. Although you didn't go in to detail, it made me think about it and if there had been any doubt in my mind of how horribly woman have been treated over time (in hospitals) that statement cleared it for me. This project matters to me because it goes in depth and reveals actual facts of how horrible of a system we have regarding pregnancy and birth.
Great post
Harry,
ReplyDeleteI would like to first thank you for taking an interest and reading my post and commenting afterwards. I'm glad also that I was somehow clear enough to rid you of any doubt on how women were treated in hospitals throughout history. My central focus was to indeed bring to light the treatment of woman and how growing fads are an accomplice to the further development of doctors pratically experimenting on woman. Though there was little detail, the covered basics should prompt anyone who reads this to take an interest in their own research of hospitals and just like what it has done to us, hopefully we can share with all.
Thank you,
Christian Bowen