Had a real mull of this one. This is all massive for me. Apologies if I go off on one. I feel my perspective might still be a little wobbly.
Pregnant women are not sick
Nobody's girl. That panda image... Yuk Yuk!
'Too posh to push' is a fucking vile phrase. It implies lazyness and vanity. Any woman who makes it through pregnancy to the other end regardless of outcome is a heroine.
Hands up who thinks major abdominal surgery, a month of mincing and the risk of infection (while caring for a totaly dependant person) is a walk in the park!
The point for me is that a woman should be allowed to please herself. Litterally. A happy woman makes for a safer labour. A frightened woman can not labour.
Now for the science bit, oxytocin is the hormone that activates and regulates labour. It's antidote is adrenalin. They can not influence a woman's body at the same time. So if your lying in the tall gass getting ready to push out life and you spot a sabre tooth tiger your adrenalin will surpress your contractions long enough for you to get on your feet and pick up a bloody big stick.
If however you are lying on your back (the most painful position to labour in, something to do with gravity and spines,) the most convenient position for the attendants, in a room full of bright light, medical equipment, unanounced or introduced traffic, often talking about but not to you, aprehesive having already had a shit time in one of these rooms, you might be feeling a little edgy. Falure to progress (what a great phrase)is the most common reason for a c-section in the UK.
Further to Failure to Progress. This concept began in an Irish hospital that was overwhelmed by demand for beds ( this is the seventies) and started operating a policy of moving women on once they failed to reach a scheduled point in thier labour within an allotted time. It is often given as justification for intervention and is the clasic way the intervention spiral begins. A 'normal' labour is one that falls into this narrow 'maternity unit under crisis' model.
Well that's enough for now. Grrrr
Except to say. 'Spiritual Midwifery' Ida May Gaskill. If you will ever have a baby, or be around someone who is, read this book. Glorious. |
