"American women are aggressively monitored, screened, and tested throughout pregnancy and childbirth. Labor is often started artificially or accelerated with drugs and instruments: well over half of labors are chemically induced or augmented with synthetic oxytocin, and two-thirds of women have their water broken manually."
Even with all of this "care", the U.S. ranks near the bottom among industrialized countries in maternal and infant mortality with rates continuing to get worse. Preterm births are on the rise, cerebral palsy rates have remained stagnant even with advanced "care", and in 2002, the infant mortality rates rose for the first time since 1958.
According to the World Health Organization, we rank second to last among 33 industrialized countries in this regard and 30th for maternal mortality. Women are 70 percent more likely to die in childbirth in the United States than in Europe.
What's going on? Why does the safety of laboring women and newborns continue to get worse in America with all the technology? In my opinion, it is for one reason: Lack of Knowledge. American women increasingly and blindingly trust their doctors. Unfortunately, many doctors and hospitals have practices put in place as a result of convenience factors that are not benefiting women or their babies. To be a little more specific, we'll briefly discuss the main procedures below, along with the procedure's purpose and dangers:
Cesarean
Current studies show rates of C-sections above 15% do more harm than good. The World Health Organization recommends countries stay within 5-10%. With the 2007 rate at 31.8%, about one mother in three now gives birth by cesarean section, a record level for the United States. That's more than double the safe rate and three to six times the amount recommended by the WHO.
A woman is four times more likely to die from a cesarean birth than from a vaginal birth. A cesarean birth also predisposes a woman to further risk by causing her to have subsequent children via cesarean. Additional problems that can result from this surgical delivery are quoted by Childbirth Connection:
Short-term harms for mothers include increased risk of infection, surgical injury, blood clots, emergency hysterectomy, intense and longer-lasting pain, going back into the hospital and poor overall functioning. Babies born by cesarean section are more likely to have surgical cuts, breathing problems, difficulty getting breastfeeding going, and asthma in childhood and beyond. Perhaps due to the common surgical side effect of "adhesion" formation, cesarean mothers are more likely to have ongoing pelvic pain, to experience bowel blockage, to be injured during future surgery, and to have future infertility. Of special concern after cesarean are various serious conditions for mothers and babies that are more likely in future pregnancies, including ectopic pregnancy, placenta previa, placenta accreta, placental abruption, and uterine rupture (Childbirth Connection 2006).For more details on te reasons cesareans are on the rise and the dangers of this procedure, go here: http://www.childbirthconnection.org/article.asp?ck=10456.
Many women are duped into c-sections as a result of misinformation, including the lie of Fetal Macrosomia--thinking the baby would be too big for the birth canal (see key words on side of blog for articles on that), but most frequently as a result of induced labor that hasn't progressed. In fact, it is estimated that 50 percent of all inductions will result in a cesarean. Which leads us to the next topic:
Induction
As we've read above, induction is incredibly likely to result in cesarean as a result of labor that does not progress. You see, God made our bodies wonderfully intricate. When a baby is ready, he will release hormones that signal to a mother's body to begin contractions and soften the cervix. When this does not happen naturally, it is likely to not happen at all without a scalpel. Contractions caused by the use of Pitocin are usually unnaturally strong yet unproductive and cause trauma to the baby, which is why the use of fetal monitoring is so important with the use of Pitocin.
The use of Pitocin is also often the cause of babies being born "blue" (Hypoxemia) and the rise in childhood ADHD. Check the key words on the side of this blog to search for more information on the use of Pitocin and labor augmentation.
Cord Clamping Practice Too Early
“Equine veterinary practice forbids interfering with physiology by early cord clamping in newborn foals. Term newborn foals subjected to immediate cord clamping often develop a convulsive syndrome very similar to respiratory distress syndrome of the newborn in humans.”“Immediate clamping of the cord leads to hypovalemia and anemia with serious consequences in the neonate. A delay in cord clamping of as little as 30 seconds reduces the need for neonatal transfusion and the incidence of anemia. There is also lower evidence of intracranial hemorrhage.”
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1576/toag.10.2.112.27400/full
Ever heard of the benefits of cord-blood banking? "This is human insanity of the first order. That blood is designed by nature to go into that child's body at birth, not 30 years later!" Save thousands of dollars and just delay cord clamping so those valuable T-cells go back into baby's body!
http://www.naturalchildbirth.org/natural/resources/labor/labor04.htm
These are just a few examples of the injustices created by the medical field at the expense of women and babies. Please read on by checking out some of the blog's posts and arm yourself with information!
