Homework #37: Comments

From Sarah: Natalie: I really liked the contrast between all three of your interviewees. I found this line to be very insightful, "She feels deep compassion for the mother and the family and tries to achieve the perfect environment for the baby to come into and for the mother to thrive in. As sacred as she tries to make birth for the woman, she said that after becoming a midwife, she “realized how normal birth is.” " I was reading an article online about how woman have the instinct to give birth and yet we completely undermine this and go forward with different techniques. I wonder though if c-sections and hospital births were to become obsolete would the death rate rise? Is natural birth enough for the survival? Or would survival of the fittest become part of the picture?


From Casey: Natalie,
I loved the structure of your post; it was very easy to follow and coherently organized. I was struck by the line, "As sacred as she tries to make birth for the woman, she said that after becoming a midwife, she 'realized how normal birth is.' Birth is a completely natural thing that society makes too much of a fuss over. 'If we leave women alone- and simply support the woman and her family, provide education and safety – things will turn out ok.'" 
I wonder how this midwife explains (in light of this statement) the complications or lack of resources in the home that have led to injury or death of the baby/mother? All of your interviewees seemed like amazing people; perhaps the idea of a pregnant woman is favorable because what is going on in them is amazing.

From Lindsay: "I channeled that energy and it helped me make it through. I also didn’t have any choice to give up... matt and I both sweetly remember our midwife tucking the three of us in bed after the births – it’s the moment when we truly were grateful to be at home. We all just snuggled up and stared at one another in a quiet room. It was quite profound.” 

The three women that you interviewed provide a very interesting timeline of our perceptions and ideas around birth, from your first interviewee who talks about her mother's generation giving birth in the 50's, practially unconcious, to two new mothers who 15-20 years later than your first interviewee had so much more access to information about and support for natural births.

I think that as you go through this unit, I will be interested to see how you can refer back to these interviews, but also be critical of how they represent the experiences of three middle/upper class white women.
From Bjorn: "It is possible that we are the only ones that convince ourselves that birth is this natural disaster that we need to alter to fit our human needs." 

I really like how this sentence is so powerful and provocative, nothing bad about the americans, but it really makes a double-sided statement: that giving birth is a natural disaster and number 2 that americans are willing to try everything to make life more comfortable.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Casey: "Additionally, actions speak far louder than words. Saying “Good luck” or “I hope you have a healthy baby” or “you’ll do fine” obviously does not stick in one’s mind or help as much as throwing baby showers, building baby furniture, preparing meals, or just being there for emotional support."

I think this is a really interesting point that you bring up. When we meet someone who is pregnant we tend to say congratulations or wish them the best, but we do not perform any actions to create a more positive experience. While it is of course positive reinforcement, like you said, will they really remember? But maybe what we really need to be asking is: why do we feel obliged to say these things? We do not actually know that the person will do fine, and if it's not something they're going to remember, then perhaps we shouldn't say anything at all. I believe if we truly care, then an action is necessary. Just as you proved in your writing when a meal was prepared or furniture was built. Or possibly if we said these things less, when we actually said good luck to a pregnant woman, they would know we meant it.

To Sarah: I thought this line was interesting: "However she joked that being pregnant made her feel like a queen, anything she wished for was someone else’s command."

We treat pregnant women so differently, but why? Is it because we want the best for the baby, this fresh new life coming into the world? Or are we really concerned with the mother, the pain she is going to feel? I believe most times people think about the baby when they do favors for the mother and no longer see her as her own person. One of my interviewees talked about how uncomfortable she felt with people touching her stomach, when they normally wouldn't have. I think this furthers the point that people see women as simple objects when they are pregnant. Everything is done in hopes that it will better the experience of the child on its journey into our world. People are consumed with the idea that this new impressionable life will appear, more than the place from which it comes.