Business of Being Born
“The Business of Being Born”
In America and globally, we are known to do things differently apart from other countries, and sometimes it is beneficial, but by doing things differently; are we setting ourselves in the lead or few steps back? For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in the early times, until doctors, who began a political campaign smear against midwives, which led to a decline in opting midwives in the birthing process. Poignantly, giving birth to an OB-GYN was dangerous because many doctors graduating from medical school had not seen a live birth before setting out to practice, which meant infant mortality transcended. Before a cultural shift in birthing babies in the 1900’s, it was common to give birth at home with a midwife, ninety-five percent of women gave birth at home. By 1938, half of births took place at home, and then by 1955, less than 1 percent of births were at home. The number remains today. (Lane, R. (Producer), & Epstein, A. (Director). (2008). The Business of being born.) Having drugs involved in the birthing process is now a routine in today’s modern society, for that which, I believe is because we have been taught to believe that it is customary to want drugs, and if you do not want drugs, you are setting yourself to suffer.
Doctors who practiced obstetrics in the early times did not think that women were expected to be a part of the birthing process or in better words, actively awake. They were continuously inventing drugs that were believed to help mothers endure
In America and globally, we are known to do things differently apart from other countries, and sometimes it is beneficial, but by doing things differently; are we setting ourselves in the lead or few steps back? For hundred of years, women have wrestled with their womanhood, bodies, and what it means to be a woman in our society. Being a woman comes with a wonderful and empowering responsibility--giving birth. What sets us aside from other countries is that the process and expectations of giving birth has changed in our society; coming from midwifery, as it has always been since the early times, to hospitals where it is now expected to give birth at. Midwifery was a common practice in delivering babies in the early times, until doctors, who began a political campaign smear against midwives, which led to a decline in opting midwives in the birthing process. Poignantly, giving birth to an OB-GYN was dangerous because many doctors graduating from medical school had not seen a live birth before setting out to practice, which meant infant mortality transcended. Before a cultural shift in birthing babies in the 1900’s, it was common to give birth at home with a midwife, ninety-five percent of women gave birth at home. By 1938, half of births took place at home, and then by 1955, less than 1 percent of births were at home. The number remains today. (Lane, R. (Producer), & Epstein, A. (Director). (2008). The Business of being born.) Having drugs involved in the birthing process is now a routine in today’s modern society, for that which, I believe is because we have been taught to believe that it is customary to want drugs, and if you do not want drugs, you are setting yourself to suffer.
Doctors who practiced obstetrics in the early times did not think that women were expected to be a part of the birthing process or in better words, actively awake. They were continuously inventing drugs that were believed to help mothers endure