HW 39 - Insights from Book - Part 2

Cassidy, Tina. Birth. NY,NY: Grove Press,
2006. Print.

1. I do not recall the movie, “Business of Being Born” making any references to symphyseotomies. Basically what happens here in a symphyseotomy is when the doctor cuts through the woman’s pubic bone, them through her clitoris and labia, and then finally through her urethra. The cartilage in the bone is then divided spreading the pelvis somewhere between two and three inches. Despite referring to several ways of giving birth, “Business of Being Born” neglected to mention or talk about symphyseotomies.

2. The insight of this part of the book was very similar to that of the first part. The author is comparing and contrasting styles and methods of giving birth. The thing that is different now, however, is that the author is focusing more on the evolution of birth throughout time. She compares methods that were popular and were proven successful at one point and then shows their popularity decline as she identifies their flaws. I enjoy the writing of the author because she allows the reader to think for themselves to some extent. The way that she writes, showing the flaws towards the end of the analysis reveals her bias, however, just showing both pros and cons gives the reader a good understanding of how the method works.

3. There are so many different ways to go about birth, which is more beneficial for the baby and the mother? Where can the balance be found? (General)
1.) Doctors emerge as the primary recourse for birth and essentially replace midwives. (pg 131)
2.) Father’s roles in birth often go unnoticed, the birth process affects them just as much as the mother, just in a more emotional manner as opposed to physical (pg 154)
3.) Celebrities seem to think that C-sections are a way to keep your body while having kids and desire them rather than refer to them (pg 123-124)
4.) The cons of c-sections seem to outweigh the pros yet they are referred to so often. Are people neglecting these cons? Are there really all of these “emergencies?” Are people just ignorant? (pg 107)
5.) Midwifery vs medical, Natural vs Technological, people likely feel safer with technology by there side and therefore generally prefer doctors. (pg 183)

4. I researched the symphyseotomy. The author seemed to be very accurate with her information concerning it and how it occurred with Jean-René Sigault and Madame Souchot. There were no errors in her research, verification is sited below.


Bibliography:
Dumont, M. "The long and difficult birth of symphysiotomy or from Severin Pineau to Jean-Rene Sigault." U.S. National Library of Medicine . N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar 2011. .

HW #38

Birth,
By Tina Cassidy

The book is very well organized. It consists of a smooth flow of personal stories as well as factual information that is relevant to the stories. The author supports her ideas with both stories and factual information.

How has birth evolved from the past to today? Are these changes good or bad for birth? I feel that this is a very interesting argument. There are aspects that support that modern day technology is both good and bad. Cesarean sections, although controversial, seem to be a helpful thing in my eyes. They keep babies alive in several cases. Looking at the movie “Business of Being Born” there are cases where the doctor actually puts the baby in unnecessary danger while midwifes may avoid this danger in some cases. Midwives are generally seen as old ways to handle birth while doctors are generally seen as new.

Different cultures handle birth differently. Old fashioned people refer to midwives, often with the desire of a more natural birth. Doctors very seldom perform these births. This is interesting because it is still unsure to me which is actually better, in a neutral situation. Can a baby survive a natural birth while experiencing difficulties during birth?

1. “Babies born late at night have a 16 percent greater chance of dying than babies born between 7:00a.m. and 7:00p.m” (Cassidy, 14)
2. “A 1992 study looked at seventeen hundred women attended by midwifes… home births were found to be ‘as safe as’ the hospital ones”
3. Birth is a major part of life and the majority of us plan to participate in it in some way, so we should be well informed about it
4. It is wise to be knowledgeable of other ways to approach the birth process, maybe ways of other cultures. This will further help us be certain that we are handling it the way we want to and are not forced into a certain type of birth
5. Having family, or some type of assistance is always helpful, even with cultures (like the Igbo tribe, page 11) who prefer the mother to have somewhat solitude.

