Robbing Women By Witholding Information?

Discussion Blog:

With more obstetricians intervening during childbirth, one would assume that this has made birthing more successful. On the contrary, Suarez's article makes it clear that there have not been such findings . Medical interventions have actually been known to make birth more risky. Why then, are we pushing the drugs?

Many women assume that obstetricians are the safest way to go when it comes to birth, but what role do obstetricians really play in the birthing process? Are they taking a valuable part of this natural process away from women? As epidurals and C-Sections have become more commonplace, are mothers-to-be missing out on an experience that Mother Nature wanted them to have?

The word labor means work. Women are supposed to have to work to give birth. Are obstetricians taking that right of passage away from women these days? The practice of obstetrics has become widely accepted in childbirth, but is that really the best choice, or should midwives be delivering babies? Who do you think is the better option?

Wouldn’t most feminists argue that women should have the right to choose how they want to give birth and who they want present? The key to feminism is CHOICE. However, in order for a woman to make the decision to give birth using an obstetrician or a midwife, she needs to be knowledgeable about her options. Right now, is this information readily available to most women? The Seattle Midwifery School tells us that “Many families believe that their only viable childbirth option involves physician’s care in a hospital. For low-risk pregnancies, this is often not the case. If families do not know about the safety and cost-effectiveness of midwifery care, this choice has effectively been denied to them”.

In your opinion, are women adequately informed about birthing options? Do you know anyone who has felt pressured into a medical procedure that they didn’t want, especially in regard to childbirth? Do you think that a main focus of the Feminist movement should be working to make access to information about childbirth more available to all women?

Women are adequately informed about their choices, and if they wish to learn more, they can always probe for more information. I feel that yes it is about women's choices.

I feel that the main focus of the feminist movement should be moreso about allowing women to make their own choices. If women want more access they should also be given that information and option as well.

I believe that many doctors choose to exclude many of the options they make available to their patients for financial and other purposes. This is absolutely wrong. All women should be informed of all their options regarding childbirth.

However, in regards to what "nature intended", there are many natural processes and feelings we try to avoid. Most people take aspirin or motrin for headaches, pepto bismal for painful digestive problems, or wear braces when they pull a muscle. Each of these are artificial. There are parts of living naturally that are very uncomfortable and painful. We've simply found ways to overcome these setbacks, I have mixed feelings about all of the surgery and drugs used in hospitals. There are some things people should not tamper with. I just haven't decided if this is one of them.

Medical inrtventions are beleived to be nessesary in order to have a smooth, healthy delivery. We use them because that it how we are brought up, and that is what we learn through the media. Why do you think so many hospital shows are so popular? Obstetricians seem to be doin their job in my opinion. If there is a problem they are there to help. It's not like they want to use drugs for a C-Section, something that costs thousands of dollars, I think they are just trying to do their job. I completely agree with you that women should have the choice and should be well informed about their alternatives but we need to stop attacking the medical field for doing there job.

I agree that it is partly the responsibility of the doctors to inform their patients of all the options available for giving birth, in fact I'd say it's largely their responsibility and obligation as health care practitioners to do so. However, I took a class on the sociology of health care and there is a lot going on there. Why is health care in America so different? Well for one thing, we are the only well-developed country that does not have a national health care system. This affects a lot, including how doctors behave.

Doctors have to play by the rules of HMOs. Many doctors are members of practices connected to hospitals in some way. Their patients bring the hospital business. Also, sometimes the hospital brings them business. Some HMOs require patients to first visit a general practitioner before seeing a specialist if it is to be covered by the insurance. A woman's health insurance may only cover the expenses if she goes to a particular doctor. Maybe there are other doctors that would be better for her, closer to her home, or just someone she'd feel more comfortable with, but she may have to go where insurance pays for her doctor visits. Some doctors may only be covered by the woman's insurance because of their affiliation with a hospital. Don't you think that would make them feel obligated to recommend their patients to the hospitals for births?

Also, Americans are known for their lawsuits. If a doctor recommended that a woman use a mid-wife and the woman had a complicated birth and lost the child or was seriously injured herself, she might sue the doctor. If the conditions were right, she might win. However, if the same birth were to happen in a hospital and the woman were injured, it would be the hospital's fault. I think a lot of the pressure on women to go to hospitals to give birth would be alleviated if we had a different health care system.

I guess that I am also saying that if women want the big picture, they might have to do research on their own. It's good to listen to the doctors, but to really understand what midwives do, the best thing for her to do would probably be to talk to a midwife and maybe read some on her own too.

