First+Hand+Experience

 FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE



As a first time mother giving birth to my son I had an idea of how I wanted to give birth; no medications, no interventions; just the chance to be in tune with my body and bring my baby into this world naturally. I wanted to give birth at home but Blue Cross Blue Shield would not cover me for a homebirth with a midwife; even though it is less expensive and proven to be just as safe, so I had no other option open to me other than a hospital birth. I was unhappy with not having options. In New Zealand, where midwives the primary caregivers for maternal health, I would have had the option to choose a homebirth or hospital birth without the threat of incurring any additional cost. Not so lucky in the United States where homebirths have become controversial to the point of being outlawed in many states, even though studies have shown that for low risk births, home births are as safe as hospital births and much less likely to end up with unnecessary medical intervention. While many parents cannot be persecuted for having their baby at home (although sometimes may be investigated by social services for neglect), the midwives who attend home births are in many states doing so against state laws and can face jail time. Massachusetts happens to be a state that allows home birth; but the only insurance that covers such an option is often the most expensive. I could have paid for a home birth for a mere $4000, but that option was not open to me either – so here I come, in labor heading to Beth Israel ready to give birth for the first time. Here is where everything took a dive. I arrived to an old, bald guy who looked at his watch as soon as he saw me, “okay, let’s get this baby out.” I knew instantly that he and I were going to have problems. I was in tow with my husband and a doula that I had hired as my labor coach. I wanted to have a shower to relieve the pain but was told by old bald man that “look, how long are you planning to shower, we don’t have all day.” The stress of this man, I feel, caused me to not fully dilate and after being at the hospital for 7 hours I had gone from 8am to only 9.5cm. By 7pm he stated talking me into a c-section of which I said absolutely not. I told him that I didn’t want him in the room and he should just get me another doctor – long story short he used stand-over tactics and guilty trips to make me feel selfish for not allowing him to cut me open and wanting to push. I stood my ground and my son was born naturally; just how I wanted it. Please keep in mind though that I am not the average person. Prior to me even becoming pregnant I knew about C-section rates. I had hired a doula for $1000 because I needed someone to advocate for me when it came time to make decisions such as these. She encouraged me, when the doctors were out of the room, that I could push at 9.5cm and that a c-section was not necessary. Here is my conclusion about this whole mess – Healthcare in this country is a SHAM. I don’t think I am meant to use caps in a paper for such words as SHAM, but that is exactly what it is. In this country with all the hub-ub about healthcare being expensive…it is this way because they //want// it this way. “They” are: government, Doctors, Health Insurance companies; anyone who was handed a check for the delivery of my son.