Re: FRI Tough labor leaves lasting mark on new moms: study
From: Anna Meenan, MD (annam@uic.edu)
Fri May 27 08:35:43 2005
Cheri, you expressed exactly how I feel about it. I don't have your way
with words, but you've definitely got it in a nutshell. Thanks.
--
Anna Meenan, MD
At Thu, 26 May 2005, Cheri Van Hoover wrote:
>
>rmodugno@aol.com wrote:
>
>> And that doesn't hold for Cesarean birth?
>
>I haven't experienced Cesarean birth, and I certainly can't speak for
>all women. I can only speak for myself.
>
>Labor is an extreme physical and emotional test. I'm not a marathon
>runner or a mountain climber, but I suspect there are similarities with
>those experiences. Not only are there physical challenges, but the
>hormonal changes that happen during labor are profound and cause an
>altered state of consciousness. You truly do go to a different place.
>
>Like all of you, I hold a healthy baby and a healthy mother as the
>highest good and the absolute most desirable outcome of pregnancy. I am
>not inexperienced with birth. My 30 years of experience have given me
>considerable respect and caution. I do not consider Nature to be a
>benevolent and kind force. Nature is fearsome in her power. Human
>beings as a group have decided that some of Nature's apparent plan is
>unacceptable to them. So have I. When Cesareans are necessary to
>prevent harm to mothers and babies, I am behind them 100%.
>
>Not every woman chooses to experience labor in the same way. That is an
>absolutely individual choice, which I respect and honor. I am
>convinced, however, that doing something as profoundly difficult and
>consciousness-altering as labor and completing it under your own power
>can be a life-changing event in the best possible way. Laboring
>heroically, then needing a Cesarean as a way to prevent injury to self
>or infant is in no way inferior, but may feel less satisfying to some
>women, just as having to drop out of a marathon because of exhaustion or
>injury, or leaving the mountain on a stretcher instead of walking down
>after reaching the summit may feel less satisfying to those who
>experience those physical and mental tests.
>
>An amusing aside...(or amusing to me, anway)....
>
>I've recently returned to Washington State after living in San Francisco
>for 32 years. I've long been a fan of mountain climbing disaster books,
>although I've never been (and never would be) a climber. My extremely
>loving and thoughtful daughter gave me 2 of them for Christmas. The
>contractor who is remodeling my kitchen saw one of them on the table
>when he came to take measurements and became very excited. Turns out he
>has dozens of these books, but hadn't read mine yet. He returned the
>next day with one of his favorites for me to read. I loaned him the one
>I'd finished. Then I returned his and he came by with yet another. He
>brought back the one I'd loaned him and the general contractor snatched
>it up. He's still savoring it. I mentioned to my new dentist that I
>was reading these books. He got all excited and started telling me
>about his favorites. The next day his receptionist called me up and
>told me he'd brought in a book for me to pick up and read. I've fallen
>into some kind of den of climbing disaster afficionados!!
>
>What I like about these books is the human drama. The choices people
>make that lead them to this state of affairs. The personal
>characteristics that pointed them towards these choices to begin with.
>The varying reactions that they and their companions have as things
>start to turn sour. The ways they try to cope with the challenges,
>applying whatever emotional and intellectual resources they possess.
>Then the inevitable moment of truth when they realize what they will
>have to do to survive this mess and they decide if they are willing to
>do that. And finally, their struggle to live.
>
>So maybe the answer for "Josephine" is to go ahead and take on that
>karate instructor.
>
>--
>Cheri Van Hoover, CNM
>Faculty, Midwifery Institute at Philadelphia University
>
