birth

Take a day off to procreate

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This one is almost too much to take seriously. Apparently, September 12 was Conception Day in one region of Russia–the fifth year that Governor Sergei Morozov has used a half day off from work and a series of cash and gift prizes to encourage procreation for his dwindling region of Russia.

During what some experts are deeming a population crisis caused by too much population growth in already overpopulated parts of the world, other countries, predominantly white countries like Italy, France and Russia are having trouble reproducing at a replacement rate.

But anyways, back to the ridiculous Conception Day in Russia. According to an article at MSNBC, in addition to getting time off from work (presumably to have sex), if a woman does give birth 9 months after Conception Day, she and her husband can win a multitude of prizes, including a car.

This isn’t the first time a Western European country has tried to use incentives to encourage procreation. In Romania they used to give women special titles for having multiple children (we’re talking upwards of 5). In response to a recent trend in European countries having negative population growth, I expect that these tactics will continue to evolve and develop.

What does it mean for a government to manipulate women’s bodies for political reasons? The fertility of marginalized populations (women of color, incarcerated women, disabled women) has been controlled in the past (and continues to be controlled). Sterilization practices, welfare family caps, two child policies all are ways the government uses to discourage certain populations from reproducing. Similarly, initiatives like this procreation day are one way the government has of encouraging other groups to reproduce. Both tactics smack of eugenics and racism, as well as nationalistic sentiment and the geopolitics of population.

These concerns around population growth and the environment are a great example of what is meant by the term reproductive justice–where reproductive rights intersect with another social justice issue–environmental activism.

Woman gives birth on US/Mexico Border

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This story from the Houston Chronicle online reports that a border patrol agent helped a woman give birth on the banks of the Rio Grande River, on the border between Texas and Mexico.

The story is brief, and simply reports that the agent does not know whether the woman and the man accompanying her were undocumented or not, but this is just one example of what immigration in this country has devolved into.

A few years ago I worked as an advocate for Latina immigrant women in Pennsylvania, most of whom were here without documents. I helped them find prenatal care, apply for emergency medical assistance and care for their newborn children. The stories that I would hear from these women were terrifying. The trials and tribulations of crossing the border, usually in unsafe conditions, quite of few of them pregnant while crossing.

One can only imagine the desperation that would lead a woman to attempt such a crossing at nine months pregnant. One woman I worked with had ridden for hours in the trunk of a car with a few other men to cross. Countless women are abused by the people they pay (huge sums) to bring them over (called coyotes), as well as their travelling partners and I’m sure some border patrol officials once they arrive in the United States. Death rates on the border are high, with people getting lost in the desert, and dying of starvation and dehydration.

The situation with immigration continues to deteriorate, and Bush’s calls to heighten border security and build million dollar fences will not alleviate the problem. We need humane and reasonable immigration policies, that don’t discriminate against the people we rely on for manual labor, who keep this country running by working in the factories, fields, restaurants and hotels.

BE BOLD: Birth on Labor Day

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I went to an impressive play last night, written by Karen Brody entitled Birth. It’s like a Vagina Monologues, but about childbirth. Eight women, sitting on stage, sharing their birth stories with the audience and each other. Karen wrote the play after talking to over a hundred women around the United States about their childbirth experiences.

The play is being staged internationally this month, in honor of labor day and as part of a “global movement to make maternity care child friendly.”

The production in New York City, directed by Helen Marshall, was really great–an amazing group of professional actresses made up the cast. I attended a rehearsal for the show the week prior (Karen recommends that they have doulas at every rehearsal, to serve as birth “experts”) and then participated in a panel after the show, with some other great NYC birth activists, including midwife Laura Zeidenstein, doula and nurse Patricia Rangeli and Erica Lyon, the founder of Real Birth.

You can check out this page to see if there is going to be a BOLD production in your area, and think about participating next year.

My favorite line of the play: <a conversation between midwife and laboring mom>

Laboring woman: It hurts like hell!
Midwife: Great! That’s exactly how it’s supposed to feel!

Washington Post reports that childbirth deaths are on the rise

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The Washington Post reported yesterday that maternal mortality rates are on the rise (based on statistics from 2003). The article throws out a couple of ideas as to why (rising c-section rates, obesity, maternal age increases). These statistics have been used by birth advocates as evidence of the failure of the US model of maternity care, which sometimes puts the mother at more risk. The US consistently ranks at the bottom of developing countries when it comes to infant mortality.

The hardest thing to understand is how in this day and age, in a modern hospital with doctors and nurses, that somebody can just die like that.

I think those of us working with birth in today’s hospital could think of a few reasons why. Interventions done in the name of safety can have more complications than the birth itself. More drugs and more surgeries mean more risk to the mother and child.  

