Go ahead and call me a hippy

There's something wrong with our country.

In 2009, the rate of Cesarean births in the United States rose to 34%.

The World Health Organization recommends the rate should be between 10 and 15 percent in developed countries.

In the last thirty years, we've blown that percentage out of the water.

And it's not just America. Globally, c-section rates have exploded. In regions of Italy, rates vary from 44% to 60%, which some private clinics showing rates of 85%! C-sections are on the rise in places like Turkey, the United Kingdom, Brazil. China is the highest in the world with a whopping 46%.

Half the women in China give birth by C-section. Which, I guess makes the USA's measly one in three not look so bad.

But I live here, so I'll complain about here.

Epidural use nationally is at about 61%

It was hard to nail down statistics about Pitocin use and elective labor induction, but I did find an article saying that these rates had doubled in the ten years between 1992 and 2002.

And here's the kicker: 99% of American births occur in hospitals, and we are ranked 34th in terms of infant mortality rate (as in, 33 other countries have lower rates).

Compare that to countries like Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands (who have far lower infant mortality rates than the US) where midwifery is standard practice and a fairly large percentage of women give birth at home.

American women have been convinced of many things in the past 50 years where birth is concerned. We're convinced that epidurals and pain medication are necessary to give birth. That we deserve to be induced as soon as possible. That the only safe way to have a baby is in a hospital with a doctor. That home birth is dangerous and "trendy".

Nevermind that up until the last century, home birth was the standard. We have all these medical advancements, so we should use them.

Somewhere along the way, we started viewing birth less as a natural event and more as a medical problem that needs to be managed. Part of it is advances in medicine that lead to multiple births or older maternal age. Part of it is doctor's fear of malpractice in our sue-happy society. Part of it is the business side of hospitals and the doctors that want to have control over the situation. Part of it is good ol' fashioned fear of the unknown.

Personally, I know my body was designed for giving birth. I have successfully birthed two humans. One was without pain medication. And though I was happy to have healthy babies both times, I can personally attest that my recovery from the epi free birth was much faster and nursing went so much better.

I know my experiences don't translate into Gospel truth for everyone, but I do believe that the vast majority of women could endure labor and delivery without drugs if they tried. If they didn't believe they needed those drugs (or if the drugs weren't so readily offered). If they didn't focus on the pain more than the process.

Does it hurt?

I'm not one of the women who will tell you "No! You can have a pain free labor without drugs!" Yes, of course it hurt. Some parts worse than others. Pushing did not hurt as badly as transition did. Pushing was actually kinda....cool? They ain't lying when they talk about the natural release of oxytocin in your system at the moment of birth. It's an indescribable experience.

Sometimes pain is part of the process of incredible moments in our lives.

Please don't get me wrong. I KNOW there are situations that call for all these medical interventions in birth. I know problems arise and emergencies occur. And for that, I am so thankful for modern medicine.

But I would love to see the prevalent attitude in America concerning birth change. I would love to see it treated more as a natural event than a medical problem. I'd love to see the medical community work more closely with midwives and doulas in low risk births.

I have chosen not to have a home birth (mostly because of dog hair), but I also have an absolutely wonderful doctor who doesn't treat me like something to check off her to do list and doesn't push her agenda into my birth experience. Not to mention the fabulous nurses at our hospital who listen to me when I say "as natural as possible, please", even when the on call doctor (who isn't even in the hospital and has never spoken with me) orders an epidural when I'm barely into labor at all. There are shining examples in the medical community of excellent caregivers, despite the restrictions they face with insurance and hospital protocol.

But I also think it would be spectacular to be able to give birth in a place that's secluded and private, just me and my baby and God given instinct, without the pressures of "let's get this labor moving" or "how's the pain level" or "don't push till the doctor's here" or knowing there are a bunch of anxious relatives in the waiting room wishing I'd hurry up already. That would be an experience that would be hard to top in life.

But, as you know, I'm a hippy.