Well, my work lull lasted just long enough for a client who occasionally reads my blog to notice that I'm available! I have a new cookbook editing project coming in a few weeks, yay!
I've been meaning to tell you about a recent proofreading project I did, one that was near and dear to my heart. It was written by a doula, for pregnant women who want to give birth naturally but are (for whatever reasons) planning to do so in a hospital. Perhaps they feel safer in a hospital, or maybe their health insurance won't cover a home birth, or they may fall into one or another "risk" category; regardless, they're doing it in a hospital—but without medical interventions unless absolutely necessary.
How I wish I had this book back in '96—or again in '99 or '01! The author, Cynthia Gabriel, uses the expression "cascade effect" to perfectly describe my first childbirth experience. Not knowing much, and perhaps being overly trusting of my OB, I agreed to a first medical intervention, which led to another, and then another, and before I knew it, I was minutes away from a c-section. I was fortunate enough to avoid surgery in the end, but I did end up with all kinds of interventions I swore I'd never get: having my water broken for me, an IV Pitocin drip, an internal fetal monitor, a "lite" epidural, forceps, episiotomy, you name it. I remember one nurse who kept mentioning c-section, which threw me into a panic. (I learned from this book that adrenaline cancels out oxytocin—the naturally occurring hormone that causes labor contractions—so it's no wonder that my labor kept "stalling.") This nurse kept saying, "A c-section is not a problem. It's a solution to a problem." I was sure I didn't have a problem, but all these medical people seemed to think otherwise. I am now much more aware of the reasons that doctors and nurses want things to go a certain way and within a certain timeframe, but I was vulnerable then, and I kept capitulating to them. One handy piece of advice that Gabriel gives is this: No matter what the doctors and nurses are suggesting, say, "Let's just wait another hour before making that decision." If it's really and truly a life-or-death emergency, you'll know. Most often it's a simple case of logistics.
I had a somewhat easier time with my next two births, although I still fell prey to certain interventions. I'm particularly angry that I was first hooked up to a fetal monitor, which required me to lie still on my back. Being on my back was excruciating, so then I agreed to get a "lite" epidural (instead of being encouraged to walk, squat, stand in the shower, or find some other way to get through my contractions). Only in this country are women urged to labor and give birth while lying flat on their backs, which is the least conducive position for pushing and delivering. The U.S. also has an unnaturally high rate of c-sections (and the complications that can come with them, up to and including death), which seems to be directly attributable to this "cascade effect" and to the micromanaging of doctors and nurses. I know that they all mean well, but they are often too impatient to let nature take its course, as it has since humans first walked the planet.
Gabriel never once forgets that there are indeed circumstances that require emergency medical treatment. We should all be grateful that we live in a country where lives can be saved in dramatic fashion. However, too often our hospital teams are over-eager to get things done the medical way instead of the natural way. They should be there to supervise a natural process rather than orchestrate a medical procedure. I must have retained a tiny bit of this concept even when I gave birth the first time, because I remember getting a phone call the next day from a hospital employee who wanted to fill out the necessary forms to apply for Steph's social security number. Baby's name, parents' names, date and time of birth, and then "And who delivered the baby?" I replied, "I did!" Only after a brief pause did I think to say, "Oh, you mean which doctor assisted me?"
If you or someone you know becomes pregnant in the next few months (or plans to in the future), I strongly urge you to look for Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds
I agree, it should be a strongly encouraged option. But with the agony of 23 hours of back labor, I really really welcomed the epidural. I mean, really.
Posted by: Tonya | September 12, 2010 at 09:22 PM
I had back labor with Steph, and this book had lots of suggestions for managing contractions with back labor -- I wish I'd at least known about these strategies so I could give them a try before succumbing to the epidural! As soon as I got the epidural, I spiked a fever (a common complication), which set in motion a whole series of further interventions.... :-(
Posted by: Karen | September 12, 2010 at 09:40 PM