Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Longread #229 -- Labor, Interrupted -- 1/8/12

Today's longread looks at how the nature of childbirth has changed in America reflecting a greater trend toward C-sections. It analyzes the benefits and risks of C-sections for mothers, babies, and for the healthcare system.

"Labor, Interrupted" by Nell Lake
Published in Harvard Magazine, November-December 2012
http://harvardmagazine.com/2012/11/labor-interrupted?src=longreads

Eric

2 comments:

  1. Of course childbirth is “an inherently risky endeavor,” she says. “But we’ve somehow gotten to a place where we’ve lost trust in physiology.”

    This sums up my feelings on this subject.

    I like the idea of a 'birth center' as a wing in a hospital that is run by midwives. A woman could choose to be looked after by her primary midwife during a healthy birth. If complications arise, the primary doctor's team would take the reigns, and the woman would be moved to the surgical wing for a C-section.

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  2. I think there is probably a strong scientific argument behind cutting a baby out of someone who plans to name their child "Prairie," and then giving it to someone more deserving.

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