You find yourself at a cocktail party with the author of the book you just finished reading. To demonstrate that you really read it, you say, "Hey - thanks for writing Guide to Childbirth. Your main idea that midwives and home births can produce happy, relaxed, or even peaceful labors really made me rethink pregnancy & birth."
But the author, surprised to be talking to someone who instead of sharing their own birth story actually rephrased the main idea of the text she spent months giving birth to asks, "Really, which parts were most effective or important for you?" When you answer, "Well, in the last third of the book you focused on the technical parts of labor and birth, which further developed the first 2/3rds of the book. But let me be more specific. When you discussed the routines to refuse on pages 218-222, I was really interested in the different procedures that used to be mandatory; especially the pubic shave. I didn't realize that it was ever done. It was cool to see why they were used in the first place and why they were later ceased in most places. Another interesting section was on page 232, when you listed the various types of pain medication. I didn't realize there were so many types. The most interesting to me was the inhaled pain medications because they're so often used in Britain, both in hospitals and at home, but we still don't use them here in the US. A third interesting part was where you discussed the different causes of maternal deaths and how unaware US physicians were of the death rate on page 278. One section of it that I found particularly interesting, was the part in which you discussed the amniotic-fluid embolism. It was interesting to see how it affected women and how little people knew about it.
At this point, realizing that she's having a unique conversation with a serious reader of her/his book, the author asks - "But what could I have done to make this a better book - that would more effectively fulfill its mission?" You answer, "Well, let's be clear - your text sought to provide narratives and journalistic analysis from the perspective of midwives and mothers for the book-reading-public to better understand pregnancy & birth in our culture. Given that aim, and your book, the best advice I would give for a 2nd edition of the text would be, using more narratives from women who have experience hospital births so as to further your comparisons between midwives and hospitals. But I don't want you to feel like I'm criticizing. I appreciate the immense amount of labor you dedicated to this important issue and particularly for making me think about the impact a home birth and a great support group can have on the emotional state of labor. In fact, I'm likely to have children differently as a result of your book." The author replies, "Thanks! Talking to you gives me hope about our future as a society!"
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Homework #39: Insights from book part 2
Gaskin, Ina. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. New York, NY: Random House, 2003. Print.
1. List several topics/areas the book has taught you about that the "Business of Being Born" either ignored or treated differently or in less depth.
In the second part of Ina May's book, the information is purely factual, contrary to the stories in the first part. One thing that I learned from the book that wasn't focused on in the movie was that the emotional feelings that a woman may have in labor can highly affect how the process turns out. For instance, on pg. 138, Ina describes how even the smallest problem can make a woman reverse her labor. She described a memory in which a woman's cervix began to close mid labor after someone walked into the room who she didn't feel very close to. Another topic that I learned about was the role of the placenta. I never knew how important it actually was until I read this book. On pg. 144, Ina goes into the scientific facts about the process of labor: "The placenta does the work that will later be taken up by the baby's lungs, digestive system, liver, excretory systems, and the two chambers of the baby's heart..." As you can see, the placenta is the main provider for the baby and basically lives for it. I found that part really interesting because neither the movie, nor anything else really, show just how important a lot of the different parts of the female reproductive system really are.
2. The major insight the book tries to communicate in the second 100 pages (1-3 sentences) and your response to that insight (2-4 sentences).
Ina May's book focuses a lot more on the positives of home birth rather than the negatives of hospitalized births. While the first part of the book is really emotionally tied and very pro-home birth, the second part is much more factual and based around the medical facts of what always happens and what may happen. I believe that there really is no insight to this section because there are no opinions being stated. In that case, my response would be that there should be a lot more knowledge about the facts instead of simply getting opinions from our family and friends.
3. List 5 interesting aspects of pregnancy and birth discussed in the second hundred pages that you agree deserve wider attention (include page number).
-On page 138, Ina goes into a lot of research about the control a woman's mind can have over her body while in labor. I think it would be interesting to look into what causes retraction or pausing for a long period of time and how that's related to the mind of the woman.
-On page 145, Ina describes exactly what is happening to a woman's body as she is going through labor. I think this deserves wider attention because most people don't know what is happening, only that it's "right."
-On page 158, Ina gets firsthand accounts from women who had orgasms or extreme feelings of pleasure during their labor and birthing process. I think this deserves to have wider attention because society sees birth as a disease or a problem that involves pain and horror when in fact, there are a lot of women who have had quite the opposite experience.
4. Independently research one crucial factual claim by the author in the second hundred pages and assess the validity of the author's use of that evidence.
On pg. 210, Ina uses a quote from the producer of a synthetic drug that was used a lot on pregnant women, but never FDA approved: "G. D. Searle, the manufacturer of Cytocec, [a pill used as a synthetic substance to soften the cervix and lower part of the uterus.] has stated that it does not plan to seek FDA approval for the drug's use in labor induction." She got this information from Obstetrics & Gynecology, 1998; 91:828-30
1. List several topics/areas the book has taught you about that the "Business of Being Born" either ignored or treated differently or in less depth.