Since medical interventions have actually been known to make birth more risky then why are people pushing the drugs? Well, drugs might not be a bad thing in some cases. Some women may want to relieved from going through most of the pain that is involved during labor. Once again, it becomes a matter of choice. I must agree that femenism is about having the option to choose and such a delicate subject should allow women to choose whether or not they want to give birth under the care of an obsstetrician at a hospital.

Are Obstetricians taking away a valuable part of this natural selection away from women? Not if the women chooses to deliver her baby in that manner. It must be a beautiful experience to have a natural birth but some women might rather take the easier way out. Then again... who knows what the easy way out is? I guess it would depend on the care provider or the midwife.

Labor! Such a terrible thing! But it must be done. Personally, if I had the option to reduce pain, I would! Who wants to feel more pain when they don't necessarily have to? Having a natural birth with a midwife seems to be more expensive also. Therefore, it would be all on a personal matter between the female giving birth and her financial status.

Are we informed enough? I wouldnt say that we are. As a female not enough information has been provided to me about my options of giving birth. Not even in school. However,I do believe that the information is available to those who are willing to search for it. I don't know any females who have pressured into a procedure that they did not want. I just don't think that females are well-informed about their other options. Femenist should work to make access to information about childbirth more available to all women. It wont hurt to be more knowledgeable of instances that will allow females to make the right choices in life.

Midwives are actually less expensive so they are available to women with less money and perhaps a better option; however, the lower class are often less healthy and in greater need of the care of a physican that they can not have equal access to. THis is where the inequality seems to be unfair to the point of cruelty. Denying a pregnant women access to treatments that she may needs seems more than just unfair, but inhumane. In the midst of birth it does seem that women are forced to do things that they would not normally do (I have been told stories by my mother) because as we read, the hospitals make a lot of money from deliveries and want to deliver as many babies as they can. This factory mentality often causes docters to force births along creating more complications and pain for mother and baby. Birth seems to have lost all respect in today's society. We need to get that respect and reverence back for the welling being of women and their children.

Instead of asking are women adequately informed, shouldn't we ask if women are doing all that they can to become informed? Isn't our society about going out and getting the information instead of just waiting for it to be handed to us. If we waited for everything to be handed to us we would have nothing. I feel that part of why women aren't being informed is because there isn't an effort on the part of the female to find out all of the options. We have become engrossed in the idea that the first solution is always best instead of looking for other options. So what it comes down to is a mother who I feel is fine with going in to labor in the hospital setting instead of looking in to what it would be like to have a baby in a midwifery setting. I don't have an opinion as to which is better, I feel that each has it's own qualifications and that each should be explored to be suit the individual going through the process.

As for having to work to give birth...are you kidding me. Why should we have to work to give birth when all a man has to do is just stand by (or not in some cases) and watch us go through this pain that isn't even comparable to any pain they will have to go through. I am all for the meds b/c if we are trying to make it an equal playing field then how about decreasing the pain we go through that the men who helped us get into the situation don't have to...

Having a baby should not be about resentment towards men. THat taint the whole situation. Yes it is unfair that men don't have to do anything, but a lot of men probably want to do as much as they can out of sympathy for their wives. As far as searching for information, you are right that women should try harder, but you have to admit that the media surrounds us with pretty consistant ideas about child birth and the need for drugs and doctors.

First of all, it's the job of a doctor to inform their patients of their options. They're the ones who have gone to medical school. The average person shouldn't be expected to know all of their medical options, otherwise we would all be doctors and we'd never have to see professionals.

Second, I'm for the meds too, I'm just saying that some women want to have natural births. They want to know that they gave birth completely by themselves. All I'm saying is that no one should feel pressure to do something in a way that they don't want to do it.

Good point...doctors are supposed to inform the patient of all of their choices. I am just saying that this isn't always going to be the case and when it's not the case that the patient should take some initiative and try to learn about the alternatives. I completely agree that this is what a doctor is to do but as we learned the doctor is mostly worried about preventing malpractice law suits not worrying about providing options or what is best for the patient. I just wanted to say that in this day and age it can't all be left up to the source of the information. A lot of times we are mislead by sources that we feel are good sources...

