Yesterday Yashendu, Ramona and I spent the day in Delhi. We went there to choose a hospital where we will go when our baby decides it is time to be born. We had talked to several hospitals on phone from Vrindavan and from those had selected four which we wanted to have a look at and decide in which one we felt most comfortable. So we started early and were roaming around in the city the whole day with this task. When we were talking on phone and also at the hospital, the first question we were always asked was ‘Do you want to have a Caesarian or a normal birth?’
This question made us laugh on one hand but also provoked some serious thoughts on the other hand. While we were very sure that we wanted the birth to happen just natural and with as little medical help as possible, we know that many people answer this question with ‘Caesarian’ and opt for the operation. What I wondered about was why this question actually comes up.
The very first thing that people need to be reminded of is that pregnancy is not an illness and a pregnant woman is not really a patient. It is a very natural process and for thousands of years it happened just simply in a natural way. Nowadays we have the possibility, through modern medicine, to check on the health of mother and baby during the process. In this way doctors can help prevent certain tragic events and consequences for the new family. Obviously this can save lives and is the benefit of the progress of medicine.
This is why people usually go to a hospital for the delivery. They know that a doctor will be there to help in a critical situation, too. A caesarian is the emergency solution for such a critical situation. If the baby is lying the wrong way round and a breech birth is not possible, if the child has the umbilical cord around the neck and doctors fear suffocation for him or her, if they don’t hear any heartbeat anymore or if the baby has grown so big that a natural birth could endanger the life of the mother, doctors can decide that a Caesarian would be a much lower risk which could keep both, mother and child alive and at good health.
Obviously this is a decision that is taken according to the circumstances. With time unfortunately it seems to have become a matter of decision for the parents. It seems to be just another of those many decisions that parenthood will bring: which car seat should we pick, should we use cloth diapers or disposable ones and will we have a caesarian birth or not? Women who are afraid of pain believe that this is an easy alternative without realizing that surgical intervention always comes with a higher risk, even if it was planned.
Here in India there is another factor that lets people choose a C-section: the child’s birth horoscope. I wrote about this idea before that people believe they can influence the child’s future by having it born on the right day and the right time. You can decide, within a certain time frame of course, when you would like to have your caesarian birth. Painless, quick and most of all you can decide upon the planetary constellations at the time of the birth. People believe in astrological predictions and want to make their children successful, beautiful, intelligent and lucky by this.
This concept has led to such an increase of unnecessary Caesarian sections that some statistics say hospitals have a rate of 65% caesarian sections where only about 5% were actually necessary. Of course a Caesarian is more expensive than a natural birth without complications in which the doctor just monitors and examines whether mother and child are fine. This can be a reason for doctors to encourage parents not to even try having a natural birth. Many people in our surrounding have had a horoscope done and then decided upon the day of delivery to have their C-section birth.
It is simply not the right concept in my opinion. We have to get back to being more natural and should not mix superstition and medical science. The result is more and more surgical intervention and a distance and fear of a completely natural process.
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You all three look so wonderfully happy on this picture!
The experience of birth is the first, greatest challenge in persons life.
So why to take away to your child and yourself this great life experience?!
After natural birth there are number of hormons released causing feelings of happiness.
Well, in the west I think women just want to avoid the pain. We have painkillers for everything, you don’t need to feel your own body at all if you don’t want to. That’s why the idea of such intensive pain is frightening and people go for a Cesarian or at least an epidural. I take it that you won’t opt for that either if possible and i believe that is the best solution!
Hi Swami Ji, Ramona looks beautiful 🙂 I had a 100% natural birth at home attended by midwives
Thank you Jenny, We are looking forward to this great event of our life. Sending you lots of Love
I’m so happy for the both of you 🙂 That is so funny because I was JUST thinking the other day when I recommended your site to a friend of mine that I bet you and your wife would be amazing parents if you had children…and now I see you will! Congrats to you both and I’m sending you both so much love and light 🙂
wishing you all the best, a happy and stressfree birth, I am sure it will all work out well! I was lucky to have a natural, quick and easy birth when my daugther was born. However, being a theatre nurse myself I know that many doctors are worried about lawsuits, this may also be a reason for them to “offer” caesarian sec.. its good to have a thought through plan as to where to go and how – but always try the way it was intended by nature. Good luck to all future parents!
Hi Jenny! Wow, that sounds like a marathon! 🙂 But very rewarding and very encouraging, thank you! 🙂 I am very determined about the ‘drug free’ part! And every mother whom I talked to until now said it was the most amazing thing they ever did – fully consciously!Thank you Baerbel for your experience and wishes, too!!!
C sections can be just as painful as other methods and leaves a big scar. I will never understand why anyone would opt for this over natural birth. Like you said, it has worked for thousands of years!