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Maternity special: How birth was hijacked

April 7, 2012 Comments off
Source:  Ecologist
So you want kids, do you? At the Ecologist, we’re not going to preach about the impending population bomb, and its devastating impact on scarce resources and the earth’s changing climate. At least, not for now. No, we want to talk about the joys of having children. Becoming a parent is the beginning of the roller coaster ride of a lifetime. But when the thrill is gone, we’re left with worry and white knuckles. Childbirth, one of life’s most empowering experiences, has been hijacked. It’s become institutionalised, taken over by technology, exiled from communities into hospitals and overhyped on TV dramas by scare-mongering pundits.
As we don’t see it happening in our daily lives – around two per cent of births in England are home births – it is no longer part of our communities. This means that, especially for women, what we know about childbirth, before we experience it ourselves, is through stories. And stories are primarily about fear.
Categories: children and families, Ecologist, health and health care, hospitals, reproductive health, United Kingdom
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