Yes, I think that a lot of medical interventions do come into play when obstetricians deliver babies BUT I also think that this is at the request of many laboring women. Society has made us so involved in our lives that everything around us is subjected to time constraints. Unfortunately, pregnancy and labor has become one of these. I have talked with so many women that loved having a c-section because they were given the choice of when they would have their babies. Trust me, right now, I have thought many times how I would LOVE to be able to plan this birth around my school and work schedule. It so easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and forget that giving birth is a natural and can be a slow process. Just the thought of anxiously awaiting 9 (or I should say 10) long months fro the arrival of your baby can be extremely nerve-racking when that expected “due” date comes and goes without a baby, many people are willing to have any and all medical interventions, in order to finally hold their little bundle of joy. I think the key point to make here is “PATIENCE” (and I keep reminding myself of this daily). Midwives do not seem to be as expected by laboring women to turn to the medical intervention as obstetricians do, therefore, women will not ask for drugs as quickly with their midwives as they do w/ their OB. When I gave birth to my son, my labor lasted 30 grueling hours and some medical interventions did have to be made, so I completely agree that when necessary, it is wonderful to have technology and science help you along. Now that I am days away from giving birth to my daughter I have done a lot of reading and I am opting to do things a little differently this time and hoping that my new birth plan turns out more positively than my last.
http://www.birthlove.com/free/ten_month_mama.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Process-Of-Natural-Childbirth&id=215278

I think that women today have information availible to them, if they care to look for it. However, if we want women to be able to make informed decisions as to how they want to birth their babies, that information should be made as easily accessible as possible, that means that women should not have to go out and search for it, it should be provided to them. I agree that the key to feminism is choice and the key to choice is information. However I do not think that information is being witheld from women today, there are programs in high schools providing students with information on various forms of birth. My high school senior health class was required to learn about many different types of birthing. However some schools do not readily provide this information, so while I do not believe that women do not have access to necessary information, it does need to be more widely distributed.

I would never say that I think doctors are purposely witholding information with malicious intent. I just think that it happens because doctors these days spend less and less time acutally talking to their patients, and most women don't know what questions to ask in order to get their doc talking options.

I believe that a lot of women would have more confidence in their doctors if they spent more time with them discussing options. I know from personal experience that I hate those 3-minute physicals--it doesn't inspire much confidence in me as a patient, and I know that they could've done a more thorough job.

More confidence in doctors is what we need now a days. Doctors really do spend very little time with their patients. And who does that affect? The patient of course. Some people arent fully aware of procedures that are being done to them which leads to misunderstandings. Doctors are professionals. They have studied for many years and should be able to inform the patient on what is being done to them and aware them of their options. There should be a relationship between the doctor and the patient rather than just a simple check up without any communication. Women should be confident when undergoing the child birth procedure. There outlook should be put first and they should be able to discuss options in order to have less fear when having questions on what is being done to them.

I'll go one step farther and say that I am very selective about my health care practioners and encourage everyone else to be too -- whether you are male or female.

You are paying for their expertise. I don't expect a financial planner to give me one set plan (sometimes one that is offered to everyone!), I want a financial planning portfolio that is mine individually and meets my individual and personal financial needs.

Having never had a child, I can't speak to how an obstetrician deals with the birthing process, but I can say that I've had gynecologists and other specialists that I have seen once and never gone back to again. Why? I didn't like they way they talked to (or should I say talked at) me.

Case and point ... if they talk at you, not to you, it's not a relationship, it's a one-way street. That certainly doesn't instill confidence in me, and it's essential that you have confidence in your health care professional.

If I were pregnant, I would be sure to carefully choose the method, place and care provider. By now you are all tired of hearing me say this, I'm quite a bit older than most of you, so I can't say that I would have been as assertive in my twenties as I am today.

That's my two cents ... good point, soozpsu08!

I believe that to the women who choose to give birth it is a right of passage to them. I for one know I am very proud when I say that I have a daughter and that my body under went the miracle of bringing a life into the world. I think ob/gyns are taking a great experience away from women and turning it into a terrifying event. Why are they making a fear such a natural processes. Women WERE made to give birth and healthy women will most likely have a healthy baby with out any medical interventions. Are all those uncomfortable and dehumanizing pelvic examines really necessary during pregnancy. Doctors perform so many invasive procedures that completely mortify some women!!! They attempt to control every aspect of a women's pregnancy. Feminism is about choice. It is about time for women to have full control and say over the birth of her child. Yes, labor hurts, but so do many other things. Let’s teach women to embrace the pain and take it with pride instead of fearing it and believing it is too much to handle. Perhaps Doctors dislike midwives because they do not want women to know that they can deliver a baby with out medical interventions...because then where would that leave them? Suarez states in her article that midwives have 1/2 c-section rates of hospital births, and that they help women deliver without medications. Often times in hospitals they are eager to "relieve a women's pain", maybe so she is more easily coerced into unnecessary procedures (a stretch I know, but you never know).

Right...doctors are more and more taking away from the miracle of birth. When I talked to some of the adults in my life about their experiences giving birth, they look back on the times as the happiest days of their lives. But a woman who was so drugged that she barely remembers is missing out on that. There's that certain element of regret that she might feel later in life.

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Robbing Women By Witholding Information?

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Once again, The Right to Choose!

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