The author uses evidence in both stories and facts/statistics. I find the blend very interesting and a good writing style. This style keeps the reader more interested than other books than consist of mostly facts. This may sometimes cause the book to be a bit of a drag and allow the reader to lose interest slowly. Having stories mixed in with the facts will likely, for most readers

HW 37 Birth Stories Comments

To Max-
I think your post illustrated decent effort, being that I was kept interested since it was very personal. It is nice that you did not mind saying who you interviewed, making it easier for me to make connections since they were relatives of yours. To me the most insightful part was " It was scary for her because there was a problem with the birth process that she preferred i did not talk about but she did say I could say it was a life or death situation. In these type of situations i think that sometimes it might not be worth if if you go through that whole process and in the process your most prized thing in life dies. It is not worth going through all the painful memories." I wonder why your aunt did not want to discuss the matter if all ended well, which leads me to inquire further about whether it did end well or not. I also agree with your doubt in questioning if the whole thing is worth it, however, I believe it is because if you don't give it a try you will never know how it could have been. This is especially true if it is "your most prized thing in life" since you will be missing out on the possibility of having this thing.
Something that you can improve is to dig deeper in your other stories as you did with your last. Your reaction made that story much more interesting. Also it would be helpful to type in word and copy and paste into the blog to avoid any grammatical errors that could easily be avoided.

To Larche-
Your style of writting was graceful, particularly in the way that you began each chunk. Begining with one word to sum up your interviewee's feelings gave me a sense that you were truly interested in what they had to say and made me interested in what other things the person may have to say. The most insightful part to me was "She also had a lot of doubt through out the pregnancy , wondering if she would be a good mother or if the baby would be healthy." To me, this is not a feeling that would dominate my thought if I was in that situation, i may be fearful of the future however I would be optimistic. I would look forward to the future and try to find ways to make the whole process easier, rather than adding stress that can be avoided.

To Jay-
Your post was very well written. I like the way you began with the first person, summing up her feelings right away. This was a vague yet elegant introduction into the rest of the blog. The most insightful part to me was "
A father's place in birth is often undermined and their emotions aren't often taken into consideration. It may be possible that the father is more scared than the mother, because he thinks more solidly because he doesn't have the physicality of the birth to affect his feelings." I feel like this is a very true statement because all of the attention is on the mother. While this is appropriate, it seems as if fathers are not always given enough credit for there roles in the entire process from dealing with the mother and their mood swings and "cravings" to holding their hand in the delivery room in most cases. Mothers tend to be very dependent on their husbands and their role is significant to both the mother and the child, therefor i think they deserve more credit.
I think one way that you can improve your posts would be to try to make the later summaries of the interviewees as interesting as the first. Your engaging style of writing was not consistent in the last story and maintaining that consistency will make your blogs much more interesting altogether.

From Jay-
Your post was very detailed and actually interested me, when you actually do your posts they're really good. Quality work, Medium. A part i liked was; "Generally women, especially pregnant women, tend to be moody. Had her husband not been there to satisfy her needs when possible, then she would have likely been more angry and more often." While comedic, this was also interesting it brings up questions about the reliability that the mother has on the father and who single mothers have to lean on.

From Rali200 (Dad)-
Having just gone through a pregnancy and birth with my wife, my feelings and memories of it are still very fresh. Our son is now just over one week old, and after witnessing what my wife endured from day one to birth, I have a new found respect for what women go through during this period. Not that I didn't before, but there's nothing like witnessing it first hand. I guess I wouldn't use the word "easier" to describe the process for a pregnant woman when having the support of her husband and/or family, but more comforting to know she has someone there to help and depend on. As for this line, "It seems to just be an excuse to spoil the woman, and of course she takes advantage"; when and if you have a child in the future and see the woman you love in that much discomfort, knowing that one chocolate covered pickle will put a smile on her face...I'm sure you'll be out there at 2am with the rest of them :-).

From Larche-
It seems that you really tried to make sense of the feelings and actions of your interviewees during their pregnancy experience that gave you an understanding of their situation and sparked some thought.When referring to a pregnant woman's cravings I liked the line "It seems to just be an excuse to spoil the woman, and of course she takes advantage." Which goes back to the idea of treating women as sacred and precious by attending to their needs and spoiling them due to the pregnancy.

From Max-
Your post was very interesting to me. I really felt like you understood the struggles that your interviewees were going through and like you actually wanted to interview them. I think your most insightful lines were, "It made me gain weight, obviously, and I became depressed. I have always been someone that cares a lot about my appearance and with this weight and appearance I had very low self esteem, even though I knew it was baby weight."