Beginning of AWOB Paper/ Exhibition

INTRODUCTION
Pregnancy. Pregnancy is a very tangible subject that provokes many arguments from two main sides, the all natural way of birth as we did back in the day versus the “American” way of birth where extremities have been included to “better serve” the woman. Over the decades pregnancy has been viewed from several different perspectives. It was once a spiritual right of passage for a couple to start a family of their own but now, it is seen and treated as a disease in the general hospital. Many technologies have been developed that is strongly advertised by doctors towards pregnant women. Women are constantly encouraged to give birth within a hospital where there is immediately medical help if it is needed. Little do these women know that that are getting pulled into a trap that hospitals have set up to lure them into a higher rate of Cesarean sections, a nightmarish experience (in comparison to the sacred experience that a small minority of people still see birth as) which all leads to a high medical bill due to the usage of multiple machineries and the labor of experienced personnel. Yet these peculiar women completely overlook these facts and see hospitals as a completely safe environment where they will be well taken care of and cannot see past the foreshadowing faces of the hospital employees. Women in the U.S. should resist continuing medicalization of birth and return to more natural methods. Resist authority, “stick it to the man”.

ARGUMENT # 1: Cesarean Sections
Cesarean sections have been on a gradual rise since it was first used in the birth of Caesar. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that the rate of Caesarean sections should not exceed 15% in any country. In 2006, the rate of U.S. births by C-section was 31.1%. (Wikipedia) Women believe anything doctors say when they are in labor. When the doctor says its time for the baby to be born and that there can be serious medical complications, women do what the doctors say. If women continue to follow every suggestion that doctors come up with, cesarean rates will continue to rise until it is the only way of birth in America. Medical decisions at hospitals are made by monetary and legal decisions rather that what it best for the mother. Statistics show that the rate of maternal mortalities is higher when there is a cesarean birth. Most women do not look into statistics before they plan out their pregnancy therefore they are ignorant to the fact that doctors tend to take over and are pressured into doing what the doctors think is “best”. Women do not need all the medical advice given by doctors at hospitals, they need to trust their instincts and go with the more conventional method of natural birth where they can listen to the needs of their bodies instead of going at the schedule of doctors.

ARGUMENT # 2: Nightmare Experience vs. Sacred
When women enter a hospital to give birth, they are immediately started on the procedure of the hospital. If the woman has not dilated to an expected width in a certain amount of time set up by the hospital, they are given pitossin to speed up the labor. When given pitossin, the women are in extreme pain because the contractions are violent so they are then given an epidural. When given the epidural more pitossin is needed because the labor is slowed down by epidural. Women have to go through a continual cycle that medical personnel conduct. They no longer have control of their own labor when they are entered into this draining cycle. These women have the memory of a nightmare experience during labor. At a hospital they cannot do anything but lay in one stationary position hooked up to multiple machines while strangers walk in and out of the room in comparison to the comfort of a natural birth at either a birthing center or at home. When women have natural births, they are free to move around and do whatever they want to be comfortable. Women who chose the path of natural birth make their own decisions and the birth of their child is entirely dependant on the pace of their bodies and not the pace that the pitossin conducts. They have control of their labor. The birth is thought of as a sacred right of passage. It is seen as something that the women goes through in order to start a loving family of her own instead of something that she had to go through because she got knocked up. Women need to take charge and give birth according to the birthing plan that they dream about without the interference of unnecessary doctoral orders.

ARGUMENT # 3: Cost ^
Cost is a very considerable aspect in pregnancy. When it comes to cost, some may think that a hospital birth is better because the birth will be covered by insurance but what others may not know is that if people were to have natural births, the price of insurance will go down. The average cost of a normal vaginal birth in the US is around $8,800 according to recent research, while the average cost of a cesarean birth is around $11,000. Costs can run up to $24,000, with fees like $6,500 for services from a Birth Center, $9,800 for 2 nights stay at Neonatal Intensive Care, and $4,100 for 2 nights stay at the Maternity Ward for the mother. While insurance will cover the cost of the procedure for many in the US, for those who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant, many insurance companies will refuse new service. (Bangkok Hospital) Assuming an uncomplicated pregnancy ending in a vaginal birth, patients would pay between $1,455 and $7,884 out-of-pocket for a midwife. (Todd Zwillich, WebMD Health News) There is a large difference in numbers between a hospital birth and a birth with a midwife. When paying a midwife, a couple’s insurance will go down because they do not have to pay off what the insurance would have covered in a hospital birth. Considering this fact about money, women should do their research and see that hiring a midwife is inexpensive in comparison to the cost of showing up at a hospital to give birth.

OPPOSING VIEW # 1: Safety of Hospitals

OPPOSING VIEW # 2: Pain without Epidural

CONNECTIONS -> How did midwives get pushed out? What will happen if women resisted?

SIGNIFICANCE

Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caesarean_section
Business of Being Born
http://www.prlog.org/10139941-bangkok-hospital-reduces-up-to-90-of-cost-of-giving-birth-for-us-patients.html
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=81760