Pushed by Jennifer Block is set up around the pressure a new mother experiences while bringing a child into this world. It begins with a discussion of how birth has become planned and moves on to discuss the ways that we choose to shorten birth and make it more convenient.
Through this organization, Block attempts to answer the question “how has birth become more industrialized?” She discusses the unnatural nature of our birthing industry, while generally avoiding the all natural. This is an extremely interesting question to answer as I find that we never really question our birthing system. As a child I always thought the idea of a midwife was odd and old fashioned, but once hearing about how abnormal our actual system is, my mind has changed. Hospitals are treated like factories, pumping out babies in as little time as possible.
Block tries to push the idea that mothers have little control over theirs births: they are being pushed for the convenience of the doctor. Doctors are inducing labor so that it comes at a time that fits them best and are performing episiotomies for supposed “harmful births.” I find this whole system disturbing. Block shows statistics where the doctors actually intervene in healthy births and end up creating problems. It is completely unfair to the mothers because it is their time, their body, but the doctors treat them as flawed machines. I do not understand why these people became doctors if they are not there to do the best for their patients. They should be happy that they are not needed when there is a healthy birth, rather than trying to make themselves needed.
After reading this much of the book, there are a number of things that I believe are worth knowing about pregnancy and birth. Firstly, probably the most important thing, is that a natural birth is painful, but doable. Many women have successfully given birth completely naturally and it is not something that people should shy away from. Another important thing to realize, is that rushing labor can lead to a lot of problems. I think there are actually a lot of people out there to whom speeding up labor appeals to, however they do not realize the risks that can come with it, such as it resulting in a cesarean section. What I also found interesting was that doctors perform so many episiotomies. The female skeleton is made for child bearing, so it seems ridiculous that doctors would use that as an excuse to perform this surgical cut, which actually heals much slower than natural tearing. It also appears that doctors feel completely fine with inducing and having it result in a cesarean section because they then do not have to deal with a lawsuit. Only if the baby is damaged do they have to worry about anything. This just seems a bit sad, that they disturb a process that would have done fine on their own and that there is barely a case against it. Lastly, a due date is just a midpoint in a curve. It is an estimation of when the baby will be born, leaving a couple of weeks before and after. However in the medical world now they tend to set this date in stone, resulting in forced induction. It is important to realize that the baby will come out when it is ready.
Block uses lots of evidence in Pushed, which makes the text extremely factual. She uses personal experiences told to her, such as small anecdotes, but also addresses lots of statistics. While it is interesting to hear the facts, the data can be a bit overwhelming. The book becomes a list of facts and studies rather than her own thoughts. Everything seems extremely reliable and true, however it does not always make for the most engaging read.
Natalie,
ReplyDeleteStrong work - articulate, clear, and engaged response to the text.
A couple suggestions:
1. Other than predictable quibble with the heavy use of evidence you don't seem to argue much with the text. Keeping a critical perspective on a text means you keep your own mind going - which can be hard on a topic like this where you don't know so much yet (though easier for this than varying interpretations of the Cold War, etc).
2. Practice multiple ways of "arguing with a text" - from the classic "nah-unh" looking for points to contradict to the "what complicated aspects has been cartoonified?", "what perspectives have been silenced?", "what implications have been left unexplored?", and "what causes have been inadequately described?". In other words, you can argue with a text by pushing it further in its own direction, not just by pulling it back towards the mainstream consensus trance.