Part I: From the beginning of the 20th century until now, the medicalization of births has increased greatly in the United States making hospital births very popular. Only about 1.5% of births in the U.S. were out-of-hospital births in 2014 (Doyle, n.d.).
Globally, birthing tactics are different. In the Netherlands, a study showed that 60.7% of Dutch women gave birth at home while 30.8% said they’d give birth at the hospital (de Jonge, et al., 2009). The study relied on a statistical perspective to determine the safety of home birth. The risk of poor outcomes and perinatal mortality rate for infants in home births versus hospital births showed to be the same in both settings (de Jonge, et al., 2009). According to the study’s findings, home births are more preferred and there is no more risk with birth at home than in the hospital (de Jonge, et al., 2009).
The Inuit culture in Canada believes birth is a spiritual and celebratory experience that’s traditionally practiced at home with a midwife delivering the child. While many are born in the hospital or nursing stations, there is growing Inuit support to revert back to the traditional midwife-infused home birth. There is difficulty in this reversion as the Canadian government has forced Inuit women to give birth under a physician’s control in hospitals since the 1960s (Daviss, 1996). In Vietnam, the Hmong minority’s cultural birthing practices are vastly different from America’s birthing practices. The culture permits women to give birth at home. The Hmong people also believe that if they bury the placenta under the bed at home after birth, the infant will be healthy (Ahlmark & Precel, 2011). Some Hmong people do feel reluctant to give birth in health centers even if they have high-risk pregnancies, since it strays from tradition (Ahlmark & Precel, 2011). The filmmakers Nick Ahlmark and Nicole Precel encapsulate the remoteness of the Hmong culture and its view on births in their community.
The medicalization of birth in America is very apparent, which is different from other communities around the globe. Perspectives inquisiting the Inuit and Hmong cultures showed that the ideas of skilled mothers, closeness, and ritualistic and/or spiritualistic mechanisms to ensure the safety of their family are important to them. Most of the knowledgeable birth assistants are women who are either spiritually intuitive or formally educated. America usually leaves the knowledge to doctors with extensive degrees. Though, out-of-hospital births tend to have less intervention and higher patient satisfaction (Doyle, n.d.). The risk of stillbirth and early infant death is not higher for either a hospital birth or home birth (Doyle, n.d.). The decision to have a home birth or a hospital birth is based on preference. A pregnant woman that is not high-risk could choose either setting and will have no extra risk in the overall health of their newborn.
Death is a highly medicalized experience just like birth is in America. As Rush explains, individuals tend to have feelings of denial, avoidance, fear and overall disarray. The video is looking at multiple professional views giving perspective not only historically, but personally. America tends to stay away from death in order to think that they are safer or protected (Rush, 2012). The recent decades in America do not want to be close to the dead and have other organizations like a funeral home handle their deceased. Other cultures believe that birth and death are connected with the Inuit culture believing that when a mother gives birth, the newborn has taken the soul of their recently deceased family member (“The Inuit Way,” 2006). The American concept of death is not so spiritual and sacred as a lot of deceased Americans are subject to cremation or are embalmed (Rush, 2012). America looks at subjects like birth and death medically, while other cultures celebrate the life a deceased one had lived, or the beginning of a new life a newborn will have. Medicalization of these transitions can erase the strength and ability that mothers and families can handle as well as lose sight of the true implications in these transitions that is pertinent in an individual’s life.
Part I Works Cited
Ahlmark, N. & Precel, N. YouTube, UNFPA Asia, 27 Apr. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F1dmcJTd9U.
Daviss, Betty-Anne. “Heeding Warnings from the Canary, the Whale, and the Inuit.” Understanding Birth Better, 1996, understandingbirthbetter.com/files/uploads/Heeding-Warning s-Betty-anne-Daviss-Childbirth-and-Authoritative-Knowledge.pdf.
De Jonge, A., et al. “New Figures from the Netherlands on the Safety of Home Births.” Home Birth Midwifery, An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 15 Apr. 2009, www.homebirthmidwifery.com/PDFs/Safety-NetherlndsStudy.pdf.
Doyle, Kathryn. “Out-of-Hospital Births on the Rise in U.S.” Scientific American, Reuters, N.d., www.scientificamerican.com/article/out-of-hospital-births-on-the-rise-in-u-s/.
Rush, Merilynne. YouTube, YouTube, 25 Sept. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaVJfJsflP0.
The Inuit Way: A Guide to Inuit Culture. Pauktuutit Inuit Women of Canada, 2006, drive.google.com/file/d/1_Y2l4dfJpHj8POqJtE5AdgC4UNn_neoa/view.
Part II: The image I chose is from Metro Parent, a local magazine that is based in Southeast Michigan. The image depicts a woman who had just given birth at a hospital. The mother is attached to an IV that is bandaged to her wrist, has a hospital bracelet on her other arm and is in a gown on a hospital bed. The image shows the medicalization of birth in the United States. The woman and baby seem to be in a sanitized and sterile environment. The baby looks very clean and dry. When a baby is first born, there are usually substances on the baby, such as blood and vernix caseosa. From looking at the image, it depicts birth as a very clean and smooth process, which is not the case for all births. This image shows slight bias as it reinforces dominant ideas/messages in America, which is that births are at hospitals, medicalization has to be present shown by the IV, and that birth is a swift process with no mess. The image fails to show the hardships of the birthing process and doesn’t show the possible option of having a natural, non-medicalized labor.
Part II Works Cited
Schrader, Jessica. “What Is ‘Normal’ Labor?” Detroit and Ann Arbor Metro Parent, 16 Oct. 2017, www.metroparent.com/m-sponsored-content/what-is-normal-labor/.
Your point of view on the image you chose was interesting because that was not what came to mind for me when I first saw it. When I look at the image, I do see the IV’s and the gowns and the medical equipment, but what I also notice is that the woman is alone. In other cultures, like the Inuit and in Vietnam, birth requires a family gathering. Everyone is there to celebrate a new life and be apart of the process. But I think sometimes in American culture, we see it as a private, medicalized process.
What do you think is the most influential factor for why more women in the Netherlands choose to have home births? Personally, I think it’s mainly related to the way the government prioritizes women and families by giving women the option and providing research.
You talk about how the culture in Vietnam “permits” women to give birth at home. While I think that’s true, I also think that they don’t really have a choice either. As you saw in the video, The Mountain Midwives of Vietnam, the nearest clinic was three miles away. Since their only mode of transportation was by foot, it was almost more risky to walk to the clinic at nine months pregnant than to stay at home. So while culture does influence their choice in choosing home births, I think circumstances surrounding their environment also plays an important role.