Posts Tagged ‘Childbirth’
Childbirth Options
Childbirth Options
In the 1950s and 1960s the childbirth landscape was a dust bowl-barren, cold and sterile. Rigid hospital policies rendered any change infertile. Child birth was just another sterile, surgical event; consumers had no alternatives or options. Birthin’ babies was a serious business.
Winter of Discontent
By the 1970s and 1980s, consumers grew discontented with the status quo in obstetrics. Ferdinand Lamaze’s philosophy of “natural” childbirth brought seeds of change on a soft breeze of new consciousness that soon became a raging hurricane of controversy. Exciting alternatives germinated in the newly fertile obstetrical field. Birth options began sprouting everywhere, amid great concern from health care providers, who viewed the changes as unnecessary and threatening.
Prepared Childbirth
Evolution
Throughout history, men have had battlefields on which to prove their bravery. Traditionally, women have viewed the labor bed as their battleground, where their strength, endurance, and courage were tested. Women still love to tell “war” stories about labor and delivery. The “warriors” engage in fierce competition as they compare tales of who had the longest labor, the most stitches, and the biggest baby. This is female macho at its worst. The story-telling doesn’t change, but the battleground gets redecorated every decade or so.
Childbirth has come a long way from the 1950s and 1960s, when having babies was a very serious business. Doctors considered the process too complicated for the womenfolk to worry about and too gruesome for the men to participate in. The expectant father’s place was in the waiting room while the mother of his child labored in a drug-induced twilight zone, alone and stoned.
Choosing a Baby Doctor
Baby’s Doctor
After the seventh month of pregnancy is a good time to start thinking about who’ll be your baby’s doctor. The same criteria you used to pick your doctor apply here also.
Let Your Fingers Do the Talking
Streamline the interview process by caning and asking one of the office staff the following questions:
- What’s the procedure for after-hour’s coverage? Is there a call group? Do you go to the emergency room?
- How evenly is the doctor’s schedule divided between illness and wellness? Are there separate hours for wellness checks so your baby won’t be exposed to illness?
- Are developmental, safety, nutritional, and educational materials provided? Are there staff persons qualified to provide phone advice?
Food for Thought: Breast or Bottle Feeding
Food for Thought: Breast or Bottle Feeding
One of the many decisions facing you as expectant parents is whether to breast- or bottle-feed your baby. Medical and public opinion favor breastfeeding, claiming emotional, psychological, and physiological benefits. No one argues the health benefits, but claims about emotional benefits raise more than a few hackles on those who choose to bottle-feed, and rightly so. Let’s be realistic. The act of breast-feeding doesn’t automatically make you a better mother. Playing the martyr and doing it begrudgingly, or feeling guilty because you don’t do it, is counterproductive. So, relax. “Man does not live by bread alone,” and neither do babies … make that milk. The emotional benefits of breast-feeding come from holding and cuddling, something mom and dad can offer the bottle-fed baby too.