Waiting on the (maternity) World to Change

“And when you trust your television, what you get is what you got; cause when they own the information, oh, they can bend it all they want” – lyrics from John Mayer’s Waiting on the World to Change.

I heard this song on a playlist while driving home from teaching a Lamaze seminar and thought those lyrics completely captured the current status of maternity care in the United States (which isn’t good, friends!). 

Think back to your school years.  All the way back to fifth grade where, no matter what planet you lived on, you were getting THE TALK which consisted of our changing bodies and basic (but necessary!) hygiene, what to expect, and how to care for things like… periods.  Then in middle school we learned all of the ways to NOT get pregnant and NOT become victim to a sexually transmitted infection.  In high school, if you were really lucky, you got to take home one of those Baby Think it Over © dolls that was supposed to convince every teenager that parenting a newborn is a nightmare. 

In 11th grade health class I did get to see a movie on birth (on VHS of course).  It showed one vaginal birth and the majority of the class was so consumed with the fact that we were seeing actual genitals in school that we didn’t give two hoots about the miracle of birth.  After that, it was back to learning about condoms, abstinence, and “no means no”.  
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Outside of school, we are bombarded with birth scenes from Hollywood.  We decide to start a family of our own with very limited knowledge about pregnancy, birth, and parenting a new life.  We are offered tons of unsolicited advice – and many times that advice has no scientific merit to it.  About a month or so before our babies are born, we attend a childbirth education class that shows us all of the pain relief options that are available in the hospital (as if the ONLY part of bringing a new life into the world that we need to know is the type of pain relief that is available). 

And that is how we learn everything we need to know about having (and raising) a baby.

As childbearing women, we don’t “own the information” as the lyrics say.  Our healthcare provider does – and so “they can bend it all they want” to accommodate their own comfort zones or knowledge base.  So rather than have evidence-based, respectful health care, we risk receiving care based on opinions, assumptions, and malpractice insurance parameters.  What’s even worse is that we have NO IDEA.  We think we are well-informed, we trust our health care provider to make decisions on what’s best for us.  We put it all in their hands.  We “trust the television” reality shows as depicting birth as it really is (hint: a well-supported birth isn’t all that exciting and wouldn’t really sell TV ratings.  It’s beautiful and empowering, but the drama-filled screaming woman giving birth with a “medical emergency” is what keeps shows on the air, so that’s what you’re going to see). 

The United States has one of the worst maternity care systems in the developed world.  We have more women dying from childbearing-related causes than any other industrialized nation.  If more families knew this fact, we’d be less likely to “trust the information” and instead, educate ourselves to be informed consumers and parents.  Meanwhile, we’re just waiting on the maternity world to change.

For those of you who wish to begin your education, start by understanding the Midwifery Model of Care.  Investigate the difference between midwifery care and OB care.  Read a good book such as Giving Birth with Confidence: The Official Lamaze Guide for evidence-based information.  Take an out-of-hospital Lamaze Childbirth Education class.  Go visit a local birth center and compare those options to that of your local hospital.  Ask for statistics such as C-Section rate (the World Health Organization recommends a rate lower than 15% and deems any rates larger than that are unnecessary and do more harm than good).  These suggestions will lead you on a path to find further information to help you on your journey of becoming parents.