Reducing Infant Mortality

[Gataloca]

I think everything is a matter of common sense.... and of course, if you trust your doctor. We all know that natural is best, but if there is any condition that may affect the course of a natural delivery, then it worth weighting the pros and the cons.*

It is good to know what one wants, but being too inflexible can put one, the baby and the whole medical staff at risk. If for example, if one knows that the baby is breech, and one insists in having a normal delivery because one has heard that it is possible for the baby to engage at the last minute, is putting herself in a risky position of having a very complicated labor that may require emergency intervention. *

Once I was talking with my doctor about something (don't remember exactly what) and I told him that I was confused because now a day we have access to too much information, and much of those are contradictory. *The doctor said that he agreed, and that the difference between what people hear over the Internet and what he says, is that the guys who say things over the Internet do not need to take responsibility for what they posted, but he, as the doctor, has to.

So bottom line, just use you common sense and decide by yourself. *Discuss your options with you doctor and go for a second opinion if needed. **
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[thanka2]

I think everything is a matter of common sense.... and of course, if you trust your doctor. We all know that natural is best, but if there is any condition that may affect the course of a natural delivery, then it worth weighting the pros and the cons.*

It is good to know what one wants, but being too inflexible can put one, the baby and the whole medical staff at risk. If for example, if one knows that the baby is breech, and one insists in having a normal delivery because one has heard that it is possible for the baby to engage at the last minute, is putting herself in a risky position of having a very complicated labor that may require emergency intervention. *

Once I was talking with my doctor about something (don't remember exactly what) and I told him that I was confused because now a day we have access to too much information, and much of those are contradictory. *The doctor said that he agreed, and that the difference between what people hear over the Internet and what he says, is that the guys who say things over the Internet do not need to take responsibility for what they posted, but he, as the doctor, has to.

So bottom line, just use you common sense and decide by yourself. *Discuss your options with you doctor and go for a second opinion if needed. **
Posted via Mobile Device

Just wanted to add that the online sources I've posted above are no less trustworthy because they happen to be online. Nowadays, anyone who has ever done any academic research or work, knows that most resources are not found in leather-bound books on a dusty library bookshelf anymore. Most information is posted online in one form or another. The key is to know if the information is authoritative or not. Particularly, concerning the information regarding the benefits of vaginal childbirth for mother and baby, although I posted the information above from a website, I first read this information in a book that was written by a well-known doctor who boasted a career of over 50 years studying and overseeing literally thousands of successful, natural and unmedicated chilbirths. He is an authoritative source.

In an age where information is so easily available, there is no reason for educated women to not seek out more information than their doctor simply provides. I agree in seeking a second opinion but disagree that the only information of authority or value is that that comes from an OBGYN. That's a pretty limited view of things. I just happen to believe that, given the correct information, I'm just as capable of making decisions as my OBGYN is of making them for me.

Doctors hold biases based on their experience and education. If you watch the documentary, "The Business of Being Born" you will see OBGYNs who were questioned saying that they never had the opportunity to actually attend a birth in which the woman gave birth naturally without the use of drugs. These same doctors have also never been taught any maneuvers (besides c-sections) to safely deliver a breech baby. Whereas, this is a standard part of training for midwives and many breech babies are safely delivered this way. It's a question of education and experience. As the above mentioned documentary points out, OBGYNs are primarily trained as surgeons so they are usually very good at performing c-sections but not so good at handling normal births.

This means, that their actual experience is limited--they may believe that there is only one type of birth simply because that is what their experience is.

There is a huge difference between being inflexible and being committed. Sometimes you have to commit (through education and preparation as well as mentally) to something in order to see it through (natural childbirth)--you also need to prepare physically and mentally for it. But, every midwife that oversees a birth as well as most people who are advocates of natural, unmedicated childbirth (me, for example) also have a back-up plan/escape route--we would be unwise not to. That doesn't mean that at the slight drop of a hat we throw out all of our plans just "in case" something "might" happen. That's not being committed, in my opinion. It's not an all-or-nothing sort of mindset. We just choose to be active participants in our births from conception through after the baby is born.