|
Okay,
so now 'they' are blaming the dads for Cs rates...moved on from the women
demanding the CS to dads. I think it is a poor reflection on education of
soon to be parents, or the lack of good education. I am aware that dads
can get overwhelmed by birth, as a doula supporting dad through it is part of my
job, but I tell you if my husband had even mention cs to me because he was
feeling overwhelmed I would have sent him packing out of the room in no nive
fashion!
Jo
I
have given women drugs in labour at their partners demand. Also epidurals and
c/s organised because the partner wasn't coping. It is devesting when a woman
is labouring well, and her partner, or sometimes her mother, isn't coping and
undermines the woman's confidence in her body. I have often felt like giving
him the drugs. One feels hopeless and helpless when adverse comments and
stressed support people influence the woman. And lets face it, in the hospital
setting who has the strongest and personal relationship, and therefore more
likely to influence ?
This is a group that no one has thought to
blame the high cesarean rate on. Hmmmmmm. Gloria
Scotland on Sunday - October 2,
2005
Squeamish men pushing wives towards Caesareans
RICHARD GRAY
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
FRETTING
fathers-to-be are fuelling Scotland's soaring Caesarean section
rate
because they do not like to see their pregnant partners in pain,
midwives
have warned.
They claim many worried husbands are afraid of the mess and
noise that
accompanies natural childbirth.
Instead they are
encouraging their wives to give birth at large
consultant-led hospital
units where they can get powerful painkillers and
surgery.
But
midwives claim these over-protective men are unwittingly causing
their
partners to have unnecessary Caesarean sections and drugs by taking
them to
these "baby factories".
They say more women would have
natural births if they used smaller
midwife-run maternity units.
The
proportion of women choosing to have Caesareans has leapt from 6.2% to
9%
in the last 10 years with more than 4,600 women choosing to have
the
major surgical procedure in 2004.
Experts claim the increase in
popularity is mainly due to the misconception
that Caesareans are a safer
and pain-free option to traditional childbirth.
But the abdominal
surgery can leave mothers in pain for weeks afterwards and
they are prone
to getting infections in their wound.
The controversy surrounding
Caesareans has led to tensions between midwives
and doctors over the best
way of providing services to pregnant women.
Earlier this year the Royal
College of Midwives launched a campaign to
promote "normality" in
childbirth.
Phyllis Winters, a midwifery team leader at Montrose
Community Maternity
Unit, believes the celebrity trend of opting for
Caesareans has helped
create the myth that surgery is the easier option.
But she believes squeamish husbands have also played a part in the
decline
of natural childbirth.
She will present her claims at a
conference organised by the National
Childbirth Trust (NCT) and the Royal
College of Midwives in Dunfermline,
Fife, on Thursday.
Winters said:
"A lot of couples take decisions about childbirth together and
men in
particular feel wary about childbirth.
"They are frightened about seeing
their partner in pain and about what can
go wrong. As a result they often
prefer to go to the consultant led unit
where they perceive there is a
higher level of care.
"Unfortunately there is also a higher level of
intervention when it is not
needed. In Montrose less than 8% of the
births we deal with at the
midwife-led unit get transported to the
specialist unit due to complications
"Women need more positive
role models to have natural births and perhaps
then we will see a change
in the way society views what is a natural life
event.
"Men also have
to understand that by going to a midwife-led service they are
not taking
a risk."
Currently just 63% of all babies born in Scotland are delivered
naturally,
but midwives claim the vast majority of births using Caesarean
sections and
induction should be allowed to happen naturally.
Patricia Purton, director of the Royal College of Midwives Scotland,
agreed
that fathers-to-be played a significant role in helping women
choose their
method of birth.
She added: "I would go further, as a
lot of women's mothers have only ever
experienced consultant led services
and so that has become the norm as far
as they are concerned.
"The
problem is that often in large hospitals, childbirth is made to
fit
around the service rather than letting nature take its course and
fitting
the service around the labour."
A survey of 800 new fathers
carried out four years ago by parental support
group Fathers Direct and
the NCT revealed many of the anxieties faced by new
fathers when their
partners give birth.
It found nearly a third of men felt powerless
during the childbirth process
while most said it was difficult to see
their partners in pain and being
unable to help. A third also said that
they felt ill-informed about the
choices couples faced during pregnancy.
It said that many men wanted a more active role in the delivery process
Shona Gore, an antenatal tutor with the NCT, said: "Men are often
pushed
into the role of the protector during a pregnancy and it is only
natural
that they want the best for their partners.
"At the start of
my courses almost all of the men want to go down the
consultant led route
as it appears to be the safer option, but one of the
aims of our classes
is to give couples time to reflect on the decisions they
face.
"There
is a culture in this country that hospital is the safest place to be,
but
this attitude is now slowly changing, particularly with fears about
MRSA
"
But Jack O'Sullivan, from Fathers' Direct, said it was unfair
to blame high
Caesarean rates on men.
He said: "Fathers play a vital
role in the decision-making process of
childbirth and they are naturally
concerned about their partners' wellbeing.
"But often they are
relying too much on their fears rather than good
information. There needs
to be better advice for expectant first-time
fathers and they need to be
more involved in the maternity process."
The disagreement between
doctors and midwives over the best method of
childbirth has led to
confusion for many mothers who now face a difficult
choice.
Many
doctors feel midwife- only births present an unnecessary risk due to
the
lack of medical provision at hand.
But the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has also expressed
concern about the
country's high Caesarean rate.
Doctors claim attending a consultant led
unit did not mean that women would
have more intervention during birth.
One obstetrician from Glasgow said: "Medical staff from doctors to
midwives
try to discourage women from having inductions and Caesareans
where ever
possible.
"There are a lot of women who ask for Caesareans
as they are scared of
labour and feel surgery is a quicker way to go but
the risks involved are
higher than in natural birth.
"We try to help
them make an informed choice."
Labour pains
THERE has been growing
alarm over the number of Caesarean births among the
600,000 babies born
in Britain each year. The figure has risen fourfold in
25 years to become
one of the highest in the western world.
The reasons for the rise
include the increasing age of mothers, with the
average age of those
having their first child around 30.
Caesarean section as a lifestyle
choice - dubbed "too-posh-to-push" - has
also become a factor. And the
decision of former Spice Girls Victoria
Beckham and Mel B to opt for the
operation have also been linked to the
trend.
Last year doctors in
England and Wales were told to curb Caesareans on
demand. Guidelines
issued by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(NICE) said GPs
should emphasise the potential dangers.
A recent study by Aberdeen
University's medical school warned women who had
Caesarean sections were
6% less likely to get pregnant again.
The study also showed that women
who have a Caesarean wait up to six months
longer to conceive their next
child than those who have natural births.
Other research has shown women
who have the procedure are four times more
likely to get an infection, 10
times more at risk of bladder injuries and
five times more likely to need
surgery later on.
--
No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by
AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/129 - Release
Date: 10/11/2005
--
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/129 - Release Date: 10/11/2005
|
