In regards to the movie that we watched in class The Business of Being Born I was extremely surprised and appalled at the number of natural births in the United States in comparison to other countries. The US is supposed to a leader in healthcare. The United States is falling behind other countries because they are relying on drugs and surgeries to have babies instead of letting the process happen naturally. The film makes the audience aware that in some certain situations when there are health problems involved that natural births aren’t possible.
I was pleasantly surprised that the film didn’t “down” people for having children in a hospital or with drugs but they just showed the other possibilities. They showed the audience that doctors don’t run everything. They showed that a mid-wife also is capable of monitoring the birth of your child and it is ultimately cheaper. The film argues that OBYGYN’s don’t always show the patient their other options. Sometimes doctors pump the mothers up with drugs so that they will have their baby when it is convenient for them.
I was extremely surprised when they were talking about how when a mother has her child in a hospital that mother and child lose precious bonding time. They even pointed out that when some animals have babies if they are separated they will abandon them. This put child-birth in a whole new perspective for me. When I have a child of my own it is something that I want to be conscious of and be able to experience it. I believe the only way for hospitals and doctors to reduce the number of interventions in women’s labor & delivery is to educate women that there are alternate ways to having a child other than in a hospital. I believe the reason women have come so dependent on drugs and doctors is because society has taught us that we need to be like that.
After watching this movie I feel that I am more aware of the medicalization of US maternal care. It was very alarming to hear the statistics that the US is in the bottom for infant survival rates. The United States is supposed to be a leader in healthcare, technology, and everything else! How have we let this get this way? Childbirth is one of the most natural things, why do we interfere? I think it was a privilege for us to be able to see that film because we were able to see a couple and their own child’s birth. The film opened my mind so much to other options besides a regular hospital birth. If only women all over the US knew that they had other options or were educated more about other options than just a hospital births maybe there would be some change in the US. After watching this movie and hearing the information we were provided I now have a changed view on childbirth. Before I would have said hell no to a ntural child-birth but now I believe that when a natural birth is possible that’s how it should be. No doctors, no drugs. Just natural.
Intro to Women's Studies 2010 