My mother has told me the story that around the time of my birth there was a betting pool going around with expectant mothers guessing when their child would be born. As I was a scheduled surgery, my mother felt it would be wrong to participate. I'm assuming that the cesarean section (c-section) was scheduled around 8:00 a.m. as I was born at 8:06 a.m. Again, just guessing. Never been pregnant (haven't had that opportunity). I was the fourth of the five children my mom had by c-section. She couldn't deliver us naturally and, boy, she wanted children!
People will always find something to be prejudiced about. I'm really big on free will. I think everyone has a human right to do what they want...provided that they are well-informed that no matter what they may choose there are consequences to those choices and that they are willing to live with whatever may happen next. For example: I like cakes and cookies. I know that when I eat them too often I will gain weight. I can workout to keep off the pounds from such indulgences, give up eating the sweets, or do something drastic to try to remove the consequence of weight gain, such as surgery. If I decided to get liposuction ONLY because I didn't want to work to lose the weight or prevent the gaining of it in the first place, then that would be irresponsible as there is a chance of death from the surgery. I mean, I might feel like my lungs are going to explode if I run for any length of time, but they won't. My asthma isn't *that* bad. Don't get me wrong, you are allowed to have liposuction just as I am allowed to think it's risky to do so.
So, if you're allowed to do what I deem "extremely weird" by having your childbirth happen in a kiddie pool in your living room and then eat the placenta afterwards, then I should be allowed to have a c-section if necessary, as that will most likely be my outcome of ever getting pregnant. Yesterday I read an article about a non-protest on childbirth (held on Labor Day, no less) which has me very, extremely, frighteningly concerned. Despite the protestations of the website claiming that the people gathering nationally with picket signs wasn't a protest, this only opens the door to judginess. If you are doing your best to educate people on not having voluntary inductions and cesareans, you also run the risk of people judging others on their birthing choices who have chosen differently than you have. Though it may be true that some women want to get out of being pregnant earlier than their due date or their child's own internal clock, it is also true that some of those inductions and c-sections were necessary.
When you don't actually know the history of such a choice, are you sure you can properly look down upon someone who makes it? My mother would never ever have been able to pass any of her children the "normal" way. Surgery was necessary for the first through fifth child for our mutual survival. Due to genetics, there would be a high probability that if my mother couldn't deliver vaginally, then it was likely that the same would happen to any of her daughters. Of my three sisters, only one has not had to have a c-section. Of the one sister who has birthed both ways, her doctor cautioned against a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean) for her third child as her second had to be removed via c-section for health reasons. Yes, it was for a legitimate emergency. She didn't have the highly risky (for her and her baby) VBAC. All my sisters, as well as their children, are alive and well.
Because my sisters share some of their life stories with me, I know that one had to sit through a very uncomfortable conversation where someone else was sharing their horror story of almost having to have a cesarean as if it were an evil thing, but prayer saved them in the end. Good for you! However, my sister felt diminished from having had to do such a thing as having her children surgically removed, though none of them would be alive if she hadn't. A different sister had to hear how feeding your child formula was irresponsible (actually, not having enough colostrum is also common in my genetics and not supplementing breast milk with formula may have led to my sisters' children starving, but let's not take something like *that* into account).
But people are passionate. They are passionate that others should be just like them. You may have noticed such behavior in politics. Can I just say that I'm soooooooo happy that a) I can't afford cable or satellite, b) digital television by antenna simply doesn't work, and c) watching television over the Internet really cuts down on political blechiness. I don't like muckraking and never have. Stop being not nice to each other (this means even on facebook). I am abstaining from being overtly political online because 1) I have had to sit through many, MANY political discussions where the party I usually align myself with has been thoroughly dissected and insulted by family members that assumed I was part of their political belief system and 2) hating groups of people because of their personal beliefs makes me uncomfortable. So I will do what I always do and vote according to my conscience, which includes learning candidates' political platforms by researching online directly from their websites. If you don't have a website or if your political goals are not clearly stated on them then I am not voting for you. Tres simple, non?
I am already aware that I will have to have surgery during childbirth if I want living children. It would not matter how much I researched other options and alternative birthing methods. It would be irresponsible of me to not have good prenatal care or go to the hospital when it's time. But I may never have to make such a choice as I'm still single and am not going to purposely go the single-parent route. And if I pass along my genetics, then my children will also run the risk of having to have a c-section. So, you see, it could be that there are more cesareans performed in the USA because we have been performing them longer than a lot of other countries and allowing children such as I to live and procreate, therefore passing along the same health issue (this has led to my concern about those who have to use fertility treatments to conceive--will their children be even less fertile--I don't know). So, to recap: child birthing is a miracle no matter how you do it. Don't mistake it for anything other than that. And don't judge me for leaning on modern medicine for my survival. I'm going to do it anyway and I'd rather not have someone trying to make me feel guilty for doing so. That's what consequences are for....
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