I was going to have a book review and giveaway up for you today. Well actually it was going to be yesterday, then I pushed it back until today, now I’m pushing it back until Monday. You’ll thank me for it don’t worry. Well, as long as you’re interested in hearing my theories on birth and the involvement of the internet.
You see things seemed simpler for my mom. It was a time where you did what your doctor said to do and you didn’t really question it. If he recommended a c-section, then you did it. Okay, it was probably also a time where 1 out of every 3 births didn’t end in c-section like is often mentioned the c-section rate is today. But then again it might have also been a time when women were suffering in different ways with baby’s damaged through birth.
My mom wasn’t aware of anything that was going on with complete strangers though. She only had her personal friends and family to rely on for horror stories of birth gone wrong. Ahhh, see a much simpler time.
When she went into labor with me she called up my aunt to come stay with my brother, my dad dropped her off at the hospital, and then went to return the army truck he had been driving. Or some nonsense like that. Oh yeah and I remember at some point in time during my mom’s labor my mom mentioning that I was breech and the doctor wanted to turn me manually, but my mom did refuse and the nurse backed her up and the doctor let her and me be. And I did turn on my own and came out head first so fast the doctor had to catch me.
This was all in the late seventies. A lot has changed since then. You know what? A lot has changed since 1999 when I had my oldest. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t on the internet then, I don’t know. Even in 2002 when I had my 2nd child I don’t feel like there were a lot of pushy internet people telling me what to do.
Now Thanks To The Internet Everyone’s An Expert In Birth
We have access to so much now about birth thanks to the internet. But like I’ve said recently we have to be careful what we read and who the information is coming from. Because it might not be a reliable source.
You know what else is unreliable? Studies done in other countries. I’m sure they are done by professionals at the very top of their field and are extremely valid where they are done, but a study done in Britain on the dangers of c-sections isn’t exactly a true picture of the dangers of c-sections in the United States.
You have to take into consideration that things might be done differently in different countries. Different precautions could be taken here to ensure that these complications are not as prevalent here. Basically what I take away from a study in another country is okay maybe having a c-section there is not in my best interest.
Whistle Blowers
But we have these whistle blowers who in the interest of pushing for change love to throw these studies in people’s faces. And they look ominous. Placed in a news article or another blog with titles like “Cesareans More Dangerous Than Previously Thought: 1 in 10 Women Develop Infections”. Are you scared?
Well, one mother was when she read this from someone’s page and said as much in response to it. But having to continue to push an agenda does the poster respond with an, I’m sorry, I did not mean to alarm you? No, of course not, she has an agenda to push.
Nope instead she tries to imply that it’s the massive amounts of c-sections being performed as to why there are so many infections. I might be a little rusty on my statistics, but from what I recall when you flip a coin no matter how many times it’s flipped you still have a 50/50 shot of getting heads or tails. It’s all probabilities. Conceivably the number could go up or down the more cases of c-sections that are observed. Just like you might get heads more or less the more times you flip a coin.
The amount of c-sections being performed doesn’t necessarily change the risk of infection. That’s a known risk of a c-section. It’s a known risk of birth. Even vaginal birth has some probable risk of developing an infection. This is why temperatures need to be monitored after birth. It was monitored for me after all of my births regardless of how my children came out of me. And I left with instructions each time that if I develop a fever I am to call my doctor. Perhaps the risk is greater with a c-section because it is surgery after all, but as with everything we have to weigh those risks.
Now a woman who needs to have a c-section is scared because she read something that someone else found on the internet. And she’s not being reassured that she’s going to be okay either. She’s being told that we wouldn’t have to worry about this if our c-section rate wasn’t so high. But then you have to scratch your head at such sentiments because the study was performed in a country with a lower c-section rate.
Responding to the mind boggling statement
The Voice Of Reason
Or at least that’s what I was trying to be, is the voice of reason. I couldn’t sit back and watch a woman be fearful of something that was medically necessary for her. And to be told that there’s no changing it unless we have less c-sections. The thing is it is what it is and that’s one of the risks we have to take. Necessary or unnecessary c-sections we still risk infection. I calmly and rationally explained my thinking just as I’ve done here. Tried to reassure the young woman who was now terrified that she is going to end up being that 1 in 10 who get an infection that so long as she follows her doctor’s care instructions for the incision and watches for a fever and if one develops she contacts her doctor she should be fine.
And my calm rational suggestions and reassurance was promptly deleted. For what? Because it doesn’t fit with her agenda? Because pointing out that the study was performed in a country with a lower c-section rate makes her theory invalid? Because my ability to point out her flawed thinking made her look foolish? Maybe because I actually offered up advice which told the woman to listen to her medical professional whom she hired to take care of her and her unborn child. Who knows, but it was deleted. So I might not be preaching to the same exact audience as this insecure blogger, but I will have to take my message to my blog.
Because we should be able to be supported in our birth choices when we’re provided with accurate fact based information. Not anecdotal. Not statistics from another country. Not studies performed in another country. Fact based information from true professionals. People who have devoted their entire adult life to the study and practice of medicine. Not some blogger on the internet who may or may not have graduated from high school. Probably not even that CPM who also may or may not have graduated from high school. And you know what, not even me. At least not when it comes to giving out medical advice. All I have to offer you are my own experiences and those of friends and family.
And you know sharing stories is one thing. It got our parents by just fine. Somehow they listened to other people’s birth stories and made a decision to trust in themselves and their doctor to do what was right. And maybe that’s because they had first hand knowledge instead of reading what a stranger was saying. Because we really do never know what kind of crazy person we’re talking to. That stranger with an agenda could be a man for all any of us actually know who likes to see how much he can get women in a tizzy. Or she could just be an insecure woman looking for attention anyway she can get it, even if that means spreading over exaggerated lies across the internet.
Do you think the internet has a way of making life a little harder in certain aspects?
