I read a really good blog this morning that described an observer's sorrow at a mom's last minute "emergency" c-section because the induction process didn't work. I appreciated the writer's heart and definitely agree with her frustration at the process but I feel like there's a finger being pointed in the wrong direction.
It wasn't all that long ago that men and women treated healthcare very differently. Doctors made house calls. Husbands paid for the care and medicine out of their own pockets. And care was only summoned in the event of emergencies. "Go fetch the doctor, John Henry is cut his arm off under the donkey plow." You get the picture.
Things are very, very different today. I haven't studied the journey of healthcare and how it's affected the way women approach carrying and having babies but isn't it time that women took responsibility for their own ignorance? Maybe it's just easier to blame the doctors (the "enemy" in some people's perspective) instead of rightfully suggesting that women need to know more about their options. I don't know the statistics but I wonder wow many c-sections are performed because 1. Mama doesn't take care of herself and has health issues, forcing a c-section, or 2. Mrs. Mama has a deadline and is just plain tired of being pregnant and requests insists on demands being induced. Maybe it's not just the doctors' fault that birthing is no longer a regular part of life, but now considered a medical issue. (Caveat: Obviously there are very good reasons for c-sections and I'm thankful for the healthy babies that result. I am not suggesting all c-sections are unnecessary, just a lot of them. But I'm not a doctor nor a medical researcher so if you disagree, think of me as just plain dumb.)
There's this little story in Genesis 25 where Esau, hungry and impatient, gives up his birth right (inheritance) to his twin brother, Jacob. It was a decision made out of feeling & ignorance/misinformation ("I'm hungry. I must eat now and this is the only way to get food.") rather than information & truth ("I'm hungry. But I can wait, I will not starve and can find food from another source.") I haven't heard many teachings in the church about this story but I think there's a general consensus that Esau was the idiot for giving away what was his, and not Jacob, for taking what wasn't his. What a sad, sad ending.
I guess I'd just like to see the "finger" pointed at women, too, rather than condemning the collective of OBs. And I tend to have strong opinions about things like this, usually considered counter- or anti-cultural and perceived as abnormal. So be it. But I'm a mama who has managed to keep possession of her "birthing rights" and that makes me a happy mama.