Some researchers point to the rising C-section rate, now 29 percent of all births–far higher than what public health experts say is appropriate. Like other surgeries, Caesareans come with risks related to anesthesia, infections and blood clots.

In addition we have major health disparities which mean that some women get excellent and consistent reproductive health care, and others get almost none. We have to find low cost and reasonable solutions for our health care crisis, and some states, like Florida, have caught on to the bright idea that alternative models of maternity care can save money. Midwifery care, because it is based on a minimal intervention model works extremely well for the average woman, and seriously reduces costs.

It’s becoming increasing obvious that our model of maternity care isn’t working–malpractice rates are through the roof, obstetricians are not delivering babies and women and children are still dying at rates that are higher than in other countries. Maybe someday soon we can start listening to the World Health Organization, who has consistently recommended cesarean and induction rates much lower than we currently have.  

CNN Reports: Five Ways to Avoid a C-section

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Great short and to the point article at CNN today about 5 ways to avoid a c-section.

Here are their five ways:

  1. Don’t get induced unless medically necessary
  2. Labor at home until you’re approximately 3 centimeters dilated
  3. Choose your hospital, and your practitioner, carefully
  4. In the delivery room, ask questions if your practitioner says you need a C-section
  5. Get a doula (my personal favorite)

Check out the piece for more explanation about why each  step helps to deter c-sections.

What is so broken that they don’t want to use it?

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Yesterday’s Washington Post article about “do it yourself” birth has some interesting things to say about this practice (that they imply is on the rise) of women giving birth alone at home, without help from any providers at all–no doctors or midwives.

This idea, of a woman giving birth alone, cutting the umbilical cord herself, is definitely not a new one. Despite the fact that it is a huge departure from our “modern” idea of childbirth (where huge amounts of technology and expertise are seen as indispensable), there is a long history of isolationist birth practices. Indigenous cultures have (and continue to) employ these practices–a group of indigenous midwives in the Ecuadorian Amazon told me about women from certain groups who would walk into the jungle when ready to give birth, and come back hours later with the newborn child.

I definitely wouldn’t advocate for a return to these times, or an adoption of these practices from other cultures. I don’t think most women in the US are ready to take on childbirth solo, but these extreme cases to prove a few things to the rest of us:

-It is possible to be completely in control of ones birth, without high-level medical expertise

-Some number of people are giving birth this way, disrupting the birth-as-emergency paradigm

The midwife interviewed for the article points out the most crucial question:

“To me the really interesting question is, Why would someone go outside the system?” Rothman said. “What is so broken that they don’t want to use it?”

Mom’s right to placenta upheld

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Check out this story from Nevada about a woman who was almost refused ownership of her own placenta by a hospital, who alleged that she was going to consume it and it was a biohazard.

A judge upheld her right to the placenta, and she was allowed to take it home, where she reports she buried it in her backyard.

 See the full story here.

Women sues over pain caused by Pitocin IV

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Now this is interesting…a woman in St. Louis is suing a hospital and nurse for negligence in regards to the pain she was suffering at the hands of a bad pitocin IV. I’m not sure if there is any precedence for this type of thing, but from my own doula experience I know that IVs can be extremely painful.

I had one woman tell me that the IV was more painful than the contractions. Top that all off with the fact that pitocin just makes the whole thing more painful, and maybe I can see why she’s so upset. She’s also claiming that she was unable to care for her child and go about her duties after the birth due to painful after-effects of the IV-gone-bad.

She’s suing for $150,000 in damages. What is different about this I believe, is that this malpractice suit is not about something wrong with her child, but rather about something that had a negative impact on her birthing experience and her health. Many times, things that go wrong with the birth are overlooked if the baby is healthy. Maybe more women will fight for their rights in birth, but malpractice is already being a huge issue, exacerbated by these types of cases.  

Woman gives birth in jail cell

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This story from the Times-Tribune today, is a chilling reminder of the horrible criminal justice system (ironic that they use the word justice) which regularly abuses the people caught up in it. The Tribune reports that a Pennsylvania woman being held at a county jail for minor drug charges was refused transfer to a hospital during labor, and was forced to give birth to her child in her cell. According to the woman’s grandmother, a female warden cut the umbilical cord with her fingernails.

One of the most repulsive things about this story is the reaction of prison officials, who refuse to confirm or deny this story based on the woman’s supposed rights to privacy. So all of a sudden when it helps protect prison image they are all about defending her rights? What about her right to medical care and equal treatment? This is an obvious human rights violation, and it scares me to think about what other violations are being carried out in our growing prison system.

For more information about prisoner’s rights work, check out the ACLU or Critical Resistance, a campaign to end the Prison Industrial Complex. Also check out my post about the Prison Doula Project.