In the second part of Ina May's book, the information is purely factual, contrary to the stories in the first part. One thing that I learned from the book that wasn't focused on in the movie was that the emotional feelings that a woman may have in labor can highly affect how the process turns out. For instance, on pg. 138, Ina describes how even the smallest problem can make a woman reverse her labor. She described a memory in which a woman's cervix began to close mid labor after someone walked into the room who she didn't feel very close to. Another topic that I learned about was the role of the placenta. I never knew how important it actually was until I read this book. On pg. 144, Ina goes into the scientific facts about the process of labor: "The placenta does the work that will later be taken up by the baby's lungs, digestive system, liver, excretory systems, and the two chambers of the baby's heart..." As you can see, the placenta is the main provider for the baby and basically lives for it. I found that part really interesting because neither the movie, nor anything else really, show just how important a lot of the different parts of the female reproductive system really are.
2. The major insight the book tries to communicate in the second 100 pages (1-3 sentences) and your response to that insight (2-4 sentences).
Ina May's book focuses a lot more on the positives of home birth rather than the negatives of hospitalized births. While the first part of the book is really emotionally tied and very pro-home birth, the second part is much more factual and based around the medical facts of what always happens and what may happen. I believe that there really is no insight to this section because there are no opinions being stated. In that case, my response would be that there should be a lot more knowledge about the facts instead of simply getting opinions from our family and friends.
3. List 5 interesting aspects of pregnancy and birth discussed in the second hundred pages that you agree deserve wider attention (include page number).
-On page 138, Ina goes into a lot of research about the control a woman's mind can have over her body while in labor. I think it would be interesting to look into what causes retraction or pausing for a long period of time and how that's related to the mind of the woman.
-On page 145, Ina describes exactly what is happening to a woman's body as she is going through labor. I think this deserves wider attention because most people don't know what is happening, only that it's "right."
-On page 158, Ina gets firsthand accounts from women who had orgasms or extreme feelings of pleasure during their labor and birthing process. I think this deserves to have wider attention because society sees birth as a disease or a problem that involves pain and horror when in fact, there are a lot of women who have had quite the opposite experience.
4. Independently research one crucial factual claim by the author in the second hundred pages and assess the validity of the author's use of that evidence.
On pg. 210, Ina uses a quote from the producer of a synthetic drug that was used a lot on pregnant women, but never FDA approved: "G. D. Searle, the manufacturer of Cytocec, [a pill used as a synthetic substance to soften the cervix and lower part of the uterus.] has stated that it does not plan to seek FDA approval for the drug's use in labor induction." She got this information from Obstetrics & Gynecology, 1998; 91:828-30
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Homework #38: Insights from book part 1
Gaskin, Ina. Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. New York, NY: Random House, 2003. Print.
This book is fascinating to say the least. It’s structured by stories. So, every two or three pages is a new story by a different woman. I think the major question this book tries to answer is “Is birth as bad as people make it seem?” This is answered by having 100 pages of birth stories that are actually quite positive. The insight of the book so far is that birth is miraculous and wonderful and when done in the right setting, can be almost comfortable. I agree completely with this insight and I think that women everywhere should know that just because some women have terrible birth experiences, it doesn’t mean everyone would.
Some interesting aspects of pregnancies and birth that I believe should be publicized are that hospitalized births are not always horrible and home/center births are not always amazing. There’s good and bad in both. However, the way this book is written, is seems to be insinuating that births involving midwives only or revolving around The Farm (a large village in Alabama dedicated to making the birth process comfortable and carefree), are the best way to go and that hospitals are very uncomforting. Another aspect is that when the water breaks, it's really not necessary to panic or go to the hospital, or even call the midwives. In mast of the stories so far, the women said they took long walks after their water broke and even during labor. They say that they were told by the midwives to rest, take a shower or just go to sleep. For example, in a story by Tracey Sobel, she described how her labor took much longer than usual: "All three midwives had the same opinion: 'you might want to go for a walk.'" Apparently in most of these stories, walking helps to enduce labor so pitossin is actually quite unnecessary.
This book is fascinating to say the least. It’s structured by stories. So, every two or three pages is a new story by a different woman. I think the major question this book tries to answer is “Is birth as bad as people make it seem?” This is answered by having 100 pages of birth stories that are actually quite positive. The insight of the book so far is that birth is miraculous and wonderful and when done in the right setting, can be almost comfortable. I agree completely with this insight and I think that women everywhere should know that just because some women have terrible birth experiences, it doesn’t mean everyone would.
Some interesting aspects of pregnancies and birth that I believe should be publicized are that hospitalized births are not always horrible and home/center births are not always amazing. There’s good and bad in both. However, the way this book is written, is seems to be insinuating that births involving midwives only or revolving around The Farm (a large village in Alabama dedicated to making the birth process comfortable and carefree), are the best way to go and that hospitals are very uncomforting. Another aspect is that when the water breaks, it's really not necessary to panic or go to the hospital, or even call the midwives. In mast of the stories so far, the women said they took long walks after their water broke and even during labor. They say that they were told by the midwives to rest, take a shower or just go to sleep. For example, in a story by Tracey Sobel, she described how her labor took much longer than usual: "All three midwives had the same opinion: 'you might want to go for a walk.'" Apparently in most of these stories, walking helps to enduce labor so pitossin is actually quite unnecessary.
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