Childbirth in the spotlight

Normal childbirth, I think it’s really mine, it belongs to the woman. I wanted it because I thought like that, that to be a mother you had to go through this, I thought I wasn’t supposed to do a C-section. I think that to become a woman you have to go through a normal childbirth and I needed to go through this experience to be become a woman, I wanted, no matter what, to have a normal birth.

The day that my son was born I did not hear him cry. Gabriel had a lack of oxygenation during delivery and was born with no heartbeat. He was revived by a blue-eyed pediatrician, whose eyes were red and full of tears when she gave me the news that he was not well. The first time that I saw my baby, he was intubated, on his way to the ICU. My husband and I (who saw the entire birth) stayed in the operating room not understanding the dimension of what was happening. His normal birth was dreamed of, encouraged, and praised. But he was a big baby and the internal part of my pelvis was small. He got stuck. The doctor, an experienced man, explained to me later, when the labor became complicated, that it was no longer possible to do a C-section. Result: my son almost died, and I was seriously injured. After one month, he was released from the ICU. The only part of his brain that was permanently affected was that related to motor coordination. Even though I know that what happened was unavoidable, even today I deeply regret having insisted so much with my doctor to have a normal childbirth

Normal childbirth was an ideal for me. My pregnant colleagues from Yoga used to say that we needed to “empower” ourselves, as if the power and responsibility were exclusively the mother’s. I did everything to “empower” myself. Maybe, if I had been less obsessed with this (and had obsessed my doctor less), things might have been different and I would not have become frustrated for having had a C-section. I agree that the Brazilian statistics on C-sections has to change. But no life can be put at risk in the name of this cause. Many friends whose births evolved into C-sections told with me they had the same frustration that I had. ‘I wasn’t able to have a normal birth.” This is absurd. Having a C-section is not a sin and, more importantly, it is not the mother’s fault. Children help us to see that we do not have control over everything. Sad are the women who do not understand this.

My wife, Coleen, was seven months pregnant with our second child when I read an article about VBAC (Vaginal Birth after Cesarean). Our first child was born through C-section. The ultrasounds had shown that the second child was big and the C-section was scheduled. Coleen, who feared the contractions, liked the idea of a C-section. As for me, I didn’t like it: not being able to experience a “normal” vaginal birth. But it was up to her to decide. There was not, according to her, time to prepare for a radical change. Three days later, Coleen woke up at 5:00am, perplexed because she was feeling some contractions. They increased, and we went to the hospital. The cervix was with a 2cm dilation. The doctor said in a calm, but firm voice: “Since you started by yourself, you’re going to finish by yourself.” A ray of panic shone through my wife’s eyes, but we were able to calm her down. The baby was premature. About 10:30am, she was taken to the delivery room. At 11:02am, after the routine episiotomy, Coleen pushed one more time and Patrick was born, with 2.85 kg. Today, we are both happy.

My name is Adelir Góes, I am 29 years old, and I have two children, one 7 and one 2 years old. I dreamed of having a normal childbirth in the third pregnancy. If my town had a home birth team, it would be my choice, but I would be happy with a normal hospital birth. I just wanted to avoid a C-section.
I was at 41 weeks of gestation, the baby moving around, the baby’s heartbeat and my blood pressure were normal. I went to the hospital complaining of pain in the lower back and the womb. The doctor recommended an immediate C-section as the only option. But I refused and returned home, after signing a term of responsibility.
While I waited at home, with the aid of my labor coach, the hospital called the Public Ministry, which sent an ambulance and forced me to go to the hospital. If I refused to go, armed police would take my husband to jail. He wasn’t even able to watch the birth, given that there is a Federal Law in Brazil that guarantees this right. And my rights to my body and my choices?

I did not want to have children, because I could not imagine myself as a mother. But the time was passing, and I decided to give it a chance. And I wanted the “full package”. To be a mother, it was essential to give birth to my child. Me myself. At 42 years old and my first child, I was afraid to go to any hospital and go through obstetric violence during a “normal” (abnmormal) delivery, as had happened with my mother. A C-section, no way. So I decided to give birth at home. I got informed, surrounded myself with experienced professionals. My son was born with the aid of two nurses and my husband. It was a transforming experience. In the days that followed, I wanted to have more children only to give birth a thousand times. It hurt a lot! And it was marvelous! When my family found out, I had already given birth without leaving home. I think that experience was essential to become a mother that I has never dreamed to be.

Even being an obstetrician, I ended up dedicating my career to natural childbirth. I worked as a surgeon in a maternity center near Paris. There, we changed the rules, substituting the delivery room for a room that seemed to be a room of a house. We developed a different approach for the birth, including alternatives, like giving birth in water to alleviate the pain. I defend that the woman needs to be protected from interferences that can inhibit labor. And that the baby should be colonized by his/her mother’s germs, especially when passing through the vaginal canal. I research the effects of oxytocin, which is a natural hormone that has been used, in synthetic form, in high doses during delivery.

I know how to give birth, and I know that there is no need for so many interventions! But will it hurt!? Of course it will! And it is possibly the only pain that makes sense, it is the certainty that the time has come, that my child and I are ready to continue with our bond outside the uterus. I am not going to go through the shaving of my hairs, the colon cleansing, the fasting, the loneliness, the immobilization, the gynecological position, the use of artificial hormones to accelerate the delivery, and the cutting of my vagina (episiotomy), I want to feel each moment, it is my time and my choice. The C-section is abnormal, violent. Seven layers are cut, besides the chance of hemorrhage, infections, lesions to organs. I don’t want that! What is normal is natural childbirth!

