Thursday, April 21, 2011

If We Don’t Tell Women the Truth about Natural Childbirth Then They’ll Never Know!

I ran across this article today, and I completely fell in love with it. It is very true and heartfelt and I think every expecting parent should read this.

http://mynaturalchildbirth.org/natural-childbirth-2/

We Choose Natural Childbirth Because We Know What Goes On in the Hospital


The other night a guy friend of mine who saw the content of my Facebook page asked me, “so what’s the big deal with all these women and natural childbirth? And why do they feel the need to constantly talk about their birth and to get people to watch their birth videos and stuff?” My first reaction was to say, “You won’t get it, it’s a girl thing and it’s WAY too big of a topic to even get into.”

But then it occurred to me how little the average person knows about the current state of birth in our country. And that the only way to change that is to make it common knowledge and the only way to do that is to speak up and spread the word!

The truth remains that in our society most of us are either uninformed or misinformed. And most of what we think we know has been implanted into us not for the safety and well being of ourselves and our babies but for the monetary gain of the HCA (Hospital Corporations of America) one of the richest and most fraudulent corporations of all time.

I can’t keep quiet any more, this information is too important not to be shared. Women deserve to be given all of the information, only then can they be expected to make truly informed decisions.

Only when women are acting from a place of knowledge and not from fear will we have a real chance to reclaim birth as the sacred and empowering journey that it is meant to be and not as the dire medical emergency that is leaving millions of Mommas traumatized.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Because We Know the Facts

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FACT #1- The Current Medically Engineered System of Birth Is Failing Us

In our country we treat birth as if it’s a medical emergency. Instead of allowing normal birth to follow it’s natural process doctors are interfering and are taking over with their own man made technology centered system of birth. As if they can somehow do a better job than nature. These methods are highly intrusive and dangerous. Over half of the women who give birth in the hospitals are leaving feeling abused, mistreated and traumatized. This system is failing us in a BIG way!

  • The United States lags behind most other industrialized and even some developing countries in maternal mortality, currently ranking 50th out of 171 countries
  • Our current C-section rate is 33% and rising

We Choose Natural Childbirth because it is Our Bodies, Our Babies, Our Experience and Our Choice

Natural Childbirth

FACT #2- “Birth Rape” is Real and It’s Common

Since I have dove into this birth world I cannot believe the stories that I’m hearing every day. We’re seeing our fellow women, our sisters, and our friends going into the hospital to have their babies and coming out completely traumatized by what went on!

They say that they were manipulated by the hospital system and bullied into accepting unnecessary interventions and even c-sections without sound medical reason. The feelings some women have about their negative experiences are overwhelming. Many are claiming birth abuse, and some would even go as far as to say birth “rape” especially if they had instruments placed inside them without their consent.

This (rape) can include having Q-tips, speculums, scissors, forceps, vacuums, fingers, hands, and other objects inserted into a woman’s vagina or being given an enema, IV, epidural, or C-section without their consent.

Having one’s water broken without consent is another example of doctor’s taking control, which is basically what rape is all about. Being coerced, manipulated or deceived so that one will be obedient and go along with these treatments is another form of birth rape. Some even consider making rude and discouraging remarks to influence the mother rather than empower her to be included in the definition. Moving a mother into certain positions without asking and telling her what to do are further examples of mistreatment.

Some deny the existence of birth trauma in mothers or believe that they or exaggerating, especially being that misconduct is rarely reported.

Some 54% of women in one study had grounds for a complaint but did not file.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Because We Will Not Allow Ourselves to be Operated on For Profit

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FACT #3- Despite the Poor Quality of Care, Business is Booming & Profits Soar for the HCA (Hospital Corporation of America)

One of the largest hospital operators is a gigantic corporation called the HCA (Hospital Corporation of America) it is one of the most profitable and corrupt multi-billion dollar corporations of all time.

Before you decide to hire them to be in charge of one the most important and monumental experiences of your life, the birth of your child there are a few things that you should know about them.

