Diapers and more at Auction!

Hospitals get away with so much because what they do is done with a smile, and under the facade of "pro-woman". The nurses are friendly; the doctors seem to care; the birthing rooms have pretty wallpaper and a comfortable chair for the dad to sit in. Much of the time- you labor, birth and have your (short) postpartum stay in the same room. You're "allowed" to keep your baby in bed with you (except when the nurses insist on taking her away).

Now all of this will make the pregnant woman think that the hospital is an okay place to give birth in. And much of the time, it is "okay"... (as in kissing your brother instead of your lover is "okay", and having a cuppa from your Mr. Coffee is "okay" when you could be having a mocha latte from Starbuck's.) But it's all a scam, a smokescreen- the snow job of the century. No matter how pretty your birthing "suite" is there is still an operating room down the hall. No matter how kindly-faced the nurse is she is still prepared to stick an IV into your arm, or pass the doctor the scissors for the episiotomy.

No matter how "pro-woman" a hospital seems to be, every woman is still confined to the narrow rules of conduct that birthing women are expected to fall within. Will the hospital "let" a woman walk around in labor? Will she be "allowed" to give birth in water? Will they "let" her eat and drink? Will she be "allowed" to assume a birthing position other than flat on her back with her legs in the air? Will a woman be "allowed" to refuse pelvic exams, or the presence of unwelcome spectators? Will the hospital "let" her hold her baby immediately after birth, and permit the cord to pulse and remain uncut until the placenta is naturally delivered? Will the mother be allowed to catch her own baby- or will the father/partner be allowed to catch?

Probably not. Hospitals are "pro-woman" as long as the woman minds the hospital routines. No matter how liberated a hospital may seem to be, it must follow myriad protocols regarding its efficient, cost-effective running; and the individual's best interests are rarely minded more than the best interests of the institution.

Women will "buy" the friendly faces and pretty wallpaper, and think they're in a gentle, nice place. And often... they are. Many women do indeed come out of their births unscathed, with "okay" experiences to pass on to their girlfriends.

But parallel this okayness with birthing in freedom at home: at home there are never unacceptable spectators- and you don't have to demand to not have them around in the first place. At home you can be free in your birth sounds and expressions- and not have uncomfortable strangers twittering about with gas masks. At home you can give birth in any way you must- never according to the hospital's schedule of dilation and stations of descent. (I know of one small Korean woman whose second stage lasted over six hours- that's how long it took for the baby's head- the biggest the birth attendant had ever seen- to mold. We all know that such a long but important second stage would never have been allowed to happened in a hospital.) At home you don't have to ask permission to get up and poop. At home you don't have to have anyone advocate for you- because there is no one you must protect yourself against.

At home lulls in labor are welcomed rest breaks- not "arrests" of labor that require induction jumpstarts. At home the father is a lion guarding his turf- loving and protecting in the way he is biologically designed to- while in the hospital he is often a tongue-tied, puzzled, ignored outcast who can be used as a tool to manipulate the birthing woman to accept interventions she would normally abhor (but he's holding her hand during it all- what a great helper). At home you are surrounded by microbes you are used to, and have a minimal chance of developing an infection; but even in the most "pro-woman" hospital there is an increasing chance of mothers and babies developing antibiotic resistant hospital infections.

At home you can be yourself. Hospital staff tend to remain "okay" in how they treat you as long as you are as mainstream as they tend to be: looking, loving, or living differently will often get the birthing woman a different standard of care- one that is more paranoid and hands-off; or worse- more hands on: poor, minority, very young and non-English speaking women are more likely to be used as teaching fodder for young doctors to learn procedures on. Yes- hospitals are "pro-woman"- as long as you are a woman they feel comfortable about letting have a voice at all.

Believing in the safety of hospital birth and in the vacuous ideals of "pro-woman", when the institution is to the core "pro-institution", is falling for the snow job of the century... and the Rape of the Twentieth Century is what happens when you don't give birth in the textbook approach that the medical birth attendants have been so carefully trained in.

Rape of the Twentieth Century-
http://www.birthlove.com/pages/rape.html

The epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance in hospital acquired infections: problems and possible solutions: BMJ 1998;317:652-654
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/317/7159/652

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