I was reading a really interesting article that summarizes birth in the United States and what women were saying they wanted versus what was happening. The article basically says that many women think that what they want to avoid will simply be avoided because they will it to be so. However, this is not the case. And as the rates of interventions rise, it’s much less likely to a woman will be able to avoid what she wishes to avoid, like an unnecessary induction or cesarean.
One of the keys here is the practitioner a woman chooses, doctor or midwife. Here is what one OB has to say about how we choose a practitioner:
Many obstetricians have never witnessed a natural birth in its entirety, and today, Eisenstein says, a natural birth in a hospital is “almost nonexistent. It was more likely 25 years ago than today.” People ask more questions when they buy a car or a house than they do when they choose the care provider and birth location that will be part of one of the most important experiences in the life of a family. All of the doctors are nice, he says, “but you’re not hiring your doctor to like [him], you are hiring [him] to have the safest possible birth.”
Need to know the questions to ask? Here are some good starting places:
You can read the whole article at: What Women Aren’t Told About Childbirth.