Now they came up with this: a report of everything that happens before each patient’s C-section! What do they think they will improve with this? The time that I will spend doing the partogram of each patient I could being doing other deliveries. I do not need to be monitored; I studied 6 years, and I know what I’m doing; if I did not know that the C-section delivery is the most recommended for a patient, do you think I would do it for pure pleasure? Of course not, I’m a doctor, my education is on behalf of life, of health, I want the best for my patients, this is why I recommend the C-section to those that need it. The scheduling is to facilitate the pregnant woman’s life, she can schedule her life, prepare herself better. Here in the hospital, she will have all the follow-up she needs, and the risks are minimal.

We, obstetric nurses, have to look to the human being as a being that has his/her own feelings, and therefore take care of the psychological aspects, take care of everything. The humanization begins through the need to diminish the indexes of C-sections, to improve the medical care, as well as because of the hierarchical posture of medical professionals, nursing staff, and other hospital workers, who consider the woman to be in an inferior position, depersonalizing her childbirth. And even to the excess of interventions, such as medication, touch, this or that device; anyway, a lot of paraphernalia. Sometimes, the parturients get hungry or thirsty. Therefore, to humanize the birth is to revive the most natural way of giving birth, as if it were at home.

After watching the film, “the Rebirth of Childbirth”, my wife and I, who is a nurse, were touched and wanted a natural childbirth. But I was afraid of a home birth. After delving ourselves in scientific articles, we were convinced about the highly favorable results of the home birth. The experience of seeing my child born in the most natural way possible (without interventions, without artificial rupture of membranes, without cuts, without episiotomy, without synthetic oxytocin) was wonderful. The human species with its millions of years of evolution does not need surgical interventions to stay alive. Pedrinho was born at home, in a bathtub, crying, beautiful, breastfeeding soon after he was born, he didn’t leave our side, he smiled! Why do we need doctors if there is no disease? As I am a doctor, I plant this seed here, in the intention to revive the original function of doctors: to take care of and treat sick people. In this we are and must, by obligation, be good.

My decision has been made. I am going to have a C-section again. And I am not going to love my daughter any less because of it. This story of a natural childbirth is a “horror show” and unnecessary. I like everything organized in my life. My 1st child was born by C-section on the day that I chose. I recovered very well, in 10 days I was perfect and he was very healthy.
My doctor left me at ease and told me that I can have it the way I want again. All the births have advantages and disadvantages. What is important is that the baby arrives very healthy and perfect. Some people are criticizing me for my decision, but I prefer it like this. It will only be a normal childbirth if the electricity cuts off, if a flood comes, or I arrive at the hospital in labor. I think it’s funny that no one who chooses the C-section tries to “preach” to the others to change their opinion. I just don’t want people to judge me.

My name is Sandra, and I live in the town of Batalha, PI, Brazil. My first child, Vitor, I had at home, since I live far from the city. I thought I had “suffered” too much, because the pain of giving birth is terrible. When I had Gabriela, I realized that there is no suffering worse than the hospital. I spent the end of my gestation at my cousin’s house, who lives in the city, and when my “water broke”, we went to the hospital. It was terrible!!! I was “hung up” on some iron, all weird, my hips all open to the doctor, it’s embarrassing! And then I felt a lot of pain in my legs, in my foot and “in the hips”, At home, I “grabbed” the cords of the hammock hard and pulled them down, it was at least comfortable, since it was going to hurt anyway. At the hospital you don’t have anywhere to hold onto to push, the pain was worse before and after!

When I went to the hospital to have my first child, I stayed for 15 hours in the delivery room, duing the waiting process, the doctor said that I could not do the C-section, but I did not have any dilation and the forceps were set up to remove my child. I do not understand the use of this procedure, especially since they say its use is prohibited; the child is put at risk with this type of delivery and I do not have good memories of my other two deliveries that I had with forceps. I’m terrified of this procedure.

My main reason for having a C-section is to avoid the pain of giving birth. I think that if we can avoid pain, then it’s good, right?
My doctor said he does C-sectios right off because he hates to see his patients suffer. But I know women who had normal childbirths and also had C-sections, and they think C-sections are more painful. So, I’m in doubt. In the end, what hurts more?

I will never have a normal childbirth! Humanized delivery... I don’t know what there is humanized in spending hours feeling pain, violent contractions, a big head passing through a miniscule hole, sweating and killing myself to push, tear myself or getting all cut up down there, and then the region being so sensitive and loose. If medicine has evolved so that I can give birth without pain, you can be sure that I will choose this. Now this fad from crazy nature freaks inventing risks, as if there weren’t any in normal childbirth. Compare the mortality rate in our grandparents’ day!

Never have a normal childbirth! I am a mother of 6 children, two boys and four girls, and to this day I suffer the consequence of these violent births: urinary incontinence and a hernia. When I had my first daughter, I felt absurd pains and had my vagina cut to the point of uniting it with my anus, it was immense pain, my daughter was born weighing 4.5 Kg. I was stitched up, but the stitches did not heal properly and for my second child, I had to go through the same procedure, with the added factor that I almost lost my bladder. My six children are all well, healthy, and happy, and my daughters all had C-sections, because I would not allow them to commit the same error that I did.