  • The HCA has been investigated by the FBI, the Internal Revenue Service and the Department of Health and Human Services who served search warrants at Columbia/HCA facilities and on dozens of doctors with suspected ties to the company. Following the raids, the Columbia/HCA board of directors forced Rick Scott to resign as Chairman and CEO. Who despite his wrongdoings still made off with $350 million dollars. In 1999, Columbia/HCA just simply changed their name back to HCA, Inc. and went about business as usual
  • HCA also admitted fraudulently billing Medicare and other health programs by inflating the seriousness of diagnoses and to giving doctors partnerships in company hospitals as a kickback for the doctors referring patients to HCA. They filed false cost reports, fraudulently billing Medicare for home health care workers, and paid kickbacks in the sale of home health agencies and to doctors to refer patients. In addition, they gave doctors “loans” never intending to be repaid, free rent, free office furniture, and free drugs from hospital pharmacies.
  • 2000 and 2002, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies.
  • In late 2002, HCA agreed to pay the U.S. government $631 million, plus interest, and pay $17.5 million to state Medicaid agencies, in addition to $250 million paid up to that point to resolve outstanding Medicare expense claims. In all, civil law suits cost HCA more than $2 billion to settle, by far the largest fraud settlement in US history.

All of these crimes appear to be aimed at making more money from each patient as possible. Apply this to birth and suddenly the reason for a 33% cesarean rate becomes clear. They have no interest in a simple, intervention free birth but have such a huge interest in interventions that they are willing to risk a $2 billion fine as just a small cost of doing business.

Fact #4- Hospitals Make More Money Off of Birth Than any Other Condition

Natural Childbirth

They have twice as much money coming in from each c-section birth than each natural vaginal childbirth, some employer based health plans give doctors an extra bonus of up a $750 per C-section.

This is a scary thought. We are putting our faith and trust into a system that is not working for us but rather for themselves. This is why you need to analyze for yourself everything that these doctors tell you. They can be crucial in spotting and helping with severe issues, but they also have a terrible record of inflating very minor differences into surgery requiring problems.

Most midwives on the other hand have nothing to gain from advising an intervention, their only motivation would be the wellbeing of the mother and child. This is a crucial separation of interests; it is never good to have the person with the most to benefit from a bad outcome as an advisor.

Hospitals most profitable service is birth; they’re charging a fortune but are delivering poor service. If they were a restaurant chain they would have gone out of business years ago.

But they are a multi-billion dollar business and they have something very powerful on their side: billions of dollars, enough to hire the most expensive cut throat financial consultants there are, people sitting at desks doing nothing but figuring out how they can make the hospitals more money!

They have the ability to manipulate using the oldest tactic in the book, by feeding off of peoples fear. They do this by creating the illusion of danger, they tell us that for one reason or another our bodies are broken but we are in luck because they are there to offer the solution to it, and one they get paid for.

We Choose Natural Childbirth Without Fear

It is the most natural thing in the world for us to have fear about birth. It is something that is huge! We’ve never done it before, it sounds impossible that our bodies would be able to pass another human through them. And then the pain, all the pain we’ve heard about, the anguish the horror stories, and then there are the movie scenes that all tell us that birth is scary and painful! Women are scared to death of giving birth.

And that is why WE are here!

We Share Our Natural Childbirths because…

If We Don’t Tell Women the Truth about Natural Childbirth Then They’ll Never Know!

Natural ChildbirthNatural Childbirth

“Pregnancy is Not a Condition and Birth is Not an Emergency”

I and many other women know this to be true! We know how profound, amazing, empowering, beautiful and completely encompassed in love natural childbirth can be! It is so powerful I feel like it has changed me right down to the core, it has awoken me to this powerful woman that I always thought that I could be but that I now know that I am.

I choose natural childbirth because I want to pass on to my daughter that she too is strong, and to lead by example that when you are faced with the unknown the answer is never FEAR, it is always to trust and believe in yourself.

Natural Childbirth

Why do you choose Natural Childbirth?

2 comments:

  1. I choose natural birth to be aware and alive during my birth and so that my baby is not affected by any meds. I don't want to inhibit our time of bonding.

    I also choose natural birth because I have had epidural births and have been birth raped. I cannot tell you how many things were done without information and without consent even when I said NO!

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  2. I choose natural childbirth because it is safer for me and for my baby, and because I do not care to suffer PPD again, and I'm still working on healing from my first birth which caused PTSD. I don't have to be traumatized from my child's birth.

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